Summer Athletics at Saxton

Six weeks of intense athletics preparation and the Senior syndicate arrived at Saxton arena ready to demonstrate their athletic prowess. Traditional running events: 100m, 800m were applied, throwing events Discus and shotputt, followed by High Jump and Long jump. Finally, an 800m Relay, represented by House points finished off the day. 

An outstanding day of positive spirits, sportsmanship, tenacity and endurance on show for all to see. The successful competitors will head to inter-schools next Tuesday, I'm sure with an equally positive reflection on the day!

Kid's Corner

On Friday, Room 4 were fortunate enough to have MoreFM 92.8 visit the classroom. The 'Kid's Corner' initiative challenges the children to answer a series of challenging questions, where their answers are ultimately recorded!

A selection of comical, intelligent and somewhat bemusing answers were on display. You can listen to the variety of answers, by tuning into MoreFM 92.8 'kid's Corner' between 2.40pm-3:00pm everyday this week (Mon 23rd- friday 27th November). Otherwise, all are available to download from MoreFM the following week:

http://www.morefm.co.nz/Shows/Nelson/Afternoons.aspx

These are the questions that were asked:

What does a synthesizer do?
What is a pneumatic tyre?
What does a bassinet do?
How does salt get from the sea to the kitchen table?

HSS Gala

That time of year again, and the infamous HSS gala takes centre stage. Months of preparation from the governors, parents, teachers, children and the wider community make this event a true highlight of the year. A huge thankyou to all those involved, and for those that attended, contributing their hard earned cash to the wellbeing of HSS. A special thanks to Ngaire, Nicole, Di and Catherine for their outstanding organisation and the smooth running of the day. 

The extra funds help contribute to various projects throughout the school, in recent times: the school van, the tiger turf, subsidising school camps, devices within school and many other projects that provide opportunity for HSS children to experience and promote learning

The weather looked ominous, and at one stage in the early afternoon, gala preparations looked to revert to an indoor plan. However, in true kiwi mentality, positivity in the face of adversity saw every finger and toes crossed for a positive weather report, and it wouldn't disappoint. Miserable grey skies exit stage left, glorious nelson sunshine enter stage right.

With the ongoing redevelopments within the Middle syndicate, space understandably restricted the amount of activities/stalls available at this years gala. The Art Sale and White elephant stall being the most notable absentees. Traditional stalls such as the Chocolate wheel, plate throwing, sponge lobbing, jolly bags, and 'Teddy Toss' all proved popular. Refreshments and food were available with the copious amounts of parent helpers: whitebait patties, sausage sizzle, cake stalls, lucky dips, the options were endless. On the field, lazer-tag and water-zorbing attracted the crowds, with smiling faces for all to see, and the backdrop of fairground acoustics and the HSS band in the backdrop.

On the centre stage were outstanding performances from the Te kakano group; most notably Jessie and Kadeisha from Room 4. They deserve particular mention for their leadership and attitude to Te kakano this year, acting as great role models to the younger children of HSS. Georgia, Auriela and  Kadeisha also performed beautifully in the school Rock Da House choir with the HSS band playing throughout the evenings events.

The Senior syndicate staff once again converted Rooms 5 and 6 into a maze of winding passages, hosting a series of mysterious and frightening experiences. This years theme was 'The haunted Toy shop', following the construction of HSS on the grounds of this once famous toy store... A huge thankyou to Karen for her outstanding contribution, her incredible talents with make-up and special effects make all this possible and somewhat believable.

     

Buddy Time...

Teamwork makes the dream work...

We joined Room 10 for some fun athletics and relay challenges, learning that cooperation and encouragement help us in our everyday life.

Professionals with perseverance

This week, Room 4 were lucky enough to have Natalie to visit to explain her profession and the challenges she has faced throughout her time in the medical industry. It was a fascinating experience as she detailed her experiences; the positives and the lows of helping people. This coincided with our literacy topic on 'inspirational people'; detailing the steps we have to take to follow our dreams. 

Natalie even taught us the basics of first aid, and we got to experience using bandages and first aid on one another! She proved a huge hit with the class, explaining her profession enthusiastically with an honest and interesting account of her experiences.

Hira Football

HSS sent three competitive teams to the Hira Schools Football tournament. Milky blue skies and the sun-kissed turf of Saxton arena was the venue for the inter-schools tournament, involving over 40 teams across the region. The HSS representatives did not disappoint.

Outstanding displays from HSS Red Devils and HSS Phoenix placed them high in the group stage after 6 games, and confidently put them through to the Quarter-finals where they were eventually defeated by Brightwater and Henley respectively. The HSS Gunners were in fine form, only dropping points in a tense 0-0 tie with Central. There strong momentum continued and fired them into the competition semi-finals, having scored 18 and conceding 0. Unfortunately, HSS Gunners conceded their only goal of the tournament and ended up losing to eventual winners, Richmond in the semi-finals.

Many had not played competitive football before, so was great to see so many positive performances and smiling faces. An outstanding representation of Hampden Street spirit, sportsmanship and tenacity in a competitive environment. We then cooled off in the sprinklers to mark off an amazing day.