SPCA Visit

Today we had a very special visit from Carol and Zeus from the SPCA. We donated food for the animals at the SPCA to eat. We liked hearing about how the SPCA helps animals.

The Christmas Parade

It was lovely to see so many Picton School faces at the Christmas Parade this year. Congratulations to those who won prizes in the Parade. Here is Todd, Tyla & Meg on Santa's float.

Queen Charlotte College Pool Trip

On Wednesday the 17th of December we will be taking Room 6 and Room 8 for a special end of year trip to the Queen Charlotte College Community Swimming Pool. We intend this trip to be a privilege - to be earned through dedication to class work and good behaviour over the next two weeks. We will be departing school at 1.30pm sharp and returning just before 3pm. We will need Parent Help for transport and pool supervision.

Please see the notice that went home on the 4th of December for more information. :)

SPCA Food Collection

Picton School is collecting food for the SPCA animals as a special Christmas project. All food must be at the Office by this Wednesday, as Carol from the SPCA will be visiting us to pick it all up. Here is a photo of what we collected last year. Let's beat it this Christmas!!!

Duffy - Caught Being a Good Grandparent

Today Lisa Andrews was the recipient of this award. She has three grandchildren at Picton School, and two at Picton Kindy. We are thankful to have Lisa as a wonderful helper in our school.

Athletics Day

On Thursday it was Athletics Day. We did lots of things like high jump, running, long jump and tennis ball throw. Waikawa Bay and St Josephs came too. We did really well. I won two sprints, one was against Emily. We all got a certificate of participation.

By Sophie Overend

Photo to come.

Spud in a Bucket!

On Wednesday we planted the potatoes in a bucket. Richard and Michelle came to help us. When we got back to the room Sophie and I watered the potatoes. Then we asked the other classrooms if they wanted us to water theirs. We water the potatoes every three days. They will be ready at the end of the Christmas holidays.

By Emily Overend

Photo to come.

Reading in the Junior School

This year we have been mixing up our reading groups between Room 8 and Room 6, based on children's reading levels. This way we are able to cater to each child's needs more effectively. This is a photo of Room 8 and Room 6 children working together in Room 8. We really like having new people in our class at reading time.

PMP with Room 8

Tevin & Daniel on the individual rockers.

Waru balancing on the see saw beam.

Hallie, Emily and Reva playing a bean bag game.

Soraya & Vagas on the body rocker.

Every day we go to the hall for PMP. We practice balancing, different kinds of walking, ball skills, jumping and all sorts of other things. We learn new words like left, right, forwards, backwards and lots of other ones. We have lots of wonderful helpers who come each day to take a station. We get to try lots of cool things. Have a look at these pictures!

Zing into Spring Garden Show

We made some sand saucers and sand tray gardens with sand, leaves, moss and flowers. Some people made fruit and vege creations. I saw Sophie's rooster and Tevin's racing car. I saw Kate's driftwood and she put flowers in the hole. This afternoon we get to go and look at all the different creations in the hall. The judging is happening before lunch. I hope I win a prize!

By Emily Overend

Vintage Car Visit to Picton School

On Tuesday there was a vintage car that came to visit the children at Picton School. It was an olden day car, it had a wee bird on the front that was holding a flag. They told us about a car rally on Saturday. It starts at the Waitohi Rugby Club. We all got a free hat from the car rally sponsor. We were happy to get a free hat! We liked the car because it had a special picnic basket and it was dark green.

By the children of Room 8

Our New Topic - Dinosaurs

For the first half of the term our new unit will be learning about dinosaurs. We will be talking about different kinds of dinosaurs, herbivores and carnivores, their habitat, fossils, and what happened to them. We will be reading and researching about dinosaurs, as well as writing imaginative stories and poems.

Bob Bickerton Show

We went to the Bob Bickerton Show in our hall. All of the kids from Picton School were there. Bob did a dance with Ms Boudier, she had to pretend to be Miss Boniface from the story. The children all wanted a turn to play the instruments. Some children and Mrs Adams did the noodle dance. We liked it!


By Ella Edwards & Vagas Ivamy

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Yesterday I went to the Teddy Bear's Picnic, Marshall was there too. It was fun. I had a piece of chocolate cake, I liked the chocolate cake. I carried my teddy bear. It was fun there because I had cake, a smiley face biscuit and a piece of fairy bread. It was fun when I carried my teddy bear.

By Ella Andrews

Our Hand Made Teddy Bears

We made a pattern. Ella’s Nana cut out our patterns on the material. Then Michelle sewed them for us. We stuffed them with fluff, it was hard. Mrs Saxon glued on the eyes. The kids chose the buttons and Mrs Saxon glued those on too. We took our bears to the teddy bear’s picnic. I think my bear is cool because it is my favourite bear.

