Téa's Skink Finds a New Home

Téa brought a Skink yesterday to school and after we had admired it we suggested that it might like to try out the Skink habitat that we have at school.

The girls knew where this was

as they pass it each time they go for a walk to Mt St John.

We located a spot that the Skink would enjoy living in and released him.

Watching the sports day

The girls enjoyed walking up to the sports field to watch the Year one and two sports day.
On the way, we noticed Mrs McRae in her office and she came to the window to wave to us!

Happy Birthday Inés!

On Friday we celebrated Inés' 5th birthday with a lovely cake 

which we all enjoyed very much. Thank you!

The Eye Works!

Here are some of our finished creations.

Continuing on with our eye project...

We were keen to connect the girls with the work that their mums and dads had

made for them at the parents evening. We discussed the materials the parents had chosen to make their beautiful sculptures before inviting the girls to make one too.

We discussed the materials they might like to use and asked them to think about 

it before they got started.

We offered dough, clay and collage materials and worked with the girls in small groups.

It wasn't easy and in particular the clay and collage materials were quite tricky.

We were impressed with the girls persistence and their concentration.

We believe that when the girls are engaged on a joint project such as we have been working

on with the eye project, they provide each other with ideas, encouragement and a sense of belonging 

and connection to the group work.

In this project, the girls have also made a wonderful connection to their parents work. 

 Lily where is your pinny!!!!

 

Visitors to our classroom

On Tuesday night we hosted 80 teachers in our classroom. Visits organised by REANZ, 

(Reggio Emilia Aotearoa NZ) an organisation that we belong to. 

These visitors are interested in the way teachers interpret the Reggio 

philosophy from Italy into NZ settings.

The next day, the girls were delighted to receive an email from one

of the teachers who came thanking them for sharing their work with her.

In her email she said their work was 'delicious'.

This word intrigued the girls and they sent an email back asking 

her what their work tasted like. They found it all very funny.

They also wanted to know if Julie was a teacher or 

a mummy or both.

We have had several email exchanges now and Julie has sent some

photos of her kindergarten and the place the children visit on walks.

She told them they even have a cat that joins them to go to the local stream - just like Turbo!

In the photo you can see the children's nets as they are 'fishing' and you can see an eel in the stream.

They obviously had luck and the eel is in the pan!

This is the sort of experiences that many children in NZ have grown up with in the past.

What Joy!

A gift from the parents to their daughters...

The girls had the most wonderful morning trying to work out which eyes their parents had drawn and watching the slideshow of you all creating the 'gift of the eyes' for them.

They were very quiet when we read out each 'letter of love' from their parents and seemed to like the words 'surprise and delight'. When each girl had their turn to listen to their letter, 

they glowed with pleasure. Their smiles were so special to watch.

 

Thank you SO much for your participation last night - we wish you could have seen the girls enthusiasm and the pleasure they got from your work. More photos to come...

There will be some very excited parents as the girls voted for the

'gift of the eyes' that they liked the best and the oranges won!
This was the sculpture that came a close second last night.

And the winner is ...

The gift of the chocolate bar that you left them went down a real treat!

Happy Birthday Kate!

We celebrated Kate's birthday with a large bowl of juicy Strawberries. Thanks Kathryn for the treat.

Have a lovely day tomorrow Kate!

Happy Birthday Téa

On Tuesday we celebrated Téa's 5th birthday. 

We think the best birthday present Téa got was her mum coming home from her holiday!

Happy Birthday Tess!

We had such a lovely surprise this morning when Martha brought us along some birthday treats to celebrate Tess' 4th Birthday. The fruit kebabs were delicious and enjoyed by all!