They have put together a slide show to share at Whanau Time tomorrow. But today we get a sneek peek.
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Enviro - School Update
Mrs Daly and her crew of minions have been busy taking photos of children hard at play today working on their enviro-school projects.
They have put together a slide show to share at Whanau Time tomorrow. But today we get a sneek peek.
They have put together a slide show to share at Whanau Time tomorrow. But today we get a sneek peek.
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Persuade Me
Learning Update
This term our children have been learning how to write persuasive text.
We began with brainstorming …
What is persuasive writing?
Persuasive writing is a type of writing that... tries to convince a reader of an opinion or belief.
Why do authors try to persuade their readers?
- so they commit to an action
- to make them want something
- to convince them to buy things
- to stop people from an action
- to change someone’s mind
How do authors persuade readers?
- offer a deal (buy one get one free)
- make a promise to do something
- trade favours
- ask pleadingly or convincingly
- advertise on TV - commercials, infomercials, YouTube, posters, flyers, signs
- show how it could be of benefit
- by engaging emotions
- creating desire
- appealing to our ego
- appealing to our mind - intellect
Our senior children have been writing speeches.
Some of our middle school children have been designing persuasive posters.
Our junior children are learning to recite a poem.
Come in and listen to our Persuasive Speech Competition on Thursday 10 September at 1.30 pm.
Will you be sold…?
Arataki ‘Kauri Dieback
12 August 2015
Over the past few weeks, on our lead up to our Arataki ‘Kauri Dieback’ trip, our children have been learning about…
Biodiversity and how living things make up the living world - plants, insects, people - and how living systems are interrelated to make one.
Ecosystems and how living things (plants/animals) live together to survive and thrive.
We began by looking at our own eco-system and what we need to survive. Once our children identified what we needed to survive we then looked at how each item connected to each other, leading us to exploring the relationships between us and our environment.
We viewed a short video, courtesy of Mr Meadows, which explains this in an easy to understand way to support our learning.
Children applied this learning to a new context and had to demonstrate their understanding by creating play dough models of their eco system, then video how their play dough models support each other in their eco-system.
If we look after our eco-system we look after ourselves.
Arataki Visit on PhotoPeach
Over the past few weeks, on our lead up to our Arataki ‘Kauri Dieback’ trip, our children have been learning about…Biodiversity and how living things make up the living world - plants, insects, people - and how living systems are interrelated to make one.
Ecosystems and how living things (plants/animals) live together to survive and thrive.
We began by looking at our own eco-system and what we need to survive. Once our children identified what we needed to survive we then looked at how each item connected to each other, leading us to exploring the relationships between us and our environment.
We viewed a short video, courtesy of Mr Meadows, which explains this in an easy to understand way to support our learning.
Children applied this learning to a new context and had to demonstrate their understanding by creating play dough models of their eco system, then video how their play dough models support each other in their eco-system.
If we look after our eco-system we look after ourselves.
Kauri Dieback Study - Kauri trees are unique and under threat.
As part of our Kauri Dieback Study we will be visiting the Arataki Educational Centre, situated in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, 300 Scenic Drive, Waitakere.
Our senior children will be…
“learning, experiencing and discovering the unique features of our Kauri, and why they need protecting. Students will have fun replicating the girth of our largest Kauri, explore their distinctive features with the 'coolest' magnifying glasses, learn the important role Kauri play in our forest and pot up a native seed or seedling to take home. They will come away with an appreciation of Kauri dieback and what actions they can take to prevent this disease spreading.”
Our junior children will be…
using their senses to explore the forest - by experiencing and discovering the sights, sounds and smells of the forest. The leafy wonderland of Arataki comes alive as younger children use language and sensory awareness activities to explore their environment.They can smell the forest with magic 'sniffy dabs', see the colours of the forest on their artist palette, feel the textures of the trees when they’re blindfolded, and listen to the sounds around them during quiet time.”
Community Garden
15 June 2015
Our community garden group have throughly planned their sub projects.
