Stunning Art!

D1 and D2 have been learning about an artist called Kandinsky. They have made some 'circles' art in the same style. We really love this quote that Mrs Thompson put up in the classroom...

The children's 'circles' art!

D1 have also finished their Hundertwasser 'lollipop tree' paintings with Mrs Sutherland. They are bright and colourful and you won't find any straight lines...because Hundertwasser doesn't like straight lines!

We love all these gorgeous colours up on the walls!

Here is a close up of one of the pictures by Eva:

Lovely colours and patterns, Eva!

Kingdom Kid Catch Up!

We have presented some amazing children with Kingdom Kid awards over the last little while! Here they are:

July awards:

Isaac, Jonny, Amber and Hannah

D1 - Isaac has been thinking about his learning and has been working hard to improve in many different ways. This is what Diligence is all about! Even smaller things like handwriting and how he follows instructions are getting his attention. The results are very pleasing to see! Way to go, Isaac!

D2 - Amber works diligently to complete all learning activities to the best of her ability. She listens carefully and is a willing helper in the classroom. Amber is a kind and gentle friend.

D3 - Hannah is a shining example of all our school values, particularly the value of kindness. She is a gentle, patient friend who shows a genuine care and concern for others. She is always looking for ways to help and encourage those around her. Hannah is a special friend to many and we are blessed to have her in our class.

F1 - Jonny has a natural curiosity that leads him to think deeply about all aspects of his school work but especially his walk with God. His contributions to our class discussions are wonderful and I always enjoy hearing what he has to say.

August awards:

Jada-Rose, Samuel, Harrison and Jemma

D1 - As we focus on the value of Kindness this term, Jada-Rose is a shining example of what it should look like! She shows care for others daily and always takes time to think about friends who might need a helping hand at work or play. She does this willingly and never needs to be asked – she just notices and acts. Thanks for being an awesome Kingdom Kid, Jada-Rose!

D2 - Harrison is a kind and caring class member who readily shares God’s love with others. He regularly encourages his classmates and is a willing helper in the classroom.

D3 - Jemma diligently completes all class tasks to a high standard. She loves to learn and always looks for ways to further her knowledge. Jemma is a kind, caring friend who takes the initiative to help others. She is a blessing to our class and deserving of this Kingdom Kid award.

F1 - Samuel works diligently both at school and after school. He perseveres when he encounters a problem and this shows the fantastic resilience that he has. Because of this, he inspires others to not give up when they come across a problem!

September awards:

Oliver, Olivia, Toby and Mattais

D1 - Mattias has a wonderfully kind heart! He is thoughtful of other people every day and always lets someone else go first when we need to take turns. He can cheer us up with a little joke if we are feeling sad and knows how to use gentle words to make peace between friends if it is needed. You are an amazing classmate, Mattias!

D2 - Toby is a kind and respectful class member. He listens carefully to instructions and works hard to complete his work to the best of his ability. Toby is always cheerful and ready to help.

D3 - Oliver is a fun, likeable classmate with a cool sense of humour. He is a loyal and caring friend who always looks for ways to show kindness to others. Oliver is polite and respectful and always tries to be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

F1 - Olivia is a diligent worker who completes her tasks to a high standard and looks for opportunities to do more difficult tasks. She is also a kind student who looks out for the needs of others.

Art...art...everywhere!

Many classes at school are learning about art and artists this term. In D1, we started by learning about cool and warm colours and we created a piece of art using our intitials to show what we knew.
Here is our display:

Isn't it colourful!

We had 2 pieces of paper at the beginning - one for warm colours (red, orange, yellow) and one for cool colours (blue and green). We used pastels to draw lines like spokes on a bike wheel on each of the pieces of paper then smudged the pastel with our fingers. Lastly, we chose one of the papers to be the background and one to cut our initials out of. We hope you like them!

Incredible Science!

Mrs Thompson has been doing some incredible science in D1 and D2 this term. Each week the classes do an experiment that makes them predict what might happen, observe carefully to see any changes and think about the processes that are at work.

Here are some of the experiments they have done:

The children enjoyed shaking the bottle as hard as they could to make the water and oil mix...
but it never stayed that way for long!

So pretty! It almost looks like a piece of art...

