Summer Sports is back and the senior syndicate have been testing their throwing, jumping, running and sprinting in a series of testing events over the next few months.
This term we are looking to challenge ourselves, and with continued practice hope to beat our personal bests. We are also looking to learn techniques, video our performance and challenge how to improve. It all feeds forward to the school games on November 24th.
On Thursday morning, Room 4 had a lovely visit to Nelson library. We stopped for morning tea and even got to see some of the acts on 'Stage one' in the Nelson Arts Festival.
This week we have been doing lots of team building activities to see what it takes to be an ideal team player in a modern learning environment.
We soon realised being a good communicator, problem-solver, listener and risk taker are all important key competencies. We then teamed up with Room 3 for further activities. Some groups worked better than others, but we all soon realised several great minds works better than one!
Presentations, demonstrations, conversations and plenty of admiration; This Thursday saw the culmination of Genius Hour: Episode 2. The children of the senior syndicate have been working hard on their individual projects and the fair saw the opportunity to share with their peers, parents and other children from HSS.
Another vibrant feel throughout the syndicate as pride was on show throughout. Spirits were high, and Questions flowed as children were proud to present their latest projects.
Genius hour is an independent project that works on 3 simple rules:
- The project must make a difference to someone or something in a positive way. It might educate, inform or improve someone's life.
- you must research and explore your driving question to find a solution.
- it must be shared.
This terms projects demonstrated the diverse range of interests throughout the syndicate. It was lovely to see people exploring a driving question that intrigued them... Dinosaurs, natural disasters, ores and gems, how fish breathe underwater. There were projects that help those in need: publicising tourism in areas hit be natural disasters, supporting charities like 'CanTeen', the coastguard or SPCA. Many people had learnt new skills: tiedying, making your own lip balm, coding a game, building a model boat, making your own musical instruments out of recycled materials. There was also the tutorial projects: teaching someone a skill: dance, fitness, rugby, guitar. Such a diverse range of creative, thought provoking tasks.
Overall, another very productive genius hour. It's great to see the progress from term 1, and how the children are learn key skills such as planning, creative thinking, problem solving and reflection throughout. Using their own initiative and risk-taking has been two of the more obvious skills that have been on show, but is great to see the continued progress in their confidence in tasks.
Nelson Mask Parade 2015 from Mr Skiperoo on Vimeo. The Mask parade finally hit the streets of Nelson and what a spectacle it proved to be! Another perfect day in sun city; milky blue skies met with a sea of vibrant colours, and chorus of enthusiastic children. It's only a shame so many of the smiling faces were concealed by their creativity. It's taken several weeks of preparation; a lot of hot glue, copious amounts of paint, and numerous visits to Harvey Norman's excess cardboard supply, but now the stage was set.
A lively Montgomery Square was the setting for the opening act: teachers joyfully circulating with staplers, masking tape and an abundance of weathered string to make last minute alterations. The streets lined with hundreds of cheering support, and the atmosphere didn't fail to disappoint.
HSS had opted for the 'Where's Wally?' theme to coincide with the 2015 Port Nelson's Mask Parade overall topic of 'the world of books'. The children from HSS arriving in a sea of red and white, with each syndicate occupying another setting.
The Seniors confidently parading their diverse and very creative 'Wild, Wild, West' entry. The creativity and imagination was on show for all to see: Cowboys and Cowgirls, sheriffs, miners, Gold diggers. We had our own Saloon town, complete with county jails, outlaws, poker players, can-can girls, trains and wagons. A series of Cactii concealed Wally, as he weaved through horses, a buffalo, dynamite sticks, tumble-weed, stray bags of loot and the odd sheriffs badge!
Other syndicates chose themes 'Under the Sea', 'Dragons, Knights and Princesses', 'Land of Pirates' and 'Creatures from the Hungry Caterpillar'. An exceptional team effort from all the parents, teachers and Children. Thankyou to all the parents for their help and assistance in assisting with costumes, escorting the children to and from the mask parade and continued support throughout the main event. I'm sure everyone would agree; an overwhelming success!
