2009 Edublog Nomination!

Gosh - look what I found on the Wainoni Blog - it's about us!

Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Edublog Awards
Our nomination for the 2009 Edublog awards are. . .

Best Class Blog; SpringstonRoom6

Love all the work you put into your blog!
Posted by Justine at 8:03 PM
Labels: Blogawards, Justine
http://wainoninz.blogspot.com/

Wow - we had better keep up the good work for the last few days of the year! It is good to know that other people love our blog too! Thanks for the vote Justine.

edublog awards 2009

Great disappointment - while Wainoni nominated us, we failed to appear on the nominations and voting list. Check out the winners of the best class blog...

1st: Billings Middle School

2nd: Mrs Yollis' Classroom Blog

3rd: English with Rosa

I don't know what you think - but they'd better watch out next year - we'll be giving it another go!

Breaking News! An epidemic has hit Christchurch

Kachina (Year 7) and Jahna (Year 6) are two investigators who have made a movie to show what an evil epidemic like the Black Death could do if you are not ready. This movie will tell you how to be prepared. So listen and learn what they have to share.

Special thanks to Morgan P for being a great Filmer, actor and a wonderful editor. We couldn't have done it without you!

Adam's Voki on Bridge to Terbithia

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Voki of life in Nepal

Blue reading group read about children living in Nepal. We think their lives would be hard because they have lots of jobs to do and don't go to school.

Morgans Wordle

This is a Wordle of my favorite song "Down by Jay Sean". I like it because it has a catchy rhythm, and I like the lyrics. You can create one here http://www.wordle.net/create

Kachina - My wild self

My wild self is called KaChinA the Cob-dog-sha-ringo-orb-fly-peacock. I have my cobra hood to scare of any bully animals as I have my big dog ears so I can hear if something is coming. My spider legs help me make silky webs to catch my pray and my shark teeth help me eat it. My most prized part is my monarch butterfly wings; they can flap 5 times in one second.

What you need in a survival kit

Do you know what you need in your survival kit?

 For their inquiry Hannah A, Adam and Andrew have made a movie to show what you need in a survival kit. Having a survival kit is really important, you will need one after any disaster, so you better be ready!

Morgans Wild-Self

This is my Wild-Self. The horse tail is to flick away annoying insects and bugs. The wings are to fly away from danger. My big wolf ears are to hear my prey and to look more normal. My strong zebra arms are to run fast, and to stomp on prey. My jelly fish bottom is to look more graceful when flying. I think I truly am wild!

'Go Wild' and tell us about it!

As you can see, I am a very confused creature.
My giraffe ears are actually antennae that detect the small nocturnal sounds of my prey. They work together with my ultra-sensitive ears in picking up the smallest vibration. I have Bush-Baby eyes that are really like having night vision goggles. Wherever you hide - I can see you and my Tree Frog sucker pads help me to cling to any surface along the way.
I am actually quite vain, although not quite as proud as a peacock! My Bird of Paradise feathers will take me from casual to any high society function such as a ball or movie premier! Last but not least, my ultra-strong Tree Boa tail will in a tree near you so watch out!

http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

7000 Hits on the Blog - WOW!

Lady Bug Note Generators
What an amazing team. We will have to find a way to archive this blog next year so you can keep going back to look at and comment on your work. I am really proud of you all!

Hannah L. is proud of...

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Libby is proud of...

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Hannah D. is proud of...

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Emily's Voki

Can-drive

Can-drive!

For term four, Springston School has been focusing on challenging change and how we could help with other people trying to cope with challenging change. 

For Room 6 students,  Mrs Taylor helped us brainstorm lots of ways we could help people. My group was Philip, Hannah and me, Courtney. After hearing about the Samoan Tsunami we decided we would do everything we could to get Samoa what they needed. There were a whole bunch of teams from our class wanting to fundraise for Samoa, but luckily we had all the ideas for what we wanted to do. 

Our first idea was a can-drive. We figured that people would rather give cans than money.  Mrs Taylor thought this was a great idea and set us straight to work on it. We decided we wanted our can-drive to be a competition so we told everyone it would be from the 15th-19th of November and the class with the most cans at the end of the week would win their own personal mufti day!

At the end of the week we had an amazing result. We had a total of 203 cans and $26 so the result was unbelievable! Room 5 was the winner of the mufti day with a total of 55 cans.  Well done Springston School.  Samoa will be happy with our result.

By Courtney Jones!

Don Binney - Art

Do you have a SURVIVAL KIT?

Home work - ten cool words

baleful — sinister
chasuble — priestly vestment
Cimmerian — very dark
circean — referring to beauty of a dangerous kind
contumacious — rebellious
contumelius — insolently abusive and humiliating
cynosure — the center of attraction
eschar — scab or burned layer of skin
flagellum — long, thin appendages
flagitious — villainous

Comments for Kids - Who are You in just 6 Words!

