Read All About It!

We have FINALLY finished our Disasters Newspaper Front Pages - well, almost all of us! They are up on the wall and look pretty good - some people have gone to a lot of trouble to meet all the criteria and have thought hard about their layout too.

Here's a few examples of Spine Poetry from our last English unit. Perhaps you could see what you could come up with at home? It's quite fun seeing how creative you can be!

Last Day of Term Tomorrow

Another term nearly over - I think the cold weather has made it seem quite a long term but actually it's shorter than the first one!

We're coming to an end of our Poetry study, also Book Reports and 'Disasters' Social Studies work. Mr Thomas has got a lovely big end of unit test for us tomorrow - YAY!?!

Here's a few of our recent poems, inspired by Jenny Powell-Chalmers 'Carnival of Chocolate' - poems with Dunedin and Otago at their heart.

Otago Harbour

Splish splosh splash

Goes the white caps in the water

Chug chug chug

Goes the boat in the ocean

The ocean held me in its grasp

The Dunedin harbour’s waves were as big as a dinosaur

People wish for the taste of fish

The Monarch takes people out for a float

The people love to see the sights

Right before their very eyes

The ocean is blue.

by KD, LG & KM

The Beach

Dive in, dive in

To the waves that come and go

Wherever they end up, we do not know

Anything can wash up, revealing the sea's secrets

And unlocking the mysteries

The waves are like white horses running towards the shore

The water reflects the sky perfectly

Jagged cliffs line the beach's barrier

Formed because of the constant crash of white waves

Splash, splash

Squawking birds touch the water's surface while gliding across the sky

Getting a bird's eye view of the swimming sealions

The high tide is now in session, taking away the treasures of the beach

Taking them back

Never to be seen again

by PM & CS

Greedy

 

Gorse was never a weed

We let it spread

Like this, greed takes over us, kills 

Our Pride

by SM

Water Front Fish Tank

Step in, step in

To the Forsyth Barr Stadium

The waterfront fish tank

House of the bone-crunching Highlanders and the Big O's

30 000 fans supporting our mighty, magnificent Otago teams

Yum, yum

I see food everywhere

It's as delicious as candy floss

Chips, drinks and chocolate fish

All the delights you could ever wish

Watch intently or you might miss the action

Cameras everywhere, even on the segways

Rushing up and down the sidelines

They are as fast as cheetahs

Step out, step out

All the fun is done

They've finished now

A huge thud as they win the game

It is finished now - it's the end.

by RW & ED

Tēnā Koutou Katoa and Happy New Year!

Tomorrow marks the official first day of Matariki in Dunedin this year!

Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, in the Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, appearing in the tail of the Milky Way in the last days of May or in early June, just before dawn. This marks the Māori New Year.

Although they may celebrate different aspects of it, for all tribes, the importance of Matariki has been captured in proverbs and songs, which link it with the bright star.

Matariki is also associated with the winter solstice. It appears when the sun, drifting north on the shortest day in winter, reaches the north-eastern end of the horizon. The sun then turns around and begins its journey south.

Matariki is a time to celebrate with family and is particularly associated with kite flying, eating traditional food and also with weaving. There are many fun activities organized for Matariki in Dunedin this year. Here's a link: www.matarikidunedin.co.nz/‎

Pleiades Constellation

Yum, hangi!

Legends

Matariki literally means the ‘eyes of god’ (mata ariki) or ‘little eyes’ (mata riki). Some say that when Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother were separated by their offspring, the god of the winds, Tāwhirimātea, became angry, tearing out his eyes and hurling them into the heavens. Others say Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters, Tupu-ā-nuku, Tupu-ā-rangi, Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-ā-rangi and Ururangi. One account explains that Matariki and her daughters appear to assist the sun, Te Rā, whose winter journey from the north has left him weakened.

Content courtesy of Te Ara Online Encyclopedia

Keeping Warm With Badminton Today!

Today we had the first of two Badminton coaching sessions, which was a nice way to burn off some energy and keep warm on  chilly day! And doesn't our new gym look great - it's fantastic to have such a good space for activities.

We have also been creating 'snowflakes' in Maths class to demonstrate rotational symmetry - and we've used a few to publish our winter haiku too!

I couldn't help myself - here's a couple of pics of my new cats I got in the holidays (my last cat Lucy had to get put down at 18years in 2012) - my dog isn't too sure about the cats but they seem to quite like him!

Technology lessons

Student teacher Mr Albertsma had just finished his two weeks with us. I thought I'd show a few pictures from his technology lessons on 'Hydroponics' - making your own system to grow a plant.

New Term, some new teachers!

For the next two weeks 8FL is lucky enough to have a teacher from the University of Otago College of Education, Mr Albertsma, with us. Mr Albertsma will be teaching some lessons in English, Maths, Technology and PE.

We're also going to have a few periods of Homeroom each week taken by Ms Mills and Mr Thomas. This is so that Ms Flett can work with some Year 7 students on an exciting Literacy Project we are calling 'Writer's Club.'  Ms Mills will take one period of reading and Mr Thomas will take Social Studies for the term.

Last term we said goodbye to our Thai students Mike & Ning and Shyla, who is off to Australia soon, with a lovely shared lunch. Thanks so much to the parents who helped with this, it was a lovely day.

















I also found some pics from the 1000K Challenge and Sports Expo day!

Indoor bowls

Rowing competition

Table tennis skills!

Abbey had a photo session with the ODT!

Actually running the 1000K Challenge

LAST WEEK OF TERM 1!

These past 12 weeks seem to have gone past very quickly - even though it's been a much longer term than usual there have been lots of interruptions with breaks and camps etc.

Three-way conferences are on this Wednesday (parent-teacher-student), following interim reports being handed out last week. These are a good opportunity to see how things are going and to set some short and long term goals around National Standards achievement for the next part of the year.







This afternoon we had some prizes given out for attainment in Fitness testing in PE. Regular fitness testing is part of keeping track of data on students but mostly about setting targets and tracking personal health and fitness. Mr Reddington and Mr Scott handed out certificates and cool T-shirt prizes.


 Here's a couple of photos from our recent school Cross-Country. Congratulations to Katelyn and Olivia for placing in the Year 8 girls' competition!

And finally, a HUGE congratulations to Kasib, who won the National Title in his division of Wrestling, and came 2nd nationwide in Grappling, last weekend! Great work Kasib - we are proud of you!