All of the photos from the Formal can be downloaded here from my dropbox

Kauri Speech Finals

Today we had our speech finals. Excellent speeches all round.

Well done to Isabella who got first in the Year 7 competition and Rachel who got second in the Year 8.

Smoke on the water

Cotton Eye Joe

Term 4 Week 5 Newsletter

Dance Practice

Year 7-8 Film Festival

The Year 7-8s at Oaklands School were given the challenge of turning their recounts into films. There were some rules about the films:

• two days to create the film - one day planning and one day filming
• the movie had to be about someone or something at Oaklands School
• the movie had to be filmed in first person perspective
• only music and sound effects were allowed for the audio

Please go to our Year 7-8 Film Festival site and watch the videos, and even better get voting

A bit about Muiz

Last week Muiz became a member of Room 9. Muiz is from Pakistan. He has made a video about himself.

Another day in the life of... a security camera.

What we had to do was to chose a person or an object to do a recount about to learn more about Empathy. So I chose to do " A Day In The Life Of A Security Camera ". 

With a slight beep I woke up all ready to start a brand new day of watching the school. As I rotated around  I saw a few girls that were whispering to each other walk past. I rotated arround to see what they could be whispering about. I zoomed in with my lens on a girl walking past. I then knew that she was the one they were whispering about. 

As the bell rang I saw kids rushing out of their classes with food in their hands. I rotated around and saw one of the girls that we're whispering this morning, push the girl they were whispering about off the playground. I then saw her heeding to the sick bay with her hand over her nose. I felt really bad for her. :( 

As the bell rang for lunch, I saw kids running out from their class rooms with lunch-boxes. I noticed the girl from this morning go and sit down on a bench all alone. I then zoomed in on one of the other girls from this morning, and I saw her pick up a ball and throw it at the girl sitting on the bench. 

I then saw the girl pick up the ball and throw it back at the other girls. They then went away out of my vision. Once they came back they had brought a duty teacher over. I saw them talking about something but I don't know what because it was to nosey to hear anything.

Once the bell had rung for home time, I saw kids and their pearnts walk past. I then saw the girl that got picked on, go and sit on the bench bellow me and get out her cellphone. I zoomed in and saw that she had a message from the girls that picked on her. I looked up and saw the other girls laugh, point and stick out their tougngs at her. It must be horable to get picked on.

By Mereana

Team Newsletter

Click on Newsletter to read

Teachers morning

Last term the Year 7 and 8 students decided to write recounts from the perspective of another person or object at Oaklands School. The students followed the writing process and published these on their blogs last week. They turned out great.

They decided to take this further by turning their recounts into a first person film. The students had to learn a variety of filming techniques, such as:

• how to use different camera angles
• transitioning between one shot and another
• lighting
• perspective

The students on Tuesday and Friday last week, planned and filmed their projects. These are going to be put onto a website for people to vote on. To give you a bit of the flavour, I have added the one I made about a teacher's morning.

Reporting 1to8 Episode 7

Through My Eyes

At the end of last term and the beginning of this term we have been writing recounts from the viewpoint of an object or person at Oaklands School. These are going to be created into films. Here is Sylvia's insightful recount...

With a beep I wake up, fully charged and ready for the day. I scan my surroundings and see a couple of teachers come out of the office, heading towards their classrooms and students walking past to their friends. The bell rang as children race past me, towards their classrooms trying not to be late. I take a look around realizing there was no one there.

The bell rang for morning tea. Children are walking out of the classrooms with food in their hands. I saw a kid walking past and she sits on a bench in front of me. I turned left to see a group of other girls walking towards her whispering. Feeling curious I zoom in to get a closer look. The group spots her and turns towards her. I try to get a closer look but the girls were blocking my view. Feeling annoyed I wait patiently for them to leave. The bell rings indicating that it's time for class. When they finally left I see the girl sitting there crying. She stands up and sadly walked back to class.

Around halfway through lunch I glance around and see the same girl from morning tea limping to the sick bay with her friend by her side. I felt shocked. How did she get hurt? Who hurt her? Was it those girls. The poor girl enters the office. I look around and see the group of girls laughing while hiding behind a bush.

