Kii Families,

Since returning from camp, Class 5S has been immersing itself in the stories of Ancient Persia. We have been learning about Ahura Mazda, the God of Light and Fire and his counterpart, Ahriman, the Spirit of Darkness. In each of the stories, Ahura Mazda’s teachings to the people of Persia about the importance of good thoughts, good words and good deeds are always challenged by Ahriman. But it is always Ahura Mazda’s power that is stronger and eventually it is goodness that prevails.

During this Main Lesson, our literacy focus has been on grammar. We have been learning about sentences, looking at the parts of simple sentences and how we can use coordinating conjunctions to join two simple sentences together to make a compound sentence.

In Maths we have been deepening our understanding of decimal place value and have finished off the term working with percentage.

We have been exploring the personal recount structure in our Writing lessons and examining how language can be used to help the reader gain a richer understanding of the author’s experience. The students have been working very hard to put this learning into practise in their own personal recount of an experience they had on camp. Two examples of these can be found below.

A wonderful first term 5S!

TIMMY’S TOWER

I felt the rough dirt and twigs rubbing the bottom of my shoes as I waited for my harness to get checked for safety, the itchy material scratching my skin. It was a hot, sunny autumn day at camp and my whole body felt like it was on fire because of the extreme heat. The gentle wind blowing softly through the trees carried a strong scent of eucalyptus leaves to us. Even though it was an extremely hot day, a shiver ran down my body as I stared up at the daunting tower looming above me.

Once I got told my harness was okay, I began the climb to the top, following the person ahead of me. The ladder creaked below me and I could smell the rust under my hands. As the tower wobbled beneath me, I could feel the beating of my racing heart against my chest. I climbed the second last ladder but waited to go up the last as only a couple of people were allowed up the top at a time.

I peeked through the small holes in the mesh walls of the tower and stared out at the breath-taking view of the top of all the trees and the neighbouring mountains. I felt scared, but I knew if my friend saw me scared, it would just make her more terrified. I planted my feet firmly and reminded myself that I was not going to fall to my death.

Then I heard the instructor calling to me, saying that I could come up. My hands shook as I slowly climbed the last ladder. As soon as I was up, a blast of fresh air hit my face and the instructor clipped me onto a peg connected to the wall, so I wouldn’t fall. I watched as my friend followed me up, her short brown hair getting tossed around in the strong wind. I watched as the two other kids up the tower with us jumped and all too soon, it was my go.

The instructor beckoned to me, and I slowly shuffled forward until I could see the punching bag that we were meant to jump to directly ahead of me. But I refused to look down at the ground because I knew it would just make me more scared than I already was. Then the instructor yelled out the countdown, and I didn’t think, I just jumped. I leaped towards the punching bag and felt great satisfaction as my hands gripped the slippery bag, even though I slipped off a second later. My friends cheered for me as I slowly drifted down, smiling. Suddenly, I hit the ground, hard. I was really glad that I did it. It was super scary but also very fun, and I wished I could do it again.

Florence

THE CAVE

The sun beat down on me as I climbed the steep hill that led to the cave entrance. It was a baking hot autumn morning on the last day of camp. I could feel little beads of sweat rolling down my cheeks and neck. I was terrified, but I didn’t let that stop me. I was going to go through that cave.

Finally, I reached the top of the dusty hill and saw that the rest of the group were heading into a small doorway leading into an old cabin adorned with cobwebs. I quickly caught up with them and found a place on the dusty bench. I followed the group leader’s instructions, finding a helmet and sitting down quietly. I waited patiently, my stomach fluttering.

Finally, I heard the piercing sound of the doorbell, alerting me that it was my turn. I slowly shuffled into the other room where a big hole loomed in the ground and a rusty ladder reached down into darkness. I carefully climbed down. Dust filled my nostrils and fear threatened to overwhelm me, but I didn’t stop. Reaching the end of the ladder, I felt around but couldn’t find the door. I searched in vain but still couldn’t find it. After a while, I found a small opening that I could barely fit through, but I finally worked out that it wasn’t as small as I initially thought it was.

I walked and walked, concentrating on the musty smell of rotting wood, so I wouldn’t totally freak out. There was a thump as my head collided with the roof. I was very grateful for my helmet. Then I heard the high-pitched scream of one of my group mates! A feeling of creeping dread crawled up my neck and my sweat went cold. Was it a spider? Had something happened to my best friend? The scream abruptly cut off. Then I felt cold sweaty hands grab me and drag me through a hole in the wall. I was plonked down on a cold seat and waited.

Every now and again someone would enter through the same hole I did, at least I thought it was the same hole. It was sort of hard to tell in the pitch-black room! Soon enough, everyone had gone through the cave and the instructor announced he was going to turn on the lights. Then we all rushed out into the bright daylight.

I still don’t know who or why that person screamed, but I really enjoyed the cave, and I wish I could do it again.

Arkie

STEM FESTIVAL