The End of Autumn

Gosh the days zoomed by last week. Lots to do, and so little time! We are well aware of winter approaching, so we are trying to make the most of the sunny days to get as much exercise in as we can. On our walk one day last week a lady called out to us to come and have a look at a tree. This is what we saw:

There were butterflies everywhere. These are our familiar Monarch Butterflies hibernating. I found an interesting article on Monarch Butterflies here. It is a North American article, but has some lovely pictures, and an interesting explanation of how different generations of butterflies behave differently. According to this, these are fourth generation butterflies, and their job is to settle down and hibernate over winter, then lay eggs when the weather warms up. There will be three generations over the next spring/summer period and the fourth will winter over.

We were very lucky to see the butterflies, but I am wondering how they are with the very cold snap we are having this week.

Last week was a very special week for our oldest student Merit. Merit had her 21st birthday. She had a celebration with friends and family at home, and also a party with her classmates. She had an amazing happy day, and we all wished her the very best for the future. I have known Merit for quite a long time now, and she has grown up into a wonderful young woman who is caring, helpful and hard working. She has become so much more independent and confident over her time at Allenvale.

We have had a very cold day here today. Even though it is cold outside, we keep the classroom nice and warm.

If your family watches the news, can you find out what the weather report says for tonight? Can you do your own weather report (using a communication device or by telling someone)? 

Transition Activities

Today we broke into three groups and went down to the Bishopdale Shopping Centre to do some jobs. Some of us ended up at the library. The old Bishopdale Library is not able to be used, so there is a much smaller temporary one.

Rawiri found a computer to use. Aimee looked for books.

Merit found a really interesting book, and Matthew found some toys. Can you see the shopping bags?

Aimee read a book about bears and rabbits.

We also bought some more books for our classroom library from the second hand bookshop.

This week we were so proud of our Transition programme participants. James was excited because his dad came to visit him at Hohepa. James is really enjoying the outdoor activities at the Allenvale Hohepa Garden Programme.

  This week the Delta Group brought some silver beet plants to school so we sent them to Hohepa for the gardening team to plant. James is watering the newly planted seedlings in this photo.

James is in his last year of school. Here at Allenvale our students can stay at school until the end of the year that they turn 21. They then go on to other programmes and activities based on their needs, aspirations and skills. James is hoping to do some outdoor activities once he leaves school so we have him in training now.

The weather has been horrible today! I wonder what the weather will be like at the weekend?

Thanks to James' dad for the photos of James in action.

Styx Mill Reserve Walk

We are so lucky because the weather has been mostly lovely this season. Today we decided to get out and about for a good long walk. We visited the Styx Mill Reserve which has lovely flat tracks, and is not too far from school.

The view out across the wetlands is really interesting and different from what we are used to seeing every day.

Rawiri was trying to decide which way to go.

William had his best buddy, the I-Pod, along for the walk. He has it on so quietly that no-one else can hear.

Merit and Kyle are good friends. I love to see how they help each other.

James thought a walk was a great idea.

Matthew decided to rush ahead to see what he could see.

This was different from our last visit. There was some construction going on. The red thing looks like a lookout point.

There are beautiful views across the lake.

We spotted two young black swans (kakianau pango) bobbing around on the water.

There are quite a lot of ducks - korowhiowhio - on the lake hiding from the duck hunters. It is hunting season at the moment.

Can you see the little fantail?

Alex thought the piwakawaka - fantail was so interesting, and he tried to call it. The piwakawaka came quite close to check him out.

We were very lucky to spot a white faced/ blue heron. Their name in Maori is kakatai.

I wonder what other adventures we will have this week?

Mums are so special!

We are all so lucky because we have amazing mums that love us so much. Mums look after us and they help us. We decided that we would have a talk about our mums. 

 Merit told us that her mum is her friend. She looks after her family so well. Merit often tells us how much she loves her mum.

 Aimee loves to talk about her mum. She says that she likes to give her mum huge cuddles. Aimee also said mum bought her a very special dress.

 Rawiri's mum is the centre of his universe! Rawiri told us that his mum is fun and that he loves her.

 Kyle sent his mum a huge smile! He says that his mum is great!

 James loves staying at his mum's house.

 James sent his mum a special message "Mum I love you."

 William thinks his mum is wonderful. The photo is upside down because I stood in front of William as he showed me.

 Matthew said "like" when we asked him about his mum. We know he adores his mum!

 Alex was very excited to talk about his mum. He said this:

To all of our special mums, we hope you enjoy our little messages and have a wonderful day on Mother's Day.