After lunch I see classes line up and walk into the hall one by one. Once they were all inside, after a while I could see the group of girls sneak inside. What are they up to? I wonder curiously.
The bell rings and I immediately see kids race past and adults trying to find their children. I see the girl who I had seen at lunch crying on the bench below me. What happened? The group of mean girls laugh and stick out their tongues out at her as they walk to the car park. I frown and decide to have a nap and get ready for tonight.

Wearable arts winners

Well done Isabella, Chloe and Natasha

Term 3 Week 9 Newsletter

Eco News

An entertaining video created by the Eco News Team as they show the journey "Cassie" the cardboard goes on when she is recycled.

Devising a Strategy to Solve Problems with Fractions

Ella shows us how.

Coragated Cardboard - Tamara

Tamara explaining the sequence of the journey corrugated cardboard goes on when it is recycled.

Calculate Circumference

A neat "how to" video by Jason.

Calendar Art

This is a slideshow of our Calendar which can be purchased as part of the Calendar Fundraiser for the PTA.

Champion Year 7 and 8 Basketball Team

The Year 7 and 8 Basketball Team won their competition last night with victory over Our Lady of Assumption. The Oaklands Team was undefeated throughout the year in a tough competition which included many local intermediates. Well done Oaklands!

Reporting 1 to 8 Episode 5

Free Verse Poems

This week we have been creating poems of free verse about a topic/theme that is significant to the author. 

Here are a couple examples.

Best Friends Forever
Friend raise each other up like a rising star,creating positive spirits.
A truthful friend never interferes in your path unless you appear to be sinking.
Precisely a friend to all is a relationship to nothing.
Friends and friends are best friends that never ends like waves.

by Abdul

Friends
Rain is the lie I believed that broke away the chain of trust
Then the storm came and carried away the love
But friends are like stars, they come and go
And I guess its your time to leave
And someone elses time to shine

by Grace

Jason and Tetsuya Factorise and Expand Algebraic Expressions

Term 3 Week 5 Newsletter

Poetry - Metaphors

Last week we have been learning to use create a poem that uses poetic language features - especially metaphors. The students watched the video (above) and wrote some stunning poetry in response to it. Here are some examples:

Disappointed is animals dying from trying to eat harmful plastic.

Annoyed is dumped disgusting rubbish in the once beautiful ocean.

Upset is harmless animals choking on dirty plastic. 

Frustrated is thousands of contaminated plastic floating in the ocean. 

Will people ever stop littering?

Sylvia

Horrified is marine animals dying from
stomachs filled with dirty twisted plastic.

Disgraced is disgusting rubbish getting
dumped in the once beautiful ocean.

Perturbed is animals scared stiff in
their own natural habitats and homes.

Unhappy is when the only thing
changing is more feces filled plastic getting
dumped in the ocean.

In the end, who will this really effect? 

Finlay

Upset is destroying wonderful sea lift with a giant garbage ocean.

Furious is dumping trash into the used-to-be wonderfully clean ocean.

Depressed is sea animals dying in the giant plastic ocean. 

Worried is wondering if trash will keep getting dumped into the ocean.

Do you feel this way?

Mereana

Enraged is a poor octopus living in a disgustedly yucky plastic shower head.
Apologetic is innocent marine animals dieing in ridiculous moldy plastic stuff.
Upset is awful looking rubbish floating in the ocean.
Absolutely disgusted that people don't care about poor marine animals

Abdul

Jump Jam for Fitness Today

Talent Show

Last week Kelsey, Ella, Finlay and Rachel completed their organisation of the Talent Show. This was a major undertaking and here are their reflections about it.

Kelsey
Hi my friends Rachel,Finlay,Ella and I did a talent show.We have just done our last talent show. something that I found challenging was getting all the thing ready for the people.All the people that did the talent show did well.

