Robotics Fun: Our Lunchtime Club with Imagination Station!

We’ve had a fantastic initiative that’s running at our school: a lunchtime Robotics Club for 12 of our Year 3 students. This club has been a huge hit, thanks to the fantastic Debbie from Imagination Station, who secured funding from GCSN to get it off the ground.

In Term 2, Debbie has been leading these sessions, and it’s been incredible to see the students’ engagement and learning. Each week, our Year 3 students have worked with a buddy to build and code various challenges using LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential kits. The focus has been on hands-on problem-solving, teamwork, and developing foundational coding skills in a fun and interactive environment.

Elizabeth will be taking over the club for Terms 3 and 4, building on the fantastic foundation Debbie has laid. Elizabeth is looking forward to continuing this journey of discovery and innovation with our young engineers!

What Our Robotics Enthusiasts Thought!

  • I enjoyed the building aspect, especially the mini-golf challenge. I liked working with the base plates and motors to create the hitting mechanism for the ball. I did find the programming hard because it didn’t make sense at times.  Nehemiah
  • ‘I loved it so much!” and it was “super fun” and I enjoyed building the helicopter. Josiah
  • I loved the building side of things and using LEGO. The colour sensor was a challenge to work with. Ashley
  • Both Jai and Eli liked working with a friend, having a buddy to build with and enjoyed making the boat.
  • I found it fun to see what other people were building and seeing how they built with a buddy.  My buddy and I created a mini golf game and used a colour sensor to detect the colours of the pinballs.

We are so grateful to Debbie and GCSN for making this enriching experience possible for our students. We can’t wait to see what amazing robots and projects our Year 3s will create in Terms 3 and 4!

Place Value Pictures

In Week 1 of Term 2, the Cool Rise Team visited Rongo-mā-Tāne. For one of the sessions, the children learned about place value.

Firstly, they created a picture using the wooden place value blocks with a partner.

Then they made another picture by cutting around paper place value shapes.

Some of them were even able to work out what number their picture made.

Buzzing with Bee-Bot Adventures! 

Students have been working with one of the Cool Rise Team teachers Elizabeth.   Our tamariki have been enthusiastically buzzing as they’ve delved into the world of coding and robotics with our trusty Bee-Bots.

Our journey began with students programming their Bee-Bots to navigate their way to land precisely on a putiputi (flower). It was fantastic to see their problem-solving skills blossom as they carefully planned their Bee-Bot’s journey.

Next, they worked collaboratively, with a buddy, students took on the role of writing a programme (using cards).  They used programming cards to create a sequence of instructions for their partner to follow. This activity not only reinforced their understanding of sequencing but also fostered fantastic communication and teamwork.

Then came the ultimate challenge – a Bee-Bot disco! Students were tasked with programming their little robots to dance to the iconic beat of ‘Staying Alive.‘ This was a tricky task, especially when they tried to coordinate two Bee-Bots to perform the same steps in unison! There were plenty of giggles, some fantastic attempts, and a whole lot of learning through trial and error.

Then they unleashed their creativity by designing their own games on large floor grids. Some interesting games emerged, with students programming their Bee-Bots to cleverly avoid the menacing Enderman while bravely trying to reach the Minecraft chests.

Our final session for this term saw the beginnings of a very special project: designing an outfit for our Bee-Bots to wear to a celebration! Students sketched their initial ideas and created drafts of their Bee-Bot attire. We can’t wait to see their imaginative designs come to life next term as they finalise their celebratory outfits.

Through these activities, our students have gained skills. They are learning to sequence a set of steps logically, how to programme a Bee-Bot to achieve a specific goal, and importantly, how to debug their programme when things don’t quite go to plan. 

Buzz…buzz…

Look at our hats!!!

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading Hamilton’s hats.  Hamilton the pig made many different hats and each hat helped him become a kind, brave, determined and confident pig.  As a class, we decided to make our own hats! They didn’t fit perfectly, but they gave us some of the attributes seen in Hamilton the Pig. We all had a different design, making the hat have a personal stamp. We were all very excited to show others our hats!!

Visits from the Emergency Services — Keeping Safe

 

In Ronga-Mā-Tāne this term we have been lucky enough to learn how to ‘keep safe’ in an emergency or when we don’t feel safe.

We had a visit from the fire department, who brought along their fire truck and showed us lots of their equipment.  We learned to ‘Get down, Get low and Get out’ if there is a fire. The fireman tried on a fire suit to show us what he wore and how he put it on.

Then we had a ‘Stan’s Got a Plan’ visit! They told us what to do if faced with a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, flood or landslide. The children could try on some of the emergency vests and even looked inside the emergency bag to see what to prepare.

Constable Jeff also came to see Ronga-Mā-Tāne, he visited us twice this term.  Explaining to the children how to keep safe if they are faced with unwanted touch, and unkind behaviour from others, as well as making it clear to the children who they should talk to if they feel unsafe.

Finally, this term we had St John’s ambulance visit. We explained how we call the fire, police or ambulance services. We learned how to roll someone over into the recovery position and wrap up an injury on our arm.  Nikki also read us a book that hooked our interest in what to do in an emergency.

We have had a very successful term, learning about and from many emergency services.

 

Learning our shapes in Rongo mā tāne

There have been a few changes in Rongo mā tāne over the last few weeks this term.  A group of students have moved into the Rongo mā tāne space from Aotahi!   This transition has been super, with lots of new learning happening in this space! These are some of the pictures that we have created when learning about different shapes during maths time.

 

Maths By Margaret

In maths last Thursday I did a Solve Emoji. Well more than one of course. I think I did 20 or less. It does not matter. They were easy! But not easy easy. My math teacher is Nigel. He is a really good math teacher. I am really good at maths too. After, when we are done we can go on our iPads. We can go on Studyladder. On Fridays we can go on Maths Playground. Then we go to break and play.

By Margaret