Cricket Coaching

On Thursday 20 October Dion came from the Otago Cricket Association to teach us some cricket skills. First we warmed up by playing a game of ball tag. After that we did some catching practice. We had to be careful when catching the tennis ball to make sure we followed the ball with our eyes right into our hands. We practised with a partner and by throwing the ball up in the air and clapping while it was coming down. It taught us the importance of getting our hands in the right position and keeping our eyes on the ball. The next skill we practised was bowling. We learnt the correct technique and the importance of keeping our bowling arm straight. Dion explained that our front arm was like a pulling a chain except that we were actually pulling our bowling arm into position to bowl the ball. We spent a lot of time practising bowling at sets of wickets. It was fun and we will try to apply these skills the next time we play cricket.

Golf

When the sports activator last visited we had a session learning about the basic skills of golf. First we had to learn how to pick up the club and hold it correctly. We learnt about the importance of keeping our heads down and keeping our eyes on the ball. We started out using quite a large ball which was easy to hit but didn’t go very far. Next we moved onto the tennis ball which was a bit harder to hit but went much further and finally we got to use a soft golf ball. Some children had trouble hitting this small sized ball off the tee but others were able to hit it quite a long way. We enjoyed our first experience of playing golf.

School Concert

On Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening of the last week of the term, Milton Primary School students performed a concert at the Toko High School hall. The evening began with the whole school singing  two songs which were followed by several items by the kapa haka group.  The other items on the programme consisted of several high energy dance numbers, a performance of a maori legend by most of the junior classes, and three songs performed by MP3, the school’s band.

At the end of the night the seniors performed some entertaining syndicate singing for the audience.There was a raffle and many prizes were won. The hall was full to bursting on the Tuesday night and nearly as full on the Monday. The concert was enjoyed by everyone. It was a wonderful afternoon on Monday and an even better performance on Tuesday evening.

Technology Challenge

This term we have been learning about space. For our technology challenge we had to design and build something to do with space. Some of the ideas we came up with were a space vehicle, a costume, or a model of our solar system. We have been able to work on this project since the start of the term and we were allowed to get our parents to help us make them. There was a wide variety of creations produced and the standard was very high. Thanks to all the parents who assisted with this project.

Class Trip

On 25 August, we went to Dunedin on a class trip. First we went to the Otago Museum where we spent an hour doing some activities around the topic of sustainability which we had studied last term. However, the main purpose of our visit was to go to the planetarium because this term we have been doing lots of research about space. Everyone enjoyed this experience and we learnt lots of fascinating facts about our solar system and beyond. Our next stop was at the Dunedin Art Gallery where John, the educator, took us on a tour and stopped at several paintings to discuss them in more detail with us. We had fun using some hand bells to play a tune and learnt a simple action song as well as learning lots more interesting information about space. It was a fun filled day full of new learning experiences.

Cross Country

On 17 August, the Milton Area Schools Cross Country was held at Tokoiti School. The track was a 2km course around their school field and some neighbouring paddocks. The junior children had a much smaller track of about half a kilometre. It was a nice sunny day and the grounds weren’t muddy at all. The Years 3, 4, 5, and 6’s who finished in the first five of their races get to go down to the South Otago champs in Clinton on 24 August. After their race, the children were very puffed and hot with all the effort they put in. There were heaps of parents and family members there to watch their children. Every child should be very proud of themselves for competing so well and congratulations to those who qualified for the South Otago champs.

Basketball Coaching

Last week the sports activator came to our school. This time she was here to teach us some skills for basketball. First we played a fun game of snowball tag followed by a game like bullrush. These were our warm up activities. One of the skills we practised was dribbling. We played a game call the dribble king. We had to try to bounce our ball without having it pushed out of the square. Whoever was the last one left was the dribble king. The next skill we practised was shooting. We had to balance the ball in one hand, push it up and then catch it. Next we took turns to shoot some hoops. It was really fun and we look forward to learning some more basketball skills the next time the activator visits.

Clutha Clued Up Kids

On the 3 August the Year 6 students from Milton Primary joined students from all over the Clutha district at the recreation centre in Balclutha for the Clutha Clued Up Kids workshop. There were 10 different stations for the small groups of children to rotate around. One activity was to ride a bike around a course. It had stop signs, some cones and even a ramp. At another station we had a session with St John’s. We had to bandage up a wounded patient. We even used fake blood. We learnt about quad bike safety. We learnt about the DRS ABC. D was to look for dangers, R is to check for a response, S was to send for help, A was to check the airway, B was to see if they were breathing and C was CPR. The other activities we did during the morning were dog safety, firearms safety, beach safety, fire safety, what to do in an earthquake, how to check a helmet, farm safety and we even did one about how your brain works and how to relax. Most people don’t realize how important these keeping ourselves safe tips are but if we remember what we did here it could truly save a life one day.

