Inquiry

We have got off to a fabulous start in inquiry and we are so excited about working as a whole Year 2/3 team! 

Already we have learnt about the production line and had a full day making some wonderful pieces. The best thing we have learnt so far is that team work helps you get things accomplished faster. It was also great to learn about making a product together which means it doesn't belong to you. 

Here we are making pipe cleaner butterflies...

During another inquiry session we learnt about creating products to sell. We found out about words like 'demand' which means we have to think about who wants to buy our products. During this week, we were given $2.50 and a partner and we had to design a product that we could sell to the other children. We used the money to buy items like paper and tape to make our products. We made our products and then we had to sell them. We loved this and learnt other things like what it means to make a profit. 

Here we are buying and selling  products...

There were not many people who made a profit and lots of people lost money! 

We have chosen our inquiry groups this term and it is going to be very exciting to work together and make things for the market at the end of the year. We think we will sell lots and make money. 

Year 2/3 Springston Team 

Haere Mai Term 4!

Aria's Fotobabble

What did you learn about the Striped Skunk?

Springston University Science Fair

What a wonderful afternoon we had! Thanks for coming out and supporting the learning that has gone on this term. We had a great time sharing with other children and our parents. It was wonderful seeing lots of people going through other classes as well. 

Check out the pics! 

Hydroponics with Mrs Lammers

Mrs Lammers came in to teach Room 1 & 2 about hydroponics. 

We learnt that plants can grow without soil! And sometimes it is better to grow them this way because it can be less work. Soil takes a lot of work because you have to turn it over and plant new things all the time. Hydroponics once its set up is meant to be easy. 

We got to plant strawberries. Everyone got to help by doing different jobs. We had to put vermiculite and perlite in the case and then poked strawberry plants in little holes all the way up. 

It's set up in our class with nutrients and air feeding the plants. 

There are lettuce plants growing in a liquid culture. It is set up in a deep tray with floating polystyrene and water and nutrients in the bottom. There are holes in the polystyrene for air and the plants to grow. When Faye lifted up the polystyrene you could see the wet roots dangling down. The roots don't get squashed because the polystyrene floats. 

The best part about Faye teaching us was helping set up the hydroponic strawberry unit. 

By Gemma and Sarah 

School open Friday

Congratulations on your A+ Adaptability as we struggle with the challenge of no power. We have no indication as yet when power will be restored to school. We plan to open school on Friday provided the weather is fine, regardless of the lack of power.

Some things you need to know: The back gate to school via the field and Secret Garden are both locked and closed until further notice. This is a safety issue because of tree damage and it is likely that these gates will be locked for the rest of Term 3.

On Friday afternoon we are planning a fun event at the Domain for the children to welcome them back to school. We will be leaving for a picnic lunch and activities at 12pm and welcome you to join us. Subway will run as normal. Icy-slicy will be postponed until next Friday.

Please note that with the power being out, we have no phones, heating or alarm systems. We will leave it to your discretion as to whether you send your children to school. If the weather should turn cold or wet, these plans will need to be reviewed. The school will open unless you are advised that it is closed by school websites, Facebook and the More 92 FM radio station.

School Closed - Thursday 12th September

Good morning whānau

Due to now power, phone and alarms at Springston School we will be closed again today...

Thursday 12th September

Thanks

Springston Staff 

School Closure Wednesday 11th September

Kia ora whānau

Due to the extreme weather and wind during the night, the power is off at school. We also have a few trees down and damage to school property.

School will be closed today - Wednesday 11th September

If you and your children are on school property, then please be aware that there are a number of fallen trees on the field and the bike track. These are roped off, but we ask you to supervise your children at all times outside of the school day 9-3pm to ensure everyones safety.

Thank you

Springston Staff

Scar making

Alaina came and painted scars and bruises on Maddison, Tuala and Mrs. Scaaaaaaarlet. 

That kind of makeup is called special effects and they use it in tv and movies. 

We think Alaina is so clever because she can do all those things. 

We will use this for our creative writing. 

By Sam and Rosie. 

Human Sentences

We wrote human sentences in writing time. We figured out a sentence as a team and then wrote our words down on a small piece of paper. We stood up in front of the class in the correct order so that it made sense. Then we read it to the class. 

We liked writing the sentences and standing up in front of the class because we could teach everyone. 

We are learning compound sentences at the moment and this helps us remember the right way to write them. Compound sentences have 2 clauses and use a joining word like so, and, but and or. 

These pictures are of us doing it. 

By Adele and Addison. 

Soil not Dirt!

We had a soil expert visit our class. Does anyone recognise her? Yes it's the wonderful Trish Fraser. 

Trish came and taught us all about why soil is so important. It is a living thing and because we have soil we can stay alive! 

What we mean is if soil wasn't there then the cows couldn't eat grass and we couldn't drink milk and eat meat. Also plants couldn't grow and give us food like vegetables. We also thought we couldn't live in houses because there would be no trees so we couldn't use the wood for building. And we couldn't use paper for writing. 

So many great ideas when we put our thinking caps on! 

But when we talk to Trish about soil we can't say dirt! 

It's the Plants!

We have started this term with a fantastic trip into the city of Christchurch. We were looking at the plants in Riccarton Bush and also at The Botanical Gardens. We had an amazing time! Have a look at our slide show.

Mrs Watsons Class Blog!!

Click this to check out Mrs Watsons class blog - The Aberdeen Adventurers

Little Lamb

Zac bought his brand new lamb to school today.  It was born 13 hours and 10 mins ago!  He has to feed it with milk because it is too young to eat the grass.  The lamb can't stand up properly yet and he has not got a name yet.  What do you think it should be called?

