Junior Christmas Assembly

Wow! What a fantastic concert! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Thanks so much for all the help with costumes, and helping us practise our songs. It was awesome to see so many of you there.

Here are a few photos of us just before we went into the Hall. There were some of us at the back of the row, so they are hard to see - sorry!

Happy Christmas!

Hanukkah!

This afternoon we had a visit from J.D.'s Mum, Tammi, and big sister, Zoe, to tell us about Hanukkah. We found out lots of interesting things, listened to JD sing us a song, and heard stories about the history of Hanukkah celebrations. They taught us a special game, called the Driedl game, which we played with chocolate coins (it was a very popular game!). We saw the special Menorah candle, which gets lit for 8 nights. And we ate shortbread cookies - just for fun! Thanks so much to you all for sharing this celebration with us.

The Chicks are in Town!

We had a very special visit from Hugh's new, five week old chicks, Lola and Blondie (!). They were very cute, and it was great to be able to get up close to them. We looked at their new feathers growing, and their big feet - perfect for scratching.
Thanks, Michelle, for bringing them in to show us. : )

Arrow Gold Animation

Wow! We have made our first animation - it is so cool! We had so much fun making the set (thanks Kris), as well as the horse (well done, Alex), the gold (super painting of your coin J.D.) and the peg people (great job Ellie, Eva, Jess and I think Ella - I hope I haven't forgotten anyone). We also had the generous donation of an awesome stone cottage from Jess' big brother, Sean - thanks Sean. Then we had some super film makers from Room 20 to help us put it all together - a HUGE thanks to Rose and Joel.

Joel and Rose showed us the app to use on our ipad. Then they showed us how to set up the ipad so that it didn't move, and so that it showed just the set. Then they made sure everyone had a turn moving the horse or the eg person a teeny tiny bit at a time, or took the photos. They were awesome teachers!

We hope you enjoy our animation about finding gold in the Arrow, 150 years ago.

Exploring Arrowtown

Last week we went on a fantastic walk, organised by the Lakes District Museum. We walked through the main street and looked at the old, and not-so-old, buildings. We visited the Chinese Village, and Sylvan got dressed up! (Who can remember what the special sign in Ah Lum's shop was for? And what was Sylvan holding in his hands?). And, most exciting of all, we went GOLD PANNING! And some of us found some!! Mrs Clark taught us how to pan the right way, and some of us were very lucky! A huge thanks to those who were able to walk with us, and to to Museum for organising such a great trip. You can see more photos on their blog at www.handsonhistory.co.nz. (sadly my camera batteries died at an inconvenient time)
PS Don't forget that you can see the photos below in greater detail if you click on them!

Ajay's Awesome Writing!

Every day the children write little stories on little whiteboards using new and interesting words. Today Ajay did a great job using dragon, Chinese, chop, chimney and jump (can you tell we are working on words that start with 'ch'?!). Great work, Ajay!

Cycle Day!

We had heaps of fun today going round obstacle courses on our bikes, and learning how to control them. We also learned how to wear our helmets safely. A big thanks to those who were able to come and help out - we couldn't do it without you! I took some photos - I hope I got everyone!!