Monday, February 15th, saw Rooms 5, 4 and 3 head down to an adventure at Lake Whakamaru Camp. On the way, we did the Te Waihou walkway in Putaruru, where the ‘Pump’ bottled water is pumped from a deep blue spring. An amazing sight! When we got to camp we did many awesome activities, such as Rock Climbing, Kayaking, Mini-putt, Archery, Air-Rifles, Treasure Hunts and a very scary Burma Trail!  All the children challenged themselves and achieved their goals they set before camp (and so did the teachers!). A huge thank you has to go out to the nine parents that  ran activities, shared rooms, helped in the kitchen and put themselves ‘on call’ for 4 days! We would be lost without you! Also, thanks to Mr Broadhurst for driving the bus and coming to help out with the Burma trail!  Enjoy the slideshow of all our adventures!

Welcome back to 2010!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and that the children (and parents alike) are ready for a busy, fun, interesting and lots of learning!

As promised, Room 5 got a facelift over the holidays, so

I thought it was only fair that I put up the new class pictures before school started!! It is now a wonderful and motivating area to work and learn in, and I look forward to sharing new experiences with all the awesome

children I have this year!

Today, 18th December, brings us to the end of 2009. As a Year 5 class we have had an exciting time together – with us all (meaning students and teacher alike!) having an amazing year, full of learning, achievements and most importantly – fun! As a class, this group of  Year 5’s have all grown in knowledge, maturity and height! They worked well as a team to achieve the end of year reward, which was to go up to Freddie’s beautiful property to swim and play!  I wish all the students the best in 2010 and I’m sure they will all go far!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Mrs. T.

In Room 5 we have been learning about Precious Energy over the last two terms. We have surveyed the classrooms energy usage and looked at different types of insulation. We also looked closely at our classroom and what could be done to make it more energy efficient!. We wrote a list of positives, negatives and possible renovations that could be done to make this come true. We also made a 1:10 scale model of our class as it is now. It took a few weeks, but in the end looked like an exact replica! Our classroom (as well as Room 4 and 3) were up for renovation this year, and these Christmas holidays, our wish (and some of our ideas!) have come true! Here are some model pics and ‘before’ images of the class (before the walls/roof/carpet got ripped down) – stayed tuned in 2010 for the ‘afters!’

The 8th November, brought a bright, sunny day – perfect for our Mower Day. There were stalls, businesses, helicopter rides, amusement rides, food, cheerleaders and of course MOWERS!  We raised $35,000! What a huge effort everyone put in!

Bang! The mowers shot around the track like silver bullets and the sound was like a group of angry bears waiting for their food. I went to buy some delectable candy-floss and some sizzling chips. Matty and I went on the high, stretchy bungy jumping and did loop after loop, until we were dizzy and falling over! When we had enough of the sun we went under a enormous tree. I was getting thirsty so Matty and I paid for a drink. They were bubbling in the can and it sounded like lots of little bubbles popping…Ryan

Towards the end of Term 3, we learnt about food and nutrition.

This involved looking at the food pyramid, what we should have each day and reading food labels.

Once we learnt how to read food labels, we were shocked at the amounts of sugar and fats that were in our lunches and everyday food.

We went for a trip to the Brookfield New World to compare different brands and types of food and the awesome supermarket gave us a $60 food voucher.

We decided as a class to have lots of fruits, veges and healthy wholesome sandwiches, followed by some delicious juice! Yum!

We celebrated Conservation Week 14-18 September, in a variety of ways.

We had lunch in the Native Bush, Wrapper-free lunches, Recycling, Walk ‘n’ Talk in the Puketoki Reserve  and an awesome recycled art day.

The pics speak for themselves.

We all had a fantastic and motivational week.

Year 6 Science Fair winners?

Yes, I know you are all thinking – ‘But isn’t Room 5 a Year 5 class?’. Well, yes it is!  Nicole and Phoebe took part in the Year 6 Science Fair with Mrs Webster’s class as an extension challenge.

Phoebe and Nicole chose the topic  ’Shopping with Germs’, which investigated the difference in bacteria between EFTPOS machines and shopping trolleys at the supermaket. It was set out beautifully and was of a very high standard.

