Year 6 Camp

On 19 November the Year 6’s went off to Camp Tirohanga which is near Mosgiel.We arrived at camp and got our stuff unpacked then we set off to Dive Otago. The scuba diving and snorkeling was lots of  fun.The scuba divers enjoyed diving down to the bottom of the pool. Then we made our way to the Portobello Aqauriam where we went on a tour around the place looking at the different types of sea creatures. On Tuesday it was beach day.We went to the St Kilda Life Saving Club to learn about water safety and sun safety but unfortunately it was too cold and wet to have a swim in the sea. On Wednesday we did some activites around camp like rifle shooting, archery and orienteering and we also had a man from the Red Cross do a first aid course with us.The next day we built bivouacs which was hard work.We went on a bush walk and compared the pine forest to the native bush. You can really see the contrast.We did an obstacle course, a blindfolded activity called Nightline, some old fashioned indoor games, and bounced on the camp’s new trampolines. After that we had a go at the water slide. It was probably one of the most fun activities. On Thursday night we had camp graduation and we each stood up and talked about our achievements at camp. On Friday the man from Red Cross came back to do the second half of the first aid course and present us with certificates. We did some sketching of the camp, played a couple of final games, and then it was time to go home. We all had a great week at camp despite the atrocious weather.

Christmas Market

On 14 November the Year 5 and 6 children held a Christmas Market in and around the school hall. They were selling a wide variety of Christmas themed goods such as Christmas decorations, ornaments and many different types of Christmas sweet treats.

The purpose of this exercise was to explore with the children the concept of “Enterprise”. They had to do the maths to find out the actual cost of making their items and determine a reasonable selling price so that they could make the maximum amount of profit. Their incentive was that they got to keep whatever profit they made. There were some very high quality goods for sale and some children displayed considerable entrepreneurial skills.

It really was a very interesting and worthwhile project and we would like to thank all the parents who contributed to making the market such a successful venture for our students.