We had a fabulous day at Lake Opouahi on Tuesday.  After postponing our trip twice because of bad weather, it was great to see the sun shining.  Cherry and Shane met us at the special predator-proof gate and once we were inside, we sat on the grass to have our morning tea.  Then we were lucky enough to meet a little brown kiwi called Hollywood C.  We all sat in a circle and waited quietly so that Cherry could bring Hollywood C around the circle for us to pat.  We thought he felt quite soft but a bit bristly too.

After we had finished finding out all about Hollywood C, we had a walk around the lake.  We saw lots of stoat traps along the way.

We had a play on the grass and small groups of children and adults walked carefully out onto the little jetty.  When we felt the water, it was very cold!

Finally, we got back into the buses and returned to school.  We had had a great day out.

The term is off to a great start  We have all enjoyed sharing our holiday experiences.

We are looking forward to the Science Show on Tuesday this week. 

We have our fingers crossed for fine weather for next Tuesday’s planned trip to Lake Opouahi.

The term has gone by so quickly!  I hope you have all have a happy Easter and a great holiday.

Max recently had a visit from his grandmother who lives in Greece.  After her visit, Max wrote this great story……..

A few days ago my Grandma went on a plane.  I miss her.  She has stayed at my house for 6 weeks.  I love her because we had big walks together and we had so much fun.  And we went to the pools.  We had a lot of fun at the pools.  That is why I miss Grandma.

So on the last day for Grandma, we gave her a big surprise and the surprise was our friends coming over for lunch.   I cannot remember what we ate for lunch.  But I do remember how yummy it was.  And Grandma liked the surprise so much. 

The next day was not happy because Grandma was missing.  She had gone on the plane.  Mum dropped her off while we were sleeping.  She went at 10 o’clock at night.

We were missing her and she was missing us too.

It was a shame that we couldn’t go to Lake Opouahi on Tuesday because of that terrible weather but fingers crossed for next Tuesday.

See if you can find out some interesting kiwi facts to share with us. It has been great that some children are doing research at home and bringing it to share with us.

Have a great week.

Enjoy this longer video of our recent trip to White Pine Bush.

Unfortunately we have had to postpone our planned trip to Lake Opouahi because of all the rain.  We have rescheduled our trip for Tuesday 3 April, in the last week of the term.  Fingers crossed for fine weather then!

Please remember class photos are on this Thursday.

Children’s reports will come home this Friday.

Have a great week.

Lynn

Swimming has finished for the term.  We will now be getting outside for a “Throwing and Catching” unit in PE.

We wish Mikhail and his family safe and happy travelling to Pakistan.  I know he will be keeping an eye on our blog to find out what Room 5 is up to.

Make sure you get your Lake Opouahi notices back for next Tuesday’s trip.

Room 5 children wrote some great stories about White Pine Bush.  We hope you enjoy these.

On Monday all of the Juniors went to White Pine Bush.  When we got there, we had our morning tea.  We saw a wood pigeon before we started walking.  It was really fat.

Next, we walked on and we went across a bridge.  I saw a stream and I followed it.  When I walked on, the stream led into pipes, them it led into the stream again.  I saw a tree that was about 800 years old.  I also saw a tree that had been chopped down and it was like big steps.  I saw branches that hung down and I saw a waterfall. 

 I put a stick in the stream but it got stuck on a rock.  The water pushed it off and it floated away.  The stick went down a waterfall and it bumped a log but the waterfall was so powerful that it pushed the stick off and the stick kept going.  The log got stuck between some rocks.

When we got out of the bush, I said, “I really enjoyed it!”

by Ben Wilson

On Monday we went to White Pine Bush.  All the Juniors went.

At the start, we went by the bridge.  Ms Davies talked to us.  While she was talking there was a wood pigeon up in a tree but Summer, Mum, a little boy and I didn’t see the wood pigeon.

Then we crossed the bridge.  I saw heaps of insects.  Some of the holes in the leaves were made by pests.  We didn’t see any pests, only the sign about them. We saw a beautiful tui perching on a branch and we saw some fantails and a waterfall.

We had some lunch and then we went back to school.  I really enjoyed it.

by Ella Story

On Monday morning, we went to the bush.  When we got there, we took out our lunch box because it was morning tea time.

When we had finished our morning tea, we walked to the corner where the trees are and we stopped there.  Room 5 and Room 3 and Room 4 and Room 1 all went across the bridge and we kep walking because at first we didn’t see anything on the trees.

Then I saw a wood pigeon.  Its colour was green and blue and white.  I saw some mushrooms, some fat ones.  I liked looking for mushrooms.  We saw a fantail on a tree and we wanted to take a photo of it but we couldn’t because it was wobbling!  I liked the fantail.  I saw some waterfalls and they were big.  I saw more things too and I saw lots of native plants.  I couldn’t find any flowers.

I liked the wood pigeon.  That was the best thing I saw.

I really enjoyed White Pine Bush.  It was like a treasure hunt.

by Greer Findlay

Watch this video clip about the New Zealand bush. Listen carefully. Come and tell me what the three layers of the bush are.