Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year

We wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Tiny Ted was allowed to stay up late and celebrate with fireworks! And while he was up late we celebrated 3000 hits on our blog since we started counting in the middle of 2006. Well done, everyone. Keep blogging and look at the new posts by Jessica and Elliott on our Playground Blog.

Here is a little New Year's video of Tiny Ted. If you listen very carefully you can hear the Nelson Post Office clock chiming.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Quintura- a cool new searching tool

Here is a very cool thing that you can use to search the internet. It is designed for kids to make finding what you want easier to get to.

The idea is that you type the main word that you want in the box, then a cloud of related words pops up above that helps you get to the sorts of things you want faster. It is powered by Yahoo and designed for children so it should be safe to use although the reading of some of the articles might be a bit hard.

Quintura Search Page

To get to the page click on the link above. I would love to know how you get on. Is it worth using at school?

I'll put a link to it on our Delicious page as well.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Tiny Ted goes out for afternoon tea!

Well done, Jessica, for adding your comment to our Playground Blog yesterday. I would love to see a post from you as well.

Today Tiny Ted went down to the airport to see people off to Australia on an Air NZ plane. Miss K thought of all our learning about how planes fly and thought how clever the whole flying thing really is. On the way home Tiny Ted whispered in my ear that he was getting hungry so we called in at the Boathouse for a cool drink and dessert. Yummy. We shared the dessert though because it was too much for one little Welsh bear to have on his own.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Tiny Ted stops the train

Tiny Ted went out for a picnic today and saw Elliott having a swim at Rabbit Island with his family and his Aunty who has come all the way from Belgium to see him for Christmas. On the way home he saw a train that he would like a ride on. We smiled nicely at the train driver who stopped the train just for us so Tiny Ted could climb aboard safely. Nelson only has this one train so we were very lucky that the train driver stopped for us. It was a really big engine and it made Tiny Ted look even tinier than usual.Cuddly Kiwi has been having lots of fun in Wales as well. He went out ten pin bowling in Cardiff and had a slap up Christmas feast at Mr H's house with turkey and all the trimmings.

Cuddly Kiwi's Very Own Holiday Blog

Have a look at Cuddly Kiwi's holiday blog from Wales by clicking on the link above.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas with Tiny Ted

I have taken Tiny Ted, our Welsh geocache bear, home for the holidays so he doesn't get lonely in the classroom. Today is Christmas Day and we took him out for a drive after opening our presents and having some Christmas lunch.

A very New Zealand thing is the pohutukawa trees in blossom. Pohutukawa are said to be NZ's Christmas tree with their red blooms over summer. They are really stunning around the coastline.
Here is our Christmas pudding- pavalova, cream and boysenberries. Yum. Tiny Ted ate too much and needs a lie down now!
Tell us about your Christmas day on our web notes page, on our playground blog or in the comments. We would love to hear from you.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Cuddly Kiwi Goes to London

Cuddly Kiwi has found a new home in Wales among the children of Cefn Fforest School.

Last weekend Bethan took him to London. They went to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels. They saw a Beefeater- he is like a guard at the Tower of London.Here is Bethan and Cuddly Kiwi at the Big Ben clock. It looks like they are dressed to keep nice and warm.
They went to see the London Eye, which looks like a REALLY big ferris wheel. Each of those pods you can see is big enough to hold 25 people.
They even went to Hogwarts Station to Platfrom Nine and Three Quarters!!!
They didn't get to see the Queen but they did see her flag flying on top of Buckingham Palace so she must have been home!

Here is Cuddly Kiwi's blog Page

Cuddly Kiwi Visits the London

Monday, December 18, 2006

School Trip to Moturoa- Rabbit Island

What a life we have here in Nelson. After spending a couple of days on camp we came back in time to be part of a whole school trip down to Rabbit Island. Miss K's group got to walk down the beach and back again looking for shells and doing cartwheels!
Travelling Ted is learning how to enjoy his first Christmas by the beach in NZ.
Fynn and Jackson took Travelling Ted for a long walk along the beach.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Bridge Valley Camp

We had a wonderful couple of days away at Bridge Valley Outdoor Education Camp. Here is a view of the complex overlooking the lake.
As soon as we got there we started on our activities. Jamie found out that he was quite good at archery. You had to be careful not to shoot the arrows when any one else was in front of the target.Jillian got a clever bull's eye. Three arrows all on the target was excellent.
Bull's eye for Jamie! Robin Hood had better watch out!
While one group was doing archery another was out on the lake doing kayaking. Susa got tired from all of the having fun and thought she might have a bit of a rest! What a lovely way to spend your day.
Elliott knows how to enjoy himself too. He is a really good kayaker. His Dad must have shown him!
Maddison had a good time out on the water as well. Kayaking was loads of fun so we had two goes at it!
The third group was going horse riding while all this was going on. Jillian looked like a natural on her horse.
They had a horse that you could groom and stroke while you were waiting for your turn on the horses. Georgia has made a new friend.
Dino had been riding before and knew what to do.
Gloria was an excellent rider. She was trotting and even got into a short canter. It was great to see her skills.
Tiny Ted was out and about as well. He had to wait for his turn like everyone else.
After lunch we had a go at the confidence course, the climbing wall and the go-karts. Dillon managed to get up the wall really easily.
Lara showed that girls are good at climbing too. It was a long way up and we abseiled back down again.
Jordy and Nathan whizzed around the track in a cloud of dust!
Georgia proved to be just as fast as her Dad on the racetrack!
Maddison and Lara had to lean into the corners they were going so fast.
Jackson shows Tiny Ted how to swing on the confidence course. He thought it was great.
Jackson's Dad organised a tug-o-war. I wonder who won???
After our second round of activities we had some free time. Miss K had to take a heap of photos before she got this one of Georgia up in the air.
Foos ball was very popular as well. You can see how excited we were by the game!
After that free time we went up the hill to the water slide. It was pretty hard to catch the action in a photograph. Steve was a hero when he leapt into the water to pull Brittany out at the bottom. I am not sure how Tyler is feeling in this photo.
I am not sure who this is at the bottom of the waterslide but I bet they made a big splash when they hit the water.
The long flying fox was super fun too but Sue got a bit dirty pulling the T-bar all the way back to the top again.
Emily hung on tight when she went over the lake.
Everyone waited patiently for their turn on the waterslide and flying fox. Another big splash at the bottom!
Susa's hair streamed out behind her as she sped down the flying fox.
After tea we had a pillow fight on the slippery pole. It was lots of fun. You had to hang on tight to the pole with your legs and try and knock your opponent off. There was lots of yelling from the audience as well!
After that we wrote in our diaries and went to bed. Miss K was very pleased by the way we all went to sleep when we were told to.
The next morning we did a repeat of the kayaking, orienteering and a low ropes confidence course. Shanac and Jessica knew how work out the map.
We had to work collaboratively and support one another to get around the low ropes courses. We were all there to support one another if someone looked like they might fall.
In this activity we had to arrange ourselves on the wire in alphabetical order. You were not allowed to put your feet on the ground. It was fun to do and watch.
We worked really well as a team. It was a good exercise.
We had a great time on camp and you were an excellent group to take away. Your parents can be proud of you. Thank you.
I have made a vodcast and put it on our podcast page at
www.allanah.podomatic.com It is 20MB big so best not attempted unless you have broadband. I have also made a DVD of camp with the photos on it as well as a CD of just photos. If you would like copies bring a blank CD to school or if you would like a DVD bring $3 to school on Monday.