Sea Conversations

From discussions with children and parents, it became obvious (as we had anticipated it would) that a lot of families had spent time at the beach. So we put out the sea creatures to see what conversations they would prompt.

First week back

What did the Teachers do?

Well we survived the holiday break, as did the kindy frogs, slugs, crickets, fish and locusts who got regularly fed. New windows got put in to ensure they met the standard, and the drains got fixed. Sadly the playground rebuild wasn't able to go ahead as we still need more funds.
Meanwhile lots have been asking what we did in the holidays, so here's some of what I did from Ben's blog.

Car Jump

Last term we set up this ramp for the cars since they'd been a great interest in rolling things down the hill, plus a number of cars had been brought in. We soon added a jump and due to popularity kept it going over the days to follow, as the children worked to explore and master the skills involved. I noticed a lot of long periods of play by the children exploring the ramp as they perservered with the challenge.

Some of our bug visitors from term 4

Some of the bugs we found last term, so far this term (term 1 2011) after one day back ,we've found a male and a female cicada kihikihi, a stag beetle, a cabbage white Pepe mā and a monarch butterfly kahuhu.
Ants nga Pōpokorua

baby mantis , rō

Locust kapakapa

millipede

slater

hopper

Dragonfly kapokapowai

Interesting documentary

From Radio New Zealand National

Running Wild in Fiordland

Fiordland Kindergarten which has launched a new programme to take pupils out into the wide open spaces. Their midweek nature discovery day draws inspiration from the European Forest kindergarten movement.

On Wednesday mornings, the children swap plasticine, paint brushes and modelling clay for dirt, sticks and fresh air. For some children, delivered by their parents to Ivon Wilson Park on the outskirts of Te Anau, it can be a bit traumatic. There are a few sobs and tears, but head teacher Clare Maley-Shaw is not bothered. She knows that as soon as mother or father is out of sight, the child will be swept up by the group.

All brightly clad in yellow raincoats and waterproof leggings, the preschoolers know the few rules by heart. Not one has gone missing since the programme began over a year ago.

The children enjoy a range of activities from climbing trees and sliding down leafy slopes, to exploring for bugs and beetles and eating toasted marshmallows around the campfire. The philosophy, according to Clare, is one of minimum intervention, intended to foster independence and a healthy curiosity and respect for their natural surroundings.

By taking the children out into nature on a regular basis, not just walking through it but ‘being in it’, she aims to give children a lifelong passion for the natural environment.

Clare Maley-Shaw admits it all seems like commonsense, and yet Fiordland Kindergarten is the pioneer of this outdoor programme in New Zealand, and is currently carrying out research on it’s impact on both the children and the teachers.

Raffle results

Raffle #1
1st prize Canvas by Olive Bremer #199 Jacob Hume
2nd prize Half pig, Judy Vining #207 c/o Emma Kappely
3rd prize* # 84 unsold have redrawn
3rd prize Xmas lamb –finalising delivery will announce shortly
4th prize firewood –Penny Baines # 412
5th prize Grocery hamper – Rachel Wright #471

Raffle # 2
1st prize Half Pig Nadine Harrison #45 (We only had two lots of tickets returned unsold, it was too late to get them in the supermarket sale so this morning David and Nadine decided to buy most of them between them and guess what, when we drew it this afternoon Nadine was a winner!)
2nd prize Ezy Roller, Annabelle Greer #293
3rd prize Mystery merry Hamper, Lynette Chapman –Napier #154
4th prize Grocery Hamper, Jasmin Zimerman #113
5th prize Sue Lowe, Cake, #301

Prizes drawn using online random number generator
http://www.mathgoodies.com/calculators/random_no_custom.html
By David Berry
Supervised by Adrianne Coles
And Tracey Bird
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the raffle in donations and in selling tickets, special thanks to those who donated the major prizes.
Also thanks to our top three ticket sellers Tristan walker, Eden Simmons and Maanuka Winiana who will get a small gift for their great efforts.

David Berry