Philosophy for Children

A big part of what we do at Balmoral is Philosophy for Children, or P4C. The children love the discussion of all manner of subjects, at the moment closely linked to the CIB ideas of belonging, rights and responsibilities.
You can read more about what P4C is on the P4C New Zealand website, here: http://www.p4c.org.nz/About_P4C.php

In Room 19 this week, the question being discussed and debated was "Should you be kind to everyone?" A very wide ranging discussion ensured moving from 'yes, you should without question', through to 'actually there are conditions; what if someone is not kind to you, do you still have to be kind?' and onto 'are we only kind because if we are not kind we will get punished?', 'is punishment okay?' 'what if you are trying hard to not lie/stop being mean when you always have been that before and no one believes you have changed?' to our final question: 'can people change?'

Powerful thinking from 7 and 8 year olds.

Auckland Zoo -Tiger B/E enclosure

Auckland Zoo -discovery room

Auckland zoo NZCCM Encounter

Explorer Time in the Sunshine

Yesterday was our first proper Explorer Time of the year and we had a wonderful afternoon of discovery and fun. 

 We made obstacle courses,

 beautiful nature art,

 nature journals,

 complicated contraptions,

 more nature art,

 houses with extremely long hallways,

 outfits for superheroes,

 air pressure erupting volcanoes,

 dinosaur habitats,

 and elaborate waterwheels that

 ran down the hill into....

 successful dams!

 Some hippos and bats were made, and some drawing was done.

We loved it!

Welcome to Whanau Whetu

Welcome to Whanau Whetu for 2015. We are very excited about all the learning we'll do together this year, and look forward to sharing this with you in a variety of ways, including on our blog. This week we are starting our new inquiry "Whose Home is This?" with a trip to the zoo on Thursday February 19th to look at the role of the modern zoo.

For homework this year we will be focusing on three particular areas: reading, maths and learning connected to our CIB (Curriculum Inquiry@ Balmoral).

Please click the 'Home Learning 2015' tabs to find the latest information on homework.

An end of week reflection from the children in Room 16
The children reflected on their first week at school for 2015 and wrote a comment on 'what stuck with them this week.'  It's always lovely as teachers to read what children have particularly enjoyed or identified with.