This activity came via Melville Intermediate from a website in the USA called 'Comments4kids' and the purpose is for us to try and capture the essence of who we are in just six words. I think it will be a real challenge.

Keep watching below to see what Room 6 come up with for themselves.

Allana T

Fiesta Mask Designs

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is a slide show of the mask designs on our calendars. We are making them out of plaster-of-paris bandage then painting them to wear at our Spanish Fiesta later this term. We will post photos of the grand parade!

Meet the Class - Room 6

  
Click for a closer view!

This is our class of 29 Year 6 and 7 students.
We have had a blog since June and hope that
you enjoy our work.

Survival Kit

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Emily's Pet Day Slide Show

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Athletics Day Poll

Sinead's Pet Day Voki

Get a Voki now!
I did this by myself and I am proud of myself.
Sinead

Pet Day - good and bad points

Positive:

1. People helping out doing job

2. Teachers sort out where the animals go

3. Putting the right animals in the right place

4. Looking after other people's pets

5. Getting the tables and putting them in the right place

6. People managing themselves

Negative:

1. The day was not as long as last year

2. We want a bigger parade

Written by Kathleen and Anastasia.

Advice to the Civil Defence

Dear David Jones of Civil Defence,

Hi I’m Emily from Attack the Challenge. I have been in lots of disasters, so I hope you will take my advice on how to help people after a disaster.

I’m giving you my piece of advice that when people have just survived a disaster and come to a community center, they need to be welcomed very nicely. By the looks of some people what they just need is to be talked to very quietly and softly because the they have just been through the most terrifying event in their life. They need a place to rest where they don’t have to think about what they have just been through.

I know you do a very good job. I hope my piece of advice will come in use one day.

Your sincerely Emily from ATC.

Self Managing on Pet Day

1. People were with their pets when it was judging time.
2. People controlled their pets.
3. People looked after their pets by giving them food and water.
4. Lots of people let other people pat their pets.
5. People didn't laugh at other people's pets.
6. People didn't skite about winning.
7. People respected other people's pets.
8. People used the face paint well.
9. People didn't stand around and do nothing, they either helped others or went at looked at other pets.
10. People joined in and enjoyed the pet parade.

Created by Self-Managing Emily!

Springston Civil Defence Exercise

On Tuesday 26 October, at six o’clock the Springston School Civil Defence exercise began. The purpose of this event was to show children and parents how the Civil Defence can help us in a disaster.

First, many people enjoyed a sausage from the sausage sizzle for their tea, then the ‘show and tell’ started. Everybody went to the classrooms where the adults had the pleasure of looking at the students' work and the students had the proud feeling of showing off their work.

Second, the fun started. We heard the signal for an earthquake (the bell ringing on and off), so we quickly got underneath a table and waited until the all-clear bell was rung. Next the students lead their parents to the cricket pitch. When there’s a disaster the students know where the safe meeting place for the school is.

After that, everyone was split into two groups. One group went to the black court at the back of the school for an earthquake demonstration, while the other group went to the library for a talk on what it would be like at an emergency centre after a disaster. I first went with my family to the black court where the Fire Brigade and Red Cross did a precise entrance into the building, after making sure the electricity and water were off. From the building they rescued several people (who earlier had fake blood applied to different parts of their body, so they looked hurt and injured).

Next, my family and I went to the library which was set up a little like an emergency centre. While we were there, Carol from the Red Cross explained to us about what would happen and where we’d go if there was any type of disaster around Springston. Then she told us what would go on in the emergency centre after the disaster.

Finally, families brought forward their Emergency Kits for checking by Carol. Names of families who participated were put into a lucky dip, to win some prizes.

After talking to several students I found out that people really enjoyed the night and learnt a lot. So our thanks go to the Civil Defence and Red Cross - you not only educated us, you also entertained us!

By Courtney
Year 6

Countries visiting our blog!

View Room 6's Blog Cluster Map Countries in a larger map

Zoom in and move the map around to take a closer look at the countries from where people have looked at our blog. Do you recognise them all?

Athletics Day Slideshow

Recently the students at Springston School participated in their annual Athletics Day. A great day was had by all! Morgan and Kachina created this iPhoto slideshow of some images from the day.

Tsunami

Samoa was once a place where holidays dreams came true. The water was glistening in the blazing sun, warm and refreshing. The sand was warm between your toes, tickling you as you walked down the beach.

All this changed in one day. Tuesday the Island turned upside. The water was sucked out to sea, then suddenly came rushing towards the village of Samoa, where the people where happy and helpful.
  
