Wainuiomata Unit

Open Day
Open Days were held at GKP Wilford in the week of 11-15 May. We had around 30 visitors over the course of the week, which was very exciting for us. Here are some of the comments that people wrote in our visitors’ book: “Thanks for the opportunity to see talent in action!” "Fantastic to witness beautiful minds in action." “Thank you for a wonderful insight into your programme. It was great to look at all the wonderful things the children are involved with. Very inspiring!! So lovely and quiet – a wonderful atmosphere. Thank you.”

Grace and her Nan at Open Day.
Jumbo Garage Sale for Elephants
The students at GKP Wilford have built up a relationship with the founder of the Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai in Thailand. Motivated to help Lek with the work she does, the children set about organising a Jumbo Garage Sale. The garage sale, along with a cake stall, raffle, carwash, and Trade Me sales fundraised a whopping $1800! We have fostered three elephants and bought some elephant medical kits. A fabulous learning experience with a fabulous outcome!
Community of Inquiry
The Thursday class’s first Community of Inquiry this year focused on the themes in Colin Thompson’s sophisticated picture book How to Live Forever.
These were some of the questions and key ideas that we brainstormed together to get us started on our discussion.
Iambic Tetrameter
We have a writer’s workshop most weeks which focuses on different writing skills and styles. This term our focus is poetry – whether it’s inspired by pictures, or structured by rhythm and rhyme. Last week we learned about Iambic Tetrameter. The iambic part refers to the rhythm – it goes dee-dum – while the tetrameter tells you how many times – in this case 4. It’s much harder to write than it looks, but we enjoy a good challenge!