Rachel and Finlay
In the past term, Finlay, Kelsey, Ella and I have organised and hosted a talent show for a homework challenge. For this talent show, we had 4 lots of auditions, 2 semi finals then 1 final. I really enjoyed organising this event and seeing all the amazing acts. Next time I think we could improve having the music a bit more organised but altogether I think it was amazing. (:

Ella
This year Kelsey Finlay Rachel and I hosted and organised a Talent Show for the Year 4-8. We had many people audition and a lot of people had amazing talent. We were raising money for the Ronald Mcdonald house and we raised around $361.00. My favourite part of the Talent Show was watching all the amazing acts , heaps of people have such extrondanry talent at Oaklands School :)

Reporting 1 to 8 Episode 4

Here is the latest episode from the Oaklands School News Crew.

Quiz Night

This is a great event for a great cause.

Rachel and Chloe Teach us to...

calculate the fraction of a given quantity

Impromptu Speaking Skills

Last week Room 9 started learning how to speak effectively to describe an event - impromptu speaking. This has involved students have to commentate a random Youtube video and describe what is happening as it happens. A very challenging task indeed. The point of this is to develop the student's oral language skills so that they can communicate effectively. Below are a few examples - these are the student's first attempt at commentary. There will be some more added later in the term so the improvement can be seen.

,

Passion Projects

This term, Room 9 is experimenting with the idea of doing Passion Projects. A Passion Project is where a student comes up with an idea of something they would like to find out or create. The knowledge or creation must be of value to the student.

This idea is being used in a number of school across New Zealand as a way of extending student's creative skills. The Passion Projects comes from the Google 20% Time Programme where their employees are encouraged to spend 20% of their time at work on a project of their choosing. Many of Google's best product have begun their lives in this programme.

The Passion Projects fit well with the Oakland's CARE Values as:

• Students show COMMUNITY as the projects may have an impact on the actual community or by students contacting businesses/experts in the community for help/advice.
• Students show ACTIVE THINKING throughout the whole process as they research new knowledge and skills, trial new ideas, seek feedback and create a final product.
• Students show RESPECT as they communicate with experts/businesses.
• Students show EXCELLENCE as they create projects that have value and as they seek feedback to make their project better.

Just to give you a bit of a flavour for the projects being undertaken. Here are some being undertaken:

• How to set up a Photography Business?
• How can we use polarity better?
• How can I design a dream home?
• How can I create a short film?
• How can I create a rap song?

The students have been highly motivated to get stuck into these projects. These projects are only worked on in either the student's own time or when all other learning tasks are completed for the week.

Watch this space for new developments around these projects.

All About China

In Room 9 we have Susan visiting us from China. She is here for a couple of weeks to immerse herself in the english language. Here is a video she made about China.

Eco Sort Visit

On Tuesday Room 9 visited the EcoSort Store. Here is a collection of photos showing our trip.

Kauri Team Newsletter Term 3 Week 1

Staff vs Students Basketball Match

Today the Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7/8 basketball teams took on the Staff. There was some great basketball played, especially by the teachers who won.

Player of the day was Miss O'Connor.

Technology

 Here are some photos of the Year 7s at Technology.

Kapahaka girls

Our awesome Kapahaka performed at our learning celebration today. Here is a photo of the Year 7 and 8 girls in uniform.

                           

Kauri Team Learning Celebration

Check out a collage of the Kauri Team's learning about Ecosystems.

Big Buddy Programme

On Friday, Room 9 went and supported their buddies at Discovery. The Room 9 students helped their buddies learn about participating and contributing.

Term 2 Week 10 Newsletter

Tetsuya's Maths

Tetsuya showing his algebra skills.

Information Report on Elephants by Natasha

Big Buddies

Tamara and Natasha's Animal Creations

My animal is a Tigurtle it is crossed with a  Tiger and a Tuttle.ot is the strongest animal because of its hard shell and its sharp claws it is quit strong.I think I am extended abstract because I used lots of different things take your time,mould things together, catoonish,start with simple shapes 

This is my cartoon animal it's called Stompa Moo it is the most invincible animal because it has large feet to stomp on things ,wings so it can fly , it also has a protective shell so noting can hurt it and two horns to push things out of its way.