I started to run to higher ground yelling at others on the way to do the same. Some people followed but others where already gone, swept out to the sea. We stayed at the the top of the island, for what seemed for ages. Some people where starting to walk back down to their village homes, looking for what was left. Barely anything was untouched by the tsunami. I started to go and look for my belongings, but nothing was left. It was all out at sea. As I gave up looking for my belongings, my friends came round the corner looking scared, but still pleased to see me. They had survived with only a few cuts and bruises.

After we knew we where all here, we started to ask devastated villages if they wanted help finding belongings or loved ones. They where happy for us to help, but we didn't find anyone. A few hours later we gave up and went to the rescue centre to get some of what was left, food. We felt better, but still devastated at what had happened to the island only a couple hours ago.

Evening was coming and we where starting to get cold and hungry. The Red Cross had only just arrived and only had enough food and clothes for some of the villagers. They offered us some food and a blanket each, but we refused to take it. The other villagers needed more than us. They had gone through more than us.

As night dawned on us, we settled down in the rescue centre and tried to get some sleep after what had happened to us. Villagers who lost had their family and friends cried themselves to sleep.

By Hannah D

Tsunami

As I look down at the brown, upturned, ocean floor sweeping away the village I start to worry about my beloved friends and family. Wondering if they are under water or if they are still alive.
Most of the frightened villagers up on the hill tops with me are watching the tsunami wave destroying our gorgeous town. The huge tsunami wave has got up to 6 meters high we think.

The week ahead, or even months is going to be an extremely, long clean up.

By Libby

Tsunami

I was on a 'Paradise Island' called Samoa. The water was glistening in the blazing sun.
In one movement the ground started rumbling. I was terrified. The water was sucked out to sea then it came rushing towards the village. I started to run to higher ground, screaming at people to do the same. We stayed there for ages. After a while people started to look for their love ones.

A Moment in Time - disaster drama

I was lying on the beach sunbathing with my friend when I took my sunglasses off to find my sun-hat.  That's when I saw it.

It was huge and it was coming straight at us. I jumped up and started yelling as loud as my lungs would let me.

"Tsunami.  Come on get up you lazy buffoons!" I yelled. Then we ran and ran to the highest hill we could find. The hill was packed with people. 

When the tsunami came it brushed our feet and when it was over everyone started walking to the civil defence center that was set up in the small town of Springston. 

A Moment in Time - Disaster Drama

We were packing to go to Sumner Beach and Max the dog was trying to pack his scrumptious bone.

As we drove to the beach we saw some seals and stopped to make to take some pictures. “Look at the size of that wave,” gasped Grandma. I looked through my camera. A giant splash of blue had covered it. We were so frightened that we sprinted up to the nearest high ground.

Once the tsunami had passed we were frightened out of our wits. Max pulled on his lead and my hands were so limp that I let go instantly. “Come back Max, come back,” I yelled at the top of my voice until I collapsed into the dirt.

The Tsunami

The beautiful paradise,
squashed like a grape.
How could the wonderful sea they loved so much,
hurt them with such a natural touch.
Thousands dead and many not found,
six metres of deadly water sucking people out.
They are the survivors,
who have had a giant loss,
of family and homes that were squashed.

Samoa Tsunami Response

Slurp, slurp, gurgle, gurgle. I see water rushing out to sea and getting sucked into a hole. I run for safety knowing that this was a sign of a Tsunami. I run towards a mountain that doesn't have many people climbing up it. As I climb, I stop and turn around. The Tsunami has washed out most of the resort. All I can see is wood, furniture and houses lying around in swamp water.

Finally the Tsunami is over and we could all walk back down the mountain and find out what happened to our families. I was very sad but at least this life taking wave was over.

BY SHANIA

Effects in Samoa

The day of the earthquake in Samoa it was a nice place to live but now it's awful. Buildings look like they have been cut in half and boats look like they have been thrown by giants. Buildings as flat as the cold ground. Powerpoles like the giants were playing rugby and pushing them around. Trees pulled like weeds in a garden.

Libby's Why I Hate School Book Review

This review was done by Libby B at Springston School.

Libby wrote it when she was 11 years old.

Why I Hate School is by Kris Stanhope with 147 pages.

How are the main characters?
Michael Fartasky and Sharon Cramshaw are the main characters. Michael is the boy who hates school. He has 243 reasons why he is hating school and is still counting. Sharon is the teacher's pet and Sharon is the one who shows Michael what’s good about school.

What is the story line?
Michael has his own diary on why he hates school. He has a section G- for girls and other sections for why he hates school. Michael hates both school and Sharon Cramshaw and he wants to discover why he hates them so much. 

How easy was it to get stuck into the book?
I found it really easy to get stuck into the book because it was really funny and greatly written by Kris Stanhope.

What is my recommendation...
For people aged 8-11 for girls and boys. Also for people who don’t really like school or for people who like school as well.

My rating: 4/5

Spanish Greetings Podcasts

Room 6 students have been hard at work learning how to use Garageband to create a podcast. They've been learning some of the features of a podcast too. Here they have created their first episodes, introducing you to some Spanish greetings.

