Visit to Bishop's School and City Walk

This morning we visited Bishop's School on Nile Street to experience what school was like in the 1800s.  John was our teacher and we called him "Sir".  We had lessons in handwriting, arithmetic and reading.  We started our lessons by singing "God Save the Queen".  We found out that students were given the cane or strap for misbehaviour or for not finishing their work.  We had morning tea on the Cathedral steps and then went on a city walk to view some historic buildings.  Here are some photos from our trip.

School Powhiri

Today we had a Powhiri at church to welcome new students, families and teachers to Saint Paul's School.  The Karanga and the Haka sounded amazing inside the church building and the visitors felt very welcomed.

The Bus Tour

Last Thursday Kotuku and Kereru went on a bus trip around our place (Nelson). We went into 4 groups.  I was in a group with my best friends, Patrick and Finn. My Mum was the leader of my group. I was at the top of the bus on the way there. I was also sitting next to Patrick and Finn.

The first stop was Tahuna beach, because we needed to have a look at the Abel Tasman statue. We wanted to learn a little bit about our place. We learnt that Abel Tasman was the first European to make contact with Maori.

The next stop we went to was Wakefield Quay. Wakefield Quay is a Memorial of all the boats and people that came to Nelson. Mrs Trolle' asked us if we could find our class bird on the Memorial wall. All the other classes had a bird on the wall, except us.  Our class name is Kotuku. We also had to find a person that came on a boat that was the same age and the same gender as us.  I managed to find a person that was the same age and the same gender as me. His name was Samuel Woolley.

Soon after that we hopped on the bus and headed toward Founder's Park. Founder's Park is basically a version of what it was like in Nelson when it was first founded. We followed the direction of the park to have morning tea. Soon after that we looked at the food that they used to have in the olden days. It was quite interesting seeing all of the food that they used to have back then. In fact some of the food is the same from back them to modern times, e.g. coke, treacle, butter, etc. Later on we studied about the old newspapers and phones. The phones used to be massive! That was the end of our tour at Founder's Park.

The next stop was the Ernest Rutherford Memorial. When we first arrived we had a look at the statue of Ernest Rutherford when he was a child. In his hand he had a book of Academics. Next we had a look at what he did for a living. He studied Physics (a branch of science). He was famous for being the first person to split the atom. He also won a Nobel Prize, which is very amazing.

Next we hopped back in the bus and started to head back to school.
I thoroughly enjoyed the bus trip.
By Jacob

Swimming Programme term 1

Everyday this week we have walked down to the Aquatic Centre for our swimming lessons.  It's a nice way to cool off at the end of each hot day.  Our swimming instructors are lots of fun, but work us hard!

Bus Tour

Here are some photos from our bus tour on Thursday.  We travelled to Tahunanui Beach to look at the Abel Tasman statue and Wakefield Quay to look at the Early Settlers Memorial wall.  We then headed off to Founders Historic Park for morning tea.  We finished our trip at Brightwater looking at the Ernest Rutherford Memorial.  We had a great time and came back to school with lots of questions for our inquiry unit.  Thank you to our parent helpers :)

Meet the Kotuku Kids!

This week I asked the students to tell me what they would like to be when they grow up while they posed for a class photograph.  I love their creative and ambitious responses.  They are certainly going to shine like stars in the future!  Go for it Kotuku kids!  Here are some of them (the rest are on display in our classroom) ...

All About Me Backpacks

This morning for news, some of the students in Kotuku shared the special things they had collected to put in their All About Me Backpacks.  It was fun to see how creative they had each been and we learnt some interesting information about each person that we did not know.  Here are a couple of them ...

Did you know that Sam was an extremely cute baby?  Poor Sam suffered from reflux.  He brought along his number that he wore to the Inter-regional cross country race to show he is a talented runner.  He is mad about cricket.

Rosa brought along a special toy she has had since she was a baby.  She also showed the ribbons she won for atheletics.  She has a DVD of her dancing with her dance group and also some Scripture verses from her church.

Name Skeletons

On Friday we began making name skeletons.  It was a lot trickier than it looked on Pinterest!  The tricky part was cutting out our names neatly to form the rib cage of our skeletons.  Tysen and Joshua worked hard and managed to finish their skeletons.  Don't they look great?!  Come and see the rest on display in Kotuku room this week.

Introducing Mrs Trolle!

My name is Mrs Sarah Trolle (pronounced Tro-lay) and I will be your teacher this year in Kotuku class. I live in Tasman with my husband Lance and my two children, Sienna and Luca.  Sienna has started school this year and Luca goes to daycare.  I have been a teacher for over 16 years and have taught many different age groups.  I love art, running, kitesurfing, reading, swimming and technology.

I taught at Saint Paul's School when it first opened in 1999.  I taught in Pukeko, Piwakawaka, Hoiho and Kea class over the 11 years I was at the school.  Recently I have been teaching full time at Birchwood School in Stoke until I had my son.  It is lovely to be back at Saint Paul's School. Many faces of children and parents are very familiar!

Thank you to the parents and children for making me feel so welcome on day 1.  I am looking forward to a great year with an amazing class :)

Hi Kotuku class!  I hope you've had a great holiday and are ready to get back to begin term 1 of 2014.  Stay posted for more updates soon.  Mrs Trolle :)