Year 5 Speech Finals

A huge congratulations to our 8 finalists in the Year 5 Speech Finals, the standard was exceptionally high  - making it a tough job for Reverend Ellie - our judge on the day.

Well done to Pat Green (1st Place) with "Why I Pick My Nose", Ben Wilson (2nd Place) on "The Red Baron" and Ethan Whiteman (3rd Place) with "King Tut's Curse".

5S News - Your Daily News

Yesterday 5S had a fabulous and enjoyable session at Capital E, creating a first class news programme. Below is the link - please enjoy:

5S News - Your Daily News

Red Cross People Saver Course

Need rescuing, saving or have any other first aid emergency?? Call on one of these guys - they are armed with first aid knowledge and are ready for action! First Aid People Saver Course on PhotoPeach

Preparing for Treasure Island

All great treasure hunts require preparation. Check out these photos of the Middle Syndicate preparing for their production of the great Robert Louis Stevenson classic: Treasure Island. Preparing for Treasure Island! on PhotoPeach Preparing for Treasure Island - 1 on PhotoPeach

Wellesley College - Legacy Day

As part of our centennial celebrations - it was declared "Legacy Day" at Wellesley College yesterday.

The boys were in for a huge surprise when they arrived, to find themselves being transported back 100 years ago, as they were greeted by teachers in period costume, who then marched them up from the buses, addressed them by their surnames and their classroom desks were set out in single-file rows. 


The boys were then quickly organised into height order and marched off to our Legacy Day assembly.

The choir sang beautifully and we met two Wellesley "old boys' - one of which was Hugh Turnbull - who recently celebrated his 100 birthday! His daughter enthralled us with the wonderful story of his life.

 We sang Happy Birthday to both Hugh and the school and cut an extremely large cake! Sadly one student just couldn't behave - and had to be publicly caned for his 'wrong-doings' by Mr Girvan - much to the delight of the school!

 After morning tea, the boys spent an enjoyable session experiencing some 'Legacy Day' activities - such as knuckle bones, handwriting, elastics, marbles, skipping and hand rhymes.

 It was wonderful experience and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Legacy Day 1 on PhotoPeach Legacy Day - 2 on PhotoPeach

Ahoy Matey!! It's A Pirate's Life For Us!!

Middle Syndicate Pirate Day was a great success - arrrrrrrrrr!!

Pirate Day on PhotoPeach

Science Club!

We are very fortunate here at Wellesley College - to have Mrs Hawthorne running a lunchtime science club. Yesterday was the first session, looking at bones, skeletons and what else is inside the body! Tim thoroughly enjoyed the session:

Our Trip to the Trentham Army Camp

Trentham army camp was a blast!

All of the kids got to hold machine guns, heave!

The staff made us all march, hut 2 3 4 halt!

There were many types of jobs that were available like: Chef at the mess (Kitchen), Engineer, Medical corp, Infantry and Military police.

At the camp there were lots of different types of amour including bullet proof padding which the soldiers would use out in the field. There were also helmets and chest padding which was called a vest. The new army gear is lighter in colour than the old one. The hats are a dark green colour.

First we went to the parking area and we had to practise marching. Finbar was the Marker (he was always at the front of the line).After that we went to the mess A.K.A The kitchen. In the mess there was a fridge freezer and the freezer was -18 degrees. A boy in our class went in there in shorts and we were all blown away by how he was not cold.

We were allowed to taste some of the rations packs. Some of the food was good but the other food like the ONION FLACKES which I am pretty sure that the class hated.

Following this we got to look at a LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle) - which is a bit like a mini-tank. We also had an amazing opportunity to look at and sit inside some brand new army trucks - they haven't even been used yet.

The class’ favourite part would have been playing with the guns because most of our class liked pretending to shoot an enemy.

We finally ended our day with a turn on a military combat assult course, where we were able to climb robes, commando crawl under cargo nets and pass fake bombs to each other.

We all had lots of fun and maybe some of us want to be a soldier, what about you?

 By Rohan and Braith 5S

Trentham Army Camp - A Pictorial View

Trentham Army Camp Trip - 2 on PhotoPeach Trentham Army Camp Trip - 3 on PhotoPeach Trentham Army Camp Trip - 4 on PhotoPeach Trentham Army Camp Trip - 5 on PhotoPeach

Trentham Army Camp - A Pictorial View

On Friday 15th August, Year 5 students had the honour of being invited to spend the day at Trentham Army Camp. Check out the photos below, to see what a fantastic experience we had.......... Trentham Army Camp Trip - 1 on PhotoPeach

100 for 100!!

Here's a very special moment: Our oldest Wellesley "Old-Boy" celebrates his 100th Birthday, with two of our students, in our Centenary year!

Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Wow - what an amazing day for a very special event. The weather was perfect, allowing us to show-case the school and our new hall - it all looked wonderful. The boys performed beautifully and it was a pleasure to meet so many of our special guests.

