Today we welcomed 24 students, 3 staff and 2 Board members from South Hornby School in Christchurch. They are here as part of a choir exchange program between our 2 schools. We take turns in visiting each others’ schools for a week in Term 4 each year. Students stay with host families and spend time in class with their hosts, performing at other schools, and visiting local tourist spots.

Our Year 6/7 students who are in our NZ Performance Choir have been looking forward to this visit for a very long time. Tomorrow we will hear them perform separately and jointly. AS I’m new to the school this year I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing/hearing the NZ choir before, so tomorrow should be a real treat!

Week 3

For those of you who missed your words & words study tasks today, here is the link to access them.

Last Friday our class went on a joint excursion with Mrs Burton’s class from Paringa Park PS. We went to the Maritime Museum and for a cruise on the Archie Badenoch on the Port River. We were split into 3 groups to do the activities. Our group was lucky as we saw 8 dolphins on our cruise, but one of the other groups saw 12!

In the museum we had a talk from the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. Alan gave us lots of really interesting information. Did you know that the Yangtze River Dolphin became extinct last year? And that it’s highly likely that the Maui dolphin will be extinct in 10 years time? We learnt about the impact we humans have on the dolphins’ lives – including the use of fishing nets & lines, plastics in the river & noise pollution. We are unique here in South Australia – Adelaide is the only place in the world to have dolphins living so close to the city. Our dolphins are also unique in the way that some of them tail walk – this is usually only done by dolphins in marine parks. Have a look at this video to see them in action.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

During the last week of Term 3 (yes, I did say the last week!) our 3 Year 6/7 classes went on camp to El Shaddai camp, at Wellington, on the River Murray. We couldn’t have picked a worse week weatherwise – Jim, the cook, told us that they’d had more rain in the 3 days we were there than they’d had for about 10 years. I think they’re keen for us to go back again

Anyway, did the weather matter? Absolutely not! Everyone had a ball with the variety of activities on offer. There was screenprinting. indoor rock climbing, giant swing, canoeing, raft making, team-building skills, Earth ball and archery. Added to that trampolines, flying fox, Tarzan swing, gym and tennis courts to use in our free time, made this camp an energy-filled experience. I think most of us were exhausted by the time we got back to Adelaide!

I was so impressed with all the students’ behaviour, good manners and team spirit. They amazed me with their courage, risk-taking and persistence. Just watching them on the giant swing made my stomach flip, but every single student had a go, even though some of them were really facing their fears! Well done to all of you! I think some of you certainly learned something about yourselves during this camp.

This is a great camp for middle years students. If you teach in South Australia why not give this camp a go? I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow