Junior School went to Howick Historical Village:

All junior students have been time travelling back to 1850.
The inquiry topic is entitled, "Then and Now."
We are learning to ask questions, make statements and make comparisons about life then and now.
We enjoyed outdoor games, parlour games, butter churning and an 1850 school lesson - complete with a cane and slates to write on.
We are learning to complete PMI charts; looking at pluses, minuses and interestings!
We are learning to complete Venn Diagrams; looking at same and different. LJ.

On March 14th at 2.00pm we will practice asking questions when have Grandparents bringing along utensils and games from their childhoods.

Senior School Unit of Inquiry

The Senior School has been learning about "water as an essential and finite resource"
To get our inquiry under way we had a special visit from Sally Smith from Watercare.
We learnt about the process water goes through, to get from the sky to our tap.
We found out the process had four key stages - clarification, membrane filtration, carbon filtration and chlorine treatment.
We then tried making our own water filters to turn dirty water into clean water.
Next week we are off to school camp.
When we return we will have a visit from a
World Vision representative.
Then we can learn about water issues in countries different to our own.

Photos pending...

The Famous Junior Team Splish Splash Day:

This much anticipated annual event was held yesterday, Thursday 16th February!
It occurred a bit earlier this year than usual, so the students' swimming skills were not as honed as they will be by April, however nobody seemed to mind.
It was earlier than usual owing to the fact that we love having the Year 6 Whanau Leaders take leadership roles. Senior School have an action packed term planned with camp and other sporting events so we grabbed a day to suit them.
It was well worth it - they were as much BBPS 'stars on the day' as the junior students themselves. LJ.

Our First Assembly of 2012:

We are really pleased to be back at school and have started the year with great enthusiasm.

Here we are last Friday all gathered for assembly.

For many students it was their first assembly ever, and it was also nice to welcome students newly arrived from other schools.



The students up front and looking proud are our Whanau Leaders for 2012.

They were getting awarded their badges which they wear with pride.

It is quite a big deal for them and everyone knows they will demonstrate great leadership skills.

Their first chance is actually on Thursday 16th when we have our "Famous Junior School Splish Splash Day" at 11.00am.






It was exciting to hear how they are planning to run competitions and Whanau sports games on the fields during some lunch-times. LJ.

We WON the GBS COMPETITION!!!!!!!!!!!

Our eyes popped out of our heads today at the sight of $3000 stuck on a gift wrapped pinboard. We send out a HUGE thank you to all the friends and family members of students and staff who made our win possible. A photographer was present and we may yet see a photo in the local newspaper.
We are currently brainstorming and daydreaming of what we can buy for the school with this super little windfall and the school community will be told when a decision has been made.
P.S. My class of 5 year olds want a rollercoaster starting on the field and ending up in the pool!!

We were also treated to another superb performance by the Kapa haka group.
They are performing in the Koanga festival tomorrow and we wish them well.
As always, Mrs Bodley looks on admiringly.

Chess

Our chess team came 4^th out of 11 teams at the recent interschool championships. There were very close results and our team members were amongst the youngest in age. An outstanding effort was made by Aidan, Macka, Henry, George and Nigel. Well done.

Dance Festival Wows Us Again.

We are so lucky to educate, and be educated, in this area - the opportunities just keep on coming... Not without the hard work of enthusiastic teachers, students and parents though, and for that we are grateful.
Many, many local schools join forces once a year and put on a combined Dance Festival held over two nights.
It was held this week and here are some shots of the dress rehearsal last Friday. Bright, colourful, vibrant children, not to mention the costumes and music!!

Lifelong Learners.

All the BBPS teachers have been enjoying learning some up-to-date maths sites, games and fun teaching methods.
Yes... that is right... we, too, go to Maths class. We don't expect our students to do anything we don't do ourselves!! and here are some photos to prove it!!

Room 8 Starts World Cup Fever Early...

We were all treated to an early kick off a couple of weeks ago in assembly when Room 8 impressed us with rugby terminology and made comparisons to what goes on inside their class. gosh Room 8 has some good readers and they sing pretty well too!