Year 5 Market Day!

Once again, the Year 5 Market Day was a huge success and much anticipated highlight for both the Y4 customers and the Y5 boys themselves.

The creativity and imaginative ideas were amazing and the hard work paid off, with most of the boys selling out of their products and making a profit from their stalls.

A great learning opportunity for Consumer Marketing, along with planning, design and production skills also being enhanced.

Year 5 Market Day on PhotoPeach

Artbourne

We are extremely privileged at Wellesley, to have an opportunity to view world-class artworks at the Artbourne exhibition. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to have a look around the exhibits, discussing them from a variety of aspects.

There were even some from our wonderful visual arts teacher - Mr Jorna. The boys were also given an opportunity to vote for their favourite work - it will be exciting to see who wins.

 Here are some of the boys with their favourite artwork:


Artbourne on PhotoPeach

Art Sculptures

The finished product! Take a look at these amazing art sculptures - the imagination goes wild!

Art Sculptures on PhotoPeach

Artists In Action

No wonder the boys in 5S love going to art classes - when you get to create amazing constructions like these!



 Artists In Action on PhotoPeach

5S - Middle Ages Day

Middle Ages Day, in honour of our Robin Hood Production, has been a great success. From playing Chess and Nine Men's Morris, to learning how to write in calligraphy, the boys have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of stepping back in time.


 Middle Ages Day on PhotoPeach

Grandparents' Day!

Grandparents' Day is always a big highlight on our school calendar and yesterday was no exception. It was wonderful to meet so many Grandparents and the boys had a wonderful time showing them around the school. Grandparents' Day on PhotoPeach

Science Fair - 2016

Science Fair 2016 has proved to be a very successful event this year. I have been extremely impressed with the level of understanding and professionalism that the boys have displayed with their work. They have all worked extremely hard and produced outstanding results - well done 5S! 5S Science Investigations on PhotoPeach

Ocean Sports Trip

On Thursday 16th June, 25 students from Y5 had an opportunity to attend a 'Boat Safety' course at Wellington Ocean Sports. The weather was a 'typical' Wellington winter's day - with blue sky and plenty of sunshine! The boys spent 45 minutes in the classroom, learning about water and boating safety, before they then moved onto the practical session. These included sail boating, kayaking and paddle boarding. Check out these photos, to see what an amazing time they had! Ocean Sports on PhotoPeach Ocean Sports 2 on PhotoPeach

Rainbow

These photos don't do it justice - as we were treated to an amazing view from our classroom window this morning. One of the biggest and brightest rainbows we've ever seen - stretching across the harbour, against a brooding sky!

How Sweet Is Our Jelly?

Conducting a Fair Test - to investigate the correct amount of sugar required to make our jelly the perfect sweetness - is "sweet as" - as far as 5S are concerned! Fair Testing - Jelly Sweetness on PhotoPeach Fair Testing - Jelly Sweetness 2 on PhotoPeach

Constructing!

Liam and Mason discovered that wet lunchtimes are great for getting into construction!

Outstanding Stream Inquiries!

Congratulations to all the boys in 5S - your Stream Inquiries were outstanding. Your inquiries were detailed, interesting and extremely professional in the manner with which you presented them. Well done.


Stream Inquiry Presentations on PhotoPeach

Would You Trust These Superheros?

Superhero mufti day, raising funds for Harness Heroes was super exciting for Heath, Ashton and Mrs Stevens!


 

Y5 - Trip to Zealandia Trip

Our recent trip to Zealandia was a wonderful opportunity to further our stream inquiry, enabling us to conduct field work in another stream, to make comparisons and learn more about this type of eco-system.

Our only regret?? - We should have stayed for the WHOLE day!!

There was so much learning going on and so many things to discover, explore and investigate.


Y5 Trip to Zealandia on PhotoPeach

Happy Harmony!

Singing in four part harmony is no problem for these musical maestros!

