Kiwi encounter a highlight

020315Supkiwi NATIONAL BIRD: Room 1 gets up close to a kiwi.

As the long, hot summer draws to a reluctant close, Fordell students are still determined to get as much benefit as possible out of the learning opportunities available in this great weather.
Lucky enough to have a community pool on our doorstep, the children have all been swimming twice a week, leading up to this week's swimming sports, but a large part of their learning has also been with an emphasis on water safety and survival. The highlight of this was this week when Cecilie Elliot, of Kiwi SwimSafe, came to work with each class on their survival skills.
Cecilie brought lifejackets for all, and the children were able to practise the Help position, Huddle, and Sculling - both individually and as a group. They then learnt, through practical experience, the difficulties of swimming clothed and how to remove wet, heavy clothing while treading water. The learning was made lots of fun with plenty of games, and all children learnt safe water entry wearing a life jacket. To see 6-year-old non-swimmers laughing as they jumped into the deep end from the diving board they have otherwise never dared go anywhere near was a sight to behold!
Still on an outdoor theme, six lucky Room 1 students got to venture into the Waimarino Forest near Raetihi this week and handle kiwi in the wild. They learnt about the health checks that are performed regularly, how special dogs and GPS tracking systems are used to monitor the birds, together with what humans can do to address the threats from pests and predators such as stoats and possum. A big thank you to Scott Gordon, North Island operations manager of Earnslaw One Ltd, for organising the day, and the children hope to make similar visits in the future, keeping checks on "their" kiwi and reporting back to the class.
With a school-wide inquiry of "Intrepid Journeys" the immediate focus for senior students is the journey made by the Anzacs 100 years ago. At the time of reading this, Rooms One and Two will have just returned from Waiouru Army Museum, with a classroom session on the Anzacs, a tour of the museum and a ride on an armoured vehicle all under their belts.
Fordell School runs a house system, with students from four houses competing over a range of challenges throughout the year. All the children take great pride in their house and so it was an excited bunch that took to the paddocks last Friday for the first of these challenges - Tabloid Sports. Events included bench ball (Seniors), rob the nest and target throwing (Juniors), inter house tug-of-war and finally all students racing in the assault course relay.
Eventual winners were Rata (the teacher in charge of which, coincidentally, writes this article) though all children gave their best and had a great time. Tawa, Kowhai and Miro houses will, however, have their chance for revenge later in the term with the Technology Challenge, by now a mere breath away, in week nine.
Summer has been great at Fordell, and no signs on the horizon of autumn being any quieter ... .