Year 6 yachting

Yay - it's finally year 6 yachting time!!
We're going next week,on Monday the 28th of March.
The 6's feel excited,nervous, a bit scared, but mostly excited.
We are having lessons for rigging and de-rigging the yacht, and we are getting better every day. There are 2 types of knots. One is the figure of 8 knot and the other is the bowline knot. Our favourite knot is the figure of 8 knot because it is easier than the bowline knot. The yachts we're going in are called the Optimist Yachts.
Some people have already packed the gear we need.
All of us hope that we have a safe trip to Pandora Pond and that the weather isn't too bad for sailing.
by Maddi and Zeel

Year 5 camp

In week 5 the year 5s went on camp at Camp Wareham, which is at Aropauanui, just north of Napier. We swam and had lunch at the beach, and we went to the river. We did a river study to see how fast the water went and also how cold it was and how healthy the water was. Swimming at the waterhole was a real highlight. We saw some big farm machinery when we went eeling. Sleeping was done in cabins and tents.Playing spotlight was fun too.

Welcome back!

This year we have 28 students in Room 13.
We recently welcomed McKenzie, who has come to us from Christchurch. He and his family have told us what it was like in the earthquake, and they showed us some photos of where they lived and the houses around them.
We hope McKenzie enjoys his new life in Napier.

Have a look at the New Zealand Ballet

Symphony Orchestra

Last week 40 students from the senior school were lucky enough to go to a special concert put on by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the Napier Municipal Theatre. They played different types of music - some pieces told a story (like Peer Gynt) and there were some pieces that we had to use our imagination (like Aotearoa, by Douglas Lilburn, and a piece that Mr Beethoven wrote which described a storm.) The conductor asked small groups of the orchestra to play little bits, so we could hear the instrument groups separately, and we were able to focus on the different melodies in the music.
It was amazing when they all played together. We were very lucky because we were right at the front so we had an excellent view of the players.

CAMP

The 6's from room 13 and 15 went to camp Kaitawa a couple of weeks ago.This is my story about the first day.
On Monday morning the bus picked us up from school.We stopped into Raupanga so people can go toilet. In Raupanga there is colourful tagging on the toilets and rubbish behind them.
After that we stopped into Wairoa for lunch. We were allowed to play on the playground.There was a big tree in Wairoa with heaps of roots sticking out.Most of us year 6's climbed it. Nobody will ever get to the top. When it was time to go people couldn't get down. As soon as the others got down we had to line up in a line and number off from 1-25 . My number was ten. We had to memorise our number so when there was a fire drill at camp we would number off, or when we leave camp for a walk we would number to make sure everyone was safe. Anyway it took us a hour to get to camp from Wairoa.
As we arrived at camp we saw a beautiful view of Lake Waikaremoana and trees. We unpacked our gear, made our beds then we went for a walk to the Spillway. On the way to the spillway we had to run up the Kaitawa pipeline.
When we went up we went down Onepoto Road to see another beautiful view of Lake Waikaremoana.
Nanita.

Mrs Vercoe's ANZAC biscuit recipe.

We have read some good stories about ANZAC day, and today Mrs Vercoe brought in some Anzac biscuits for our morning tea. They were excellent - crisp and delicious! Here is the recipe:

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup coconut
pinch of salt
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon boiling water
few drops vanilla essence.

Combine rolled oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a large bowl.
Melt butter and golden syrup together in a small saucepan.
Mix baking soda with the boiling water and add to the butter-syrup mixture.
Add vanilla and mix into dry ingredients.
Leaving plenty of room for the biscuits to spread, place generous teaspoonfuls of dough on a greased baking tray. Because the mixture is a bit crumbly, it is best to form little patties of mixture between the palms of your hands.
Bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes.
Loosen from tray while biscuits are still warm, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Store in an airtight container.