Aug 12, 2018 | Wētā - Year 4 blog
Hi parents,
Here’s some highlights from the term thus far…
New Students
At the start of Term 3, we had two young men join us: Konstantin and Ollie. Three weeks in, they’re part of the team, and it’s easy to forget that they’re new.
Konstantin and Ollie. Both always early for school because they don’t have to
waste time styling their hair.
Art
Early this term we finished our self portraits. They are hanging in the school hallway for you to check out, next time you are in.
Oscar in the early stages of a skin-graft
Daniel animated in more ways than one.
Topic
For topic, we’re taking a look at history. We’ll begin to focus on the 1920’s: the period of our upcoming school production.
Matching his place on the timeline, Tiger adopts the pose of a reclining Roman emperor
Science
We’ve been focusing on the properties and behaviour of magnets.
Ollie finds his bones and sinews are no match for magnetic force.
Konstantin gets a trail of magnets going
Harper made this himself at home: a magnetic contraption that causes two coins to stand upright.
Oscar uses magnets to become a hipster. Now he just needs skinny jeans.
Reading
We’ve been learning to participate in “Literacy Circles”. The students are in groups of 5, with each group reading the same novel. They have different roles to fulfil, such as “Discussion Director”, “Passage Picker”, “Word Master” etc. Every 3 days they have a discussion day where they discuss and share what they have prepared.
Claire ponders the far-reaching implications of Poppy’s statement. Or, she just wishes it was
her turn. Can’t remember which.
The boys are turning pages. An important skill to master when you are reading.
Ethan seems to literally have his nose in a book.
Luke and Dylan with their best “show me how much you love learning” faces
Cross Country
On Friday 10th August, we had our annual cross country event. An all around good effort and attitude from the Year 4’s. No tears, just flushed faces!
The Sienna-strut
The Aston-Martin, firing on all cylinders
The Jack-Be-Nimble, Jack-Be-Quick
Aug 9, 2018 | Katipo - Year 3 blog
We have been learning about different materials. One of our investigations has been testing different types of paper to discover which was the most absorbent to the least.
First we made a prediction on ranking the papers from most absorbent to the least. Next we discussed what a fair test is to help us set up our investigation. After that we wrote up our method of how we were going to run our investigation, we ensured everything we did had to be the same for every piece of paper for it to be a fair test.
We then cut the pieces of paper all the same size, some of us found it challenging, but we all got there in the end.
This is us cutting our paper.
After we had cut our paper we got a beaker of coloured water. Then we put each strip of paper touching the bottom for 2 minutes. When we took the paper out of the water, we measured how far the water had risen up the strip of paper.
This is us testing the paper.
Most of our results were similar to each other. We discovered our predictions were different to our results.
We learnt it is important to follow the method exactly as it is written or it is not a fair test.
Written by Alex, Charlee, Isabella, Ciaran, Ashlee, Olivia, Michael, Daniel, and Anna.
Aug 6, 2018 | Kiwi – Year 1 Blog
We have had an extremely busy start to our new term and we are very excited about the School Production that will be taking place in the final week of Term 3.
During Week 2 we began our introduction to Sculpture and our focus has been on the Hei Tiki.
We are beginning to understand the significance of the Tiki and we are designing our own Hei Tiki.
Have a look at our designs!
Aug 3, 2018 | Tui - Year 2 blog
We have been learning about making and breaking electrical circuits. We have had fun making a bulb light up by completing a circuit.
We have also learnt about breaking a circuit and adding a switch.
Aug 3, 2018 | Tui - Year 2 blog
We have had a very busy start to Term 3!
In Maths, we have been learning about Data Handling.
Jul 19, 2018 | Kiwi – Year 1 Blog
Our two week swimming sessions ended a very busy Term 2.
The progress that our class made has been significant!
Despite the fact that our Karearea’s have been fighting the inevitable winter chills, they turned up each day with smiles on their faces ready to master their new swimming skills.
Have a look at some of the fun we have had!
Jun 28, 2018 | Moa - Year 6 blog
Princesses, heroes, pirates and even a tiger partied away at the annual WW disco. This year’s theme was Disney and our WW students certainly Let it Go on the dance floor!
