Sock Puppet Competition

Check out our creative puppets on facebook!  Only a short time to vote....it says it closed last Friday but voting should still be open as they gave us an extension.

Watch out for the stories that accompany these beautiful characters!

Amy also interviews an author!

Here is the link to Amy's interview of James Brown.  We are famous!

Amy interviews an author.

Joni interviews an author!

There is a new post on the Poetry Box blog that includes Joni's interview with Renee Laing.  Have a read!

http://nzpoetrybox.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/the-treasury-interviews-joni-interviews-renee-liang/

MTG visit - Arts in Aotearoa

This trip is on Tuesday 14 October.

Please bring your permission slips and $4.50 on Monday.

But wait! There's more! What else did we discover in Norsewood?

We discovered MANY very friendly people who were keen to show us around or provide a room to eat lunch in out of the rain.  Although the rain was only light drizzle, it was very nice to have a dry place to eat.  Thanks so much to Norsewood School who kindly invited us in and then showed us a Scandinavian dance.  We then learnt the dance and joined in with the Year 3 & 4 children.

We were now ready to travel on the bus down to Lower Norsewood where a very special treat was waiting.

Jeff, a wood carver, began by introducing himself and explaining that he had something in common with us.  He had been a student at Haumoana School in 1973!  He then produced a beautiful carved plaque with a picture of a troll.  Wow - we are so lucky.

Jeff showed us some examples of his work and explained how it was done as he worked on his current project.

He then took us out to the newly developed wetlands at the back of the old Norsewear factory, to feed the eels.  Three big fat eels came swimming swiftly up the stream for their food, frightening the parents and delighting the children!

We could have stayed forever but we needed to get back on the bus and head to the Taniwha Daffodil farm.

We had never seen so many daffodils in one place!  We enjoyed wandering around the daffodil maze, picking daffodils and then some of us helped to wrap them ready for taking home.  Jacob even took control of the takings!  Of course we do maths on our school excursions!  They loved our daffodil paintings and haiku poems and have decorated their shed with them.

Well done Jacob - you gave the correct change.

What a great day!  Thank you to all the wonderful parents who came and helped keep us all safe and happy.  The children will have this special memory for a long time.

Norsewood Trip

What a fantastic day was had by Room 1 on September 17 2014!

Bad news came early in the morning that it was pouring with rain in Norsewood and our trip was suddenly in doubt.  However, Mrs Jensen made the decision to continue anyway and the sun shone brilliantly in Haumoana.  It continued to shine brilliantly until we approached Norsewood.

Thom and Milla's grandparents met us there and our morning tea in the small shelter was rushed.  We all ventured off with our helpful parents to explore the small village and discover it's Scandanavian history.

The aim of the Troll Stroll was to find as many trolls as we could by reading clues (in troll language) to work out where the next trolls were hiding.  We found lots!

We found many interesting places such as the museum, the agricultural museum, the jail, and Johanna's World.

Johanna's World is a miniature Norway with beautiful Norwegian replica buildings and history adorning their walls.

The Troll Cave was popular with the children.  A climb up a steep narrow staircase took them to an intriguing maze with trolls glaring at them from all corners!

A beautiful Norwegian style Stave Church was certainly a place to admire.

A waterwheel with shelter had grass growing on the roof, in true Norwegian style.

 From the there we headed down the hill to Simon's place to hear the interesting sounds of his homemade musical instruments and to share our own instruments.

He was impressed!

Simon's place!