Spanish Culture Day by Olivia and Kyla!

Hola!
This is a presentation of what happened on the 4th of December 2013!

Spanish culture day - slideshows

Giving Our All!

Matakei? Wairau? Koru? Patuha? Who came out triumphant? Oakura School is eagerly awaiting for the announcement of the winning house after a competitive and successful school Athletics Day. All year 4s and up engaged in a fierce competition of six events. Yesterday, the fields of Oakura School were covered with kids wearing red, blue, green and gold achieving personal bests, keeping fit and having fun.

“I really liked how everyone gave it their all and the competitiveness was at a high level,” said Kara in the Koru house. Blair added, “I found it enjoyable because athletics is always fun and competing in your age group is definitely challenging.” The kids participated in sprints (50m and 80m), 400m run, high jump, long jump, javelin and shot put.

Everybody gave it a go and enjoyed achieving highly. We saw a lot of personal bests being achieved and friendly challenges on the field. Athletics is a fun way of completing the P.E curriculum. As Tasmin said for everyone, “It was loads of fun and I cant wait for next time.”

 

 

Preparing for Life!

How would you apply for a job?
What do you want to do with your life?
Do you know how to manage money?

At Oakura school year 7 and 8 are setting up for a Primary Enterprise Programme (PrEP) to get ready for life.We are making toys, games and food for younger pupils. This is teaching us some important skills such as learning how to manage money and cooperate with others. We are also using the money we get to help the survivours in the Philippines to recover from the recent typhoon.

Lachie said "PrEP is getting the year 7 and 8 ready for their future jobs." He also said his group is working well but it has been extremely frustrating at times. Another student manager, Emily, commented that "it has been dramatic and chaotic" but still thought her group was doing well.

We thought that PrEP has been an awesome, challenging and amazing experience and we hope that everyone will love all of the food, toys and games that we've prepared. Don't forget your gold coins on November 25th!

Puanga Pop

Musical aspirants showed their talent at the Puanaga festival at Waitara Memorial Hall last Thursday October 31st. All the Kapahaka groups gathered to perform in a non-competitive, competitive and puanga idol. Groups who entered this event came from all over Taranaki as well as Wanganui. Our Oakura Kapahaka group were very successful as we achieved a 5/5 overall, 19/20 for our Oakura dance, 15/20 for poi, 13/20 for our haka and 20/20 for our waiata reinga!!!!

Puanga idol was also very successful as Kara and Rhegan dazzled the audience with their beautiful version of Bathe in the River. However we are still waiting for their results.

The Kapahaka group had a great performance and a great experience and we hope that we will be as successfull next year. :)

Written by Saskia and Abigail

Spanish Greetings

Spanish Greetings by room11.oakuraschool on GoAnimate

The Wonderful Wonders of Wearing the Wearable Arts

WOW! The world of wearable arts is coming! We spend weeks working on wonderful garments of every kind to bring creative and interesting art off the wall and into our lives. This year's theme 'Around the World' promises to bring in all types of design influenced all the way from America to Asia.  WOW is being held in the TSB Stadium on Labour Weekend October 25th and 26th.

 

Oakura students have entered four spectacular garments. Siani, Shaelyn, Sophie, Kate and Tasmin have made one garment called 'Teens Tied to Freedom', entered into the American category, showing the balance of social freedom and school life of today's teens. It is the teenage form the Statue of Liberty. A teen holds a torch holding a mobile phone representing social freedom for teens. She also holds a school book representing her school life.

 

There are three other fantastic pieces created by Poppy, Emily, Kara, Kimberley, Jackie, Jade, Phillippa, Anna, Smanatha, Olivia, Jade and Kate.

 

If you would like to see our creations and others from the rest of the world, come down to the TSB Stadium on Saturday the 26th of October to see the world in front of your eyes!

Remarkable Running in Road Relay

"It was a nerve racking race," said Pip after the annual Road Relay Race through Brooklands Park last Monday. Four Oakura teams competed among 43 teams from throughout New Plymouth District. Girls Year 8 placed second in their division and the Year 8 boys placed 5th. The Year 7 Girls placed 13th and 10th for the Year 7 boys.

