LAST DAY OF TERM!

When the students arrived at school this morning, on the table in the middle of the Whanau Space was a MOUNTAIN of board games! Today's morning blocks were devoted to playing these games... 

We hear you say, where's the learning in that? ... Well, let us show you!

As it turns out, games can teach A LOT of different skills. Students were reading rulebooks to experience new games, negotiating with others, communicating ideas, developing strategies, solving logic puzzles, working with probabilities, resolving conflict, collaborating to succeed as a team, and working with different students. 

The teachers were all really impressed with the focus and engagement of all of the students today, especially considering it was the last day of term!   

But it didn't feel like the last day, it felt like the first day of our next inquiry, which will be centred around Game Design. 

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from today was that our students really enjoyed playing games together; face to face with their peers, and creating a shared experience. 

Over the holidays, we have encouraged the students to spend some time playing board games with you and your family. This could be an opportunity to teach your children how to play your favourite games from childhood. We hope you have as much fun as we did!!

Happy Holidays from Everyone in Team Awesome!

Exhibition week!!

This week has been our Ko Wai Au Exhibition week and the culmination of all the hard work that students have put in this term. They have worked diligently to extensively plan, prototype, give and receive feedback in order to make changes to their work and finally to create their finished pieces. Throughout this process they have developed skills in independence and self management, with many reflecting that effective time management is a next step for them. Below is a photo of some examples of student work which was completed during each stage throughout the term.

A lot of heart and soul went into these exhibition pieces and we are all very proud of the work the students have produced! Below are some examples of finished products.

Our final activity this week was to review each others exhibitions, give feedback and while we were at it we were able to learn more about each other too... which was one of the main aims of our unit! It is amazing to see how much the students have learnt about each other and how much they have bonded as a team throughout this process.

We are looking forward to more exciting learning taking place next term and to students continuing to develop the skills they have learnt throughout this term.

To the parents of Team Awesome, thank you for your on-going support. Without you, none of this would be possible!

We hope you have a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing you for an action packed Term 2.
Kind regards,
Teachers of Team Awesome

Still Getting Ready

Getting ready

Students are busy creating their exhibition pieces ready for next week. There is much concentration  as time is running out ....