Poetry Competition

On Wednesday the 5th of July Milton Primary School had a Poetry competition, which was held in the Milton Primary School hall. The children do the poetry competition to learn about language and how to perform expressively in front of an audience. Finalists from Waihola, Tokoiti, St Marys, Milton Primary, competed in the competition, The judge was Vivienne Gelettley. The children competed in their year levels.The finalists were judged on knowing their poem, speaking slowly and putting expression and actions into their poems, eye contact and audience appeal. All the winners received a trophy. The children had a great time and can’t wait till next year’s competition.

Hockey Tournament

A frosty morning greeted all of the brave students who were participating in the annual hockey tournament on 6 July. It was held on the second last day of term two. St Mary’s, Tokoiti, Waihola and Clutha Valley came over to challenge Milton Primary School.  It was really cold and slippery at the start but that didn’t stop us. M.P.S had six teams entered but only one team made it into the semis. Some children got hurt in the games (mostly from slipping on the ice), but they kept playing and we all had to work together to get goals and try to stop the other team from scoring. In the end St Mary’s Gold and M.P.S Green were in the final for first and second place. M.P.S Green were the champions and St Mary’s Gold came second. We loved having the students from the high school reffing us. It was a long and hard day but we all thought it was definitely a lot of fun!

Life Education

The Life Education bus came to Milton Primary school recently. Pip and Harold, the puppet giraffe, were teaching us about what cigarettes, medicines, drugs and alcohol can do to our bodies. Pip taught us about how smoking can damage our bodies and to say “no” if someone asks you if you want a cigarette. Then Pip taught us how all medicines are drugs but not all drugs are medicines, which means that some drugs are not good for you. Other drugs like medicines can be ok as long as they are prescribed by a doctor. The next thing we learnt about was that alcohol doesn’t just effect the brain when you have too much of it. It affects the whole body like the heart and the liver. We learnt a lot about the human body and how it gets affected by different types of drugs. We all had fun in the Life Education bus and we look forward to it returning again next year!!! J

Book Week

From Monday 20 June till Friday 25 June, it was Book Week at Milton Primary. On Monday classes got together to do some buddy reading. On another day the student leaders went around the classrooms where they are wet day monitors and read the children some stories. On Thursday, to celebrate book week, we were allowed to dress up as our favourite book character. Everyone enjoyed seeing other students’ costumes and their amazing ideas. Some of the costumes on display were Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, Tigger, Spiderman and various witches and princesses. We also had a book fair running throughout the week in the school library. There were chapter books and picture books and posters for sale to help raise money for the school library. The books are amazing and very interesting to read. 

Soccer Coaching

Last week three Footballsouth coaches came from Dunedin to take us for a soccer practice. It was the first of three weekly sessions help us learn the skills of soccer and then practise them in a game situation. The first activity we did was like a game of ripper and we had to chase each other and collect as many tags as we could. Next we practised some ball skills and learnt about the correct parts of the foot we should be using when dribbling. Finally we had time for a quick game which we all enjoyed!

Technology Challenge

The concept we are exploring this term is Environment and Sustainability. As part of this focus, the children were set a technology challenge to build a type of vehicle or a musical instrument from recycled materials and were encouraged to get parents to help out with them. The class talked about trying to use renewable sources of energy to power the vehicles and we discussed the types of everyday household items that could be used in the construction process. As you can see in the photos below, the children produced a very high standard of work and should be very proud of their efforts. Many thanks to all the parents who supported their children with these projects.

Whanau Group Activities

Each Friday afternoon straight after lunch, all of the children in the school go to their whanau groups where they learn about maori language and culture. Each whanau group has three student leaders who do much of the organisation and running of the programme. A kete of maori activities and resources has been placed in each classroom to support our learning in this area and for the last fortnight the student leaders have each selected an activity from the kete to share with the children in their group. In the pictures below you can see members of the Rata whanau group participating in some of the activities organised by their student leaders.

Ripper Rugby

When the sports activator visited the school last week she took us for a training session to help us practise the skills we need to play ripper rugby. We worked a lot with a partner practising how to rip off the tags. We learnt about how to pass a rugby ball properly and about some of the rules of ripper rugby. We enjoyed a game of bullrush where you had to run to safety without having your tags ripped off. Some of our class represented the school at the ripper rugby tournament in Balclutha on Thursday 2 June.