"Running through the forest was nice at the start of the race," said Hayden "The downhills were fun, but the uphills were tiring, especially the one at the end of the coarse," he continued. The race coarse was 6 kilometres alltogether with each runner running 1.5 kilometres. Kate said that "It was a really fast-paced run."

Oakura Year 7&8's did really well and had lots of fun doing the relay. We did the best we have ever done in all our years of competing. A great race to everyone who competed.  

Incredible Interschool!!

The referees started the games at Mangorei on a miserable Monday morning.

The netball A, rugby, and soccer teams all travelled by bus to Mangorei for tough games of sport. Netball A came back to Oakura with a win of 15-30 and a few injuries - but not too bad! The girls still played amazingly! Jackie stated that "It was a fun, fast game and tested our team's ability to work together."

Rugby unfortunately lost their game, but still played their hardest. The score was 43 - 7 to Mangorei school. They didn't give up and played an outstanding game of rugby. Felix and Jordan said that it was a hard game, but they never gave up and worked well as a team.

The soccer boys and girls played a very good game as they won 5-0. They had an outstanding game. Jayden and Hamish said that it was an easier game, but they kept going and kept it strong all the way through.

Written by Sophie Crabtree and Juliet Squatriti

Incredible Interschool - slideshow

The Crucial Cross Country

Crucial Cross Country - slideshow

Mexican Tree of Life Creations!

Check out these awesome as pictures we did with Mrs. Taylor during visual arts!!

Mexican Tree of Life - slideshow

Netballers Near Miss

‘’St Joseph's was a strong team and a tough game’’ said Kara, Oakura goal attack on the netball team. Oakura was facing St Joseph's at Oakura for the 3^rd round of the interschool sports yesterday the 20^th of August.

It was a fast paced game and St Joseph's was on the ball. Oakura’s team also fought hard to get back but the final score was 20-22 to St Joseph's. Despite just returning from a broken arm, Kate played exceptionally well in defence.

Oakura’s netball team plays next Wednesday the 28^th of August in Oakura, competing against St Joseph’s Stratford team. Come support your team!     

Written by Blair Walker

 

 

Math Spectacular Entries!

The year 7 and 8 entered the Methanex Maths Spectacular. What is the Methanex Maths Spectacular you say? Well it is a contest to create design, artwork, poetry, IT Projects and presentations with a mathmatical theme. It will be held in Pukekura Raceway from the 26^th to the 30^th of August.

Some of our favourite enteries are:

This is a tessellation mobile by Felix Ferris.

This is Jayden Lamb’s project about paper darts showing how far they flew.

This is done by Hamish, showing the effects of illusion.

This is a mobile of square cubes showing symmetry and balance by Jordan Burkett and Hamish Goodhue.

 

Now all we have to do is wait for the results! Good luck to everyone!!

By Jayden Lamb and Jordan Burkett

The Big Choice

If you’re a boy when you are done with year 7 and 8 at Oakura School you face a big choice between three great high schools. “No school is better than any other, they are just different” said Mr Mack principal of New Plymouth Boys High.

NPBH

New Plymouth’s Boys high is the oldest of the three and by far the biggest. This means they can have more extracurricular and academic opportunities. Their teaching is focused solely on boys learning. In addition, they are the biggest school on sport. Jason Bond thought “It’s good with sport opportunities and I really like sport. Also the principal and teachers seem really nice and fun.”

Spotswood

Spotswood College is a mixed boys and girls school. It’s the closest to Oakura School. In their presentation they talked about how they’re a big family and that their learning is personalised and individualised. Finally, they are a school with lots of diversity support for people who need it and opportunities for people who are over achievers. Mark Huitema thought “It’s a good school because it has lots of technology things (woodworking, metalworking, electronics, graphic design etc.). Also because the teachers are really friendly.”

Francis Douglas

Francis Douglas has religious education and the highest student average of the three schools. It starts at year 7 so when you come as a year 9 you are not the youngest in the school. Ben Silk thought “Francis Douglas is good because it doesn’t have too many people and you get to know all the teachers.”

