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.