Red deer antlers

Today Katie  bought in two deer heads to share with Room 13.  The smaller one was a Fellow Deer and the larger one was a Red Deer.  We talked about the antlers and counted the points on them. One of them had 16!

"I think it is a dinosaur" said Cohen,  "No its a dog' said Alex. "Look at that bit I think it is an eagle" said Ruby.  Hunter said "No it has horns so it is a deer". 

We got to look up close and touch it. We could see the eye sockets, and where the brain was.  We even saw some dirty big teeth.  This promoted lots of discussion around why we need to remember to brush our teeth.

Katie told us she has been hunting them and that they have to listen out for them to roar. We googled what a Red Deer sounds like when it is roaring  and then we all had a go at making that sound too. 

Thank you Katie for sharing the deer heads with us - it certainly promoted a lot of thought and discussions.  If you are in or around school we have them up on the cupboards so please come and have a look.  

The new water feature

Did you know that we have a new water feature at Stratford Primary School?? 

Room 13 went on an adventure to see it.  It is solar powered and has a balance type tipping feature. When one side of the structure gets full, it tips and the water splashes onto the rocks.  We stood and watched (and cheered) at the new addition. It can be found by the staff car park.

Maybe you could walk up and see it in action also...

Our gardens

We often go out to observe minibeasts and bugs in the garden.  Today we saw a variety of worms and also ants.  It was interesting hearing about the different vegetables that are growing in the garden.  

Have you been to see our school gardens?

Piwakawaka

Yesterday we got to observe a Piwakawaka by the food scraps and compost area. It was flying , darting and diving around us and onto a nearby tree.  We stood and watched for five minutes and the Piwakawaka was not frightened yet put on a show.  It was eating some of the small black bugs that were flying by the food bins.

Perhaps you could go and see the Piwakawaka on your way home from school?

Reducing Rubbish....

We talk a lot about  recycling and reducing rubbish in Room 13.  Today we read a big book a called "Let's learn about where the rubbish goes".  After Mrs Rova had finished the story we had a big discussion about the last illustration.  It was a picture of some children picking up rubbish using gloves. The class decided that they would like to get some gloves and pick up rubbish.  We talked to Marlene and she thought it was a great way to also show Manaakitanga to our environment. Here are some of the pictures.  Room 13 also suggested that they would try really hard to always pick up rubbish wherever they went.  Some of the places we thought we would start was at school but also in town, at sports games and on our streets.  

We wonder if you can you help remind us about this when we are out and about? Or perhaps at home?

Lolly cake

 We were very lucky to have Brenda from Big Brothers, Big Sisters visit Room 13.  She bought some homemade lolly cake to share with us.  It was very yummy. We are all trying very hard to convince Mrs Rova to make some in class time.
Perhaps it is a recipe you could try at home?