Western News: September 25, 2018

WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday September 25 2018 9
We are lifelong learners who
aspire to excellence
Term 23 update
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E. admin@oaklands.school.nz | www.oaklands.school.nz
Turning of the SOD
Oaklands School turning of the SOD - 3rd August 2018.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins joined Oaklands School to celebrate
the start of their redevelopment and marked the milestone with a sodturning
ceremony. The redevelopment will include the construction
of three new buildings including teaching and admin areas. The
school hall and six buildings are also being refurbished and 11 of the
existing school buildings will be demolished. Rooms 22 and 23 have
been completed and rooms 20 and 21 are due to be completed in
the holidays. The school will remain in full operation during this time,
with the construction being staged to ensure minimal disruption for
students.
Hub 4’s Road Trip
On Tuesday, the Year 4 Hub headed off on a road trip to Little River where
we visited Cheskin Orchard and Chook Manor.
At Cheskin Orchard we learned all about how an orchard works, from the planting
and growing of trees to the pruning and care of them. We also learned that wasps are
considered a pest and are a big problem for the growing fruit.
Jeremy also showed us what equipment is used on an orchard such as the special tractors
and fruit picking machines, the fruit gathering bags and, even the electric pruning clippers.
Lucca even got to count the rings of a cut down fruit tree to see how old it was. At Chook
Manor, Greg and Cheryl introduced us to different breeds of chickens and where they were
originally from. We also learned that chickens were distant relatives of the dinosaurs. They
also talked about how chickens can see 300 degrees all the way around, have no teeth and
will lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime.
We even got to pat and feed the chickens. Although, by the time the second group arrived at
Chook Manor, the chickens were pretty full and not really interested in eating.
Cultural Festival 2018
Whiria te tangata!
On Tuesday the 4th of September the Senior Kapa Haka performed at the Cultural Festival
at Horncastle Arena. The students did a amazing job! Everyone was so proud to see their
tamariki standing on stage being proud of what school they represent. It was so pleasing to
see that everyone’s effort in their weekly practices supported themselves so well on stage in
front of 5000 plus people. Their actions were strong, the singing was outstanding, poi were
in time and their Haka was fierce. I walked away feeling like a proud parent to see all of the
students walk away from their performance with their heads held high.
Westlake Park Clean Up
On Thursday, a group of children from the Reception Hub, Hub 1 and Hub
7/8 went along with the Oaklands School Community Problem Solving
Group to clean up Westlake Park.
We were met at the park by some of the children
from Wales Street Kindy and our local Park
Rangers from the Christchurch City Council. We
were broken into 3 groups and rotated round the
activities.
One of the activities was to learn about the birds
that live on the lake and how to protect their
habitat. We got to see a wide range of birds and
learn about the differences between the birds.
Another activity was to go around the park and
pick up all the litter. The Community Problem
Solving Group used all the rubbish to make a
sculpture after they had recorded what type of
rubbish it was.