Gardening

 Our inquiry topic for term 4 is, 'From Garden to Table.'

During the last three weeks we have learned many new things about seeds and plants and have also extended our prior knowledge about plants and gardening. 

We have germinated bean and sunflower seeds without using soil and also with soil.

Without soil: Here is a written procedure that tells you how you can do this.

Here is what our seeds look like after two weeks. 

I look, I notice, I wonder

Many have sprouted and some of the seedlings were touching the top of the bag. We wondered what we could do to solve the problem so the plants could grow up straight. We opened the bags and after just one day the plants look straighter and they have grown even taller right out the top of the bags. We can also see the roots on each plant.

We also noticed that some seeds had not yet germinated. We think there was too much water in the cotton wool so we squeezed the balls and some are starting to germinate. 

Too wet!

Term 2, Week 7, 2021

Tree planting at Lake Ngatu 

Today all of the Paparore School students, teachers and lots of adult whanau members went over to the lake to help DOC, Bushlands Trust, Summit Forests and Ngai Takato plant trees. The adults dug the holes and the students planted the small trees. Then we got to have a barbecue lunch. It was a beautiful winter's day and we had lots of fun being kaitiaki.

Term 2 Week 8

Here is the link to the slide presentation from Tuesday evening's junior school parent hui - 'How to help your child with their learning'

Thanks to all those parents who turned up for this meeting despite it being a cold winter's night. We appreciated the opportunity to share "more than 100 years of teaching experience" . . . HAHA! These are the bones or notes of the presentation. Whanau, if you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to ask for clarification. 

Te Whare Kiwi's Matariki Day

On Wednesday the students from Te Putake, Te Pihi and Te Kakano did their learning together. We had fun learning, creating and sharing. After lunch we all went out to the field area. Some students chose to play their own games with friends, build huts or explore in the gardens and trees. Some students chose to weed and clear the garden so we could have more space to play in the trees without getting hurt. These students had great fun being Kaitiaki. We finished the day with a Junior School Kapa Haka session -  THANKS MRS BRYDON!

Paper kites

Colouring in Matariki Stars

Sharing and creating.

Tuakana teina 

Thinking and creating.

Play dough stars.

Examples of completed Matariki art. Kite art created in Te Kakano classroom and collage created in Te Putake classroom.

Check out these busy bees

1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . all together now! 

Before the clean-up

After the clean-up

The pile of weeds, sticks and unwanted seedlings was huge by the time we had finished. We each carried armfuls of garden waste across the field to a hidden spot to decompose. What a great effort kids! Thanks for your mahi!