They began with listing possible projects, possible resources, possible sources of support and possible sources of funding.
They planned their tasks over the course of eleven weeks and wrote letters to ensure they had sponsorship and resources before beginning.
They are now well underway.
Last week they visited two schools to research and gather helpful ideas to support our project.
On Friday they completed three raised garden frames.
Their next step is to plan the garden construction and decide on the plants they want for the garden.
Reduce Reuse Recycle
15 June 2015
Reduce Reuse Recycle at Woodhill School is focused on Kaitiakitanga - caring for our environment.
We had lots of ideas that involved positive and proactive practices, some of our ideas were:
It is great to see our children thinking in environmentally-friendly ways. Many of these ideas will make a difference locally as they already have globally.
In the short term this group’s focus is on ‘reuse’ and how to use non biodegradable car tyres in useful and purposeful ways - hence our tyre fence to protect our septic tank vents.
Last week our children dug out the trenches for their tyres and painted the tyres. On Friday they had a go at measuring the correct amount of cement powder to water ratio. They discovered the key was to ensure the mixture was mixed well and to get the cement in the tyres before it hardened.
Reduce Reuse Recycle at Woodhill School is focused on Kaitiakitanga - caring for our environment.
- establish recycling monitors
- adopt a part of the road or river to keep clean of pollution
- recycle paper into hand-made paper
- arrange a tin can collection fundraiser
- provide bins for different kinds of litter
- collect rain water from down pipes
- install side-shelters in lunch areas
- install shade sails
- set up a scrap bin for chooks
- pest control programme for mice etc
- change to enviro light bulbs
- install sustainable energy systems - wind turbine, solar power
It is great to see our children thinking in environmentally-friendly ways. Many of these ideas will make a difference locally as they already have globally.
In the short term this group’s focus is on ‘reuse’ and how to use non biodegradable car tyres in useful and purposeful ways - hence our tyre fence to protect our septic tank vents.
Last week our children dug out the trenches for their tyres and painted the tyres. On Friday they had a go at measuring the correct amount of cement powder to water ratio. They discovered the key was to ensure the mixture was mixed well and to get the cement in the tyres before it hardened.
The Chicken Coop
15 June 2015
Every big project is made up of many parts and many steps, and the procedures needed to achieve it will vary depending on the people who are carrying them out. Thank you to our wonderful enviro-school teams, our parents helpers and sponsors who began the process of bringing these projects to life.
Enviro-school on PhotoPeach
Every big project is made up of many parts and many steps, and the procedures needed to achieve it will vary depending on the people who are carrying them out. Thank you to our wonderful enviro-school teams, our parents helpers and sponsors who began the process of bringing these projects to life.
Part of the technological process involved each group brainstorming the components and tasks that would be sub-projects of each of our main enviro-school ideas.
This week we feature and share the process and deeper thinking behind each project.
The Chicken Coop
The chicken coop is by far our most comprehensive design and project. It is a project that more than any other embodies our school embracing our ‘country lifestyle location’.
Our children have investigated the many aspects involved in not only building a chicken coop but also the implications involved in raising and caring for chickens on a school site.
There are many sub-projects involved, including long term maintenance and sustainability of the chickens and the coop.
Here are a few of the considerations this project group have identified.
Size of the chook run, house, nesting boxes and perches
What breed of chicken is best for eggs and easy to keep and care for?
Is council consent required?
Food - feeding the food scraps to the chooks, growing our own corn for chicken food, buy peck-n-lay, dust baths, water feeders, self feeders
Trading - selling the eggs, selling the manure as fertiliser, using manure on the vegie gardens, logo for sales, egg cleaning if they are dirty, signage and advertising
Health and safety processes - hand sanitiser stations, signage, pest control
They have a lot of things to research and are lucky to have a great teacher leading the way.
Enviro-school on PhotoPeach
Caring for the environment
15 June 2015
Our senior school has been involved in the Muriwai Sand Dunes Rejuvenation Project for the second year running.