The blue colour always seems to come through first! I wonder why...?

We like to call this experiment 'Walking Water' because the colours seem to 'walk' from one cup to the next.
Amazing!

Kingdom Kids

We have presented our team awards for June. Once again, it is a real pleasure to 'notice' children showing our school values and to encourage them to keep shining so that others can follow their example. Here are our bright stars this month:

Congratulations to Sam, Jason, William and Matthew!

Here is what the awards say:

D1 - Jason has been working hard to do the best he can in his learning and he has also made a great effort this year to be a good friend to others. He has been diligent in both these areas and can be proud of his success. Keep being an awesome Kingdom Kid, Jason!

D2 - Sam works diligently to complete his work to the best of his ability every time. He is friendly and cheerful and is always keen to share his learning with others.

D3 - William brings a positive, cheerful attitude to school each day. He is a diligent worker, kind friend, enthusiastic learner and true example of someone who perseveres to reach their full potential. William certainly is a great example of a Kingdom Kid.

F1 - Matthew works diligently every day to make right choices. He completes all of his work to a high standard and supports others when they are unsure of what to do. Matthew is also a very respectful student who shows this respect both inside and outside the classroom.

Underwater Fireworks!

Science, science and more science! Last week we even made underwater fireworks! Here is what we did - and you can try this at home!

• fill a glass bowl or jar with water
• in a test tube (or little container) put 3 ml of oil, 2 drops of red food colouring and 2 drops of blue food colouring and use a stirrer to mix it together
• gently drip the coloured oil into the water and watch the fireworks begin!

As the coloured drops exploded, they sunk to the bottom!
It looked really cool!

When we looked at the top of the water, you could see large oily blobs floating there.
What we learnt about oil and water with Mrs Thompson has come in really handy!

Making Lava...

We did an experiment in D1 called 'Groovy Lamp'! It was showing us a little bit about lava. This is an experiment you can try at home!

• First you need a little test tube (or a jar might work)
• We put water in the test tube up to the 1 ml mark
• Then we added 2 drops of red food colouring
• We filled the test tube up to the 4 ml mark with oil (we remembered that oil and water don't mix...so we could see the oil staying on top of the red water)
• Finally we broke up an antacid tablet and dropped little pieces in. We could see some bubbles forming on top of the water but they didn't go up into the oil...

This was a little bit disappointing. We waited...and waited...and waited...then it was home time! Mrs Sutherland left the test tube sitting on the bench and a little while later...

Floating bits of 'lava'!

What is happening? The bubbles are carbon dioxide and they rise to the top, through the oil, carrying some blobs of red water with them. When the bubbles reach the top, they burst and the red water sinks down under the oil again!

Do you remember why the water sinks? Tell a friend what you think!

Try This at Home!

On Friday, London shared an experiment she had done at home. Here is a photo of what she brought into class:

You gave us great instructions, Dr London!
The egg is in some water in the photo just to protect it on its visit to school!

Here is how London told us to make a 'shell-less egg':

• get an uncooked egg
• put it in a jar
• cover the egg with vinegar so that it goes over the top of the egg (any kind of vinegar)
• put the lid on
• leave it for 3 days
• now you can gently rub the shell off...and now you have a 'shell-less egg'!

London also told us that if you hold the egg a little bit above the bench, you can make it bounce too!

Kingdom Kid Awards

It's great to start the term celebrating our school values and the people who help us see them in action! Here are the May Kingdom Kid awards:

We are all very proud of you!

D1 - Eva shows our class what the value of Diligence looks like EVERY day! She starts her work quickly and doesn't give up until she is finished. As it says in Colossians 3:23, she works at tasks 'with all her heart'. She helps and encourages others to do the same.Keep shining brightly, Eva!

D2 - Amelia always listens carefully and works diligently to complete her work to the best of her ability. She is kind and polite and an excellent role model in our class.

D3 - Hunter is a diligent and attentive class member. He engages fully in all learning opportunities and produces excellent work. He is  kind and considerate friend and a great example of a Kingdom Kid.

F1 - Sulurina has started her time at Cornerstone full of energy and a desire to learn. She starts every day with a friendly "Hello" and continues to be kind and caring throughout the day. She completes all her work to a high standard and shows real pride in her work.