Whanau Group Activity Day

On Friday 20 May we had a whole day in our whanau groups doing fun activities. The first activity we did was tree planting with Glen from Sinclair Wetlands. First we got given dead branches with lots of things that looked like dried up berries on them. These berry like things were seed pods and when you split them open or rather, squashed them open, there were lots of tiny shiny black seeds in them. Next we went outside and planted mini Harakeke, Ti Kouka and Kowhai seedlings. Secondly we went to learn about matariki with Miss Keene. We learnt that matariki is the Maori New Year and that if the stars are bright it will be a good warm year but if they are dull and not very bright it will be a bad cold year. We also made star charts where we had to label the seven stars of matariki with their correct names. Thirdly we went to Mrs Stephen who showed us a short video clip about Tamareriti a maori warrior who made the stars. We got to do some art which included lots and lots of silver glitter, FUN!!!! The glittery stars we made are on display in the school hall. The final activity we did was flax weaving. We weaved huge mats out of old mint green blinds as well as weaving matariki fish with flax from the wetlands. In the afternoon at assembly (it was a special whanau group assembly) we shared the banners we had made in our whanau groups earlier in the term. We all had a really fun day on Friday and everyone enjoyed it.

Strike Percussion

On Wednesday 18 May three amazing, talented people called Danny, Hannah and Jim from the band called ‘Strike Percussion’ came to our school. They really put on a show because the children covered their ears tightly  because the sound was so loud!! The three performers hands were going like mad and they were so fast that you could hardly see them moving up and down while they were playing the drums, the big harmonica called a marimba, and last but not least, the wooden pacific log drums. The instruments they played were very interesting because most came from tropical islands and they were hand made and described very well by Danny, Hannah and also Jim. The band had a lot of humour and was very funny, they worked really hard to put this on for the students of Milton Primary School and we thank them very much. It was clear that everyone enjoyed it and we all want them to come back to our school again soon!!

Sinclair Wetlands Visit

On  6 May all of the children in the Rata whanau group visited the Sinclair Wetlands. This was an important part of the concept we are investigating this term which is "Environment and Sustainability". Our first activity was to watch a video about the wetlands and we learnt about some of the creatures that live there. Next we went on a walk around part of the wetlands and our guide, Glenn, stopped at several points and talked to us about interesting things we found along the way. We all enjoyed the wonderful view from the lookout and it was fascinating to find out about the type of pests that invade the wetlands and how they trap them. After lunch, we spent some time planting some native plants to help develop the wetlands. It was a very enjoyable and interesting day.

Science Experiments

During the last few weeks we have been conducting scientific investigations into the topic of Air.We came up with a list of questions for our wonderings wall which we have been researching using google docs to complete a shared project together.

Last week we did some experiments to help us to learn more about Air. We are now going to show you a video of what we did and explain what each experiment taught us about air.

In the first experiment, a plastic bottle with a balloon over the end of it was placed in a bowl of cold water……nothing happened. We then put the same bottle in a jug of hot water and the balloon immediately started to inflate. This shows us that when air is heated, it rises.

Next, we did an experiment which involved half filling a cup with water. A small piece of cardboard was placed over the cup and the cup was turned upside down very quickly. Instead of spilling out, the card stayed in place because the air pressure on the inside of the cup was balanced by the air pressure on the outside.

For our next experiment, a balloon was attached to the inside of a plastic bottle which had a small hole in the side of it. We were able to inflate the balloon not by blowing air into it, but by sucking the air out from inside the bottle. The greater air pressure on the outside of the bottle caused the balloon to inflate.

Finally, we lit a small piece of paper and put it inside a milk bottle. A hard boiled egg was then placed on top of the milk bottle. Because the warm air pushed past the egg and lowered the air pressure on the inside of the bottle, the greater air pressure on the outside pushed the egg into the bottle

Learning About Art

This term for art we have been learning about Pablo Picasso. He was a famous painter who invented cubism which is artwork that is made out of shapes. Picasso was born in Spain but he grew up in France. His father was an art teacher but Pablo was a bad student!  When he was 19 he went to an art school. He became famous for his different styles of painting which were abstract and very original.

We each made one of his favourite patterns or crests. We also wrote a biography of him and did a self portrait in true Picasso style. We did some “blind” drawings where we had to keep our eyes closed and our pencils could not leave the paper. Our learning experiences about Picasso were fun and we learnt a lot about his life and his artwork.

Swimming

We were all delighted to get a couple of weeks of swimming instruction recently especially because the Milton pool had been closed for so long. We were also fortunate that the weather stayed fine for us so that we only missed one of the ten swimming days we had scheduled. In this block of swimming, we focus on practising the basic swimming strokes eg freestyle and backstroke. We use equipment such as floatboards to work on our leg action and once we have mastered that we go on to work on arm action and breathing. Many children made tremendous progress. and some of our best swimmers will compete in the Otago champs on Saturday. At the end of the year we will have another block of swimming when the focus will be on water safety.

