Matariki Afternoon

We have been really unlucky with the weather recently and our Matariki afternoon yesterday had been postponed for a week because of the rain!

We loved celebrating Matariki. We had our Kapa Haka group and Matua to lead them in a powhiri to welcome everyone together. Then we split into our house groups to do some Matariki crafts to celebrate the Māori New Year. 

If you look closely you can see the stars of Matariki in the sky!

After we did our crafts we tidied up and then went outside to join together again and have some baked spuds with lots of yummy toppings. We sat together to celebrate Matariki with our school and families.

Happy Matariki!

Personal Space Test

Today we had Belinda our Public Health Nurse visit our class to talk to us about personal space.

We started off talking about our personal space being like a bubble! We used a hula hoop to show how big our personal bubble should be. How would you feel if someone was in your personal bubble?

We explored how we would feel if a stranger came up and gave us a hug and compared that to how we would feel if it was our mum. We had a lovely volunteer Hasan to be our assistant and he explained how he would feel if Kane came into his bubble and how he would feel if Belinda came into his personal space.

Hasan said that he wouldn't like a stranger in his personal bubble but he's happy for his friend Kane to be there. Hasan said 'I didn't know Belinda until this afternoon but I do know Kane!'.

We also talked about how we should think about how other people would feel if we got in their space. How would someone feel if you gave them a hug after 3 days of not seeing them? Phoenix reckons that it could make someone feel nervous if you don't know them very well. Zoe remembered starting school here and feeling sad because she didn't know anyone but by the end of the day she had made lots of friends. She said 'I didn't mind my new friends being in my personal bubble at the end of the day'.

What should we say if people are in our space and we don't like it? We can say stop it I don't like it, or we could say excuse me, can you please step back a bit you're in my bubble.

Remember - it is always okay to tell someone to stop something that you aren't comfortable with :)

Wet Weather

We've had a ton of rain recently! Remember to bring your wet weather gear and stay out of the puddles before and after school!

Who says we don't have fun...?

Corey Baker - Antarctic Dancer

Yesterday Corey Baker came to visit us at YMS. He is a very experienced dancer and choreographer and he came to share his experience with us. He was able to visit the Antarctic to create a dance there to share his ideas and opinions about global warming and how it's affected the ice and snow in Antarctica.

He used to go to our school and it was great for him to see how our school had changed, and great for our class to meet someone that used to come to our school that is doing some great things in the world.

We also learned about life in Antarctica and how he created his dance there. He had to wear so many layers of clothes and he brought them for us to see and feel. Everyone found it funny to learn about why the fur is on the outside of the gloves they wear there!  

Corey also did some dance activities with us to get us moving and thinking about what it would be like in the Antarctic. We have a heap of fun and were really lucky to have a visitor like Corey!

Thank you for visiting us and teaching us heaps about the Antarctic, Corey!