We had a fantastic time learning about Tonga last term.  We learnt to sing the alphabet and head, shoulders, knees and toes in Tongan and this is something we continue to sing every week in class. 

We were very lucky to have some students from Waitaki Boys High School come and visit us.  They sung some songs and showed us a haka.

Here are some photos from their visit.

We also got to see, and learn a little bit about Austen's traditional Tongan clothing.  Thank you so much to Austen and his family for making this all possible!

Our big day out!

We had an amazing day out of the classroom on Friday.  We learnt many new things and went to some exciting new places.  This was a fantastic way to continue the learning we are doing in class.

Our first visit was to Anatini, this is where we saw some amazing limestone with many fossils and shells.  There were even some whale bone fossils... it was pretty cool to see!
Isn't it amazing to think that it was all at the bottom of the ocean many many years ago...

We also learnt all about Anatini being used for filming part of 'Narnia'.  What a special place!

Next we headed into Duntroon to visit Vanished World.  The children absolutely loved this and came out with their very own fossil sample.  This is definitely somewhere many of them will be happy to return to from their enthusiasm and reactions on the day!

Lastly, we visited Elephant Rocks... unfortunately we got a little wet while we were there but we had an fun adventure anyway and learned more about the interesting limestone formations.  Ask your child about the 'foot' we made.

A very special thank you to the parents, Stu and Jess, who were able to join us as parent helpers.  These things are not possible without the extra support.

Handwriting fun!

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday so we went outside for some printing practice.  

The children loved doing something a little different and feeling the chalk against the concrete helps to consolidate correct letter formation.

If you have some chalk at home, this would be a great way to practice sounds alive homework, something a little different!