Getting stuck in!

Over the last few weeks we have been very busy in the garden.  This has included preparing the gardens for spring plantings. Children have worked hard to weed and dig over the gardens. We have also added some new soil to the green house for the new season.  It has been wonderful to see the number of children who see us in the garden and want to join in and help.  Lots of great learning about how to prepare the ground for planting, how to plant and take care of seeds and seedlings.  We know that is becoming increasingly important that we have skills to grow our own food in the future.  

We have planted:

• Potatoes
• Strawberries
• Cucumbers
• Capsicums
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Beans
• Peas
• Beetroot

We can't wait to see the fruits of our labour over the next few months.  Some lucky children have already sample some of the juicy strawberries that we have grown in the tunnel house! 

We also have some new swan plants growing in our Swan plant nursery in preparation for our butterfly gardens. We can't wait to plant them out when they are big enough!

Bird Feeders

Making bird feeders is a popular activity for children during EXPLORE time in Rakau.  We know that the birds love them too as they quickly come to feast upon them once they are hanging in the trees !  

Celebrating Cultural Diversity!

Over the last term the children have been busy exploring cultural diversity. We have realised that we have many connections to different countries and cultures from throughout the world. We have taken time to learn about a variety of countries and discover what it might be like to live in these and how it compares with life in New Zealand. 

We have now decided that we would like to have an artwork that represents all the different cultures that we have right here at Ashley School, and also those in the wider world.  We have designed totem poles that will represent the different continents of the world and  over the next few weeks we will be painting our designs onto the poles. We hope to have them displayed around the school in the near future! 

Helping Out

Members of the Green Team and Rakau helped Lesley Ottey to create a wonderful new learning resource for the community during our Outdoor Education Day.  The children learned how to sort waste correctly into the bins.Some of the children learned that lids are no good for recycling in these bins and that they can't put milk cartons in the recycling either!  These will be used as displays at  different community events so that they wider community learn what can and can't go into the different bins. Well done team!

Our Pellet Bus Gets A Make-Over

We  lucky this year to  have Gary, the school caretaker, who has amazing construction skills and has helped us reach our vision of giving the school playground  bus a make over . This has been such a hit with all the children! 

He has also been very clever and created a new sign at our second entrance to show our REACH values as visitors enter.  We now have our wonderful REACH pencils at one entrance and this fabulous sign at the other !  Thank you as our REACH values are such an important aspect of our school!