Podcast by Brook (Year 7), Shania and Madison (Year 6):


Podcast by Emily, Hannah and Courtney (Year 6):

Spanish Podcast

Students in Room 6 have started to learn Spanish. Morgan and Kachina (both Year 7 students) decided to record a podcast about some of the interesting things they have found out about Spanish, so far.

Other students have been working on Spanish podcasts too, so look back again soon to see what they can teach you!

Do let us know if you are learning a language at school (leave us a comment). Are you learning Spanish?

Emily's book review

This review is by Emily W from Springston School. Emily wrote this review when she was ten years old.

Why I hate school,

Kris Stanhope,

ISBN:979-1-86943-871-5

What is the story line?

Michael writes down about why he hates school. It only takes one person to help Michael realize why hated school in the first place.

Who are the main characters?
Michael and Sharon are the main characters. It is Sharon who helps Michael realize why he hates school.

How easy was it to get stuck into this book?
It was really easy to get stuck into this book even if you do like school because it was really funny.

My recommendation is...
Girls and boy ages 8-10

My rating for this book is...
4/5

The Flood

I stare out the window. It’s still raining. It’s been like this for days. Every day I look and see the floodwater getting higher. After three days, the flood is nearly up to our windows.

I see all the rescue men walking into peoples' houses. Every day I see them walking around in the brown muddy floodwater with it past their waist. I wonder when it is going to be our turn, our turn to get evacuated?

After many hours of waiting, the rescue men turn up to our door. I take my dearest possessions, my book of memories, my cat and our survival kit.

The Village that we got sent to is nice, but I miss my home. Today we heard the phone ringing - it hasn't rang in ages. It was the rescue men to say we can go back to our house.

When we got back to our garden, it was all wrecked. The flower beds all were brown and muddy. There was not one single bade of grass left. We have got trees all around our house from when the flood washed them down. We have weeks ahead of us to clean up.

By Emily

Synonym poem - Plain

Plain

Simple, normal, weak and mild
Forget all that, I'm a real wild child.


By Kachina (Year 7)

Jack and the Beanstalk

It all began when Daisy, had to be sold,
She was coughing up spit, and was sadly getting old.

So Jack's mother told him to take her down,
To the finest, richest, market in town.

Jack told a buyer that Daisy, was on her last year,
And all Jack got back was a bean, and half a pear.

When Jack got home he was surprised to see,
His mother was as angry as could be.

She went crazy and whacked Jack with a fork,
But the very next morning outside was a giant stalk.

The stalk was mighty, and mostly green,
Except for the gold leaves, up high in between.

Jack's mum was greedy and wanted the lot,
So she made a quite selfish, evil plot.

She raised her voice, without a frown,
"I’ll be the richest girl in town."

She yelled at Jack to go for gold,
And of course he did what he was told.

When he was almost at the top,
He heard a voice and took a hop.

As curious as could be,
He shot right up the golden tree.

"PEA, CARROT, PEA,
WHO IS BOTHERING ME?
WHOEVER IT IS THEY WILL MAKE MY TEA!"

"There’s a giant up the tree! Jack cried.
"Just get the gold," his mother replied.

So Jack was nimble,
And Jack was quick,
He was beside the gold in half a tick.

He took a step, the leaves went crack,
The giant grabbed his axe and "Smack!"

Jack hadn’t come back for an hour or so,
So his mother thought she’d have a go.

Now she wasn’t the best climber in town,
But after a while she was up and back down.

She had the gold and so much more,
Two mansions and a platinum door.

So that is how our story ends,
Did Jack die? Well it depends…..


By Morgan (Year 7)

11 Things I've Learnt in My 11 Years

1. Life is a daring adventure,
or nothing at all.

2. Take a risk. You never know what might happen.

3. Don't bother arguing. Teachers are almost always right.

4. Work in the week. Play in the weekend.

5. Never give up.

6. Fear is natural.

7. Choose your friends carefully.

8. It's what's on the inside that counts.

9. The book is always better than the movie.

10. Horses have a mind of their own.

11. Everyone's different.

By Morgan

The Animal Quiz

Shania's Invention

I invented a popcorn sift because I find that when I cook popcorn in a pot, some of the seeds don't pop. I decided to invent a thing called a popcorn sift so when you pour your popcorn into a bowl you tip it into the sift first. The sift has holes at the bottom only big enough for the seeds to fall through and then you shake the container and all the seeds fall to the bowl at the bottom.

I was really proud of getting into the Dragon's Den with my invention as only six people were chosen to present to the Dragons.

I learnt to work independently and be responsible for myself and get everyting done on time. I worked on my invention at home as well as at school.

By Shania

Science Alive

On Wednesday 1 July we went to Science Alive and learnt about wedges, wheels, pulleys and levers. I was in a group of 3 with Katy and Mrs Taylor and we went on a school trip.

I like that place it was awesome. It was fun!

This is a picture of the ukulele holder I made for Mrs T.

Sinead

Jump Jam Competition

Jump Jam at Springston School is great, every Friday at ten o’clock the whole school will go out and do three or four songs.

Just recently Springston entered two Jump Jam teams to go to competitions. The competitions were being held in AUCKLAND but unfortunately neither of our teams got in but one team that got so close was the Year 7 & 8 team including Megan H, Georgia W, Ryan B, Phillip S, Libby H, Ffion D, Emma-Rose, Holly P and Lucy C.

Now it sounds crazy, but if that team had more of a natural smile then they would have gone to Auckland and that would have been great. But there was only going to be 10 teams accepted into the finals so we didn’t quite have enough fun, at least that’s what the judges said.

Also both Jump Jam teams would like to say a huge thank-you to Miss Singleton who introduced us to Jump Jam, coached our teams and organized us to go to the competitions. So thank-you Miss Singleton. You where great.

By Courtney J. and Libby B.

Let's Get Inventing

Over the past few weeks we have been working very hard on our topic, Let's Get Inventing. My client's problem was that when she cleaned her teeth, it would take forever and she wasted a lot of tooth paste, water and time. So I came up with the perfect answer.............the all-in-one tooth
brush! The tooth brush has two compartments, one for tooth paste and one for water, and when you squeeze them the substance travels up the tube and onto the brush! Simple, fast fun and easy!

Mollie.

How to make a Banana Split

Ingredients:

1 banana

1-2 scoops of your favourite ice cream

Chocolate sauce

100 & 1000s

Chocolate hail

Spoon & bowl

Method:

1. Cut the banana in half and put it in your bowl.

2. Scoop 1-2 scoops of ice-cream into the middle of the banana.

3. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the ice-cream.

4. Sprinkle your sprinkles over the ice-cream.

5. EAT IT ALL UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hannah D.

Trip to the museum

In Term Two, Week Two, the two senior rooms went to Science Alive and the Museum as part of our inquiry into how machines make our life easier.

We went to Science Alive to learn about mechanisms and robotics. We used levers, cogs and wheels in Lego to build machines like an egg beater, a merry-go-round and a boat pulley. We had to co-operate, be resilient when it went wrong and use the equipment carefully.

The New Laptop Holder

Once upon a time at Springston School, their laptops would always lie all over the place (and that's how some of them got scratched). So Philip and Zach came up with a solution to help the laptops from getting scratched as part of our inventions inquiry. We measured, cut plastic foam and got a perfect fit for the laptops.

The school is still using our design to store our mini pod of seven machines.

By Philip and Zach.

Student Council

This year in Springston School we have a new and improved Student Council, (according to Mrs Taylor).

So far this year they have already organised a Wacky Wear and Hair Day mixed with a Mufti Day, which actually turned out quite well. They raised nearly $200 for the Westpac Helicopter Appeal so it turned out to be a pretty good day.

Now the positions of the Student Council are: Georgia as the Chairperson, Tayla is the Secretary, Megan is the Treasurer, Sion is the Vice Treasurer, Tyler Jis the Public Speaker and the Student Council's Media Group includes Courtney, Jahna and Kachina.

The upcoming events are Daffodil Day and maybe a Pyjama Day (not if Mrs T can help it!). We have also created an Ideas Box to go in the office so parents can also go up and put their ideas, along with another one in the sports shed for kids on the go.

By Sion and George

The Netball Tournament

On Tuesday Term 3, Week 4, Year 7 and 8 had a netball tournament. It was from 10 am until 2:30pm. We had 9 games all together.

We didn't win any games but we tried our best and in one game it was 4 points to 5. It was fun but hard and we were very tired at the end of the day.

Katy's positions were GS, GK and Chloe's position was WD. Katy did a very good job at defending the goal. Chloe did a good job at defending the ball. We completed a game every ten minutes and practised our ball skills to be ready for the games. We had a very good day.

Katy and Chloe

The Netball Tournament

The netball tournament was good fun. Two of our teams got 1st which means they will get into Canterbury Zones. The Junior B team played at Lincoln Primary School while the Junior A and Senior A & B played at the Lincoln Domain. Junior A played 9 games they won 8 and drew 1. With lots of small breaks the girls and boys had no time to relax. I would like to give a great thanks to all the people that helped out to make the netball tournament a great day.

By Jahna. W

Let's Get Inventing!

Over the last few weeks we have been working very hard on our topic, Let's get Inventing.

Our client was Liz. Her problem was when she went to the gym with a runny nose she would wipe it all over her face. So we invented a product that would make life easer. We called it the "The Super Snotless Towel". We used velcro so when you go to the gym with a runny nose you could detach the hanky from the towel.

