Should it stay or should it go?

I came to school sporting a lovely mustache and posed the question - Should Keith keep the mustache?
We used this for our writing topic and here are some excerpts....

Should Keith keep his mo?   NOOOOOO

If Keith grows his mo like someone famous then everybody will think he’s a celebrity and there will be paparazzi showing up at the school and Whaea Liz will get furious.After that Keith will get  fired and won’t be a teacher again. That's why I think Keith should shave his mo and it’s DISGUSTING.   - Mia

Firstly when he eats food some of it gets caught in the mo and it will look dirty, places that say NO FOOD will BAN HIM from the place. - Cameron

My second reason is it will be outrageous watching Keith have little bits of food stuck in his mo.I reckon he looks too formal and mean. - Siena

Secondly hairs might come falling down from your mustache into your mouth and you might get the funny taste of rotten food or a booger that had fallen down from your nose. So that is why I think your mustache should be GONE! - Holly

The final vote was 5 for keeping the mo and 22 against. The mo went.

Buddy Reading with Kowhai

Matai met their buddies from Kowhai today. We will be buddy reading with them every Wednesday after lunch. It was great to see the engagement of the kids as they read to each other and the support offered by Matai.

Editing photos online

Some of the students have been asking about software that they can use online to edit their photos.
There are a couple of free options that you might like to check out:

 For Mac users the app that comes highly recommended is Snapseed.

For PC users a really good app is called BeFunky - lots of basic options but you can pay to add more features. (From Chrome web store)

Both of these are free to download from the links provided.

Story of Stuff

Don Binney Artwork

In Matai we have been studying Don Binney's artwork and having a go at creating our own paintings in his style.

Over the past 3 weeks we have practiced some basic painting techniques and completed the coastal landscapes.

The next step is to paint our birds from a template and attach these to our artwork. The kids done a fantastic job with their use of solid colours, blending paints and stippling to create texture.

Thanks for all the baking!

Thank you so much for producing all that delicious baking. Matai made a fantastic contribution to the baking stall and there were lots of happy kids munching into some tasty baking. Thank you for helping us to make this a success.
The kids from Matai helped to set up the stall, package baking for juniors and sell the food to the rest of the school. Good to see their maths thinking in action and some even some up selling on the stall!

Photography Assignment

After seeing all the great photos Matai have taken around school I have set them a photo assignment to do at home. If they have access to a camera/phone - take photos around their home close up. Pick the best 4 photos and email them to me at keith.hutton@clydequay.school.nz

- Take a range of photos and select the best FOUR.
- Take photos around your home in macro setting (up close).
- Upload them to a computer if possible and check them - are they in focus?
- Rename each photo eg. Keith1, Keith2, Keith3, Keith4.
- Attach photos to email and send to Keith so he can add them to the collection.

Here is a small sample of photos that have been submitted already: