A really exciting week in Te Kinga!

 Otira Walkway Mural and Kiwi Rail filming!

Last week a group of Te Kinga students set out to Otira (on a surprisingly stellar day for the middle of Winter) to complete their mural in the Otira Pedestrian Walkway. It is a mural that depicts the land to sea scape of the West Coast and includes Poutini the taniwha who, (according to Ngāti Waewae pūrākau) is the reason why pounamu can be found on West Coast and is the guardian of the taonga (prized natural resource) found here in Te Tai Poutini.

Pippa hard at work blending colours on a difficult surface!

Everyone stopped in for the action - even a film crew from TVNZ!

The large area required rollers and sponges and a lot of paint!

A view from the top...

A well deserved lunch break!

With the sun lowering, it was time to leave Poutini all to himself - the mural needed some final touches but still looked great as we left!

This week at least 600 people will join in the celebration of the Otira Tunnel's opening 100 years ago on August 4th. A big thanks to Di & John Burns and Kiwi Rail for organising our space on the wall and painting supplies. We hope the visitors to Otira this week enjoy our artwork! 

Kiwi Rail Filming...

Also last week Carolyn came out from Kea Kids News to film some interviews between a group of Te Kinga students and our local train drivers. These interviews will be used nationwide by Kiwi Rail for Rail Safety week. The drivers (and a very special dog that was actually hit by a train and adopted by a train driver!) stayed for the day. We were very lucky to have such a great group of people to visit our school! 

Bryce nervously awaits his interview!

The dog that lived!

Train drivers galore in high-viz orange! 

A Great Start to Term 3!

 Science Fair Success!

Last week 3 of our Year 6 students came second in the John Paul Science Fair in Greymouth! In Term 2 they entered with their investigation in to diffusion with tea bags (part of their Innovations and Inventions of War topic). Well done on this outstanding achievement! 

Topic in Term 3...

This term our topic is Ngā Rarangi Wā - Timelines. In this study we are looking at a certain period of time in our local history....our study is about the Otira Tunnel which turns 100 on August 4th! We will also look around our local area at other sorts of tunnels but for now we are focussed on this major development for the Midland Line railway and for our region...

Learning about how large tunnels are 

                                                       constructed

Checking out some interesting footage of the Otira Tunnel
and a classic Kiwi Ad   for NZ Rail

                    

The construction of a mini train tunnel in the sand pit

Everyone 'digs' in! 

Not bad for a first attempt!

Highlights from Term Two...

Busy times in Te Kinga - a summary of Term Two Learning...

After ANZAC Day, we started to explore the Inventions and Innovations of war time in recent history. First we chose a topic to study and made a digital fact poster about it. Then we made a working model of the the invention or innovation...some of our students got so invested in this part of the learning, they entered the local science fair and featured their models...did you know that Tea Bags were an innovation of war times and they were called 'Tea Bombs!'

Making tea bags

Tea under the microscope!

Setting up the experiment

Diffusion in process! 

The next step for the whole class was to plan a lesson to share their learning...this lesson was about plastic surgery - a Kiwi Doctor invented this for men who were wounded in war.

Mid way through the team we learnt how to wrap presents in fabric - a Japanese tradition called Furoshiki - this tested our ability to follow instructions! 

Some of our students had a visit to Otira in preparation for their mural painting - we learnt a lot about the history of the town and railway while we were there. Did you know that the Otira Tunnel has been open for 100 years on August 4th this year? 

To finish off the term we had a Matariki Celebration - the students of Te Kinga enjoyed a day of setting Matariki Star Goals,  decorating Matariki cupcakes, learning waiata and pūrākau (Poutini) and of course sharing a feast! 

Did you know that in Te Kinga we learn to speak te reo Māori everyday? This is how it looks when we use our Papa Whakakōrero...