I think my cartoon is extended abstract because I took my time and I shaded it lightly before I added all the details . My next step is to add texture to make it look more like a real animal.

Kapa Haka Practice Today

Reporting 1 to 8 Episode 3

Most Invincible Animal

Room 9 have been extending their cartoon skills by creating new animals around a particular feature. Below is Isabella's animal which she says is the most invincible. Click in the image to see the photo and click on the audio to hear the justification.

Most Invinsible animal

Increasing a Quantity by a Given Percentage

Here is a quick video by Kelsey showing how she can increase quantities by a given percentage.

Mereana and Katie Explain How to Divide Decimals.

Student Led Conferences

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES
Tuesday 2nd & Wednesday 3rd July School will close at 2pm on these days

Student led conferences are coming up and the online booking system is now open. Children really enjoy sharing their learning with their families and research shows that students who are able to communicate what they have learned and identify their next steps are more likely to be successful life long learners. 

BOOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz.
   
2. Enter code 6YHLN
   
3. Enter your details and select a time.
   

Friday 14th June:

• Bookings open at 3.30pm. Friday 28th June:
• Bookings close at 3.30pm.
• Tuesday 2nd & Wednesday 3rd July:
• School closes 2.00pm
• Interviews run from 2.15-7pm. 

Cartoons

Over the past few weeks we have been looking at how to draw cartoons effectively. This is the follow on from the Neill Shasky workshop at the beginning of the term. The techniques we have discovered are:

• take your time
• sketch outline lightly - add details later
• start with simple shapes
• mould the shapes together
• doesn’t always have to be neat
• make sure shading is in one direction
• add texture - eg rugged lines
• tilt pencil when shading
• cartoonish - not a portrait
• use different shadings

Here is Tamara's

I think I am relational because I have used over 3 techniques my next step is to use all of my techniques 

Here is Serena's 

This artwork is at Extended Abstract because I have chosen different strategies to change the picture to give a better effect, And have different techniques.

And here is Oliver's 

 

I am Multistructural because I can apply several relevant 

techniques in my cartoons I draw. 

My next step is to be Relational because I need to use the best 

techniques that suit the cartoon I am drawing.

Prime Numbers

 Here is Chloe and Isabella classifying numbers by factors and multiples, including primes.

More adaptations...

This time from Jason "Attenborough"

Reporting 1 to 8 Episode 2

Here is the latest episode from the News Crew.

I can describe the adaptations of an animal

In Room 9 we have been researching about the adaptations of animals and presenting our findings as an information report.

Here is an example from Kaley 

African Elephants are very adaptable animals. They have a lot of unique adaptations to survive in the hot plains.

Elephants have an interesting way of getting and eating their food. Elephants use their long trunks to grab leaves from trees, ripping them up at the same time so they don’t necessarily have to chew their food. They also use their tusks to break branches and bark off trees to eat. The use their trunks to gather up water, squirting it into their mouth, An elephant's trunk can store around about 14 litres of water at a time. They can spend 12 to 18 hours a day eating and can eat from 100 to 1000 pounds.

Elephants have many adaptations to survive in the savannah. African Elephants have thin, greyish black skin except for on the sides and back, where the skin is thicker. An elephants skin is very sensitive to the sun, and most calves are constantly shadowed by their mothers to avoid bad sunburns. To help protect their skin, elephants will wallow in mud and cover themselves with dirt. Elephants have an absence of sweet glands. The wrinkles on the elephants skin is needed to keep their body temperature down. Wrinkles increase the surface area, so there is more skin to wet when the animal bathes. The wrinkles trap moisture which takes longer to evaporate. Thus, a wrinkly elephant keeps cooler for longer that it would with smooth skin. They have large, fan-like ears to cool themselves when they overheat. They have a long trunk that acts like a hand of sorts, using it to clutch food, battle and attack.

For elephants, protection of the calves is vital. Adult elephants surround the calves when they sleep to protect them from predators. Sometimes, the calf will wonder off during the day and get eaten before the mother can stop it. Adult elephants use their tusks and trunks to fight, as well as using their charging and speed.