5S Super Scientists

The boys in 5S can feel extremely proud of their efforts with the Science Fair this year. They have all worked exceptionally hard, enabling them to produce results that are of an extremely high standard. 5S Science Investigation on PhotoPeach

Opening of the Centennial Hall

Wow - what an amazing event - celebrating the opening of our wonderful Centennial Hall and the culmination of 15 years of building and re-development of the Wellesley Campus.

The boys can feel very proud to be a part of these celebrations, along with having the opportunity to use and enjoy these fantastic surroundings that are our school!

5S ??!!

Can we take these guys seriously???

Oil Slick

In 2012, the container ship "Rena" struck the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Taurange, causing terrible damage to the surrounding environment and wildlife.

Perhaps a 5S students could have helped to prevent some of this damage, based on the knowledge gained today - when we investigated which sorbent was the best at cleaning up oil!


Oil Slick on PhotoPeach

More Bubbles!!

Do you want to be able to make great big bubbles, like the ones we made yesterday? 

Dr Stirling has very kindly shared his "secret" bubble recipe with us!!

The best mix, to make 3 litres of bubble mix is: 2 Tablespoons carboxymethylcellulose (CMC, food additive E number of E466) you can get 20 kg bags from www.hawkinswatts.com.

Disperse CMC in 3 Litres hot tap water, don’t add it as a lump.

Stir vigorously, let it stand for 10 minutes or so, then stir it again.

To this mix add 260 g (1 Cup) for Dawn dishwashing liquid (from America) or Fairy dishwashing liquid (from the UK or Coles supermarkets in Australia [where I got mine])

Gently stir the mix.

Preferably let stand overnight before use.

The bubble wands are a Klutz.com product and can be found at PaperPlus and sometimes MooreWilsons.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!!

Term Two has started with a "pop" - with a wonderful visit this morning from Dr David Stirling (Tim's Dad)!. In keeping with our science unit on Fair Testing, we explored the properties of bubbles and how to make the best bubble making mixture! Take a look at the size of these bubbles!!

Zac's Farewell

It was with much sadness, that we bid farewell to Zac at the end of the term. However, we were able to send him on his way with a great farewell party and a wonderful photo book, filled with lovely Wellesley memories.


Zac's Farewell on PhotoPeach

Stream Inquiry Presentations

The students in 5S carried out the most amazing stream inquiry presentations. Demonstrating indepth skills in research and information gathering, to put together outstanding inquiries on a range of stream plants and animals. Here they are, demonstrating their work:

 Stream Inquiry Presentations on PhotoPeach

Easter Service

Although our Easter service was a slightly scaled down affair this year, without the hall - it was by no means any less significant. The boys sang beautifully and the students of 7/8B did a great job of telling us the Easter story.

Annick's Farewell

It was with much sadness, that the boys in the middle syndicate put on a surprise assembly for Annick yesterday. She has been working here at Wellesley for over 30 years and we will be very lost without her.
The boys presented her with a wonderful book that they had all contributed to and a Wellesley Bear, to take home and treasure. Here are a few photos from this assembly:


Annick's Farewell on PhotoPeach

Descriptive Writing

The boys in 5S have been looking at descriptive writing and how we can embellish our sentences, to really bring them to life. Here are a couple of examples:

 The Description Of The Funky Fairground

Looking at the blissful children darting around like cheetahs their legs turning into a blur like electricity.

Hearing very loud outcry and guffawing of the children like loud horns, the most deafening noise like an explosion.

 Smelling the scorching smell of the fire like the foulest smell ever, as it goes up the line to the fireworks like a bomb ticking down 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 BOOM.

 Sensing the glistening grass underneath my hands like silk, there are drops of water on top like a pool. 

Tasting the sugary sugar as soft as the clouds the mind-blowing taste can’t be beat like gold.

 That is a Fairground.
 By Felix

The Damp Smelling Cave

The bright light flashing as bright as fire and the dark rocks are as dark as death. 

The loud voices echoing as loud as thunder with an earthquake going on at the same time as the thunder. 

The smooth rocks as smooth as a white board with a bit of nature like a rain forest. 

The yucky smell is as yucky as rotten eggs with a smell amplifier on it as big as a giant. 

The damp taste as damp as a pool as wet as sea.

By Charlie

Year 5 Kiwi Sports Day

Last Friday, a group of 30 Year 5 Students were chosen to attend a full day of sports at the Hutt Park Sports Grounds. Judging from these photos, it looks like they have a wonderful day and learnt many new skills.



Kiwi Sports Day on PhotoPeach

World of Maths

Today, the Year 5 boys had a wonderful opportunity to partake in some very practical and hands-on learning, from the World of Maths. For over an hour they explored a whole range of activities, working in small groups to solve mathematical problems and challenges.

Take a look at the fun they were having:

Introducing ............................ Bear Grylls (BG)!

In 5S we are very privileged to have an additional member in our class - a Wellesley Bear. Last week the boys took the opportunity to give him a name and have decided that being a very adventurous bear, that Bear Grylls (BG for short) would be most suitable.

So here he is. We are looking forward to following him on his adventures for 2014

Crab Rap

The boys in 5S have been working on acrostic poems. Hamish decided to go one step further and turn his poem into a rap - which he then performed at our Syndicate Assembly!

