Shantytown Visit

This week Totara 2 and 3 went to Shantytown. We studied the law of the Goldrush and what life was like in the 1800's.
We learnt about why settlers came to the West Coast and what the conditions they lived in were like. We also went on the steam train and got robbed at gun point. We had to describe who robbed us to the Police Officer and see if we could find the suspect and get him locked up in jail. Lastly we had a court case where Paris was accused of stealing a pocket watch when she was wiping the tables down in the saloon. Maya was her lawyer and had to convince the judge and the jury that she was innocent. Unfortunately, Jimmy was a far too good prosecutor and the jury found Paris guilty and she was charged with stealing and sent to prison for 6 months! We had a great day!
Check out our slide below to see some of the photos of our awesome day!

Goodbye Ellie!

Today is a sad day in Totara 2 and 3. Our favourite Teacher Aide Ellie is leaving us. Thank you for all the hard work you have done for us Ellie. We will miss the fun, laughter and hugs you gave us. All the very best for your new venture and don't worry, we will all come and visit. Love you x

Ellie with Summer and Nic and the awesome picture she gave us for our new space.

#WWED

Potato Planting

Spring has sprung! Yesterday afternoon we went out to the garden with Mr B and he showed us how to plant potatoes so the Year 8's can eat them at their Year 8 leavers dinner. We found it really interesting learning about how potatoes go to seed and how the grow off each other. We decided that they might need a helping hand so we sprinkled potato fertiliser on them too (but don't tell Kevin!) We are going to keep an eye on them and our next project is planting corn into pots and letting it grow in the greenhouses until we can plant them in our very own corn patch. 

We have also decided that a part of the garden needs a really good tidy so we are going to do that too! Watch this space!

Matariki

We have been celebrating Matariki in Totara 2. One of the school wide tasks was to choose one of the 9 Matariki stars and create a banner representing that star. We chose Waita as our star. Waita is the star that represents the ocean and all of the food sources that are found in the ocean. We decided to create a fun Nemo theme. Ella led the way and managed this project. Thanks for all your hard work Ella, we couldn't have done it without you! Come into school to see all of the classes banners which are being hung around the school!

Speech Time

Here are some handy hints for creating your speech. Can't wait to see your speeches in the next few weeks!

Kung Fu

Today we had a Kung Fu master visit us during our Mandarin lesson. We learnt the fundamentals of Kung Fu and learnt that it was really important to use our mind as well as our body. Our Kung Fu teacher showed us how to use nunchucks and we couldn't believe how fast he could use them without hitting himself. He is very flexible and can kick himself in the head!

Gaming at Grey High

Today Totara 2 were invited to go to Grey High to test some games that the Yr 11 and 12 students had coded and created. We go to see how the games were made and each had a chance to trial and give feedback about the games. This has really inspired us to perhaps find an online site where we can try coding and creating our own games too! Thank you to the students at Grey High for letting us come to play!

Totara 2/3 Hanmer Camp 2017

Last week, Totara 2 and 3 went on camp to Hanmer. We had the most amazing time mountain biking, tree climbing, orienteering, playing Mission Impossible and we can't forget the Lolly Shop and the hot pools!

Although it was freezing, we all had a fabulous time learning outside of the classroom. A big thank you to all of the parents who took time off work to come on camp with us. You were awesome and we couldn't have gone without you!

Book Character Day

Watch the presentation below to see our fantastic book characters. Some of us went to a lot of effort to get the costumes that we wanted! Ka Pai Totara 2!

Wacky Wednesday

Today was Wacky Wednesday at school for Book Week. There have been some outrageous hair do's, some silly additions to our school uniforms and even teachers came to school in their pyjamas!

Check out a couple of the Wacky Hair Do's that appeared in Totara 2 today!

Superstars of the Week

Congratulations to Mackenzie and Mya for receiving Key Com Certificates this week.

Mackenzie got his certificate for the excitement he shows when trying new things.

Mya got her certificate for going above and beyond in her ANZAC work.

Great work Team!

Quiver Vision

This week we have been exploring an app called Quiver. Miss Hines has been going to the Mindlab course and it was introduced to her there. We have had a lot of fun playing with the app and now we are looking at ways that we could use this to enhance our learning and work.
Below are pictures that we took of our colouring that came to life. We couldn't believe how clear they are!

Family Fiesta Cupcakes

The Family Fiesta is here! For our class entries this year, Totara were challenged to make cupcakes. Each class will be given a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Very Highly Commended. People are allowed to bid on the cupcakes and the highest bid gets to take them home. Look at some of our great creations!

Ella created some cute bears!

Ella R describes hers as a chocolate wonderland.

Holly made a secret garden with mushrooms.

Jacob's owls are super cute!

James got creative with icing and hundreds and thousands.

Jayden went to New World...

Jessie's cupcakes are pretty in pink.

Kate's sunflowers will brighten up your day.

Liam's Cookie Monsters look incredible.

Mackenzie C made cute ladybugs and flowers.

Mackenzie H was very clever and used his 6 cupcakes to make the Tardis.

Marshall made a 3 and 4 scoop icecream.

Maya went all out and went to New World...

Mya describes her cupcake as a factory of sweetness.

Reilly made some super cute farm animals.

Royden was super clever and created 6 different cupcakes.

Can you spot the BFG?

Sam made a gigantic cupcake.

Shakanna's icing looks so colourful.

Summer made some awesome 'ice creams'.

Yana made some awesome Panda's and birds nests.