Room 14 - Miss Waters

Welcome to Room 14's 2020 blog page!
This is where we will be posting notices or updates for our class.

If you would like to email the teacher with any queries  - chelseyw@pakurangaheights.school.nz

All about our culture!

For our inquiry homework this week we were asked to bring in and present something special to us from our culture and speak about why it is important to us and our families. 

Room 14 proudly presented there items this morning. We learnt so much about our peers cultures and our own cultures! We absolutely loved listening to each other and looking at all the special treasures that were bought in today! 

Ahmad - Kurta and Wasket.

“This is a Muslim special dress for boys for occasions like Eid and weddings.”

Ali.R- Afghani clothing and Tasbihe. 

“This is our Afghani clothing for men and boys. It is beautiful and comfy. We wear these clothes on special days like Eid and new years. Afghani women also have cultural treasure clothes and they are more beautiful and nice. Tasbihe is used for prayer time for men and women. They are very nice and i like them. My grandparents sent these to me from Afghanistan and it is a big treasure.”

Ashaadyah -  Kameez Salwar. 

“The kameez salwar is a traditional dress worn by Indian Muslim girls and women. It’s a dress for special occasions, such as weddings, Eid, and special gatherings. They can be simple designs or elaborate and shiny. There are three pieces of a salwar kameez. The dress, the

pants and the dupatta. We can wear the kameez salwar with bangles and some jewellery.” 

Ava - Paua kiwi necklace. 

“This necklace is important to me and my culture because the kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand and New Zealanders. I am a 7th generation New Zealander. New Zealanders have been called kiwis since World War 1. The kiwi is a native bird to NZ. The kiwi and paua represents NZ and it’s people/ It reminds us of the importance of our native birds because kiwis are endangered. This is only one representation of kiwi. They can be found on clothes, toys and jewellery, Paua shells can be found in other countries but New Zealand’s 3 types of paua is only found here.” 

Aoife/Ivy - Yang ge

“This is a traditional Chinese handkerchief that we use for dance. You spin it on your fingers.” 

Caleb - Pounamu. 

This is my pounamu. It is a treasure for me because I was given it when I did my pepeha in front of the whole school. I am part Maori and my pounamu is made from New Zealand greenstone and reminds me of who I am and where I come from. It is a Manaia which represents the sky, earth and sea. I wore it when I travelled to Africa and it reminded me of home.” 

Michaela - South African song - Jerusalema. 

“This song shows people what it is like to live and grow up in South Africa. South African people love to sing and dance! It is very different to New Zealand.” Here is the link if you would like to listen.

Kashvi - Diwali bangles 

“These are my bangles for Diwali.”

Jackson - Crochet. 

Crochet has been around as long as the 1500s. It has been found in places such as Italy, France, Ireland and China. It is used for making blankets, toys, jumpers, and other things. 

It is a skill that has been handed down through the family and my Mum will teach my sister Rosie how to do it.”

Marley - Bilum.

“It is a traditional bag which represents where you came from and also some of the designs on the Bilum represent what tribe you are from. They are very important to the png people especially the women as they carry heavy stuff like garden food from the gardens.”

Karaya - Harakeke (Flax) 

“Flax is special to me and my culture because Maori people used flax to make baskets to put food in. It is also used to make special things like these flax flowers.”

Azaria - Pounamu 

“A pounamu is a Maori treasure. Pounamu is found only in the South Island. Pounamu is important to my Maori culture because it was used in the 1800s for trading things and used for tools. Pounamu necklace is very special, and is to be passed down generations.” 

Ari - My Pappy Lance Olsens Medals from the World War 1”  

“I bought my Pappy Lance’s World War 1 medals. These are very special to my Dad and my family. Pappy Lance Olsen is my great grandad. The war was at Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915. The battle of Gallipoli. These are his bravery medals. He lived in Australia and passed 5 years ago when he was 97 years old.” 

Kaniva - Pounamu.

I chose this Pounamu taonga that was gifted to my family. This taonga will be shared amongst my siblings and myself and we wear this taonga on special occasions. This will be passed on to our children and so forth and will be with my whanau for ever and ever.

Sinking and floating fun!

We have been having great fun planning investigations, carrying out experiments and learning about how things work! 

Here are some pictures of us making predictions and testing out whether the items floated or sank. We had such a blast! 

Mangere Mountain Trip - Wednesday 18th March 2020. 

We started off our day by going on a guided walk to explore Māori migration, oral histories and signs of settlement on the mountain. We also did the Volcanic Walk / Hikoi Puiā that developed our understanding of the Auckland volcanic field and its geological features.

We then were able to explore flax work and weaved our own bracelet made from harekeke (flax) 

Lastly we explored the different trees and plants that are used for traditional Maori medicine. We even tried some kawakawa balm and kawakawa tea! 

We had such an amazing day exploring in the sunshine. 
Another big thank you to the parent helpers who came and helped with our trip!