Hot Cross Buns Makaraka Style!

Today we made hot cross buns together with the whole school.  We were in groups with all different age groups. It was really cool to learn about yeast and different types of flour.  

The group that was with Koka Michelle made Gluten Free buns because we have some students who are gluten free (including Koka Michelle).  The recipe was a little different because gluten free flour doesn't have gluten which is the stuff that makes it bind together and stretchy and we needed more eggs and butter to bind it. 

After 1.5 hours when the dough rose, we glazed the buns and put crosses on them ready to bake.  Thanks to the Makaraka Dairy for their prowess in baking the buns for us. 

After lunch we met together as a school to eat them!  Yummy! 

Armistice Day Service

We come together to remember those who fought for our freedom in the great war of 1914 to 1918. Luckily on the 11 day of the 11 month at 11 O’clock a truce was declared and the war ended.

As the Allies continued to advance against German forces on the Western Front and the other Central Powers began to surrender, New Zealanders began to celebrate

On the morning of 12 November, when news of the Armistice was announced in New Zealand, people celebrated enthusiastically in cities and towns across the country: bells rang, sirens sounded and children banged on kerosene tin drums.

Communities came together, speeches were made and songs sung. The red poppy has become a symbol of war remembrance the world over. People in many countries wear the poppy to remember those who died in war or who still serve in the armed forces. We will remember those who fought and did not return. Lest we forget.

Written by Eilidh Green

Kia Hiwa Ra - a moving production!

This term Makaraka School staff and students embarked on a big project!  A whole school production! The story was about Cook's first navigation to New Zealand and retracing his first steps. 

Students were involved every step of the way from writing the script to making props and costumes and choreographing the moves to dances! 

Each class had a scene to work on which was a different local story:

Year 1/2 portrayed Maui's Fish - the fishing of the North Island

Year 3/4 portrayed Paoa and Kiwa - the establishment of Turanganui a Kiwa

Year 4/5 portrayed Paikea's arrival in Whangara

Year 5/6 portrayed Kupe and the naming of Aoteaoa

The little 5 year olds were the time travel portal which Captain Cook and his crew travelled through and portrayed the Great Pacific Garbage patch through oil, plastic, sea creatures and water. 

Each class also had an added project to contribute to their scene by incorporating plastic props!  This symbolised the presence of plastic in our lives and highlighted the need to be responsible about the use of it!  The plastic props were all lit with LED lights which made them look fabulous! 

Everyone who came enjoyed the production and we even got a letter to the editor!

Here is the whole video! 

End of year Antics

What a fantastic end to 2018!  

Thank you to FOM's for the tasty Barbecue and all the classes for their entertaining performance!
  

Here is Tawhirimatea's performance which was 'pantomime-esq' and a lot of fun practicing!  Personally I loved the Year 6 boys as the Sugar Plum Fairies!  LOL!  

The final assembly was also a special experience for our Year 6's.  Tomorrow starts today!  Here is a link to some of the items they performed. 

Jillian's Video

Have a very Happy Christmas Everyone! 

Roswell and Lilian - A Play

Last Friday our 19 Year 6's performed a play to the school!  

We had been practicing and learning about it during Friday Programme this term.  This was a play set in Medieval times about Kings and Queens!  Written in melodrama style we had a lot of fun over acting and doing big actions.  This made it really funny and the audience loved it! 

We are looking forward to more performances at Makaraka has Talent and the Final Assembly!  

Central School's Amazing Production

How lucky were we to be invited to Central School's Production - This is Us.  We thought it was fabulous.  They had narrators and lots of interesting costumes and props.  Everything looked just stunning. 

The story was about their journey from the creation of Earth to present day and beyond.  The dancers in the creation did really well and performed to Holst's Jupiter!  A powerful piece of music. 

The giant sized puppets really show cased the European and Maori descendants and the make up of our culture.  It is no mean feat putting over 400 students on the stage and Central did a great job! 

I loved seeing Tim be a part of the show also!  He is often behind the scenes and he would have loved helping his old school!

It was great to watch and we hope we can return the hospitality next year for our production! 

Arohanui Central - Terrific effort!

Lunchtime Disco a great hit!

The grand finale to our Planet Sunshine fundraiser was a huge success today!  Makaraka School Community is a fantastic supportive bunch and we have really outdone ourselves.  

Here is the rundown of the fundraising: 

Pyjama Movie:  $435.90

Bake Sale:  $300.10

Disco:  $490.70

Making a grand total of $1226.71!!!!!!  

Wow the sick children of Gisborne are going to really benefit from this and Georgia and Tom are truely proud to be taking this giant cheque with them next week to their Aurora meeting.  

I wonder who will win the guess the lollies competition?

To be announced at assembly tomorrow...  

Some lucky person will be getting 480 lollies! 



From the bottom of our hearts - Thank You! 

Exploring the Living World

Mr Swann introducing us to Tarere

Manaia who is a part of Tarere Iwi

Planting the 250 Trees

Yay we did it!

Tarere is Makaraka School's closest Marae and today we went to visit.  We planted some trees for them along the river to help build up a native bush area.




It was hard work getting the spade down through the grass roots but in the end we planted a lot of trees and then headed back to school for a well earned morning tea.





