A CHALLENGE. By Kaitlyn Mallinder.

I looked over the edge of a hard rock face. My blood ran cold. My legs started to shiver. I grabbed the rope. My hands started to tremble. I was terrified.  The instructor started to connect me to the safety rope.  I looked behind me. ‘Don’t look down’ I thought. The man glanced at me as he finished getting me ready. He saw the worried look on my face. He looked back down and said “You can go down now”. I shuddered.  No reassurance that I’m going to be okay! Offended by his response I paused. Pictures flew through my mind of me falling, getting stuck, bashing into the wall and death! I was terrified.

I nearly screamed in terror, it was so high. I was afraid of heights. I took one more tiny shuffle back. I was millimetres away from the edge of the rock face. ‘Soon’ I thought. ‘I’ll be down the bottom.’  I stepped back and it felt like a swinging motion.  I just stepped back and swooped onto the rock face. I slowly crept down. I started doing little jumps. ‘Maybe abseiling isn't as hard as I thought it was,’ I thought. ‘I want to do it again.’

MORNING By Lachlan Wallace

Morning, all is quiet.  I don't bother to open my eyes, just curl up and wait, half trying to get back to sleep, half not bothering.  After a few minutes I feel bored, stretch out and open my eyes, not that it really matters.  It is still dark except for the small sliver of light coming from the gap in the curtains, no sound except for the soft breathing of my siblings.  Still I wait, the darkness retreating through the gap in the curtains. 

Suddenly I hear a door open and the thump, thump, thump of footsteps coming down the hallway. 'Dad,' I think as he goes into Fraser's room.  I strain my ears to hear what he says, but,as usual I hear nothing.  Then footsteps head towards my room.  I close my eyes and wait, I know Dad's in the room as he opens the curtains.

GETTING READY....By Olivia Wilkie

"Wake up Liv, it's 8 o'clock!".   I opened my eyes and caught a glimps of the golden sun trying to get through my blinds.  I heard Buddy charging down my hall way.  He pounced on my bed and gave me a huge slobber.  

Now wide awake I grabbed my hairbrush and took big long strokes of my hair, then made my way to the kitchen.  Nan had my milo cereal ready for me.   I love eating at the breakfast bar because I love hearing the latest from my favourite radio station,  Jayjay, Mike and Dom, but I still had to get ready.

Brushing my teeth is a top priority to my Nan so I made sure I did plenty of circuits around my mouth.  I always put toothpaste at the top of the bristles and work my way down then brush.  When every tooth is brushed I find it funny to pull a gruesome monstery type face, spit then smile normally.  

But I needed to hurry so I got my books together.  I gathered everything I needed for the day, spelling book, communications book and important notices.  Once I'd done that I headed out the door feeling confident for another day at school.

Up and running....

Room 15 is almost there.  The most recent additions to the class are beginning to understand what it means to become independent learners in our class.  Organizing their own timetable, booking computer times, thinking about how they learn, reflecting on their own effort, making choices, google docs, tracking progress, setting weekly goals, personalized learning, prioritising work, mind sets, what are your passions when it comes to learning.... quite a few adjustments - but we are getting there!

Being lucky enough to attend ICOT conference these past holidays has meant including what I have learned in making children more aware of their own thinking and learning.  As parents keep talking to your children - check out their accounts and look at the links included in their learning contracts so they can share their learning journey with you.

Whats on...

Room 15 swimming days are Mondays and Wednesdays.
Our library day is Wednesday.
Homework - children are expected to read daily and fill out a reading log.
Basic facts are practiced daily at school and this should be repeated at home in any way that suits your learning.




Spelling words are collected from words used throughout the week in writing, reading and inquiry.
These are to be learned at home and the Friday testing will show if you are learning them - you must find a way that suits you to learn. 

Science Investigation:

Room 15 has finally finished their science investigations - terms such as - hypothesis, procedures, analysis, samples, variables, trials, control are used more comfortably than they were previously. 

Kapiti College sharing their knowledge...