Halfway though the holidays...

Hi Rm 22,
I hope that you are all having safe and enjoyable holidays. What interesting things have you got up to? I am hoping that some of you are making some time to keep up the excellent writing that was happening in class last term!
I had a great time in Auckland getting to feel a part of the Rugby World Cup fever and spent the weekend in Akaroa where I bumped into Kobe and his family:-) Tomorrow I head away to the beach for 7 days. I hope that like me, you are all enjoying getting to read lots of books. Remember to take a photo of you reading a book in an interesting place for our prize draw on the first day back.
I'm looking forward to the rugby semi-final tonight (although I'm feeling a bit nervous too!). Maybe some of you will be allowed to stay up late to watch this game.
Go the All Blacks and see you all back at school in a week and a bit.
Ms Watson

It must be almost time for the holidays...

I think I have told you all before that I know that it must be time for the school holidays when the pile of books beside my bed gets huge. Well right now, the pile of books is so big I am afraid that I might get attacked by them all in the night. The books demanding that I make time to read them before they hold me captive and don't let me leave my room until I have read them!
Do you have any books that you are looking forward to reading in the holidays? It would be great if over the holidays you used the blog to share book recommendations with each other. I am reading 'Hugo Cabret' at the moment and if someone is very lucky I might lend it to them over the holidays to read. BUT you will have to be someone who can promise me that you will take very good care of the book.
Ms Watson

Sawatdee from Thailand

Hi Room 22,
I hope that you are all enjoying the holidays. I hear that it has been VERY snowy in Christchurch! Did you build snow people or go tobogganing?
It's incredibly hot here in Thailand and therefore it's hard to imagine it being snowy back in Chch!
I have spent most of my time in Mae Salong which is a small town up in the highlands of Northern Thailand near the border with Burma.

I spent 2 days helping in a small village - I helped build part of a school (I now know how to mix and use cement to build walls) and I played with some of the village children and taught the wee ones how to kick and catch a ball. I hope that I might be able to return to the village once the school is up and running and do some teaching during NZ school holidays.

I am now in Bangkok which is a HUGE and BUSY city. I went to a shopping mall yesterday which was like 1000 Riccarton or Northlands malls put together - it was pretty crazy but there were lots of good bargains:-)
Enjoy your last few days of the holidays - I hope that you have been able to read lots of books - I have read 4 while on holiday and need to find a couple more for my 19 hour journey back to NZ tonight/tomorrow.
I look forward to seeing you all on Monday - bring some photos or interesting things from your holiday to share with the class.
Ms Watson

Happy Holidays!

Hi Room 22,
Well done for a fantastic term, despite all the challenges we faced. It's crazy to think that school camp was at the start of this term (it seems such a long time ago!). Thank you for all the hard work, deep thinking and positive attitudes that you showed.
Enjoy your holidays with your families. I fly to Thailand very early on Tuesday morning so I have a looooong list of things I need to pack and I am starting to worry that it might not all fit in my bag. I am trekking for a few days in the jungle so I need to be able to make sure that I don't take too much! I'm not sure whether you know much about Thailand so I have included a map. I fly into Bangkok which is the capital city. The next day I fly up to Chiang Rai at the very top of the country. I am spending a week between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Then I fly back to Bangkok and have a couple of days there to visit the temples and markets before coming home. It is about 30 degrees each day at the moment and it is the wet season so it rains a lot of the time. I will make sure I take some photos to share with you when I get back.

I look forward to seeing you all on the first day of Term 3 and sharing our holiday stories. I hope that Neo, Paris and Orlando also enjoy their holidays!
Ms Watson

School Holiday Ideas

Winter school holidays can be hard because the weather is not always great for playing outside.
Kidsfest is running throughout the holidays and has heaps of great activities that you could get involved in. Some of them you need to book, others are just events that you can turn up to.
Check out their website and discuss with your families anything that might interest you:
http://www.kidsfest.co.nz/
The South Learning Centre also offers holiday activities:
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/LearningCentres/Community/Holidays/
These activities need to be booked and paid for a week before the activity takes place:-)

HOLIDAY FUN IDEAS - ASTRONOMY

Has our space topic made you want to find out more about stars and the night sky?
As part of Kidsfest the West Melton Observatory will be open each night between 16-29 July (if the sky is clear).
For more details, check out their website:
http://kidsfest.co.nz/Events/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=672
This might be something you could do with your family during the holidays:-)