Cross Country

We have just finished our cross country running for 2017. It is always so hard at the start - long distance running is SO different to the short bursts of fast running that we do in many of our games and fitness activities. The longer running fits so well with our school value of Diligence this term - we start fast, work hard and finish well!
Here are our first 2 runners home - for the boys, Johnny, and for the girls, Ciarra. Well done to all the runners. You can be so proud of your efforts in training and on the day!

Great run, Johnny!
Just look at all that mud at the finish line to welcome you home!

Go Ciarra!
I think your mum needs a medal for being a great cheerleader too!

Explosive Science!

Which one of these bags do you think will make the biggest "BANG!!" when we pop them?

A supermarket bag, a snaplock bag and a paper bag...

We tested the snaplock bag first. We thought it was quite a 'tough' plastic and it was! Johnny had to stomp it with his foot to make it pop! It did make a loud bang...but was it the loudest? It didn't break the tough plastic - it popped along its 'zip'!

Next we tried the paper bag. Eva had a great go at popping it but it just wouldn't burst! I think we were all giggling too much by then! Mrs Sutherland had to help and...BANG! It burst through the bag with 2 really big rips! Was this one going to be the biggest bang?

Finally we got to the supermarket bag. Many of the D1 children thought it would be the loudest because it had the most air in it...so they thought it would make the biggest bang. Zane used all his muscles...but it only whooshed the air out quietly through 2 tiny rips in the seam at the bottom of the bag. What???!!! 

So... which one was the winner? The paper bag was the loudest, then the snaplock bag and finally the supermarket bag. If you are allowed, try this again at home and see if you get the same results!

What makes the 'bang' noise? We did some investigating and found out that air is made up of molecules that push against everything they touch. This is called air pressure. A few of the D1 children talked about pressure when they were predicting what would happen - well done! Because we squeezed the air into our 3 bags,  the air pressure got bigger and when the bags popped, the high-pressure air rushed out! That change in pressure makes a shock wave that travels to our ears as a loud POP! The loudest pop comes from the highest air pressure...which was in the paper bag!

We had a really interesting question from Zane too. He said that we were blowing carbon dioxide into the bags and wondered if we would get the same if we used oxygen? Now that's an interesting idea to think about! 

One explosion down...many more to come!

Celebrating Success

It is wonderful to honour children who work so hard at their homework! In D1, these children have learnt EVERY spelling word or EVERY memory verse for the whole of term 1...WOW! One super hard worker, Jada, achieved BOTH of these goals:

Amazing effort everyone!

Kingdom Kid Awards

We really are blessed by the children in our classes! Here are the latest Kingdom Kids to celebrate about:

Well done to Jheneraeshyn, Leo, Finn and Gracie!

Their awards say:

D1 - Finn makes great choices in class and in the playground, whether grown-ups are watching or not! This is what our school value of Integrity is all about. People have been noticing, Finn, and we all want to congratulate you for being the awesome Kingdom Kid you are!

D2 - Leo shows integrity in our classroom. He is always in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing - even when no one is watching. He listens carefully and works hard to complete his work to the best of his ability every time. Leo is an excellent role model to those around him.

D3 - Gracie is a thoughtful, helpful and positive member of the class. She loves to learn and diligently completes all class tasks. Her genuine desire to do her best for God shines brightly in all she does.

F1 - Jheneraeshyn has brought many amazing qualities to Cornerstone. She is kind, caring, compassionate, hard-working and respectful. She always looks for ways she can help and is a blessing in F1.

A Visit from the Fire Brigade

On Friday we had an awesome visit from one of Palmerston North's fire crews. Gary and Belinda gave a talk first about fire safety and checked what we all remembered from the Firewise programme we did in year 1 and 2. We still knew a lot - Gary and Belinda were impressed!

Gary (the boss) and Belinda (she said she was the newest member of the crew)

Then we went outside to look at the truck and the special equipment:

Fire trucks are so cool...

Belinda showed us the gear that they use - hoses, axes, ladders and more!
There are so many pieces of special equipment hidden in that truck!

That's Zane dressed in Belinda's special fire fighting clothes.
They are quite heavy and very warm to wear but they keep you safe and that is SO important! 