With Hair Up, our collection of princesses showed their True Colours and Moved their Feet to D.A.N.C.E.
Yo Ho Ho, not to be outdone, our boys became the Kings of the Swingers and Jungle VIPs!
We discovered the Wonderful Thing about Tiggers was that they were bouncy, bouncy,bouncy, bouncy….
Jun 22, 2018 | Katipo - Year 3 blog
Every Friday we do problem solving math relating to what we have been working on during the week.
Your Mathematical geniuses are working on division problems. They are encouraged to represent their understanding by ‘show me don’t tell me’.
Jun 22, 2018 | Wētā - Year 4 blog
Maths
The last couple of weeks have seen us focusing on fractions. For instance, “which fractions are equivalent to three quarters?”, or “how many more thirds to make one whole?”
Ethan wonders why Maths worksheets always seem to include cartoon fish
Sienna wonders what fraction of $10 she is entitled to if she allows images of herself to be used on our Blog.
Wacky Wraps
Earlier in the term, we enjoyed making Beeswax wraps with Mrs McLeish. It was fascinating to watch the beeswax pellets melting in the oven and forming a protective layer around our cloths. It was also a great application of our learning in science around liquids and solids.
Beeswax wraps: the hottest trend in winter fashion.
Jack shows us all how it’s done. I bet he makes a great lasagna as well.
Music Festival
We had a great time performing our items for the Music Festival. The thrill of an evening performance was great for the kids, and there’s no question that we were justified in having our own performance, separate from the College.
The hardest thing about being a dog is the fleas you attract..
Despite being nocturnal, possums love the limelight.
Claire exaggerates the the size of the last fish she caught.
Stardome Visit
Our visit to the Stardome Observatory, stimulated a lot of good learning. In class, we followed up the visit by looking further into some of the questions that arose such as, “what causes the seasons?”, and “how many different sorts of constellations are there”?
Oscar is pointing to something, which means he must be learning.
The students worried at first that this was some sort of sneaky dental examination.
Chelsea is concerned that such a large web must be the work of a very large spider.
Breakers Basketball Sessions
Class Korora have very much enjoyed the basketball sessions we’ve had the last couple of weeks, led by Coach C. Before the sessions many of the students thought dribbling was something you only did with a mouthful of saliva, but are now much more adept at basketball skills.
Ethan is impressed with Couch C’s Black Swan impression.
Jun 21, 2018 | Moa - Year 6 blog
Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in mid-winter and for many Māori, it heralds the start of a new year. Matariki literally means the ‘eyes of god’ (mata ariki) or ‘little eyes’ (mata riki).
We went to the Stardome to learn about the solar system and how Maori myths were used to interpret the stars and as an aid for navigation.
We had time to play before the serious work began and had lots of fun on the tyres and the flying fox. then it was into Stardome, where our students learned all about night, day and the seasons with a workshop led by Vanessa – an expert in Physics.
After that, they split into teams to explore the museum with an interactive I-pad quiz. We finished the day reclining in the Planetarium to investigate the universe through myths.
Video Needed
Jun 18, 2018 | Moa - Year 6 blog
Wow! Wow! Wow!
For the first time,Wentworth Primary went solo at the Music Festival…and what a success it was!
Our talented students performed songs (which they had composed themselves), dances, raps and instrumental pieces to a sell-out crowd of families and friends.
We ended the evening with a glimpse of our forthcoming production – Mystery at Magpie Manor, which is a musical whodunnnit, set in the razzle-dazzle of the 1920s.
Video Needed
Jun 18, 2018 | Moa - Year 6 blog
Science week got off to a roaring start with the STEMania roadshow. We discovered how we use science, technology, engineering and maths in our everyday lives and just how much fun these things could be!
We also had a Science quiz – which was tough and competitive. Our Year 6 joint winners were Rosie and Rory! Well done!
Our Eco Warriors were invited to join the College Environmental Prefects on a clean-up of our local beaches. They visited Army Bay and Manly Beach and were amazed (and disgusted!) to find all sorts of rubbish, including coat hangers, socks, bottles and netting – all of which could prove a danger to wildlife on our shores!