The stability of the sand dunes at Muriwai beach has been under threat for sometime.
These sand dunes provide a natural habitat for a range of native species and protect land and property from erosion, storms and wave damage.
Since the 1960’s, Muriwai’s shoreline has retreated around one metre a year. This has caused expensive problems such as the collapse of the public parking area and the need to relocate the Muriwai surf lifesaving club.
Our school is one group of many enthusiastic groups of young people who are involved in this annual dune restoration project, aimed at preserving this precious resource for future generations.
Thank you to our parent helpers for transporting and supervising our caring eco-children, and assisting with the planting.
Muriwai Tree Planting on PhotoPeach
Matariki Celebrations
3 June 2015
Matariki is the Maori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with six daughters, and it is also often referred to as the Seven Sisters.
Matariki has two meanings, both of which refer to the cluster of stars. Mata Riki means Tiny Eyes, and Mata Ariki means Eyes of God.
In years gone by, Matariki was thought to determine your crop for the coming season, and therefore it was important to recognise the part it played in nature’s cycle. The disappearance of Matariki in Autumn, signalled the time to gather and preserve crops, and so was an important marker in the harvest calendar.
Nowadays, Matariki is seen as an important time to celebrate the earth, and show respect for the land on which we live.
Traditionally Matariki was celebrated by gathering with whanau (family) and reflecting on the past. The festival’s connection to the stars provided an opportunity for families to remember their whakapapa (genealogy), and those ancestors who had passed on to the heavens. Some people celebrate the New Year on the day the new moon rises, and others celebrate on the day after the new moon.
This year our school has planned a variety of activities to celebrate Matariki:
Wednesday 24 June - preparation for our Hangi Fundraiser
Thursday 25 June - raranga (flax weaving), koru design, manu
tukutuku (kites), soap carving and waiata
Friday 3 July - trip to the Aotea Centre to participate in a performing arts programme.
We welcome you to join us on this day and maybe share some of your expertise or interests with our tamariki.
Hangi Fundraiser for our School Murals
As part of our Matariki Celebration this year Matua Wiki has kindly offered to support our school with a Hangi Fundraiser for our School Murals. There will be a limit of 60 tickets at $12.00 each, and our children will receive a free hangi on the day.
To help support this we are asking each family to bring one of the following items -
one whole pumpkin, or one whole cabbage, or one 10 kg bag of potatoes, or one 5 kg bag of kumura, or one 5 kg bag of onions, or five loaves of bread.
Please inform Kaye what you are able to provide, to ensure we have enough variety.
All items to be delivered to the school on Monday 22 June please.
Book Character Day
20 May 2015
It still amazes me how creative our children and their families can be with costume design. I think we are all children at heart, and we love the idea of dressing up and acting out of character, particularly our teachers.
Our staff took the story book theme Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unfortunately we didn't have a Snow White, however we did had a wicked witch, scary wolf and four dwarfs!
Thank you to room 3 and Ms Howard who hosted our Whanau Time and created a Cat Walk down the centre of the hall.
Our Book Character Parade can be viewed on our school YouTube Channel on the link below.
Whanau Time
20 May 2015
Whanau is the Māori word for family. In all cultures the strongest bond is with
At our school we have many whanau roopu - family groups. Each classroom is a whanau group, as are our staff, our junior school, our senior school, our student leaders, and our House Groups. Most importantly of course, we have our own biological or extended whanau group. With all these Whanau groups there is a common thread connecting them all - a sense of belonging, a duty and privilege of care, an expectation of support and collaboration with other whanau group members.
We call our full school assemblies Whanau Time, because they afford us an opportunity to come together as a school family, as a learning family, to celebrate who we are, to share our learning and to celebrate our accomplishments and successes. It is inclusive and we would love for you to be a part of this whenever you can.
