Ngā mihi e te whānau,
Warm greetings to you all. We have had a wonderful week back in Pōhutukawa. The weather has been mostly welcoming, and the students in great spirits! We've hit the ground running this term (literally) with some Cross Country practice. We all noticed how enthusiastic the students have taken to their practice, as you can see from the photos. Long may it last! Please read on for some news from the team, and some updates on the term. Have a great weekend everyone, kia pai ngā rā whakata.
Food for Thought
We are excited to be working with House of Science again this term! Please watch this video to give you an overview of what House of Science is all about.
Each home group has just completed the first round of hands-on, practical experiment-based scientific workshops focused on the concept of ‘food science’. We learned that each ingredient in a product formula or recipe adds different functionality. Adding or removing an ingredient can alter the structure, texture, colour and taste of food. Some of the questions the students investigated were: What is curdled milk? What does it look like? What does it feel like? What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda? How do you add or remove moisture from food? How do salt and sugar absorb moisture?
The activities in this kit allow students to explore the answers to these, and many more, questions in a hands-on engaging way. Lots of mess, but lots of fun too! We hope you enjoy the photos of our scientists in action.
Cross Curriculum Classes
We love alliteration in Pōhutukawa, and our "cool curriculum classes" continue with some changes for Term 2. Gayle is continuing with Visual Art this term, Rae is covering Digital Technology and continuing with Coding. Steve is delving into Health/Hauora with a look at the mātauranga Māori concept of ‘mana’ and how we can support it. Megan is continuing with the Learning Languages area of the curriculum and teaching French, German, and Spanish. There is a lot of learning happening over the term in CCC, so we encourage you to keep chatting about what we are covering in these courses with your tamariki. He taonga te ako, the treasure is learning.
Winter Sports
Our winter sports programme kicks off in Week 5. Every student has elected to join, and will be involved, in either competitive or non-competitive hockey, netball, or football. We still need parent assistance both on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (approx. 1:30 pm - 3 pm) to help support our tamariki in the winter sports programme. In particular this year we have a large number of students who have signed up for the football competition and require parent help to make sure every team is supported at their games. If you think you could help us at this time, please get in touch with your home group teacher. Your support is hugely appreciated. We get there together, mā tātou kātoa te waka e hoe!
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