Term 2 is here!

Welcome back to Owairaka school in term 2.

This term will very busy with a Science focus across the school. Our social focus for the next two weeks is to encourage each other to take risks and be proud of what we have to say.

Green Week - Empire of the Ants

In our inaugural Green Week, we set off on a mini-inquiry about... ants. This topic was decided upon through a democratic process, so it reflects the interests of the children of Room 17.

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Room 17 wondered about a lot of things. Mostly, though, we wondered...

How are ant nests made and how do they work?

We sketched ant holes, took videos of ants carrying dirt out of tunnels and watched videos about tunnel-making. We then tried to find out what goes on in a nest and what ants do for a job!

Some students observed that ants were exiting their hole with small rocks in their mandibles. They decided that this was how ant nests were tunnelled.

Our fabulous focus for these weeks. Keep trying even when you think you've reached your limit. Take a break, have a think, come back to it. This is so important for our children, who can get discouraged by making mistakes, thinking that "Wrong is BAD!" and fearing ridicule or being told off. Instead, we try to explore mistakes as rich learning opportunities.