Planting Beans ...

Today we planted beans in CD cases.
First we got our CD case and put our names on them.
Next we got our safety gear on.  We needed gloves and a breathing mask because we were using potting mix.  We put some potting mix into the CD case.
Then we placed a bean in the middle.
Finally we closed up the CD case and put some cellotape on them.

Ohhhh we wonder what is going to happen?
We have to be patient to see what happens next ... we will let you see the progress!!!

Haere Mai Term 3

Kia Ora Tamariki and Whānau!

Welcome to Term 3. Helen and I are both excited about all the adventures the Springston Explorers will have this term. And YES - I am back in action. I look forward to being back in full(ish) swing again with the children this term. My achilles tendon recovery is going well and I am down to using one crutch while walking and around home I get by with none...I will be back to the gym and running in no time!

Helen had a great holiday over in Australia and I had an amazing holiday traveling the South Island, it was so good that I came back engaged! 

As you all know our school wide theme for the year is 'Growing' and this terms over arching idea will be 'Nurture and Nourish'. We are beginning the learning with a trip to the Botanical Gardens and Riccarton Bush. Please print out the PDF either on here or emailed to you and return as soon as possible. If you are unable to print then please have your child pick one up from school. 

This week we will also be planting beans using potting mix. Helen and I wanted to inform you of this because of some of the ingredients in potting mix, but please be assured that the children will be wearing gloves during this activity. If you do not wish your child to handle the potting mix then please let one of us know and we will be able to do the potting mix part of the activity for your child. 

We welcome a couple of children into our class this term - a familiar face - Arohaina will be joining us, and a new to Springston boy named Blake. We are thrilled that they are joining the Springston Explorers team. 

Be sure to pop in and say hello. 

Nga mihi nui

Corrina and Helen 

Choice and Challenge

On Fridays we do Choice and Challenge.  We get to choose an activity and we are learning to be resilient - stick to what we have chosen.
This is the Build It! group today.
What a great creation you have made Gemma, Sonya, Caz, Addi and Tessa.

We hope you are coming!

The Robber Fox

We read The Robber Fox written by Jill Eggleton and we wrote what we thought the robber fox was up to. Enjoy reading our stories.

Sam makes the paper!

Great photo of Sam at the Lincoln Sports Spectacular. Good on you for making the paper Sam, looks like you were working hard!

Term 2 Starts with a Bang!

Us teachers have been planning great things for you over the holidays! We are excited about starting this term off with a bang! See you all bright, refreshed and ready to learn tomorrow! 

Robbie's Science Experiment

We made Hokey Pokey and learnt that when you add baking soda to hot sugar and golden syrup you get a chemical reaction and carbon dioxide is released in big frothy bubbles, it was fun to watch and even funner to eat!!!

Ella and Lucys science experiment .. moveable milk.

Milk.food colouring..dip cotton bud with dish washing liquid on it..milk moves and mixes colour by itself! !! We loved it.

Sport Spectacular

The Years 3 and 4 have been having such a great time down at Lincoln University today with the Sports Spectacular. What a cracker of the day after the weekend too! The Lincoln University and High School put on some great activities for us and it was neat to mix with some other children from different schools.

"My favourite activity to do was rugby because we already know how to play ripper" Sam G.

"Rugby was my favourite activity because I already play it" Phoebe.

"I liked the rugby because I've played it for 2 years and I was real good" Ben.

"I liked the Netball because I like throwing into the hoops" Kiera.

Check out some action shots from the day...

Yellow Bird

Addison bought in Yellow Bird for us to see what it would be like to have a living creature in our classroom.  It was GREAT!!!  Thanks Addison for letting us borrow Yellow Bird for three days - we are now going to have to decide what animal to have in our class.  Next, Jaimee is going to bring us some fish to try ...

Leave a comment if you think we should have a living creature in the class or if you have a living creature in your class - what it is and if you think it is a good idea or not.

Inquiry - Curtain, Growing and Science Committee

For inquiry we are raising money to get some things for our classroom. We are doing it so our learning space is more comfortable and we think it will help us learn better.

There are three groups:
1. The Curtain Committee
2. The Growing Committee
3. The Science Committee

We talked about what we liked and didn't like about our classrooms and decided to focus on three areas that everyone agreed needed some work.

Helen and Corrina let us (the children) decide on the things we wanted to get the most. It was cool because otherwise we might not have liked what they did. We all chose the group we were going to be in and some people wrote letters to Helen and Corrina to be one of the leaders.

This is a picture of the Curtain Committee working together to figure out what we are going to do to get new curtains. We want new curtains because the sun is too bright in our eyes and distracts us from learning. We think dark blue curtains will suit our room and us the best. We are talking about fundraising ideas and ways to solve our problem.


By Ariā And Katie

Home Learning

Thanks for sending in your picture of you being so adventurous while you were doing your home learning Ella.  We can just see you on "New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker!"

Just to let you know that Home Learning is due in the last week of term.  We have see some amazing home learning so far.  Keep your eye on the blog for Fractions Fun and some cool science experiments.

Craft Day Fun

On Friday we had craft day and it was so much fun! We really enjoyed making things at home and then bringing them to show at school. We also really liked making sand saucers and vege creations at school.

The play in assembly was really funny and the sunflowers looked so good.

The best part was the markets at the end because we got to buy and sell things, and raise some money for our new curtains for our class that we want to get.