Conservation Week has been celebrated school wide with activities filling the week that highlighted the need for everyone to be kaitiaki and to show kaitiakitaka for our place. A colouring competition and name and design the sign for an outdoor learning space tapped into the creativity of our students, fun facts sparked discussion and questioning, an insect mansion started to be built and every classroom plant was planted during the week celebrating our classes, our school and our neighbouring reserve.

The year 5/6 classes braved the windy weather and started the week of planting with Room 9 Tī kōuka planting their tree (cabbage tree) and room 8's horoeka (lancewood), both of which will add some height and interesting forms to our place. Mānuka (room 6) were planted in our "inviting insects" corner and Kapuka (room 7) planted their shiny green leafed plant.

Mataī (room 3) planted both their classroom tree and the miro (room 2) - two towering giants that will grow big and tall. Kahikatea (room 11) planted the tallest tree in the native NZ forest, and Pōkākā (room 13) planted their tree nearby as they both like having wet feet. The Pōkākā class also planted some kōwhai (room 1).

Kōtukutuku (room 12) got the best of the weather planting their paper bark tree in the sunshine. They look forward to seeing the blue coloured pollen from the green and pink flowers.Tarata (room 14) planted both tarata and horopito (room 10), one of which is peppery to taste while the other has a lemony scent.

Tōtara (room 3) can't wait to have their tree fruiting and the birds spreading the seeds around the forest and area. Ponga (room 5) planted some ground cover ferns, and there are plans for tree ferns to be planted.

The insect mansion has its first two floors, with sticks, bricks, leaves and bark being used to create habitat for bugs of all sorts! We look forward to adding to this.

It was great to hear the knowledge that ākonga have about their class tree and the taonga (treasures) in the bush reserve - these connections are important for us to show kaitiakitaka of our special places.

This week we planted a Kahikatea Tree - the tallest tree you can see in our reserve.
Our Kahikatea Tree Wish…

We wish that  your Kahikatea tree roots grow deep and strong, anchoring you as a living part of our kura.  We hope you flourish and be happy here, becoming a treasured tree that we can whisper our wishes to. We promise to love and care for you so other children can love you too.

I'm going to help the Kōtukutuku tree and I will water it any time it needs water. By Rowan Hughes
At my house I am making a lizard home because I like lizards and I like reptiles. By Archie Canny
After school I am going to ask my mum if I can make a beehive. By Ruby-Lou Young
This week is conservation week and yesterday I planted potatoes and I am going to plant trees today. By Viliame Tagicakibau

In Matai we had a wonderful time out planting with Mrs Graham. We were chuffed to not only plant our class tree the Matai, but also Room 2's tree the Miro. Once we planted our trees we huddled around the trees to wish the trees the best of luck to grow big and strong. We put a plant guard around the seedlings to protect them from balls, from us and animals that might damage the seedlings.
This week we have also been exploring printmaking and using fungi as our subject. We used our observational drawing skills to create pictures of fungi on foam paper with pencil. Because it was so wet and wild on Friday we printed our fungi prints. They turned out so amazing and we are all so proud of our mahi!

Tōtara celebrated Conservation Week by planting some bean seeds and learning about germination and photosynthesis. We discovered that the seed splits open before it sprouts. We knew that plants needed water, sunlight, soil or matter that can hold water, but we were unsure what provided food for plants. We discovered that sunlight is converted to food or energy for plants in a process called photosynthesis. 
Mrs Graham helped us plant a Tōtara tree that had been gifted to our class in the new garden area being developed. She guided us and showed us how to make the conditions right for the tree to grow well. We enjoyed the conservation facts that were shared in the notices each day. We look forward to getting the vegetable garden ready for some more planting!

In Ponga we began working in groups to find out about aspects of the reserve that we are interested in. Groups are investigating; fungi, trees, waterways, manu (birds) and bugs. This will be ongoing learning for us for the remainder of the year. We are looking forward to finding out more about these important parts of our reserve and how we can look after them as citizens of Otatara School.
What we liked about Conservation Week:

This week we got our hands dirty and helped plant some native trees, including the special pōkākā. There were also a huge number of creative entries for the new signage competition for the area behind the pool. We're excited to see the winning design!
To learn about how to protect our native wildlife, we placed a tracking tunnel in the reserve to find out what pests might be around- check out the photo of our tracking card below and guess what animal may have left their footprints behind.
We also learned so much from a visit by Jack's Dad from Environment Southland. We were surprised by the wide variety of traps available for pest control.

