Rotorua Girl's High and Rotorua Boy's High Visits

Wednesday was the day we visited the local Boys and Girls high schools. Both schools were extremely hospitable to us - providing buses for transport and delicious kai for morning tea and lunch. The trip was fun, informative and entertaining!

Here are some photos from the rotations the girls were part of on the day...

The Humanities...girls had to create a map of New Zealand using wool and then label it with various place names.

P.E....girls played 4 different games to help remember the story of  Te Ao-kapurangi. 

Science...Chemistry, Biology and Physics...the girls had a sneak peek into the 3 areas of science with some hands-on experiments and observations.

  

Technology and Fashion...girls designed and created badges to take home with them. 

  

The Steamers in the Taeotu Learning Centre!!!!

Wow, weren't we lucky!?! Four Bay of Plenty Steamers players came to talk to Taeotu Whanau about rugby, leadership, inspiration and how to achieve your goals.

Read the news article here



It was great to see the students really think about the different ways leadership can be shown - from sporting roles to classroom roles to personal decisions. I will leave you with this wise advice from the players:

"Be prepared to make decisions no one has had to make before. Follow your decisions 100 percent...follow through, and learn from them."

Getting Ready for High School...

Over the past few weeks, Year 8s have been visited by the four local high schools. Teachers and students from each of the schools came to give information about how a typical day would look, classes available, sports teams to participate in, and much more.

Below is the information about Open Days that students will attend this term.

How is learning organised in the Taeotu Learning Centre?

Every week, students receive a weekly timetable in their "Planning" folders on their Google Drive. As well as being a timetable, this document has links to Numeracy (Maths) tasks, Literacy (Reading and Writing) tasks and reflections. Students have access to this information wherever they have access to their Google Drives and can work on tasks wherever and whenever they are online.

Here is an example of the Weekly Timetable:

Students have regular weekly tasks to complete and are also in Maths and Literacy groups where they have workshops, and additional tasks, tailored even more specifically to their needs. 

Literacy planning example:

In just two short weeks, it has been great to see students become confident with the new planning style and competent in navigating their way around it.

  

Term 3 in the TLC

The Taeotu Learning Centre has been humming along with the start to the term. Students are becoming accustomed to the new weekly timetables and are taking considerable responsibility for organising themselves into groups and workshops, without being reminded - well done Taeotu 1!

In the new room our focus is obviously still on core learning areas but we have timetabled 2 afternoon sessions for what we are calling "kaupapa". We have kickstarted these sessions by dividing the 3 classes into 4 groups. Each group then attends rotations with the 4 different teachers over a 2 week period. This fortnight the groups have attended:
- a Te Reo Maori session
- a session on Learning to Be Resilient
- team building with a P.E. focus
- "Minute To Win It" team building

Here are some photos of the Minute to Win It games - they sound easy until you try it!

Sticky Stack - balance dice on a stick

Cookie Face - move an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth (No Hands!)

Card Tower - highest card tower after a minute wins!

Toss the Stick - a point for every popsicle stick that lands on the target.

Everyone had great fun, and it has been an enjoyable way to establish new relationships (and strengthen old ones) as we have merged the 3 classrooms.