Sports Activator

This year we have a new sports activator. During the last few weeks she has visited twice. She has been teaching us the skills that we need to play tennis. First we played games called Octopus and another called Line Tag to help us warm up. Some of the activities we have done to practise keeping our eyes on the ball and ball control have been balancing the ball on the racket, rolling it around the tennis racket without dropping it, one bounce/one hit, and small hits just above your head. We also played a game called Splat! Next we worked in pairs and practised hitting the ball over the net to each other and counting how many times we could do that successfully. We also played hand tennis with our partner. We learnt how to hold a racquet properly and some of the rules of tennis. All of us enjoyed the sessions and are looking forward to the sports activator’s next visit.

School Fair

On Saturday 5th March Milton Primary School had its school fair. This year’s fair had a country theme and there were a lot of country themed activities. There were a lot of fun things to do including sponge throw, paintball, horse riding, and many other interesting activities. Lots of people also contributed to the raffles.  The sponge throw was really fun and the willing victims got thoroughly soaked. In the paintball you had to shoot the paintballs and some lucky people knocked off a drink and got to keep it. Thank you to those who donated the wonderful prizes for the raffles. In the horse riding there were three horses, Pearl, Sharky and Caesar. It was awesome how your body bobbed up and down all the time. In the Fire Engine it was very loud and whoever got in the front seat got to press the button for the siren and it was so loud. This year we had a sawdust dig and if you found a token you would get a chocolate bar and if you found a butterfly you would get a prize. Also there was a baking sale and there were a lot of sweets to buy. We also had the heli drop and  since we had some guests from the Otago rugby team they did the heli drop. Thanks to all the people who contributed to help set everything up. It was a massive fundraiser for the school.  

  

Geometry

In geometry, we have been learning about the properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes. We have learnt that the flat surfaces on a 3-D shape are called faces, and the pointy bits are called vertices. We have learnt the names of some 3-D shapes and how to recognise them from flat representations of themselves called nets. There are a lot of new words to learn in like parallel, perpendicular and congruent. We have been learning to use the language of geometry to describe 3-D shapes like the ones you can see in this photo.

Inter-School Sports Gala

On the 25^th of February Year 6 students from Milton Primary, Tokoiti School and St Mary’s went to the High School for the sports gala.The activities were split up into two rooms because of the weather.The two rooms were the hall and the gym. The most popular activity was the hockey and also the game called Batman Splat which was when you have to run up, jump onto a gym mat and then it would slide across the court and you would have to keep doing it and the first one to get across the other side wins. In the hall there was this very complicated game where you hold hands in a circle but you can’t hold hands with the person beside you and you have to try and get out without letting the other person’s hand go. Halfway through the day there was a morning tea break where all the children could play with whatever they wanted and the most popular thing would have had to be the ropes which everybody swung on and some people even climbed to the top. At the end of the day there was a BBQ lunch when all the kids got a sausage and a fizzy drink. Apart from a few minor injuries everybody had a good, fun time. 

Athletic Sports

On Thursday the 18^th of February it was the Milton Schools Athletics day. St Marys and Tokoiti came to participate with us. All of the events started at 9.30am and went to around 2.00pm. Lots of parents and caregivers came to cheer their children along as well as their school. These were all of the events: high jump, long jump, mini hurdles, 100 metre sprints, 200 metres, 800 metres, shot put and discus. Each child put in a one hundred and one percent effort. At the end of the day children went home with a red face and a smile with tomato sauce over it from the delicious sausage sizzle at lunchtime provided by Home and School helpers. The 800 metre run was the longest and made us puff and slow down a little bit more at the end of the race. Everyone tried their hardest and our best wishes go to the children who qualified for the South Otago sports in Balclutha. It was a great day but everyone’s bones would have been very stiff and sore the next day!!

Mandarin

Our new mandarin teacher, Ceci, took her first lesson with the class on Tuesday. She started off by going over some of the simple greetings we had learnt previously but in a fun way. She introduced a glove puppet and whoever caught it had to come up the front, put the glove puppet on, and say simple greetings in mandarin. She also taught us a catchy song which we all enjoyed singing. It is fun to learn a different language and we are looking forward to many more interesting mandarin lessons throughout the year.

2016

It's great to be back for what promises to be another exciting year for the students in Room 8. The children have settled into their work very quickly and our classroom routines are already well established. There will be regular updates to our class blog throughout the year including samples of the children’s work and photos of the children participating in a variety of different activities. You are encouraged to make regular visits to the blog to check out any updates and leave a comment if you would like to.