Doesn't that sound easy? Well it is.

by Madison and Ana (Year 6)

Inquiry - The Chicken Feeder

This last term, Springston School’s inquiry was all about Let's Get Inventing! At the start of the term most of the school went to visit the Museum and Science Alive. There we were given a special card with a problem on it. Next my partner and I had to design and build a machine out of Lego to solve the problem.

Later on in the term back at school we had to start thinking about what we would do for our invention. Morgan and I decided to invent a chicken feeder and entertainer because we felt bad about leaving them in a small run all day.

Our final design is the picture above. All you need to do is fill the tray with ether grain or scraps and then the chickens will climb off the ramp and start pecking through the hole. This is a good way to keep your chickens happy for longer.

By Kachina (Year 7)

Junior Chess Tournament

Chess Tournament

On 5 August 2009 the Zone Chess Tournament was held at Halswell School. Springston School entered a chess team into the A grade. The team included Andrew, William, Mollie and Alice.
When we got there, we were told the rules and that there was a team of Year 7 & 8 children called Halswell X and if you had a bye you would play Halswell X. Then we were told who we would be playing.

As it turned out, Springston would be playing Halswell X. No one on our team beat Halswell X because they were much older than we are. Our next game was against Halswell A, but we didn’t have any luck against them. In the third round we were against Cotswold A and we had some luck. We had two draws and two wins. Alice and I drew our games and William and Mollie won their games. Then it was morning teatime. After morning tea in the fourth round I was the only person to win a game. William and Alice drew their games and Mollie lost. In the last round nobody won against Cathedral Grammar A.

In the end Cathedral Grammar A came first, Cathedral Grammar B came second and Halswell A came third. Springston came one point away from tying for third.

By Andrew

The Scooper Invention

Our invention was the scooper. I was in a team with Courtney. The reason why we invented it was because my mum had a really sore back when she bent over. It scoops up things from the ground so that you don't have to bend over. Unfortunately you have to use your feet. We made our invention out of Glad Wrap rolls. We were really good at making our invention, but we need to work on making our invention more stable. I learned to work in a team.

By Hannah L

Emily's Invention for Headaches

For five weeks we were learning about how inventions work and what is an invention. Then we got another five weeks to decide, plan and invent.
The problem I decided to solve was something to stop people getting headaches. The invention I made was only a prototype. On Wednesday 19 August it was our school's Dragon's Den Day. There were three guest Dragons going around and judging people's inventions. If you got called up you had to answer questions about your invention. Some of the inventions that were called up were The Popcorn Sifter, Firewood Dryer and more.

By Emily

Change Inquiry Update

Emma-Rose, Morgan and Kachina (all Year 7 students) interview students from around Springston School for their 'all new country news programme'. Go with them and find out what great things are being achieved at Springston School this year, and enjoy the unique humour they put into this news bulletin! (Also posted on Podomatic).

4:53 minutes, 5.5 MB, .mov file

Internet Safety

You will never know what you will find on the Internet - you can get some totally wicked stuff or things that are just plain wrong. One of the ways to keep safe on the Internet is to keep your personal details private. Personal details, as in your full name, email address and mobile phone number. Take the quiz below and find out how smart you really are on the internet.



As you will find, there are a lot of different ways to be intimidated or scared by people on the Internet but that’s not the only way to be scammed while you are online. You can also be tricked into downloading net nasties such as viruses or spyware. If you find something that really scares you or makes you feel bad or upset, close the window and get an adult to come take a look. Make sure you don’t delete the item because you can use it as proof when you report it. It really helps if your family computer is in a family room so an adult can keep an eye on you. So don’t feel scared while you’re online, just make sure if you feel uncomfortable don’t delay, to talk to an adult.

More Jacqueline Wilson!!!

Review done by Courtney J.
Age 10
From Springston School

My Sister Jodie
By Jacqueline Wilson

How easy was it to get stuck into this book?
Very easy. Unless you’ve read one of Jacqueline’s books you have no idea how great she is, she just has a magic yet life like theme to all her books. Anyway this book is great. Every word gives you thrills of what’s going to happen next and you can never predict what’s going to happen. Also when you read about Pearl, Jodie and Harley's adventures in and around the school, you feel like you're there with them getting into trouble and exploring new places. That’s why I love this book.

Who are the main characters?
The main characters are Pearl, Jodie and Harley. Pearl is a very kind girl and doesn’t adapt very well to change. Jodie, on the other hand, is confident and willing to do anything, also she’s a very good spooky story teller and manages to scare Pearl constantly. Harley thinks Pearl is great and they both like each other (or so it seems).

