Mercy Charism Cross for 2012

This week we have been lucky enough to have a member of our class awarded the Mercy Charism cross for the first time in 2012.

Our Mercy Charism qualities are:

• Being Fair and Just
• Caring for others
• Trust in God
• Welcoming
• Serving others
• Love and Compassion

During the week anyone that is demonstrating qualities from our Mercy Charism is given a token to put into the Mercy Charism box.

 
Each week a name is drawn out of the special wooden box made by Alex and Annie Armstrong's dad. The cross remains in the class of the child it is awarded to until the next assembly.  A Mercy cross is also given to the class to hang above the prayer table for the week.

Move, Mprove - gymnastics

This term Rooms 1,2, 3 and 5 were lucky enough to take part in the ‘Move Mprove’ gymnastics programme run by Gymnastics Southland.  We learned how to correctly complete a forward roll, as well as jumping, landing, balancing and strengthening skills.

  One of the other important skills we learned was to persevere, and keep trying.  As the weeks progressed we all improved and we have become a lot more confident.   

The smiles on our faces at the end of each session showed how much we enjoyed the activities.  

 

Joy walk

Today our class went for a 'joy walk' around the school to look for things that bring us joy and make us feel happy.

Ben said 'I like the autumn leaves that change colour and fall to the ground."

Jade likes the pretty colours of the leaves on the trees.

Thomas, Keara and Cole feel joy when they see the colours of flowers as they came out.

Caleb and Robbie feel joy when they hear the birds chirping especially the tui.

Hunter likes to create flower arrangements for his teacher using flowers, bark and leaves.

Holly thinks that the flowers are beautiful and they make her happy.

Ryan feels happy when he is climbing around the adventure playground.

Brooke, Kate and Danye like the shiny green leaves on the bushes by the sandpit.

A frosty morning

Yesterday we made use of the frost as a shared experience for writing.  Below are a few photos of us outside.  Samples of writing are to follow as we finish them.

Koru Painting

As part of our koru painting unit, we learnt how to mix paint colours to make a new colour.  Usually Miss Swney just gives out all the colours but this year she was brave enough to let us mix our own.   Red, yellow, blue and white were the only colours we started with.  After a discussion about what is a hot and cold colour, we were left to experiment. 

We learnt that if you mix the following colours you will get a new colour:

yellow and blue - green

blue and red - purple

pink and white - red

red and yellow - orange

If you add white to a colour, then it becomes a lighter shade.

A sample of our final products are below:

Kite Flying

Last week, Robbie and Maiya read a book called 'The Blowaway Kite'.  We all thought that this was the perfect excuse to fly the kite that Mrs Stupples had given Miss Swney to hang up in the classroom.  Mr Pask, a first year teachers college student visiting our class, took us outside in groups to fly the purple octopus kite.  We had lots of FUN!!!!!!!! 

One of the things that Robbie and Maiya told us, was that we needed to hold onto the plastic ring otherwise we could lose our kite - just like the boy's dad in the story they read. 

A big thank you to Mrs Stupples and Mr Pask!

Canterbury Earthquake Anniversary 2012

To mark the anniversary of the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake, Rooms 2 and 3 picked flowers from the school gardens and placed them in a road cone that had been put in front of the Sacred Heart Church.  We each said a few words or a prayer as a sign of respect for the brave people of Canterbury and Christchurch.  Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them.