Swimming sports

The atmosphere was full excitement and joy as the year 5 and 6 students boarded their busses. The noise level reached an impeccable height. The laughs and chatter was full of adrenaline and anticipation. Once all the kids had arrived everyone got ushered into the stadium by the parents helping. Some of the students were nervous while overs over the moon that Swimming Sports had finally come. The first race started and Pohutukawa’s chant echoed around the stadium. Apparently they were the most determined to show that their team was best. A bunch of races passed by and it was announced that morning tea was up. The cheers died down and all became silent as people munched on their snacks. The next race was announced and the girls and boys participating in the race hurried down the stone stairs. A splash loud enough to make your eardrums explode erupted in the stadium. The whoops got louder and louder making music to your ears. Finally all the races had been gone and done. It was clearly time to fill our stomachs up again. This time we gathered outside in the sweltering hot sun. The kids sat in small packs eating and waiting for the prize giving to begin. Miss Wilcock came and joined the kids. “First Place… Emison” announced Miss Wilcock. Scattered applause came after the announcement of Emison’s win. Breaststroke First Place: Emison. Freestyle First Place: Emison. Butterfly First Place: Emison! She was clearly a good swimmer. For the boys the amazing swimmers were Addison and Mark.Swimming Sports was a great event that brought smiles to our faces.

By Anna

Here are a few of our favourite photos of the day but there are plenty more. Click the link below to check out all the photos Miss Bridgland took at swimming sports.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6RxyHTouofjQV9WckxrOWdNN28&usp=sharing

Miss Bridgland is shaving for a cure

There has been a lot of buzz in Room 4 about Miss Bridgland's newest adventure. She has decided to do something crazy. She is shaving her hair to raise money for cancer. We know she will look strange but that is all part of the excitement. If you would like to help Miss Bridgland raise as much money as possible for a great cause follow the link to her shave for a cure page.

Link: Miss Bridgland's Shave for a Cure page

Wonderstruck

We are all WONDERSTRUCK by the book we are reading as our class shared novel, Wonderstruck by Brian Elznick. There are two stories within the book both being told through different means. Ben's story is told through words and Rose's story told through pictures. Their incredible journeys are fifty years apart but magically link up in a strange twist. Room 4 has been an excited murmur of predictions, connections and shock as we have read along. This story is great for adults, families, and students. We all really recommend it to anyone.





Wonderstruck has sparked our interest and got Room 4 keen to learn sign language. Sign language is one of New Zealand's national languages. We have learnt the alphabet and can spell our names in sign language. This is the New Zealand sign language dictionary. Check it out if you want to learn some new signs.

New Zealand Sign Language dictionary

Welcome to 2016!

It is a new year and we have a whole new class of awesome students in Room 4! We are in for an amazing year with so many learning opportunities for everyone. I know many of the students are excited about different things, camp, leadership opportunities, class trips and the all round excitement of now being a SENIOR. We have settled in to Room 4 quickly and have established routines and expectations. We went down and visited our great buddy class, Room 10. We read some stories to them and got to know our new buddies.

Here is a couple of videos of what Miss Bridgland got up to in Vanuatu over the summer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNJXdATTsxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaWHyd3lUiw

Beach Education trip with Surf Lifesaving NZ

We got to spend a fun day out at Mairangi Bay learning about how to stay safe when swimming at the beach. We took the school Go Pro's and got some really awesome footage. Watch this video to see what we got up to.

Ancient wonders

Room 4 were very busy at the end of Term 4. The whole class were super enthusiastic about our inquiry topic "Ancient Wonders". Room 4 did some initial research in buddies finding out basic information about a large number of ancient buildings. They were able to find out so much information such as where the buildings were built, when they were built and what type of materials were used to make them. Students shared all the information they found with the class. Once Room 4 finished that students began picking their own buildings. Ancient buildings that they found interesting. Each student worked individually with Miss Bridgland to create four key inquiry questions to research and answer.

Different questions asked by Room 4:

- What was the cultural significance of sporting events held in the Colleseum?

- How did people today find out what the Hanging Gardens of Babylon looked like?

- Why did they build the Acropolis on top of a hill in the middle of a town?

- Why does the Great Sphinx have a human head and the body of a lion?

- What was the purpose of the building?

- What makes the Lighthouse of Alexandria so special?

- What made King Tut so important in order for him to have such a big, lavish tomb?

Miss Bridgland challenged Room 4 to present our information without the use of a poster or a slideshow. Room 4 was able to rise up to the challenge and presented information in a range of ways. Books, 3D models, interviews and maps to name a few of the projects produced.

Take a look at what Room 4 created by travelling to different areas of the Ancient World.

Speeches

Food! Names! The everything box! These are some of the brilliant titles and topics that people had for the magnificent speeches. First we had to present our speech to our class and the best five people vs again the next day. Then three people get eliminated and the best two go through to the finals a couple of days later in front not only the 5’s not only the year 6’s but the year 4’s 5’s and 6’s! Over the next couple of days we work with our teacher and get over all the shivering nerves we practise looking up to the audience and emphasis. Then comes the nerve racking final, a lot of amazing speeches and very talented people. Finally the prizegiving. Some very sad moments for some but life-changing moments for others. The claps and cheers always bring a smile on your face. Bring on next year!

By Lucy Nevill

Lucy representing Room 4 with her excellent speech on if school would be better without boys. She sure knocked those smelly socks of the audience. Well done Lucy! 

Phenix representing Room 4 with her speech about animal testing. She shared her views on animal testing and made the audience think more about their purchases. Brilliant work Phenix!

A small snippet from Miss Bridgland:

Everyone in Room 4 presented fantastic speeches. There were so many varied topics and the hamburger template we had been practicing was being well used. I was very impressed to see students in Room 4 giving constructive feedback to one another as well as encouraging and congratulating each other. Ke te pai Ruma wha.