Cool crabs hiding in the cracks,

Running like crazy, little maniac.

Always fierce looking for a fight

Bouncing on the tide like a little fighting pie. Bullying the others, eating little fish - ignoring what your mother says - Naughty little thing. Go for it crab you could be king!

Year 4-5 Swimming Sports

Last Friday, we were spoilt with fantastic weather, to enable us to hold the Year 4-5 Swimming Sports. It was a great event with lots of outstanding swimming being displayed.

A huge congratulations to the overall Year 5 winner: Hamish and to Marlborough House - winning the entire event!

Here are a few snaps of the action:

5S Councillors

Today, 8 students from 5S took a very brave step, with each one taking a turn at standing in front of the class, to convince us why he should be chosen as a 5S councillor. They all did an amazing job and it certainly made for a tough decision.


 We would like to offer our congratulations to: Oscar Jackson & Micaiah Read 

 We're sure they will represent us well and will do a great job!

Budding Scientist

Micaiah in our class has a real interest in science. Here he is, demonstrating to the class, how a detergent molecule has two different ends: one attracted to water, the other attracted to fat. By placing it in a bowl and adding food colouring - we can see this interesting chemical reaction at work.

Stream Field Work

Yesterday the boys in 5S headed out to our school stream, to begin some extensive field work, exploring the stream and testing many of its properties. This initial session gave us an opportunity to find out what wild life was living in the stream.

Year 4-5 Camp Report

On 19^thof February of 2014 we all arrived at school to start our marvellous camp.

At 9.00 o’clock we arrived to pitch our tents. Later we left for the tramp to Butterfly Creek. It was a very hot day when we got there, we had lunch then we headed back. After that we went to the Eastbourne pool for a swim and a cool down. We then left the pool and went back to Wellesley, and when we arrived back we had a family picnic dinner.

Once that was finished we had a team building challenge competition and had to make mountaineering clothes with some newspaper, string and a plastic bag and a sticky label. Then we went to bed.

The next morning we got up ran two laps around Williams Park for our morning run and then swam two lengths of our school pool. We then had to tidy our tents and headed to breakfast.

At camp we have seven sessions and activities they were kayaking, golf, camp cooking, orienteering, paddle boarding, camp art and fishing. We have seven groups each group gets a turn at each activity. After breakfast we each headed off to our first activity.

After afternoon tea we had our last session for the day then we had a look at some of the photos people had taken on camp. After that we had a delicious dinner of fish and chips.

When everyone had finished their dinner we went down to the beach and had a competition, in which we had to construct the most positive message, that could be seen from the sky, out of materials that we could find on the beach. When we came back it was dark enough to play spotlight, which was a really fun game and then it was time to go to bed.    

When we woke up we did another two laps of Williams Park and two lengths of the pool. After that we took down the tents and packed our stuff into our bag. We then had activity six then it was morning tea. Finally we completed our last activity, followed by lunch. We were all extremely tired by this stage and it was time to go home.

We would like to say a huge “thank you” to all of the teacher and parents, who made camp possible. It was great fun and we all really enjoyed the experience.

By Zac & Jake 

Year 4-5 Camp

Year 4-5 Camp was a wonderful success this year, with lots of fantastic experiences had by all! Watch this space for a full camp report coming soon, but in the meantime, please enjoy these photos:

 Year 4 - 5 Camp - Part Two on PhotoPeach


Year 4 - 5 Camp - Part Three on PhotoPeach
 


A wonderful black and white pictorial of our camp by Birgit Krippner:

Beaching Around!

What a great way to end the perfect start to the year - by making the most of the resources in our own front yard!! Year 5 boys had a fabulous time, hanging out at the beach this afternoon - just beating the rain! 

Introducing...................... 5S!!

Welcome 5S - 2014

Dear Parents and Students of 5S,

Welcome to our 5S blog. I hope you have all had a wonderful break over the holidays and are making the most of those final days, before Term One begins.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all and working with you throughout 2014.

There is never a dull moment at Wellesley College and Term One is certainly living up to this - with an action packed and exciting programme ahead!

Some of the things you can look forward to are:

• School Picnic
• Year 4/5 Camp
• Swimming Sports
• Cross Country
• An exciting science unit, exploring our own Wellesley streams and waterways
• Water Safety work
• Me & My World
• Kiwi Corkers - Traditional Stories with a Kiwi Twist
• Festival of the Arts
• Much, much more...............................

This blog is a great site to help you keep abreast of what is happening in the class and all of the relevant events that are going on in the school. 

This is the place that you can go to, to find out:

• What 5S are up to
• Important up and coming events
• Reminders
• Get information about our latest units of work
• Photos / Slide Shows / Movie clips
• Links to useful websites.

Parents, please mark Tuesday 4th February in your diaries, as this is the Parent Information Evening and I look forward to meeting you and having a chat about 5S and how the class will be run during the year.

In the meantime, let's hope for great weather for the last week of the holidays and I will see you all soon,

Cheers

Veronica Stevens