Elephants have many different behavioural adaptations. Female elephants or “cows” tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or a few related mothers. The group is led by the eldest cow, known as the matriarch. Males leave their family groups when they reach puberty, and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate.

Overall, African elephants are highly suited for their habitat because of its physical and behavioural adaptations.

Here is another from Serena

Cheetahs are large cats that live commonly in Africa and Iran their appearance appears to be tall, Slender cats that have a flexible spine to reach far long strides, has a long tail used for balance, also helps cubs follow her mother through long grass furthermore  the scientific name for cheetah is Acinoyx Jubatus.

The Place in the food chain  is "Carnivores"The Cheetahs diet includes Thompon's Gazelle, Impata, Spring bok and Grant's Gazelle. Most Cheetahs eat antelope, hares, ground dwelling birds and much more. Cheetahs hunt usually by vision rather than smell. Once they have their position, they pounce on them when knocked out and their prey is lying on the ground, they quickly bite them in the neck before any other predators chase the away.

Cheetahs rely on tall grass for camouflage while hunting, they usually hunt in the morning or early evening. They hide in tall grass because tall grass is good for camouflage so the prey can't see them, known as Adaptation to the environment.

Cheetah's Protection. Cheetahs use their claws and teeth to protect themselves, if the cheetahs see another predator trying to take their prey, the cheetah will protect themselves to survive.

Cheetahs behavior, when cheetahs get aggressive they will lower their head below the shoulder level. When fighting each other they don't use their teeth when hurt or sad the cheetah makes "bleating"
sound, which is a type of moaning noise.

Cheetahs are adapted to it's environment because they have long legs which help them run a lot faster,
camouflaged skin to meet up with it's environment  to make them invisible, thats what makes them to live on survival.

CARE Values Video

Here is a video that Kelsey and Rachel made to show how to use the CARE Values at Oaklands School.

Kauri Team Newsletter Term 2 Week 5

Chloe's Maths Video

Chloe has made an excellent  tutorial on how to increase or decrease a quantity by a given percentage. This video was created using the ShowMe app.

Sylvia's Ratio assessment

This is a "how to video" from Sylvia showing how to share quantities in given ratios.

Cartoons!

A couple of weeks ago, Room 9 attended a workshop around how to draw cartoons with Neil Shaskey.  Today we began our follow up on this. Over the next week or so we are going to be experimenting with different cartoon drawing techniques. Today was our first experimentation session. Take a look at these cartoon animals.

Reporting 1 to 8 Term 2 Week 4

Here is the first episode of Reporting 1to8 created by the News Crew.

Lord of the Rings Trailer

Another book trailer. This time from Jason, Sam and Kieran - The Lord of the Rings.

Dictionary Skils with Sam and Natasha

Conflict Solution Projects

Here are a couple of projects just completed by two groups. The groups have come up with two different designs about how to reduce the amount of conflict at Oaklands School.

Tamara, Sylvia and Mereana's Project

 Sam and Jason's Project

Respect in the Kauri Team

Well done Katie for picking a Kauri Respect Award

Book Trailers

On Thursday and Friday Rooms 8 and 9 created some Book Trailers for some of the books in our library. We did this to promote some of the books in our library to get others to read them.

During this process the students had to learn:

• storyboarding 
• techniques for making a good trailer
• filming techniques
• editing video and sound techniques.

The students had an absolute blast creating these. While some are not finished (they will be done so later next week), we have a couple below to give you a taste.

Jovin, Will and Zaran's Trailer. Maddy D, Isabella and Natasha's Trailer

Hana

Hana has joined out class. Please watch to find out more about her.

Conflict Solution

Last term we looked at Conflict and how we could make a difference at Oaklands School by helping students to manage their conflict. Isabella and Natasha have been working on a solution and are about to make a proposal to Mrs Gatherer. This slideshow is part of their sales pitch:

A Response from our Pen Pals

At the end of last term we received letters from some students at a school in England. We responded in kind to these letters. Our pen pals have left a message on our blog. You can listen to it here.

All About Tetsuya

Tetsuya started in our class a few days ago. Here is a short video he made about himself.

