Purakaunui School

By Lucy Davidson

Did you notice the extra 'u' in the school's name? We have begun changing the way we spell Purakaunui in line with the correct pronunciation and history of the name. In May we welcomed local tangata whenua, Nicky Taylor and John McLaughlin, who spoke of their connections to the local area and its history. We really loved the stories they shared with us.

Our end of term school assembly was great, with the handwritten Minibeast puppet shows. Our topic Minibeasts is now finished and this term we are studying space. We will be looking at the solar system and lots of other awesome things in space. We are visiting the Star-Lab at Otago Museum on 13 August.

We have also been busy with the Maori festival at the Waikouaiti Events Centre. We performed the story "The Rata and the Totara Tree" for our other cluster schools. The junior children were the totara tree and part of the waka. The seniors were the noise-makers, and like the juniors, part of the waka. We performed the Toia Mai Te Waka haka. In our act we performed with rakau sticks and clapping. We also had Mr Cook as the narrator. Thanks to all the parents who helped with transport.

We loved our visit from Suzanne, a flamenco dancer from Wellington. This was a great afternoon in the library, and she taught us the Sevilla, a Spanish dance. We learn Spanish at school and this helped us learn about the Spanish culture.

We are also going to "Little Olympics" at the Waikouaiti Events Centre on 7 August, representing different countries.

Don't forget to enter a team of four in the Purakaunui School Quiz Night on Friday 14 September at the Sawyers Bay Golf Club.

Pipi's Playgroup continues to be popular and each Thursday morning sees a delightful bunch of small people enjoying our library and sandpit. Contact Katherine Dixon on 482 1800 or the school on 482 1026 for more information about Pipis.