What’s the story-line?
The story-line is about a young girl called Pearl who, with her sister, mum and dad, move house and schools. As her parents adapt well to the school as the caretakers and Jodie makes friends with the teachers, Pearl finds it uncomfortable, until she meets Harley. Harley is a kind, sweet boy and Pearl thinks the world of him, but as the semester starts they end up getting in a bit of trouble with Jodie. Also this book has no happy ending, in fact it’s probably the saddest ending I’ve read about and I wish I could tell you it, but you’ll have to read the book yourself.

How it’s written!!!
This book is quite intense because of the thrills and anticipation it gives you, but it’s definitely something I would recommend to anyone older than 9 because it's more of an older book.

Other books by the same author that I know!!!
Candyfloss
Double Act
Clean Break
Lola Rose
Secrets
And many more


My Rating!!!
I’m giving this book a 4/5 because it’s a great book. It gives you thrills all round and there’s nothing else much to say but that it’s a great book.

Kachina - Tongan Ferry Princess Ashika Report

On the 6th of August the Tongan Ferry Princess Ashika sank carrying 149 passengers and crew. This terrible wreckage was first spotted by the Navy whose sonar reads that the Princess Ashika is laying upright 110 meters below surface.
Many investigators are beginning to consider that the cause of the ship sinking was from the bad structure of the design. It is believed that 93 passenger’s bodies are still trapped onboard. The wreckage is much too deep for divers so they are now sending an electronic probe down to investigate.

By Kachina (year7)

Student Council

Courtney and Sion (Year 6), from the Media Team, introduce us to the team of students who make up Springston School's Student Council. Find out about the projects the Council has been working on this year.

They'd love to hear back from other student councils and share ideas - please post them a comment. Perhaps they could Skype with you?

3:26 minutes, 3.9 MB, .mp4 file

Let's Get Inventing!

Hannah (Year 6) and Emily (Year 7) interview students around Springston School about the inventions they have been working on. 'Let's Get Inventing' is our theme for the term - to make something which makes life easier for others.

2:11 minutes, 2.6 MB, mpeg-4 video file

Let's Get Inventing

This term and some of last, all the students and teachers, from Springston School have been studying inventors and their inventions. Some students are even trying to invent their own, or make a invention better.

At the beginning of the inquiry, four rooms including 4, 5, 6 and 7 went to the Museum and Science Alive to study and find out what inventions are made for. At the Museum they went to the classroom and completed activities like; carving, drilling through either wood or bone, trying to make fire (we didn’t though), plus heaps more. After that we went into the Maori part of the Museum and looked at the tools the Maoris used many years ago. Afterwards we went to Science Alive and had to create a structure from Lego to make life easier. This trip helped us understand the meanings of inventions, and how pulleys, wedges and levers help us in every day jobs.

This term we have been looking deeper into inventions. We have been planning inventions we would like to innovate on or new inventions we would like to create.

Hannah D.

Shetland Pony Poem

Shetland Pony

I have a Shetland pony,
Her socks are white as snow
She lives in the grassy back paddock,
Next to a handsome palomino.

When I ride her in the arena,
She gallops towards her mate
She bucks and bolts and nips and kicks
I end up on the gate.

I tie her up to the rail,
And keep a strong, sharp tone
Even when I try to brush her,
She has a mind of her own.

Back to the paddock she goes,
Back to her long lost friend
Kicking anything near,
Skidding around the bend.

Back to the barn I go,
To prepare for the next day
Going on a road trek tomorrow,
And she’s coming too, YAY!

By Morgan

Inquiring into Change at Springston School

Emma-Rose and Morgan (both Year 7 students) are your hosts as they discuss some of the changes that have happened around our school so far this year. Classes have been inquiring into how to bring about change at school - let's see how it's been going.

Look back again soon for an update from these girls!

4:18 minutes, 14.8 MB, .mov file

Hope You're Having Fun, Adam!

Just a little hello from the class, Adam. We hope you are having fun in Canada!

Don't forget to send us a blog entry about your holiday, with a photo, and we will put it up for everyone to read.

Just two more weeks - we'll see you soon.
Mrs T

Sion's Book Review

James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach
By Roald Dahl
Puffin Books, 156 pages

How easy was it to get stuck into this book?
It was easy to get stuck into this book because Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge were always mean to James and I wanted to see if James got the best of his aunts!

Who are the main characters?
The main characters are James Henry Trotter, Aunt Spiker, Aunt Sponge, the Old Green Grasshopper, Centipede, Miss Spider, Ladybird, Earthworm, Silkworm and last but not least the Glow-worm.

What’s the story line?
Well James was out cutting wood with a blunt axe and James stopped for a while to think about what other children in the world were doing and he was also resting from the blazing hot sun. Aunt Sponge saw that James had stopped and asked him why, and James asked her, “Can’t we just catch a bus and go to the beach, it’s awfully hot?”

