Food for Thought!

Te Waka Ako has been very lucky to be a part of the Heart Foundation Food for Thought program. With nutritional advisor Isabelle, we looked at making healthy food choices and how these affect our tinana. 
We learned about the different food groups, how to read food labels and the sugar content in sugary drinks. We were all very surprised about the sugar content in some drinks. Did you know that a  350 ml bottle of fruit juice has 10 teaspoons of sugar? Or that a 600ml bottle of soft drink has 16 teaspoons of sugar?
The program was topped with a visit to our local New World supermarket. Here we had to put our new food label reading skills to the test. We had to identify what foods could be classified as 'Everyday' foods or 'Sometimes' foods. Our results were surprising. Foods we thought were good choices, we found were actually 'Sometimes' foods when we analyzed the labels more closely.

Futsal!

This term the seniors are learning how to play Futsal. If you don't know what that is, it is a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It features similarities to five-a-side football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is the goalkeeper.
Our coaches Kingsley and Luke have been teaching us how to 'dribble', 'juggle' and freeze. We do warm ups where they call "dribble!" And we all dribble our balls around the hall till they call a part of our body out like "Elbow." We then have to stop our ball and put that part of the body on the ball, holding it still without using our hands. This is a lot of fun.
We also play Numbers, this is where we are numbered up in two lines 1-10 opposite each other. Kingsley calls one or two numbers and we race to the centre and try to score a goal against the opposing person with the same number. 
We are really enjoying Futsal and can't wait till we start playing a full game. Our dribbling skills are improving each week.

Our Hauora House

Our overall Inquiry theme for the year has been Wellbeing - Hauora. We sectioned the learning into four terms and focused on one 'wall' each term. The Hauora House has Taha tinana or Physical Wellbeing, Taha Whanau or Social Wellbeing, Taha Wairua or Spiritual Wellbeing and Taha hinengaro or Mental Wellbeing. We used an activity created by the New Zealand Mental Health Foundation about Te Whare Tapa Wha; finding our balance.  It is a model of health that helps us to identify where we need extra support. Finally a connection with the land or whenua forms the foundation. Everyone thought about their strengths and weaknesses in these four areas and completed the chart. Here are few ideas people had about themselves. Many of the students wrote very honestly. The second activity they completed was to create an animation of the Hauora House showing all the different parts.  Below are some examples of both activities.

Toby's thinking about his 'walls'

Ama's thinking about her 'walls'

Atreyu's thinking about his 'walls'

Below are animations done by Ishaan and Jaimie, showing the different walls we need to build to be a healthy person. Click through the slideshows.

Ruapehu Rap

On the bus trip back from camp, Donald (Neeve and Indie's Dad) and the students made up a rap about camp. At Waitemata's assembly we decided to perform it... with our orange beanies on of course! Have a look.

Student Strike Day and Beach Clean

Outside our school 

It was the last day of term and we wanted to show our support for the student strike movement that was happening all over the country and the World. Te Waka Ako had taken all students to the 2nd student march back in May after being inspired by some of our own students who had attended the 1st March. As a syndicate we decided to march from our school along Hillsborough Road with our signs to our local beach area and do a beach clean. We are very proud of all the students volunteering to help their local community and all the students and New Zealanders across the country that stepped out today and said

"Enough is enough, you need to listen to us"

After arriving at the foreshore of the Manukau Harbour we separated into nine groups and headed in three different directions to see how much rubbish we could collect in an hour. We were pleasantly surprised at how clean the coastline was. With 58 students and 9 adults we picked up 10 half bags of rubbish. We expected there to be more. In fact there was much more rubbish on the road down to the beach than at the beach. On our way back up the hill many students starting picking up rubbish they saw and carrying it with no bags to put it in!
So we decided on our next clean we will clean the road on our way to the beach and enjoy exploring the coastline for sea creatures instead of rubbish.

It was a great way to make a difference and enjoy the final day of Term 3. We will be looking at ways we can support this cause and volunteer next term as well. Watch this space.

 
 

Ako Hiko Film Festival Te Waka Ako entries

Here are Waikowhai Primary's Film Festival entries for the Ako Hiko 2019 Film Festival. Te Waka Ako are the three senior classes in Waikowhai Primary so we are submitting 3 entries - one for each of the senior classes (Waitemata, Manukau and Hauraki)

Here is Waitemata's entry - Hi Vis Heroes




Here is Manukau's entry - Lifesaver




Here is Hauraki's entry - The Unsung Heroes

Mount Ruapehu Snow Camp!

Wow what a fantastic camp we had in Week 5. The weather wasn't the best, but that didn't deter us from having an amazing time at the mountain.
After all piling on to the two buses and waving (some tearful) goodbyes to the parents, we set off on our adventure. First stop was Hamilton Gardens where we broke into groups and raced around completing a photo hunt. The gardens are an amazing place to explore, if you haven't been...you should.

Next stop Otorahanga to look at the Edmund Hilary walkway and have a play at the new park and playground. Then we completed the last leg of our journey to The Crossing Backpackers in National Park. What a cool place that is! Lots of rooms, funky wooden stairs, a big games room and a movie room inside a wardrobe...just like in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!'
The next day was the first day on the snow. We had to transfer from the buses to two big shuttles with chains on. The weather wasn't great but we were all so excited. As we climbed the mountain and snow appeared, the children's expressions were priceless. We got off the buses and the snow was falling. We had a look around and then went up the mountain on the gondolas, so much fun! While we were at the top, the snowball fights started, even the teachers weren't safe, so they had to defend themselves with the odd one fired back.

We went back down on the gondolas and went sledding while we waited for our first ski/snowboard lessons. This was a lot of fun, we even got Miss McGrath to have a go.

Finally it was time for lessons. It was hard the first time, we all felt restricted and clompy in our ski boots. Some got it pretty quickly and advanced up the slopes to the top of the magic carpet. Others persevered with learning how to stop and turn. At 4pm it was time to head back down the mountain. We arrived back wet an tired to hot chicken and veggie soup, yum!

The next day was a complete white out, the snow was falling and the wind was whistling. The students didn't care, they all eagerly went for their next lesson then had to be encouraged inside for hot chips before they had 3hrs free time on the slopes! It was amazing to see their determination, bravery and perseverance. We teachers felt so proud seeing them whizzing down the slopes. Ms Sands even took an adventurous crew up a bank to ski down. What a day!

The students were tired and hungry on our return. The food at The Crossing was really good and everyone had heaps to eat. We put a movie on and they were almost asleep as their heads hit their pillows.
After packing up our gear the next day, we set off for the Taupo Hot Pools. This was a great stop, everyone jumped in the steaming hot pools in the rain. There was a slide, a Tarzan swing and even an island we could bomb off! After swimming we ate American hotdogs that the adults prepared and then we were off to look at Huka Falls.

After one last stop in Hamilton Gardens on our return for a biscuit and toilet stop, we finally made it back to school at 7pm. There were some very happy parents.
It was an incredible trip, lots of funny stories and lots of happy kids. We are so proud of how everyone behaved and challenged themselves. True to the Waikowhai way, we were complimented where ever we went by the public and staff at the places we visited.
Can't wait for the next one!

There will be a slideshow and videos to follow soon...so stay tuned.