Being a positive role model

The five key words I think of when I hear this phrase are:
Leadership
High self esteem
Friendly
Helpful
Honest

I realise as I read my list, my set of words could be totally different from everyone else’s.
I suspect Leadership could be a common word most people. But I ask myself do you need to have high self esteem to be a leader? I think probably. Friendly and helpful I think speaks to the mindset of the person. Are they open, approachable, do they have a mindset that they want to help others. I believe a big part of being a leader is being willing to be of service to others.
Finally, honesty. I’m not sure where this fits in. I think this comes from my upbringing. My Mum & Dad taught me the value of honesty right from a young age. When you are honest, you are showing others that you value a positive relationship with them much more than lying to them, or tricking them for your own personal gain or ego.

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The Beast Run

Today was our first official training run for the Beast Run in 10 weeks.

Last week we walked the course. This week, we had a little reflection about our own goals for this upcoming event… and away we went. No land speed records were broken, but we took our first step (series of steps actually). I walked until I felt my legs were sufficiently warmed up, slowly extending the length of my step which also helped to slowly raise my heart rate (that and the hills of course).
Then I felt ready to run, so away I went with the goal of trying to get back to class without stopping.
My personal goal is to do that 3 times a week so that by the Beast Run I should have completed 30 training runs.

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Thermoregulation disruption

Use the Coast to Coast race scenario to explain how balance is re-established following one potential specific disruption to this homeostatic system by internal or external influences such as extreme environmental conditions, disease or infection, drugs or toxins, genetic conditions or metabolic disorders

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Workplace safety isn’t optional

Workplace health and safety is NOT just a check list to tick off, it is a culture!

I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Safety is something we must do in every day, in every moment of CTA. When we automatically think “How do I keep myself safe while doing this activity?” or “What PPE can I wear that will make me more safe?”.

When we can do this as normally as breathing, then we are on the right track for strong safety culture.

Sometimes, we forget. Sometimes we get so focused in on WHAT are doing we forget to think about HOW we are doing it.

We must look out for each other, I think that is how a safety culture created.

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Week 2 maths: One is a snail Ten is a crab

This week, for maths, we were learning about multiplication. We read the book One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab.

The learning task was to make multiplication questions using the pictures from the story. We also used a whiteboard to record our equations.

Next, the follow-up activity was to take a photo of my work and share it on my blog.

What we enjoyed most was being able to work with a buddy and talk about our maths.

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Coast to Coast Thermoregulation

Is your thermoregulatory system an athlete’s greatest asset or their hard speed-limiter? When an elite multisport athlete “bonks” or hits the wall, is it because their muscles ran out of fuel, or because their control center forced a slowdown to prevent the body from overheating?

Discuss how the components of this system must work in perfect harmony to get a competitor from one coast to the other without the “engine” blowing up.

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The Bus Stop Struggle

Imagine you are standing in the aisle of a bus that is stopped at a red light. Suddenly, the light turns green, the driver hits the gas, and you feel yourself “thrown” backward toward the rear of the bus. Later, the bus is moving at a steady 50 km/h on a straight road, and you feel like you aren’t moving at all. Finally, the bus slams on the brakes, and you nearly fly forward into the dashboard.

The Challenge:

Pick one of Newton’s three laws to explain a specific part of this bus ride. In your comment, describe:

  1. The Law: State Newton’s 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Law.

  2. The Physics: Why did your body move (or feel like it moved) when the bus changed speed?

  3. The Formula (if applicable): If the bus has a mass of 12,000 kg and accelerates at 2 meter per second squared, how much Net Force did the engine have to produce?

 

Which law do you think is the most important for passenger safety and why?

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Autumn writing

This week, we are welcoming Autumn by thinking about our senses. We are learning to use our 5 senses to describe. We are talking about what we notice about Autumn.

We started with Mat chat. We wondered about:

  • What have you noticed outside lately?
  • Is it getting darker earlier?
  • Are we wearing our jerseys more often?
  • I can see…
  • I can hear…
  • I can feel…
  • I can smell…
  • I can taste…

Here is a link to a video.

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Hākinakina

Kia ora anō e te whānau,

We are grateful and blessed to be able to learn new skills through different movement and games. Matua Remus always has great games that teach teamwork, problem solving, and skills for a range of different sports.

This week, alongside Rūma 2, Matua Remus played a game of “Catch the tail”. The game is an introduction to learning the skills we need to play Tag. Being able to move around a coned area, while dodging other tamariki and ripping tags are the basic fundamentals for playing Tag.

It was awesome to see the competitiveness and determination of all our tamariki while playing the game. My ultimate highlight is always seeing and hearing the joy of our tamariki.

Enjoy these short snippets of our game of “Catch the tail”.

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Wahanga Tuarua – Term 2

Tēnā koutou katoa e te whānau,

Nau mai, hoki mai ki te wahanga tuarua mō te tau 2026.

Welcome back to Term 2. We’ve had a great start to the term and our tamariki are already putting in 100% effort in all their kura mahi.

We are continuing to learn our alphabet letter names and sounds with the addition of high frequency words. High frequency words are words that we see often in our readers.

During the holiday period, I purchased some velcro dots for our whāriki area to use instead of our mat and decided to write some high frequency words onto these dots. Each morning, our tamariki choose a kupu (word) for the day and that velcro dot remains their place on the mat for the duration of the day. Third day in and it’s wonderful to see and hear our tamariki reading the high frequency words.

Yesterday, we drew a picture about one thing we did in the holidays. I modelled the simple sentence structure and referenced the high frequency words while modelling the sentence. Our tamariki were able to identify and show me where the words ” I, went, to, and the ” using the velcro dots.

Titoro ki ngā tamariki mīharo e whkaamahi ana i ngā ira piri (velcor dots)! Kei whea mai koutou.

Look at these amazing tamariki using the velcro dots.

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Learning how to prepare for presentations.

These young boys were excited to record their learning in Maths. They chose the task of explaining how to round a 4 digit number to the nearest 100. We shared some quick pointers and explained that once they had completed their recording we will as a whole class watch the video and discuss what was good recording and also what could be done better. They agreed and handed in their first video.

Well, making this video was actually fun and also a lot of hard work, the boys said. We all watched the video and had some really good discussions about what went well and what could be improved. A very positive outcome, and we can’t wait for your next video

These boys also received certificates this Friday for using their waka hoe values

 

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Learning Te Reo Māori Through Creativity and Humour.

🎬 Room 8: Learning Te Reo Māori Through Creativity and Humour

There’s something special about learning coming to life—and that’s exactly what happened in Room 8 this week.

Our students have been working alongside Matua Matt, exploring key sentence structures in te reo Māori such as Ko wai? Nā wai? Nō wai? Mā wai? Mō wai? along with patterns like Mā wai e…? Nā wai i…? Kei a wai…? I a wai…? These are powerful language tools, and our learners have been building their understanding through meaningful, hands-on practice.

To showcase their learning, students created their own short, humorous videos—and what a result!

One group of girls in particular stood out. Their video was not only funny, but incredibly well thought out. The humour they used showed real confidence in their understanding, and the way they brought the language to life was something to be proud of. From clever camera angles to smooth editing and expressive acting, they demonstrated a strong grasp of both the language and how to communicate it effectively.

Most importantly, their learning was visible. You could clearly see their understanding of sentence structures woven naturally into their storytelling. This is exactly what we aim for—students not just learning language, but using it with confidence, creativity, and joy.

Ka mau te wehi, Room 8! 👏

Nga mihi mo to matakimatiki o te kiriata o the reo girls

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Spotting Kiwi ~ Whole Class Reading

This week, we have started reading the text Spotting Kiwi. We are learning to apply prior knowledge and make connections. We are thinking and discussing what we read, and then answering comprehension questions using information from the text to explain. One of our main tasks is to listen to our buddies and add to what they have said.




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