We are looking forward to continuing our learning about being kaitiaki of our place.

The Ōtātara School reserve is very special to New Zealand. Almost all the trees in the reserve are native and if we don’t respect the trees in the reserve it will begin to shrink until there is not a reserve to respect. 

People also need to look after the native trees so the birds can eat the berries that grow on the trees. We should be careful not to stand and ruin the homes of insects because insects are also food for the birds. 

People should not leave rubbish in the reserve because the birds will get stuck in it or eat a little bit of rubbish. Birds eat seeds and poop it out to make new trees so we shouldn’t leave rubbish there.

In conclusion this is why we need to be Kaitiaki of Ōtātara School Reserve.  

By Addie

This week, Mānuka took to the Reserve to observe all the changes now that Spring has finally arrived. We used a graphic organiser to collect ideas on what we observed, heard and felt when we were out there.  Back in the classroom we used these ideas to write free verse poems all about Spring!
Our news team also covered a lot of what was happening around our kura for Conservation Week so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next episode of the news!

Rooms 7 and 9 undertook the second litter intelligence survey for this year at Noki Kaik, Sandy Point.  This survey involves gathering and classifying all litter found within the same 100m by 20m area.
This year the following were found:

In the first survey this year there were 687 items collected, totalling 1500grams and in the latest survey there was 1317 items weighing a total of 1400 grams, most of these (1228) were plastic items.  

We challenge you to think about how you can reduce the use of plastic in your home to help protect our waterways and our marine life.

Pulling out invasive vines to look after our precious ngāhere; making sure that we left the native vines alone! 

The children have been exploring 50 things you can do in nature. There are fantastic challenges for you to explore together. Check them out and see how many you can do!

Next week is te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori language week). We have lots of exciting things planned within our kura to get tamariki involved in using the language. This year we also have a couple of ways to get involved at home.
Check out the poster to see how you can get involved.

To register your child/ren for sport in Term 4, click on the links below for further information. Please note registration closing dates, late entries will not be accepted. All payments are to be made to the Otatara School bank account: 030855 0560871 000.

After registrations have closed and teams have been organised, team information will be emailed out to parents/caregivers.

Monday 20th October - Monday 8th December

Cost: $50

Link to register - https://forms.gle/MWLQyV3kboQwBL1U6

Thursday 16th Oct - Thursday 20th November 

Cost: $25

Link to register - https://forms.gle/foUfc74fVDRDcGYN7

Tuesday: Age 5-8, Thursday: Age 9-11

Cost $40

Link to register - https://forms.gle/atiDrRUzzEadfuJJA

Thursday 16th October - Thursday 20th November

Time: 5.00pm (after touch rugby)

Cost: Free

Link to register - https://forms.gle/RGS7jzUq72VE83mTA

Thursday 30th October

Queens Park Golf Club

8.45am - 3pm

Cost - $5

Link to register - https://forms.gle/jNnaDcuYrgf8fAu16

Wednesday 5th November - Wednesday 10th December

4pm - 5pm

Queens Park Cricket Club

Cost - $25

Link to register - https://forms.gle/tm75k5dCEmMtPK6y7

Ako - “Te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōna te ngahere; te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga nōna te ao.”
 The person who takes on learning can do anything they choose
Isla Strachan, Taliah O'Kane, Maia Sales

  

Kaitiakitanga | Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua
Care for the land, care for the people, go forward
Zack Findley, Lara Hindley, Amelie Crossley, Georgia Horrell, Vinnie Stewart, Kate Aurik, Rocco MacRae, Maia Sales, Jacko Nyhof

 

 
 

Friday 12 September - Junior School Assembly   2.10pm
Friday 19 September - Whole School Assembly  2.00pm

                          Morning                                Afternoon

Monday          Lena Clinckett                    Lena Clinckett
Tuesday          Taryn Bellman                   Taryn Bellman
Wednesday    Brad Packham/Megan D   Bernadette Larson               
Thursday        Sharon Livingstone            Becky Nyhof    

 

Parent helpers please be at school by 8.20am for the morning patrol and 2.40pm for the afternoon patrol. 
If for some reason you are unavailable on your rostered day please swap with another parent.