Tim and Harold

We have been enjoying visiting the Life Ed truck over the last week. Tim is the teacher and Healthy Harold is a giraffe who helps him! We have been learning about our bodies, our feelings and what it means to be a good friend. Tim and Harold always make us laugh a lot...but Tim told us that a happy brain will actually learn better than a sad one!
Here are some photos of Tim and Harold at assembly on Friday:

Tim and Harold had a lightsaber battle while the Star Wars music played...

Does Harold know where his brain belongs?
Not on his knee, not on his bottom... (I think he was tricking Tim!)
Yes - in his head!

Oh no! Tim got hurt in the playground! What will Harold do?
He will be a kind friend and help him!

Maths Superheroes...

It was great to celebrate some hard workers in maths at assembly on Friday. Gold and silver certificates were given out to the children who had earned them - it takes a lot of work to achieve these awards! Well done to all the children for their efforts!

Great work Alastair, Huntar (who has 2 silver certificates!) and Jason!

Kingdom Kids

How exciting to give out our first Kingdom Kid awards at assembly last week! Dr Ferrar came to present them. Here are the people showing us great ways to follow God:

Well done Annabella, Shanti, Tayla and London!

Their awards say:

D1 - London has made a fabulous start to the year. She is very clever and always knows what to do, but she doesn’t show off about it. This is what our school value, Humility Before God, is all about. Thanks for giving us a great example of how to be a Kingdom Kid, London!

D2 - Annabelle displays a positive attitude towards all aspects of her learning. She listens carefully and always puts her best effort into classroom activities. Annabelle is reliable and trustworthy and is eager to help others.

D3 - Shanti is someone who loves to learn and works diligently to complete all class tasks.  She presents her work to a high standard and is a wonderful example to her peers.  A deserving recipient of our first kingdom kid award for D3.

F1 - Tayla always works hard to make the right choice. She pays careful attention to instructions and is quick to follow them out. She shows respect to the teacher and the rest of the class every day.

D1's Shooting Stars!

In our room we have a special place where we show great examples of work. We call it our Shooting Stars Wall.

Eva was the first person to have her work put on the wall. She was showing us what good writers do:

Way to go, Eva! 

We can all learn from her great example. Check it out next time you visit us in D1!

The Story of Amos - Part 2

God told the Israelites that he was going to 'measure' how good they really were. He talked about using a plumb line like builders do to see if everything is straight and true. Sometimes things look good...but are they really?

We tried to draw some straight lines on the whiteboard then we held a plumb line beside them to measure if they were really straight.

Fono did a great job of drawing a straight line - look at how close
her line is to the plumb line!

The lines we thought were straight were not really straight at all! God wants us to live His way - not just doing 'good' things but doing 'God' things! He will measure us by His rules.

The Story of Amos - Part 1

D1 has been learning about Amos from the Bible. We had a treasure hunt around the room for some clues about Amos and found these...

These 2 pictures show us the jobs that Amos had - he was a shepherd and he grew figs!

These scrolls had messages inside...

Amos was a messenger for God - a prophet. The 3 scrolls showed us the message God sent to the Israelites:

WARNING - Prepare to meet your God!

CHOICE - Are you going to choose to do good or evil?

PROMISE - If you choose to do good, God will come and be with you always.


What would you do if God sent this message to you?

Room D2's Beach Poems

At assembly last Friday a few students from Room D2 shared their fantastic beach poems! I really liked the way everyone spoke clearly and confidently and showed your work so proudly. Well done!

F1's First Visit to the Library

On Thursday F1 went to the library for the first time. We practiced looking for both fiction and non fiction books and putting the paddles into the space when we take a book out. We will be able to get books out next week and we can't wait!

Year 4 Sports

On Thursday afternoon the Year 4's decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and had some fun in the sun! We started with a quick game of Rounders that I (Mr Smith) led then moved to some fast paced courses set up by Miss Stewart. We hope you enjoy the videos of what we got up to!

Welcome back to school!

It is so exciting to have a whole new school year in front of us...I wonder what we can do with all those brand new days? Our new team, Manahau, will share our work and celebrations on this blog and we can encourage each other to keep trying our best by adding kind and helpful comments. We look forward to having lots of JOY in our learning this year!