So high in fact, that they came 1ST EQUAL with Ruben from Room 4! Well done girls, you have achieved a lot during this challenge! I can’t wait to see what you do next year, when you’re actually Year 6’s!

Mr Parkin is a 2nd year teaching student from the University of Waikato, here in Tauranga. He is spending six weeks with our class and will be teaching as well as learning lots from all of us.

‘Smithy’ was our senior production this year. It took a lot of hard work, hours of practices, very skilled teachers and fabulous actors/actresses! We were part of the Year 5/6 chorus and had an awesome time! Below are a couple of recounts of our experiences at Baycourt on the night…

My Smithy Experience by Cameron

6.15pm: I was arriving at Baycourt with my brother and my mum. My grandparents came in their car. I went in the green room. It was embarrassing coming in with makeup on! Then we had a practice. The light was so,so bright, it made me step back. We went back to the green room and waited for the adults to get in their seats. Then ‘School Stinks’ started. It took a while for it to start. But then it started and people were laughing.

After, we came back to the green room. We were watching the tv. It had no sound but it came on at half time. When we went on stage I saw my Mum. On another song I saw my brother. He was easy to see.  Then Jonty, Larissa, Leo and Jordan alldressed up as mums. Jonty looed the most like a mum. That’s what I thought. Then the smoke machine came. It was so, so smoky. Then ‘I told you so’, and ‘Smithy’. We all sang our hardest. It finished, then Mr Marshall gave a speech. We then had a choice from all the songs. Most people said ‘School Stinks’. It was a good night. I went home and went to bed.

My Smithy Experince by Gemma

My Mum dropped me off outside of Baycourt and without saying goodbye, I was off! I was sprinting to get to the dressing room. First I went to the makeup room to get makeup on. When they were putting my eyeliner on, I got poked a lot because I couldn’t keep still.

We had a practice of ‘School Stinks’ and we were supposed to have a practice of ‘I told you so’, which was the song my brother sang, but before that my brother (Lewis) had sneezed and rubbed all his wrinkles off (his wrinkles were put on with makeup). So, he had to go and get them on again.

“In five minutes, the school bell will ring” called Mrs van Dijk. Then all the lights went off. I could hear the audience talking. It felt like hours, but I know it was only minutes.

Finally the bell rang. The curtain brushed across my face, I looked up and of my blood went to my feet. I never thought there would be that many people. A boy named Jacob called into a microphone “Attention, all students report to the assembly area immediately. I repeat all students report to the hall immediately”. Then we all said ‘Awwwwwwwww’ with out heads and arms down. The music started and we sang and danced to ‘School Stinks’.

After that we went to the green room. I felt relieved, I think I did well on that song.

Next we did ‘Apologies to Shakespeare’, ‘Drama is Fun’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, “Who’d Be A Boy?’, ‘Curse of the Sporting Life’, ‘Wonderful Darlings’, ‘I told you so’ and for the curtain call we sang ‘Smithy’ and at the end Mr Marshall from the Board of Trustees did a speech. I’d love to do it all again!

My ‘Smithy’ Experience by Holly

It was here – the big night! I couldn’t believe it. My mum and big brother dropped me off all ready. I had my makeup on and my hair tied up tight, so I raced to my dressing room and got into my costume. We were all nervous! Finally the time came to do the first song. We lined up and got ready to go. We left with silent feet. We slowly went on the stage – it was all dark because the humungous curtains were closed. All of a sudden the lights came up and the curtains were opening all our heads were down then the music started. We did the whole song without making a single mistake.

After the song we went back to our dressing rooms and we were allowed to have some free time. Then we did a couple more songs. Then it was half way thought the show. By then the sound on the T.V was working so we got to watch it a bit more. On stage they were acting that there was a fire and there was even a smoke machine to make it look like a real fire!

It came to the end of the show where we were doing the last songs. Our songs were ‘Wonderful Darlings’, ‘I told you so’ and ‘Smithy’. All of us bowed when we sang ‘Smithy’. It was cool! Then Mr Marshall gave a speech and then there was an encore for ‘School Stinks’ so we had to sing ‘School Stinks’ again! It was the end of the show and everyone started to leave.

I reckon it was a fantastic show and ‘Smithy’ was absolutely magnificent. I went home with a smile on my face.