Whanau is the Māori word for family. In all cultures the strongest bond is with
our family. Whanau - Family - is all about love and belonging, support, and encouragement, caring for ourselves and others and we represent these aspects of Whanau in our school value ‘CARE’.
At our school we have many whanau roopu - family groups. Each classroom is a whanau group, as are our staff, our junior school, our senior school, our student leaders, and our House Groups. Most importantly of course, we have our own biological or extended whanau group. With all these Whanau groups there is a common thread connecting them all - a sense of belonging, a duty and privilege of care, an expectation of support and collaboration with other whanau group members.
We call our full school assemblies Whanau Time, because they afford us an opportunity to come together as a school family, as a learning family, to celebrate who we are, to share our learning and to celebrate our accomplishments and successes. It is inclusive and we would love for you to be a part of this whenever you can.
Narrative Writing
Narrative Writing
This term our focus for writing is 'Narrative Writing'. Last week room 4 investigated and used a movie storyboard for creating a narrative story, within the context of our school values 'Care Learn Grow’.
We know that narratives must have:
- Setting: in this case, Woodhill School
- Characters: in this case, Children
- A Problem: in this case, problems children deal with at school
- Resolution:
- Conclusion:
We learnt the basics of filming using an iPad:
- Holding and filming with an iPad - positioning the view finder
- Taking good photos, rule of thirds, angles, types of shots
- Lighting, stillness, close ups, wide shots, panning an area
- Dialogue v body language
Editing a video using iMovie:
- Selecting the best shot to portray your message
- Cutting and pasting
- Adding titles, transitions and audio.
We are very proud of our final products and these have been uploaded to our school YouTube account. Here are a few.
Go to our website: www.woodhill.school.nz and select the YouTube icon (far right, top of page).
Enviro - School Process
6 May 2015
We are well on our way with our Enviro-School Plan.
Each group will be following the Technology Design Process
- Identify a need / problem
- Research possible solutions
- Develop possible solutions
- Select best solution
- Build prototype / design
- Test / evaluate
- Communicate solution
- Redesign
Each group began by identifying what they know about their topic and discussed what it means to them and our school.
Children have brainstormed ideas and decided what they want to create.
Children have investigated our school environment, identified ideal spots to work on, and taken photos to draft plans.
Our ‘Reuse Reduce Recycle’ group is investigating the reuse of tractor and car tyres to repurpose as a playground sculpture or play feature - repurpose for swings, safety barriers or jumping beans.
Our Community Garden group is now planning to visit other schools to ask about their experiences and their advice.
Our Chicken Coop group has split into smaller groups and have designed their own chicken house.
Each group has researched information for their set task e.g. pests chickens get, advantages/disadvantages of different breeds of chickens, etc.
They have written letters to Green Bay School who have a school chicken coop and researching the health and safety procedures for children and chickens.
Each group is responsible for brainstorming possible funding sources and writing letters to seek support.
We are participating in our Enviro-School Inquiry every Monday and Tuesday from 1.15 - 2.30.
They have written letters to Green Bay School who have a school chicken coop and researching the health and safety procedures for children and chickens.
Each group is responsible for brainstorming possible funding sources and writing letters to seek support.
We are participating in our Enviro-School Inquiry every Monday and Tuesday from 1.15 - 2.30.
Trash 2 Fashion
22 April 2015
This term our whole school is involved in Trash to Fashion - Wearable Arts for Kids.
The theme this year is 'Life in Technicolour' - innovative designs that reflect the art of the movie screen and how it shapes our society.
Each class will be constructing an original piece of wearable art.
Each class will be undertaking their designing, planning and creating on Friday afternoons. If you have any spare time we would welcome your help.
In the meantime we are on the lookout for quality second hand goods and materials to use for costume creation.
Four entries made the finals last year and we hope that this year we will do just as well.
Counting Your Blessing before Easter
25 March 2015
As term one comes to an end, and as I have nearly completed one full year at Woodhill, I am left to reflect on the last 12 months that were Woodhill.