“You lazy good-for-nothing brute!” Aunt Spiker shouted, so James then ran around the house crying and hid behind some bushes. It was at that exact moment that James heard rustling in the bushes behind him and then out popped an old man wearing a green suit.

The old man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small packet whilst hobbling towards James and said, “Take a look my dear.”

James peered inside the packet and saw what looked like tiny green crystals the size of grains of rice, amazingly beautiful and bright. Then the old man said, “There is more magic in those crystals than the whole world put together.”

“But what are they?” asked James.

“You’d never guess that,” said the old man and then he started blabbing on about some most unlikely ingredients, and how he remembered them I do not know.

Soon after that the old man pushed the crystals into James’s hands and said, “Here take It it’s yours.” Then the old man gave James some very strict instructions saying, “Do not let those crystals get out of the packet or they will work their magic upon something else and not you, and oh, off you go my boy, hurry up don’t wait!”

So James then ran off heading towards the house when he tripped and all the green crystals went flying out underneath the old peach tree. James quickly tried to pick them up but they sank down into the soil before he got a chance to grab them and that my dear friends is when the adventure began!!

How is it written?
It is written in an adventurous and imaginative way that I always like!!

Other books that I know of by the same author:
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Twits
Esio Trot
The Magic Finger

The overall verdict:
I rate it 5/5 for enjoyment!

Free Rice - learn new words & donate rice too!

http://www.freerice.com/
Free Rice is a great website that we were using in Term 1 because we wanted to make a difference to others. It is a good website to have on our blog because you can help others while helping increase your own vocabulary. I challenge you to see how many grains of rice you can donate. Add your personal tally to our class total. Together we can make a difference!

Emily's Who am I?

Who am I?

What values are most important to you?
Thinking I can take risks and pushing myself to do things that I have never done before.

What do you stand for?
Thinking about other people, not just myself.

A person who has influenced me.
Louis Braille has influenced me because he wanted to read. Although Louis was blind he believed everyone should be able to read, so he developed Braille.

The Trip to the Museum

At the museum we were taught what the Maori used in the old days and I used an axe called an adze. It was fun and I smoothed a rock. In the exhibition, a Maori woman made meat last two years. All you have to do is get the fat from the meat cooking, pour it on the food and cover them up and store it away.

(Brook - Year 7)

Springston School Museum Trip

On 1 July, Room 6 and 7 went to the museum. When we first got there we were told to sit down and listened to our instructions. The museum guide took us into a classroom full of Maori tools. He showed us how they worked. We got to try using an axe and a drill. I learned that Maori people used shells to strip flax fibre. After that we went up to these life-sized models of Maori people. One was hunting a moa (a big bird). There were a lot of other interesting things too. At the end of the day I had learnt heaps. It was a great day.

Chloe (Year 7)

Soccer Tournament

On Wednesday 24 June we (Springston School Year 5/6 and 7/8) went to Burnham for a soccer/hockey tournament. I played in the Year 7/8 soccer tournament. I enjoyed getting lots of goals and putting the effort into getting them. My team played seven games, and we lost only one. I was so proud of my team because I had never thought we would get so far.


Philip (Year 7)

Science Alive

On Wednesday we travelled on the bus to Science Alive and we got to choose out of robotics and mechanisms. I chose mechanisms and it was really fun because I got to build cool stuff. I was in a team with Emily and we worked together as a team. We used skills to build Lego and we never gave up - we had to be resilient. I made a tool to remove a boat from the water and it used a lever and a pulley.

By Hannah L (Year 6)

Young Leaders' Day!

Young Leaders' Day!
On this trip I learned heaps, the inspiration just kept on coming. Here are some of the words that I found really inspiring:

·Your goals can’t get any bigger but you can get better (Rob Harley)
·Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all (Justin Jones)

But those are just ones that really inspired me and I thank those people greatly. What really surprised me was that we were shown a lot of video clips about people who had things go wrong in their lives, but they used that to make themselves stronger in the future. So obviously the Young Leaders Conference was very inspirational and I felt very privileged to go.

Soccer Tournament

In July all the schools near us went to the soccer tournament. We had to play seven teams and it was only five minutes each side. We won 6/7 games but Lincoln beat us.

By Ryan

Science Alive Trip

On Wednesday 1 July, Rooms 6 and 7 went to Science Alive. You had to choose whether you wanted to do Robotics or Mechanisms. In the Mechanisms group you were in a group of two. You got sent to a different station each and you used Lego to solve a challenge. We had to be team workers and we also had to be patient. We had to be really resilient because we could never give up. I made a simple machine to pull a boat out of water and I used a lever and a pulley.

By Emily

Young Leaders' Conference

The Young Leaders' Conference was great fun. We learned what makes a good leader and how a good leader should act. We asked lots of questions and listened well to the answers. That's why I liked the Young Leaders' Conference.

By Jahna