The Wellesley Stream - An Inquiry

The boys in 5S are in the midst of an extensive inquiry into our Wellesley Stream. We are interested in finding out about the health of our stream and whether it is able to successfully sustain life.

To enable us to make sound conclusions about this, we have had to conduct some extensive field work, including making detailed observational drawings, quadrant counts of observable life, measuring stream velocity, water temperature and clarity.

 Take a look at these photos of the boys working in the field - can you spot the eel? Stream Inquiry - Field Work on PhotoPeach

Sea Week!

At Wellesley, we are so fortunate to have the beautiful beach and sea right on our doorstep. As it was Sea Week last week - we thought it would be a great idea to give the beach a bit of a clean-up.

Year 4 - 5 Camp Report - 2016

Day 1 

 All year 4-5 have been waiting for this day - the first day of the Year 4-5 Camp. We arrived at the campsite (school field) between 8:00 and 8:30 am and spent the first part of the morning setting up our tents - it was all very exciting. Following a ‘yummy’ morning tea, we left the campsite around 11:00 to go for an awesome tramp to Butterfly Creek -it was one of the longest tramps ever! When we got there we had lunch and got to play in the picnic area, it was great.

 Following our hot and sticky tramp back, we headed to the Eastbourne Summer Pool. We even got ice blocks! It was great to cool off with a swim - even though it was running!

When we got back to school we had the family picnic. we were so full after it. Team building came next, with a challenge of having to create clothing, suitable for the mountains, out of a limited number of materials, It was amazing to see all of the designs and which group won!

Finally, feeling very tired we headed to our tents, but it was a sleepless night because the wind and the rain were banging against our tents.

Day 2 

Most of us woke up at about 6:00am, although some of us woke up and started running around at 5:00am!! When the whistle blew we got up we went for a long run at 7:00, it must have been at least 1 km some people ran the whole way some people jogged and walked and some people just walked. After that we went and had showers then got changed. After that we had breakfast, the teachers blew the whistle and we had to get into our group lines. From then on, it was a full-on day, as we went to our various activities - they were awesome. It wasn’t long before we had worked up a huge appetite and we came back for morning tea and lunch they were delicious. We loved it.

Sadly the weather meant that kayaking and paddle boarding were cancelled, so the activities we did were problem solving, driftwood boats, camp art, camp cooking, first aid, fishing and orienteering. It wasn’t suprising that we were starving at the end of the day, so it was great to have a delicious dinner of FISH AND CHIPS -YAY. After dinner the teachers decided that we needed to evacuate the tents and move all our beds and gear into the classroom, it was pretty exciting.

Then we got to watch a movie called Wreck it Ralph we only got to watch half of it though but then went outside to play spotlight, we think Croydon and Wellington did the best. Finally we crashed into our sleeping bed - extremely tired - it was a great sleep probably the best one ever on camp, because we slept in our classrooms!!!!

Day 3 

Packing up time now after an awesome breakfast we went to our last 2 activities and came back to morning tea we got a sweet thing and a piece of fruit. Then it was off to our last activity, before we had lunch -it was delectable. Before we knew it, all the parents started to arrive and it was time to go. This years camp has been the best and we hope the year 4s have a good time next year!!

By Ned, Rex & George

Year 4-5 Camp: 2016

Yay - what a wonderful camp we had this year! We certainly weren't going to let a little bit of wind and rain get the better of us. Congratulations to everyone involved and a huge THANK YOU to all of the parents for their support. Check out these photos, to see all the exciting things that we got up to: Year 4-5 Camp - 2016 on PhotoPeach Year 4-5 Camp: 2016 (a) on PhotoPeach Year 4-5 Camp: 2016 (b) on PhotoPeach

5S Class Councillors - 2016

5S are very fortunate to have these fine young lads representing us as our class councillors this year.

Y5 At The Beach

What better way to cool off on a hot, sticky afternoon. Life's a beach at Wellesley College.


Hangin' At The Beach on PhotoPeach

What A Fine Bunch - 5S, 2016 Are Looking Impressive!

5S - 2016 on PhotoPeach

Welcome to 5S

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the students and parents of Year 5S. I hope you have all had a wonderful break over the holidays and managed to get some rest and relaxation yourselves. I am sure that the boys will be fully charged and are ready to get stuck into the new year.

 The main purpose of this letter is to introduce myself as your son’s teacher for 2016 and to outline our programme for the term.

My name is Veronica Stevens and I am thoroughly looking forward to working with your son. I have been teaching for over 20 years, with almost half of this time, being at Wellesley College.

We have a busy schedule planned for Term 1, but we will endeavour to keep you up to date through emails, class blog and the school and syndicate newsletters on a regular basis. Some of the main events and activities coming up in the next few weeks include:

• School Starts: Monday 1st February
• Parents Information Evening: Tuesday 2nd February
• Goal Setting Interviews: Week 2 (9th – 10th February)
• School Picnic: Friday 13th February
• Year 4-5 Camp: 18th – 20th February

The main areas of learning for this term are:
• Health – Fostering Resilience/Camp
• PE – Swimming, Cross Country, Summer Sports, Camp
• Social Science: Tiriti O Waitangi, Me & My World
• Science: Meandering Moments – A Stream Inquiry
• Reading – Kiwi Corkers – Fairy Tales with a Kiwi Twist
• Writing – Poetry, Recounts, Letters
• Maths – Introductory numeracy and number knowledge

The classroom programme will also be based around the timetable (this can be viewed under '5S Useful Information' link - found on the right-hand side of this blog.)

To complement the classroom programme, the boys will be required to complete regular nightly homework, with a homework sheet given out most Monday or Tuesdays, to be completed by the following Monday. It is expected that approximately 30 minutes a night (4 days a week) is spent on this. However, there is flexibility to allow for the boys to be involved in the many after school activities that they frequently partake in. In addition, Maths homework is usually given out each week by your son’s Maths teacher.

Homework is given for the following reasons:
• To provide an opportunity for parents to share and interact with their son.
• To revise and extend work covered in the classroom.
• To develop your sons’ organisational and time management skills as well as independent work habits.
• The main areas of emphasis will be:
                  - Spelling
                  - English – including reading/writing/language skills
                  - Topic work/Research/Inquiry
                  - Silent reading and discussion of newspaper items, television news, current events and                         documentaries are also worthwhile extension activities and should not be overlooked. 

Our homework hint – please let your son carry out their own research and word processing, and simply offer encouraging guidance where needed. Too often we mark work that has been beautifully presented by Mum or Dad at the last minute. This makes it difficult to measure where your son is at, as well as defeating the purpose of the exercise.

Time management is a key tool for the boys so if you could encourage them in this area (eg: using a timetable) along with ‘brainstorming’ or ‘mind-mapping’ at the beginning of an assignment, it would be most helpful. Please don’t let homework cause any heartache or stressful times at home. A note to me highlighting a ‘rough night’ or an overload of extra commitments will hopefully alleviate any stress.

If your son experiences difficulties with the homework or you have any other concerns, feel free to contact me at any time. (It is expected that your son produces work at his ability level and endeavours to extend this even further.) I encourage you to use email as a good way of letting me know how things are going.

Your son will be given all of their stationery when they arrive at school on the first day. However, it can be useful to provide a pencil case, to ensure that belongings are easily kept together. The items provided, does not include additional extras such as colouring pencils etc. These are not compulsory, but you may wish to provide such items if you choose.

We do recommend that all stationery is taken home to be named and covering books does aid in keeping them in good condition. It is also a good idea to periodically check with your son from time to time, that they still have all of the necessary items such as pens, pencils, rubber and ruler, as they can be quite disadvantaged, when attempting to do work and they are lacking some of the equipment they require.

I look forward to meeting with you all soon,

Cheers Veronica