It’s a really hard choice. Each school is suited to different types of people so even if your dad went doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for you. All of us will be talking to our parents to make the right choice in this very difficult decision.

Written by:

Gavin and Ben

Potential Danger Ahead!

Hey guys and girlies!

We are some chicks from Oakura School: Kara and Jackie:). We are here to talk to you guys about a natural disaster that happened recently and what our school has done to help us be prepared for it!

Kara’s View: When the earthquake in Wellington first happened, I honestly thought I was hallucinating because I was listening to music with my headphones on, completely unaware of the rocking ground beneath my feet. I was at home with my grandad at the time and when I found out what was happening, I did the absolute worst thing you could do and I ran out into the lounge to see what was going on… there I found my grandad peacefully sitting at the table just waiting for it to stop. Natural disasters totally freak me out and I believe I need to learn how to cope with the dramatic experience that could potentially happen again.

Jackie’s View: Well Kara, my experience was a little bit different! I was on my bed and I thought my sister was kicking it, so I screamed at her to stop. But she didn’t because it was an earthquake sista! I ran out to the living room doing the opposite of what I've been taught all my life: drop,cover and hold. I dropped to the ground and put my ear on the ground and listened, but I heard nothing. It was the first ever earthquake that I had experienced in my life… and I like them… but not big ones!

At school we do drills every year to prepare ourselves for a potential disaster. We also learn the importance of knowing what you need in case of an emergency. Drop, cover and hold is one of the main points that we get thrashed upon us during an earthquake safety lesson. After the recent quake, we realised that maybe what we’ve learnt hadn't sunk into our brains enough. Maybe next time we will pay better attention.

Written by Kara and Jackie.

Indoor Bowls

On Thursday 4th July the top 20 Year 7 and 8 students competed in the Indoor Bowls tournament held at Okato, Hempton Hall. All of the Year 7 and 8’s participated in selection trials at Oakura Hall before the top 20 were selected. The teams had a few practice sessions with their excellent coaches Zena, Rex, Ray, Rod, Mike and Val before heading off to Okato. Results 1st place – Coastal Taranaki School 2nd place – Oakura 5 (Kara Wells, Mark Huitema, Finn van Bergen and Matthew Whittaker). 3rd place – Oakura 4 (Hayden Benton, Jason Bond, Blair Walker and Kaia Mead). Juliet Squatriti of Oakura 2 won the $10 challenge where one member of each team tries to get closest to the $10 note. Written by Poppy Mitchell.

Geocamp 2013

Geocamp June 2013 - slideshow

Geocamp videos

 

 

Check out what the pupils got up to during Geocamp.

Geocamp

For the last two weeks Jason, Gavin, Rebecca, Lachie, Ben and Tasmin have been at the Power of the Planet Geocamp. It was a two week course organised by GNS science that was based at Puke Ariki. They have been learning many things about the geology of Taranaki. At the end of the two weeks they each created an expo which they displayed at Puke Ariki during it's tenth birthday celebrations. It was a very educational and enjoyable experience.

Written by Ben Silk and Gavin Bishop

We're learning to play the Recorder!

During our recorder lessons we are learning:

• how to hold a recorder correctly (left hand at the top)
• how to correctly make a sound with a recorder - no blowing, just 'dooing'
• how to play B, A and G on the recorder
• how to follow music

The more you practice, the better recorder player you'll be and the more enjoyment you'll give and gain from it.  Click on the recorder page if you need another copy of the song sheets.  Have fun!

 

 

Room 11 school council members

The class voted for Rylie and Jordan to be our class school council members.  They have already organised the Wacky Hair day event to raise money for a local children's hospital. 

Coastal Athletics

 

 

Coastal School Athletics day was a success. We participated in Shot-put, High jump, Javelin, Discus, 100m and 200m sprint.  The fastest four 100m runners in each year group represented the school in the relay. Everyone gave it their all and had a great day.

Cycle skills training

 

This term, we took part in the Let's Go cycle skills training course and learnt many new skills.

Solar power gadget making

We’ve been learning about different energy sources.  We worked cooperatively to assemble solar powered windmills, robots, and even a boat.