Beth Gray

Duffy Role Model Assembly

On Monday we went to the hall to see Mr Mac. He talked about how it is really important to read lots. He came in a big blue truck. We got given two Duffy books to keep at home.

By Soraya Timms

The Munch Bunch

Poloma, Sam & Ari - Monday volunteers

We have a new group of senior students at our school who are the Munch Bunch. They are volunteering one lunch time per week to help cut up fruit from the children's lunch boxes. The staff had noticed that some fruit was being wasted or taken home. Now we have our new helpers, we have noticed a lot more fruit at school and the children are very enthusiastic to have their fruit prepared by the older children.

Reading in Room 8

Today Soraya read a story to the class all by herself. We were all very impressed because she has only been at school 6 weeks now. Soraya has been working really hard to learn her alphabet and words. Well done!

Our new topic - Bears

We are learning about bears. Some bears live in the forest. Bears like to eat honey, fish, fruit and other things. We are learning about sun bears. Panda bears eat bamboo. Polar bears live in the snow. I have a bear in my room, he is called Bozo and he is a teddy bear.

Caitlyn Hydes

Giraffes Can't Dance Show

On Thursday the Java dancers came to Picton School to do the Giraffes Can't Dance Show. It was sort of funny because they kept pulling each other's tails. The lion did the tango, the cricket did tap dancing, the monkey did hip hop, the rhino did rock and roll and the giraffe did contempoary dance. I thought it was funny. Waikawa Bay and St Joseph schools came too.

Sophie Overend

Southern Jam Jazz Concert

Last Tuesday the Jazz concert came to the Picton School hall. They played us some songs and did some singing. A man got his balloon blown up by a saxaphone, it was very funny. Then he played the the balloon. The people were from some different colleges. It was really noisy.

Daniel McKeown & Callum Nicholson

Picton School Olympics Opening Ceremony

Last Friday we went to the hall for an Olympics Opening Ceremony. We were in different country groups: China, Australia, USA, Germany, France and Russia. Mr McCosh was Greece, and he went first because Greece always goes first in the parade. Then we had a parade. Room 3 showed us their country posters and told us some facts.

Emily Overend

Assembly Friday 8th August

Just a reminder… we would love to see you at our Assembly this week. Friday 8th August at 11am.

Welcome to Term 3

Welcome back everyone! We are back into our blogging again this term so keep checking our blogsite. We are also starting a new initiative by using a wikispace. Please see the link on the site list on the right of the page. You will gradually find your child's writing appearing here. Hope to see you in Room 8 soon, and at our Assembly on Friday the 8thth of August at 11am.

Pacific Islands Songs Performance

Today we performed our songs from the Pacific Islands at Assembly. We looked fabulous in our lavalavas. The whole school liked it because they were smiling at us on the stage.

Assembly Friday 27th June

This Friday it is Room 6's Assembly. We are joining them to perform the songs we have been learning together as part of our Living in the Pacific topic. Please come along at 11am and hear our beautiful singing.

A1 writers in Room 8

Here are some photos of us at writing time. We are very busy thinking about our stories. You can see we have drawn a quick picture plan and have started our sentences. We use a word or dictionary card to help us with our ideas.

What do good writers do?

On Thursday we talked about what good writers in Room 8 do, and we made a chart of all the things we could think of. Have a look at the photo of our chart.

Room 8 Assembly – June 13th

You are invited to come to the Picton School Room 8 led assembly tomorrow at 11am. Come and see all of the work we have been doing this term. Picton Kindergarten will also be visiting us. We look forward to see you there!

The Mana Show

Monday 9th of June
Picton School Hall


Bernard came to Picton School to do the Mana show. I liked the hoop part. He was very nice. We had the show on Monday. The show was in the hall. Our topic is Living in the Pacific Islands.
Sophie, 5 years

Bernard came to our school to do a show about the Pacific. He made a butterfly in the hoop dance. He was amazing.
Alex, 6 years

A1 Work Window at Picton School

At Picton School our school song says we always do our personal best. Next time you pass by please check out our A1 Work Window in Room 8 to see the wonderful work featured each day. Here we can see Waru's A1 handwriting and Tevin's A1 storywriting.

Frangipani Printmaking

We have been learning about Print Making. Our motivation was the beautiful frangipani flower from the Pacific Islands. Here are our prints.

Living in the Pacific Islands Mural

We have been learning about Living in the Pacific Islands. This is the mural of an island village we created. You can see the fale (huts) that our Buddy Class helped us to make.