After morning tea, we ended up at Gray's Bush to explore the bug life a little closer!  We found some interesting looking things!

Material World - Confectionery Candles

Today we had our 3rd science day looking at the properties of materials.  There were some exciting activities! 

Ooblick

Mucus Slime

Glowing Water

Super Absorbant Polymers

Colour Changing Milk

Confectionery Candles

Happy Birthday to you!  It really was Georgia and Isla's Birthday! 

These candles are environmentally friendly and very tasty!  An extra challenge for home is to try different nuts and see how they burn! 

Try them net time it's your birthday!  You'll be a part of saving the planet as well as a healthy fruit addition to the cake! 

What did the Physical World teach us?

Putting the fun in learning! 

As well as welcoming some guest students, we had our first immersion week day.  This was on the Physical World which was all about forces and movement.  We began with a tall tower competition 4 teams!

Students rotated around activities on:

Catapults
Pulleys
Magnets
Light
Floating and Sinking
Electricity

Ask them what they did and learnt!  Some fabulous fun and curiosity shown here!  

A wrap up of Mrs Hall's activities... 

War Memorial Theatre Arts night

On a starry night by the light of the moon the River and Sea Creatures play together!

Each year students from Makaraka School create something artistic to showcase the performing arts.  This year we created 4 performances in our House groups.  House groups are cross school groups where we do whole school activities.  Each house group took one of our school values and created a performance to show the key ideas of that value.  

Blue House  - Kia Maia, Stand Proud

Red House - Kia Kaha, Be Strong and brave

Yellow House - Kia Manawanui, Have a Heart

Green House - Tuku Patai, Be Hungry to Learn and Have Curiosity. 

After these performances were shown, the Year 5 and 6's performed their Stage Art entry which is going to be in a competition in Napier.  The Stage Art is about a local Whatatutu story depicting a man called Whirikoka and his pet seal Oioi.  The story explains how oil is made and the origins of fossil fuels.  

Here is our performance: 

Matariki 2018

Matariki - Papa Pura

Ko Matariki te timatanga o te tau

Ko Matariki te hurihanga o te tau

Ko Matariki he taonga toku iho

Ko Matariki he tohu kotahitanga e   e e

Tuturu whakamaua kia tina    TINA

Haumi e,  hui e, taiki e

The beginning of the year

The changing of the seasons

A treasure to be passed down

A sign to be together

This is Matariki

Our whole school had a rotation around 6 activities to do with art, taonga and being together.  At lunchtime we had a Hakari - feast to celebrate in the sharing of food.  Matariki is a time to share stories, be together and pass on traditions.  Every year we learn about what this means and reflect on how it feels to remember our culture in this way.  

A fun day!  Thanks Mrs McPherson for organising our groups!  Thanks all the teachers for fun activities to help us learn by doing!  

Te Pakeke o Whirikoka

Today we visited an ancient Pa site in Whatatutu from the iwi Nga Ariki Kaiputahi (meaning The Chiefs who Partake of the Goodness). We were cloaked in the Korowai o Waikohu (the cloak of mist for the area) however it didn't affect our enjoyment and learning.  It was a very powerful experience to see everyone learning about our area's history and make a connection with local stories.  The Lloyd Whanau have collected and created some beautiful artwork and made their Pa a welcoming place for all.  Of great interest is the philosophy which our class follows closely Te Whare Tapa Wha - the four corner stones of health and wellbeing - Taha Wairua (Spiritual health), Taha Hinengaro (Mental Heath), Taha Tinana (Physical Health), Taha Whanau (Family), Taha Whenua (The Land).  We have ben learning about this and relating it to our own mindfulness particularly in sessions with Mrs Mill.  Below is a picture of the artwork that Marcus has created showing the concept and how they fit together with families - Beautiful! 

Before we went to the Lloyd's house we called into Mangatu Marae to be welcomed and practice our Powhiri.  Mangatu Marae is a different type of marae with no carvings other than the Tipuna - Tamanui as the people follow the teachings of an ancestor Te Kooti.  However the Whare Kai is beautifully decorated and is a place of sharing food and stories together.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you Marcus for a beautiful day! 

GDC Visits on Dog Safety

Looks like a great lesson on how to be safe with dogs happened while I was away.  Can you tell me:

• 3 things you learnt...
• 2 interesting facts?
• 1 question you still have...

Post in the comments section!

Maths Curriculum Evening 28/03/18

On Wednesday evening we had an amazing turnout to our Maths curriculum evening.  We had fun playing maths games, problem solving and learning how to practice Maths at home.
We use the Prime Maths programme and it was a great opportunity to show our parents how Prime Maths works.

Here is Mrs Hall's Powerpoint:

We started with a hot milo and bickies and then had a go at the problems after the presentation.  There were even Easter Egg prizes!  Here are the winners of the problem solving draws:

2B: James Williams, 2nd: Gerald Marshall

3A: Caitlin Bayly, 2nd: Bridgette Bayly

3B: Geraldine Seaton, 2nd: Erana Blandford

4A: Mrs Allan, 2nd: Andrea Stevens
4B: Leah Tupara, 2nd: Ro Jones

Some photos of our super evening: