Goodbye and Good Luck to the Godwits

• Godwits are on our school vision poster because they  help us to remember our school vision Expanding Horizons. Three ornithologists came to talk to some of the classes about the godwits' incredible migratory flight. Rob Shuckard told us how they catch the godwits in a mist net and  put transmitters on them. Then the scientists can track the godwits' journey all the way to Alaska to breed and back to New Zealand. 

Eden wrote:

Last week we went to the Boulder Bank to look at the godwits. We went with three scientists. We took our bags because we were having lunch there. We saw the godwits fly in, it was really cool, they were going round and around for a while. Then we started sketching them. I kept looking through the telescope. It was a bit blurry at first so I tried looking through the binoculars. We saw some black swans as well as the godwits and we saw some ducks too. It was really fun to watch the black swans with the godwits.

Alexi wrote:

Godwits store fuel at the bottom of their tummy for going to Alaska. First they fly from New Zealand to China and have a break there. Then they fly all the way to Alaska to lay eggs. The eggs hatch and the mother teaches them how to find food, then she sets off back to New Zealand. Soon the chicks store food to go, and then they set off to New Zealand too.

Luca wrote:

When I looked through the 'scope I saw heaps of godwits. They were flying around and around again and again. It made me dizzy. They went fast as rockets. It was cool to watch, they were good flyers. They fly a long way but they are not good swimmers. There was a swan and some seagulls. It was fun as.

Brayden wrote:

Godwits go to China and then they go to Alaska and then they go back to New Zealand. Then they are very hungry from flying. They get fatter and fatter from eating ragworms so that they can go back again.

Beautiful Butterflies

The monarch butterflies have hatched out of their chrysalises. It took 10 days. Can you see the empty chrysalis hanging off the toy's tail? We have let the butterflies go and put a swan plant outside for them to lay their eggs on so that the cycle can start all over again.

Caterpillars do some crazy things!

We have some caterpillars in our classroom. They used to be caterpillars but now there are chrysalises everywhere! There's one on the lid of a box which I think we're not allowed to open. There's one on the tail of a toy dog and one on the swan plant we've got. Its really funny.
By Alexi

The Clifton Terrace Tryathlon

On Friday last week the whole school had a tryathlon. We did it in this order: running, biking swimming. All of it was awesome, fun and easy.

By Tristan

On Friday Clifton Terrace had a surprise. We had a tryathlon and it was great but I nearly died because when I ran my breath got really cold, but I carried on. It was really fun. We had to run and bike and swim. By the time I got to the pool I was puffed. I had my hands up in the air, then I was like an old granny running but i managed to end  and when I had I was dead!

By Poppie

On Friday last week the whole school had a tryathlon. We did it in this order: running, biking swimming. All of it was awesome, fun and easy.
By Tristan

On Friday the whole school did the tryathlon. My friend Isabel in Room 3 came third. I was proud of her. When the year three girls went we biked, we did swimming and we ran. It was hard work and it was fun. I came second and I was puffed out. It was wicked.
By Mary



Last week the whole school did a tryathlon. It was fun!!!! When i got to the swimming pool I swam fast.
The wall of the pool was like the hull of the Titanic!!!! When I crossed the line I thought I was last but there were two boys  to cross the line after me.
By Jamie

 In the tryathalon I was excited! Wow! I was speeding like a rocket. I was so fast that I could not see where I was going and there was wind going through my hair and eyes.
By Lydia

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Sarah Langi  came to talk to Room 15 about Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. The most important one is reduce. She showed us how we could reduce (make less)  rubbish by using reusable or biodegradable containers in our lunch boxes.
This is how long it takes some things to biodegrade (breakdown) when they are buried in soil.

Paper-2-4 Weeks;    
Leaves-1-3 Months; 
Orange Peel- 6 Months;       
Milk Carton- 5 years; 
Plastic Bag- 10-20 Years; 
Plastic Container- 50-80 Years; 
Aluminium Can- 80 Years; 
Tin Can- 100 Years; 
Plastic fizzy drink bottle- 450 Years; 
Glass Bottle-500 Years; 
Styrofoam-Never!


Half of the plastic ends up in the ocean.


David De Rothschild is so worried about all the plastic floating in the ocean that he has built a boat out of 12,500 plastic bottles to sail through the great Pacific garbage dump.
He has called the boat Plastiki and you can follow his journey at www.theplastiki.com.