2014 was indeed a very big year for our children and their families, our staff, our school, our community and me.
I have had to accept that there will be times where there is no simple answer, and accept that all good things will take time. Unfortunately, 2014 was one of those years where there were no simple answers, and people did not have time. Today as I think about all our children and whanau that we have here at Woodhill now, I am able to count my blessings.
Our small staff are few, but they are really making a difference to the teaching and learning of our children. They are as excited about the learning programmes as our children are, and it is good to see their talent and expertise begin to shine as they plan our inquiry lessons.
We have a fantastic Board who are proactive and dedicated. You don’t often see them, but they are always busy behind the scenes, ensuring our school is a safe and happy place for children and staff alike. When things are challenging, I know I have their wisdom and support to guide our school through.
Our local schools, teachers and principals have also been very supportive. Mr Parakai and Ms Waioneke have been very collegial and understanding. We all started our principalships at our new schools within weeks of each other, so we have a lot in common. Ms Helensville and Mr Kaukapakapa have local knowledge that has been very useful, particularly Mr Kaukapakapa, who almost feels like family at the end of the phone line. Whenever I have a question about tank water, power cuts or sewer issues, they are always ready to lend an ear.
I appreciate our past teachers and relievers - Mr T is a shining example of collegiality between schools and I am sure if he sees any of our children in the community he would offer a huge smile and greeting.
I appreciate you our loyal, caring and supportive parent community. A number of families have been forced to leave us due to genuine family reasons - such as moving overseas for example. You have stayed with us andI can assure you, there will be pay-offs for you, as your children receive the quality, caring, individual and collective attention, that only a small school such as ours can offer.
Thank you all.
Thank you all.
Enviro-Schools
11 March 2015
Next week our children will be opting into one of our Enviro-School groups lead by one of our caring teachers. Together they will begin the planning stage. This includes investigating our current situation, making a plan and finding support and resources.
Goal 1: Waste Management Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Mrs Daly
1.1 Improving our waste management
1.2 Building a worm farm - worm tea
1.3 Building compost bins
1.4 Litter less lunches
Goal 2: Community Garden - Ms Howard
2.1 Planting a school orchard
2.2 Building a community garden
2.3 Weed and maintain our gardens
2.4 Native Walkway / Kauri Die Back
2.5 Matariki
Goal 3: Reflecting our Culture will be led by Whaea Jax, who will
be working in each class with all our children.
Goal 4: Chicken Coop - Mr Meadows
4.1 Building a chicken run
4.2 Chicken coop maintenance
Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers who have already made a start with painting the background for our swimming pool mural.
If you are able to support in any way, come talk to one of our wonderful teachers.
Inquiry Learning
25 February 2015
Our first step in the Inquiry is to Tune In and Find Out, which we have modified and named Dream.
DREAM is to
Stimulate and maintain curiosity
Identify an issue
Provide opportunities for students to learn new information that may answer their own questions
Further questions for students to explore in the future
Challenge prior knowledge, beliefs and values
Shard experiences
Develop research and information skills
Now that each class has completed the classroom treaty our next step is to ‘Dream’ about our school environment. Most children are visual learners and our children were quick to identify what they would like to see in our school. So, we have ‘Dream’ up what we would like to have at our school and together we have developed an Action Plan and named it our Enviro School Plan.
I know we have talented parents in our community and we have already had two parent-helpers offer their help and ideas to ensure our Dream comes to fruition.
If you are able to support in any way, come talk to one of our wonderful staff.
Woodhill is an awesome school
18 Februay 2015
Woodhill is an awesome school. You are sure to have seen the Mega Mitre Ten ads that say, “Big is Good”. When it comes to their buying power, they are probably right.
We are not in the business of selling bulk products. We are supporting children to grow up to be fine young men and women - over an eight year period.
Research tells us the most important key to learning is the relationship between the learner and the teacher. Developing quality, meaningful and impactful relationships requires time, nurture, intimate knowledge of the person as an individual, consistency, patience, love, challenge, encouragement and constancy.