Hunters and the Hunted Part 2

Over the past couple of days we have been trying to define the what a producer, carnivore, herbivore and scavenger/decomposer is in a food chain. We created charts to show how these groups interact in the food chain.

 Here is an example fromTenequa, Oliver, Kaley, Thornton.

 Here is an example from Ella, Rachel, Kelsey, Finlay

Class Newsletter

Our first class newsletter of Term 2

The Hunters and the Hunted

For our Science Unit on the Living World we are looking at the deep understanding of Ecosystems are a balancing act. To introduce this the students explored this quote from Joans Salk. “If all insects on Earth disappeared, within 50 years all life on Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the Earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” Here are some examples of what some students thought about this statement. These are just there initial thoughts which will develop/change over the course of the unit. Mereana's thoughts

listen to ‘Mereana's integrated study's ’ on Audioboo

Thornton's thoughts

listen to ‘Thorntons earth thing ’ on Audioboo

Tenequa's thoughts

listen to ‘Integrated studies’ on Audioboo

Card Creation

This morning Amanda (Tamara's Mum) came in and taught the Year 7s how to make cards. Amanda runs a card making business. The Year 7s had fun and created some amazing cards. There are going to be some very delighted recipients on Sunday.

Conflict Learning Celebration

This is the slideshow from our Learning Celebration for the Kauri Team. In each slide there are videos and photos showing what each class has been learning about conflict.

News Crew Trailer

Tenequa's Art Reflection

Our Journey with Our Conflict Unit

Wellington Trip Notice 1

Roses

The Year 8s have been making roses out of metal during technology at Hillmorton High School.

They look great! Check out Ella and Kaley's.

Farewell Michaela

Today we farewelled Michaela who is leaving Oaklands to attend school at Rangiora Borough. Here is a video to remind us of her.

Art Work

Serena and Sylvia have created these beautiful pieces of art for the More FM "Let the Kids Paint the House" Competition.

We interview Kelsey and Thornton

We interview Kelsey and Thornton about our old class goal , we ask them questions about how they are going from our class goal.

All about Oliver

Kaley's Learning: Kaley's Comparison

Kaley's Learning: Kaleys Comparison: listen to ‘Kaley's Comparison of how a good learner gives effort and how she compares ’ on Audioboo

Conflict Unit

In Social Sciences and Health this term we have been exploring the concept of Conflict. In this unit we have been exploring answers to these questions:

• How good are Oaklands students at dealing with conflict?
• What is the difference between a disagreement and conflict?
• What are effective ways of dealing with conflict?
• Can conflict ever be a good thing?

To get the students engaged in the topic I showed them some statistics about how Oaklands students dealt with conflict last year. These included the number of verbal and physical assaults. If you have watched to the previous, Isabella and the other students were shocked by the statistics. 

So after showing the statistics, the members of Room 9 have been investigating how much conflict is in the playground this year and using this information to learn about graphing. 

As an answer to the third question, all of the Year 7 and 8s are peer mediators where they are gaining practical experience at helping others to solve disagreements and conflict.

After this investigation the students will decide what they are going to do about improving this situation so that all Oaklands students can resolve conflict in a positive and effective way. So watch this space for what ideas they come up with.

Isabella explains her feelings and thoughts about the conflict at Oaklands.

We interview Isabella her thoughts of conflict at Oaklands School

Slideshow of the Swimming Sports

Finlay's all about me video

In our class, we have been doing an I - movie video, telling people about us , here is Finlay's for example:

Photos to Google Drive

Wainui Camp Photos

Our Seniors helping at the Junior Discovery

Kauri Community awards

Well done Kelsey

Leadership Day at Adrenalin Forest

Here is a slideshow of our awesome day at Adrenalin Forest.

Peer mediation training

As part of part of our Year 7/8 goal of making a difference, all of the students are training to be peer mediators. Being peer mediators will give our students the lifelong skills of managing disagreements and conflict positively.

Class Logo

Day 1 2013

Health Form for Wainui Camp

Please click on the link below and fill in the form

Health Form

Thanks