Waitahuna Song - version #2

Before we sign off for the year we thought we would share another rendition of our song ‘Waitahuna’

Thanks for all the positive feed-back and comments.

https://youtu.be/6fiRqvQqm00

The launch of our song ‘Waitahuna’

https://youtu.be/3n0bxkEvi2E

A huge congratulations to the pupils at Waitahuna School for their performance in the ‘Kiwiana Concert’. A brilliant night of singing, dancing, ukulele playing and acting. 

Also an amazing launch of their song ‘WAITAHUNA’ written and composed by the children with the guidance of the teachers. 

Congratulations to you all on a successful year. 

Happy Holidays from Ms Johnstone and Mrs Blackmore

WAITAHUNA SCHOOL SONG 2017 – 

The Waitahuna River weaves us together

The train station stands whatever the weather

Our farms are rolling and green with feed

Producing the lamb that the whole world needs

Chorus:

Small school where we all learn big  

A swimming pool and a garden to dig

Trees to climb and keep us cool 

That’s Waitahuna School

Mt Stuart’s turbines stand on the hill

Harnessing the power that lowers our bill

Their lights, a beacon, through the district glow

Forecasting the Antarctic winds that blow

Chorus:

The Waitahuna Hall is on the main street

It’s a wonderful place for the locals to meet 

The velvet curtains still hang with pride 

The children’s faces beaming inside

Chorus:

Waitahuna’s small but our bond is forever

Our school is the glue that holds us together

Grandparents, neighbours all stand as one

Together we sing and we all have fun

Chorus:

Celebrating the Oaks 125th

Today at Waitahuna School we celebrated a birthday! 125 years since our two oak trees were planted in 1892 to celebrate the inaugural ‘Arbour Day’.

We talked about the children and community members long ago that these planted trees for us all to appreciate. 

We always love these special trees but this week they have been even more valuable as we have held our lessons under them to escape the 28

- 30 degree days. 

We also celebrated with cake!

First Swim of 2017

Thanks Pioneer Energy

A huge thanks to Pioneer Energy for their sponsorship of our School sign. We are thrilled with it.

Kayaking the Waitahuna River

Today the Senior Room from Waitahuna School kayaked the Waitahuna River. It was a fantastic experience for all involved. 

We can also report back that the Waitahuna river is as clean and pristine as ever. 

When we arrived at the Waterfront in Waitahuna we were welcomed by the Junior Room who had spent their morning making pizzas for our lunch. 

A huge thank you to the parents who made this possible especially Tony, Sarah, Renee and Hannah.

Concert 2017

Pet Day 2017

Well what a week we have had at Waitahuna School. 
Parents doing school tailing on Monday, Ukulele on Tuesday, Snow on the ground on Wednesday with a visit from Pip and the Life Education Classroom, and thankfully the sun shone on Thursday for PET DAY!
The Pet Day was a great success. The children were excited and keen to share their pets. The parents were able to catch-up, visit the classrooms and see the children's work and competition entries on display.
The dog agility course was a highlight and the Grand Parade was a spectacle!
A huge thanks to the parents for supporting this event and a special thanks to Larissa for capturing the photos.

Click the image above to see some photos of our Pet Day

Community Tailing 2017

Click on the image above to see a short video.

Bellview Planting 2017

Today Waitahuna School went to our Annual planting day at Bellview Gardens in Lawrence. 

We spent the morning potting native plants and also sourcing seedlings from under established plants. 

The children worked hard until they had exhausted the potting mix supply.

Next we were treated to roast lunch and cream cakes for afternoon. 

We also had a go a fishing for some trout which we could see but sadly no tight lines today. 

A huge thanks to Stevie for letting us share your special place. Also a huge thanks to Kasey for all your guidance and the beautiful food - prepared by yourself and Grandad Gordon. 

Also thanks to Gary and a special mention to Annie R for your amazing baking. 🌱🌿🍰🍩

Conservation Week Update #2

CONSERVATION WEEK at Waitahuna School

(Click above to play the video)

Waitahuna School would love to see NZ Predator free by 2050.
Waitahuna has many residents who are passionate about increasing the number of native birds in our area.
Through this initiative we have been able to see an increased number of tui. Our school has been able to support this through native plantings and winter nectar feeding. We appreciate being a part of something that will increase the bird numbers and birdsong for us and future generations.
Squawk Squad
Department of Conservation
Waitahuna School
#CONSERVATIONWEEK
#SQUAWKSQUADNZ

Brewery and Daffodil visit

After a morning researching native trees following on from our visit to The Station House Nursery; Waitahuna School visited Weatherstons Brewery and Daffodils Trust for a fish and chip picnic and a dally through the daffodils. The contrast from the native bush, complete with waterfall, to the expansive daffodil fields is spectacular.

