Here is a picture of Maddi's desk-tidy. She decorated it with straws, and had a lid on a hinge. There were lots of others that worked out well too.
Some people had to make lots of modifications to their original plans. Ethan had one that had room to put PPA's as well, but he still had some work to do on the base of it. And Shae designed one with cotton-wool padding round the top so it was warm and quiet. Some people designed them to fit on the inside of their desk-lids.

Technology

For the last two weeks of term we have been doing technology. The problem we had to solve was that some people were too slow to find their pens, pencil, rubbers and rulers. So we had to design and create different type of pencil cases that will hold our rulers pens pencils and rubbers.
We had some criteria that we set, and they included to make our pencil case durable and stable, and it had to fit on our desks. We had to think of a solution, then we planned and drew it, then we made a proto-type out of paper. Then we had to assess the proto-type, and decide whether we needed to modify it, or make any changes, before we started making the real ones.
It didn't take long to build our pencil cases. Lots of people re-used cans and packets, and some people made a net from card and constructed it that way. Some people decorated them. Today we shared them all and decided which ones met the criteria. We all voted for Maddi's because it looked good as well as being a good construction. Here is a picture of one of the prototypes.
by Jeremy.

At Year Five Camp

At year five camp the girls slept in the cabin first and the boys slept in the tents first. If some boys did not want to sleep in a tent there was a boy cabin where they could sleep. We went out to the beach and cooked some tea with potatoes and sausages and some cheese sauce on top of it. After that we got more than three marshmallows to cook on the fire. Then we had damper with some golden syrup in the middle of it and it was yummy.Then when it was late we went eeling with meat on some string. We went to bed at nine o'clock. There were bunk beds and in my room were Ally, Amber, Jasmine, Courtney and me - Jorja. We went to the river and swam. It was so fun at camp.

Written By Jorja Hussey

Monday Yachting

Monday morning- it's a great day to go yachting.I'm feeling a little bit scared and nervous. We were having a bit of trouble with transport, but we had just enough to go. As time passed it got closer and closer to yachting. When it was time to go we sorted out who was going with who, and then we went to Pandora Pond.
My group and I started to put the yacht togther. It was as heavy as a huge fridge. Then we darted out onto the water, like a fly trying to find fresh air. It was nice and calm sailing around Pandora Pond. We had to move the tiller to move and turn. To go a little faster we had to pull a rope called the Main Sheet, so it can catch some wind.But eventually we had to pack the yacht away. It took a while. Then we had to go back to school.
by Chase

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.