It is much, much harder to find these things in a big school.
We love Woodhill School because we are in effect a “boutique” school - and to borrow a phrase, “Boutique is beautiful”.
And it is. Every one of our staff knows every one of our children. Knows them inside out and upside down. Knows their quirks, qualities and foibles. Knows what interests them, and what inspires them. Each one of our staff has a quality relationship with each one of our children. We know them, we love them, we respect them, and we are totally focused on supporting them to become the best they can possibly be.
You won’t find this level of knowledge of the individual in a big school - it’s just physically not possible. That is why primary schools are smaller than secondary schools, because everyone knows the importance of quality relationships, and the challenge of developing and maintaining them in a big school.
There are some challenges that come from being a small school, but we are aware of them and always looking for ways to positively address them. One issue is leadership opportunities. We have been addressing this issue by appointing Student Leaders. Our Senior Student Leaders come from our senior class, their deputy leaders have come from our middle school students.
We worked with our children to identify the qualities of a good leader. Having done so, children then looked for peers from Woodhill School who embodied those qualities. This led to a nominations process, a candidacy campaign process, and voting to decide on our leaders.
It has been a very worthwhile and rewarding process. It has taught our children to reflect on the difference between making a campaign promise, and actually carrying it through in practise.
It has also resulted in the appointment of some very fine young boys and girls as leaders at Woodhill School for 2015.
We are proud to announce the following House Leaders and the Deputy Leaders.
Woodhill is an awesome school. You are sure to have seen the Mega Mitre Ten ads that say, “Big is Good”. When it comes to their buying power, they are probably right.
We are not in the business of selling bulk products. We are supporting children to grow up to be fine young men and women - over an eight year period.
Research tells us the most important key to learning is the relationship between the learner and the teacher. Developing quality, meaningful and impactful relationships requires time, nurture, intimate knowledge of the person as an individual, consistency, patience, love, challenge, encouragement and constancy.
It is much, much harder to find these things in a big school.
We love Woodhill School because we are in effect a “boutique” school - and to borrow a phrase, “Boutique is beautiful”.
And it is. Every one of our staff knows every one of our children. Knows them inside out and upside down. Knows their quirks, qualities and foibles. Knows what interests them, and what inspires them. Each one of our staff has a quality relationship with each one of our children. We know them, we love them, we respect them, and we are totally focused on supporting them to become the best they can possibly be.
You won’t find this level of knowledge of the individual in a big school - it’s just physically not possible. That is why primary schools are smaller than secondary schools, because everyone knows the importance of quality relationships, and the challenge of developing and maintaining them in a big school.
There are some challenges that come from being a small school, but we are aware of them and always looking for ways to positively address them. One issue is leadership opportunities. We have been addressing this issue by appointing Student Leaders. Our Senior Student Leaders come from our senior class, their deputy leaders have come from our middle school students.
We worked with our children to identify the qualities of a good leader. Having done so, children then looked for peers from Woodhill School who embodied those qualities. This led to a nominations process, a candidacy campaign process, and voting to decide on our leaders.
It has been a very worthwhile and rewarding process. It has taught our children to reflect on the difference between making a campaign promise, and actually carrying it through in practise.
It has also resulted in the appointment of some very fine young boys and girls as leaders at Woodhill School for 2015.
We are proud to announce the following House Leaders and the Deputy Leaders.
2015 Learning Focus
11 February 2015
This year we continue our learning journey focusing on our Care Learn Grow Values - particularly Caring Learning and Growing Together.
This year we continue our learning journey focusing on our Care Learn Grow Values - particularly Caring Learning and Growing Together.
Below is an overview of the first stages of our whole school Inquiry Unit.
Relating to Others
Listening with Understanding & Empathy
Thinking Interdependently
Participating & Contributing
Imagining, Creating & Innovating -
Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
Each class will explore what these look like, sound like and feel like within their class.
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