A huge thanks to the volunteers who have re-opened the fields to the public this year as the daffodils are a treasure to behold.

Thanks to Val for taking us on her bus and for her support. 🚌

PS: No daffodils were squashed in the taking of our photo!

Visitors at Waitahuna School

Today we had Dream Brown visit Waitahuna School with her 7 pups. The children were very excited and the puppies got a lot of socialising - as did the children.

Thanks Sharon at the Station House

Today Waitahuna School visited Station House Nursery down the road in Waitahuna. 

Sharon showed the children the range of native plants that she grows and some of the features that make them so important to plant in our local area. Then we were able to plant harakeke seeds and repot larger flax. 

The children enjoyed learning more about native plantings and then we went back to school where we helped Sharon plant some flax in the native area beside the school.

A huge thanks to Sharon, Billy, Hazel and Leeann for a great learning experience.

Au revoir Greer

Today we had our last visit with Greer our Sports Activator. 

Greer has been a regular visitor to Waitahuna school and we have enjoyed all the skills and drills she has taught us. 

We wish Greer all the best for her future and look forward to following her sporting achievements.

Fabric and Fibres

Waitahuna School has been learning about fabrics and fibres this term.

Today we visited the Waitahuna Craft group when they met at the Waitahuna Hall. We were able to watch the members knitting, doll making and patch-working. We also sat down and worked on our own project with wool... a Pom Pom.

Helping out at Waitahuna School

One of the NZ Curriculum's Key Competencies is Participating and Contributing. This includes having responsibilities to the groups we belong to. 

Our pupils often focus on this competency through taking part in activities in our community that help others. 

Today the children again helped out with some chores to benefit our school. Thanks to Hamish also for his help.

Thanks Southfuels

Thanks Southfuels for your generous donation of our Technology package. We appreciate the support your valuable programme gives to our school and the difference it makes to our learning.

A HUGE thank you to our Parents

A huge thanks to our parents for the successful 'Night at the Races' fundraiser that they ran on Saturday evening. 

For a small group you put on an amazing evening and all your dedication to the event made it a brilliant night. Thanks

Rabbit Problems

Today Waitahuna School discovered a huge problem! 
Mr Robbie came to prune our 4 fruit trees and told us that rabbits were eating their trunks!
We put on our 'thinking caps' and thought of some solutions that could fix the problem. 
We decided to trial 2 ideas that were weatherproof and recycled. 
We will keep you updated as to how our ideas work. We are still hoping to pick apples, plums and pears from our trees next Autumn.

Buddy Reading at Waitahuna School

Today we would like to introduce a visitor who comes into the Junior Room at Waitahuna School. 

Weka loves to visit our class and listen to the children read. She is not fussy as to the books she listens to, but she did rather enjoy Henry's book today on dogs.

Waitahuna School's OE

Dear Parents and Grandparents, you may have heard about your children's recent adventures so we thought you might like to see an 'abridged' version of their journey.

Cartooning at Waitahuna School

At Waitahuna School we have had a few days of story writing and cartooning based on two of our classmates eel catching adventure during the weekend. 

Country-life must be some of the best writing inspiration. 

Term 2 Awards

This morning we had a fantastic start to the day with an amazing sunrise at Waitahuna School. 

As Mrs Blackmore is not going to be with us for the rest of the term, we took the opportunity to present awards to some of our pupils. Elsie, Lachie, Henry, Amber and Chase all received sports awards. Jayden received a 'Reading Eggs' award for the child at Waitahuna School who had made the biggest improvement in reading. 

Well done Jayden, your award is thoroughly deserved.

Silverbeet Soup

Today Waitahuna School officially put the school garden to bed for Winter.
We have had a mixed growing season but produced a great crop of capsicum which we made into delicious savoury scones.
Today we made Silverbeet soup. This delicious concoction involved even the youngest students at Waitahuna school chopping and dicing. The scenario was put to the children - 'If there was a big snowfall and Mum and Dad are out feeding stock, what can be cooked on the fire if the power is off?' As you can see - they cleaned up the lot! Thanks to Cameron and Elsie for the photos.