Last week, we learned about Anzac Day. We listened to stories and poems and reflected on the sacrifices made by so many. To bring our learning to life, we also created a beautiful poppy wreath, proudly displayed in our studio window.

Today, on Anzac Day, that learning became something even more special.

Early this morning, Zayieh and her family attended the Dawn Service in Cathedral Square, Christchurch. They laid our studio wreath at the war memorial. Seeing our work included in such a significant ceremony was incredibly powerful and something we will all remember.

A huge thank you to Zayieh and her family for suggesting this idea and for representing our class in such a meaningful way.

If you’d like to see this special moment, you can follow this link to watch the full service, or skip ahead to 1 hour and 14 minutes.

“We will not forget.”

Every fortnight, the Cool Rise Team comes into our studio and takes us for some different activities – like Beebots, Art, and Mindfulness.

In one of our sessions, we talked about mindful breathing, slow breathing to blow our worries away! We practised slow breathing by blowing bubbles, and then we made giant bubbles. Here are some of the giant bubbles we made – they were amazing!

After reading our shared pukapuka, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we were interested in how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. We did some learning about metamorphosis and the steps of the life cycle. We had fun creating headbands to help us remember the life cycle. The next day we did some procedural writing and wrote each step of the life cycle. Some of us used Explain Everything to record ourselves as we could add more detail then when we wrote our ideas down. We experimented using procedural language such as first, next, then, finally. Watch our video to hear our explanations.



Twas a cloudy morning when we set off to the beach but by the time we arrived the sun had burnt through and it was awesome. Archie, Tom, George and Jacob (?) taught us about the dangers and skills we need to conquer the waves.m Hugh and Liam went out the back while the rest of us endeavoured to stand up.

We owe a big thanks to Jasper’s Mum for taking a random idea off facebook and turning it into a reality for the tamariki in our studio.
She created a set of roads for us to use with our new set of cars. They were made using fence pailings and paint.

These have been truly cherished by our tamariki- thank you for your mahi! Now for the next project…

This week we were excited to welcome Bishop Micheal to our school. He joined in with our virtues assembly, adding his wisdom. After this he came to the class and shared some more. We were all inspired with his words and will be chasing goals as we grow!

Intermediates in Glentui

The rain fell but we were booked so we had to make the most of things and boy did we. Archery in the deluge was a biot challening but the silver lining was it kept the bugs away.

We had heaps of fun and owe a lot to the adults who helped us, including the Glentui staff who were amazing!

We will be back.

My cows are looking at a ginormous dog poo!

We had to caption a picture of cows. I wrote a really funny caption! We had to think of our audience and show how we could engage them with humour or personal jokes.

Here are some other examples…

On Friday, we read the Better Start Literacy big book ‘The Boat Race’. We decided it would be a really good idea to create our own waka! For the next block, we turned our space into a creation zone as we were all designing, sticking, cutting, decorating and building our boats. We then took a photo of the final projects. We used what we could find in the studio and took some inspiration from the story! You may notice a theme of shark fins. Waka of all shapes and sizes were created!

Some of our tamariki made the connection between the characters in this story, who also feature in the phonics plus books we read in our small groups for pānui pukapuka.

Here is the video of our waka creations! Unfortunately, we didn’t get time to test whether they floated. Which one do you think will float the best?

There’s a real buzz happening in our studio… and it’s not just from excited tamariki!
We have been busy building something very special – our very own Hauroa Hive nestled under our kōwhai tree filled with flitting fantails.

We have been buzzing with creativity, teamwork and big smiles as we created a giant hive display to remind us how we can all help our tamariki thrive. Inside our hive are our three very important expectations:
Bee Kind
“Bee kind means using kind words and helping our friends!”
We practise sharing, taking turns, and cheering each other on. Even a small act of kindness can make someone’s day brighter!
Bee Ready
“Bee ready means having our learning brain switched on!”
We come to school ready to listen, ready to try, and ready to do our best. That means bringing our gear, sitting nicely on the mat, and showing our teachers we are prepared to learn.
Bee Safe
“Bee safe means keeping our hands and feet to ourselves.”
We walk inside, use equipment the right way, and make safe choices in the playground. When we are safe, everyone can have fun and feel happy.

Why a Hive?
Bees work together to make something amazing — and so do we! We all have an important part to play. When we all follow our three expectations, we have a place where everyone feels welcome, ready to learn, and safe to grow.
The best part? Each student added their own little bee to the hive! 

We are all working together. We are so proud of our Hauroa Hive and living out:
Bee Kind : Bee Ready : Bee Safe

Keep buzzing, everyone — our hive is thriving!

Last week we were learning about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and created our own agreement for our tēina, Te Tiriti o Ata Hāpara. Our 5 main values we agreed to were

1. Whakarongo (1 command, 1 person talking)
2. Manaakitanga (Take care of each other)
3. Tiakina ngā taonga (Look after our things)
4. Hīkoi (walking inside)
5. Tātou, tātou (Share and take turns)

We have made sure we have had multiple opportunities to practise these throughout our learning. Studio play, team building, PMP, Cybersmart, Te Reo Māori, Art, Kapa Haka and kaukau have filled our days before starting our Literacy and Maths routines next week.

That’s a wrap to Hīnaki 2025! Ms Wilkinson and Miss Gavin want to wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday season. As well as a big thank you to all the teachers, students, whānau and caregivers that have contributed to our great year in the Hīnaki hub. Best wishes to all our students moving on and we look forward to seeing familiar faces next year