Looking to the future - and best wishes to those leaving us!

 For our final Quest session of the year we thought about the future. We looked at futuristic ideas and how they come about, and we thought about who can influence our future (mostly ourselves!). We looked at having a goal / plan and what it involves to get to that goal. The 'success iceberg' is good for us all to remember - success is a bit like an iceberg - you only ever see the top part of it, there is a lot more underneath it all. We may see people being successful, but behind success is a lot of hard work, perseverance, time, failure, good habits etc. 

We had fun imagining and creating ideas for the future and thinking about the future we would like for ourselves and for the planet. We talked about the space race and how it only happened because people had a plan and worked hard to make that plan happen - designing ways to overcome problems along the way. 

We debated whether it would be good in the future to have schools all online and looked at the advantages and disadvantages of that. 

My year 5&6 groups were so lovely. As the year 6's are leaving I always give them a little something to think about and to remember Quest. They in turn secretly organised a card and got everyone in class to sign it - I didn't even notice! Actually at one stage I called some of them out for chatting and passing a note around - only to find that it was for me - oops! 

I really love that I get to work with many of these children over several years, and I really love their feedback, enthusiasm, great ideas and questions. They really make Quest what it is, and I love that they get to bounce ideas off each other and learn so much from each other. 

Here is my letter for the year 6's this year. 

Enjoy Summer everyone - year 6's and anyone who is moving to another school - I wish you well on your next learning journey, and I'll see the rest of you next year. 

Debbie

CHALLENGE TOPICS

 This term we have continued looking at the concept of challenge.

We have focused on how different people deal with challenges and the feelings that we experience when something is a challenge. We also looked at the benefits of challenge and how it can make us come up with new and novel ideas when we are trying to solve a problem.

WORLD RECORDS

We tried our own class records - who can make a lolly last the longest in their mouth, and who can carefully tear the lolly paper into the longest strand of paper.

We looked at world records set by others and thought about WHY people try to set world records and HOW they get there. 

COMPETITION

We looked at the rugby world cup  and how people deal with the challenge of competition. We looked at skills needed to excel in anything (perseverance, time, effort, self-drive, support, coaching / teaching, equipment etc). 

CHANGE

We looked at the changes that happen through our lives - changing classes, schools, houses, interests etc. We also looked at some child development and how many changes occur in the first 5 years of our lives. We thought about which changes are more difficult and why. We then had fun imagining if we could press pause on our life at any stage which age we thought we'd like to be forever. There were lots of great ideas here - 'Be a kid forever so I don't have to work' , '18 because then I could drive and vote, and it's not too old and not too young', 'A baby in my Mum's tummy so I would be all cosy and warm' (not sure if Mums would like that forever - ha ha!!). And then we had some great thoughtful ideas - 'I wouldn't stop anywhere because every stage in your life is important and every mistake or tough time is important as it makes us who we are' -WOW! 

THE OCEAN

We looked at challenges in the ocean and differing opinions. The older groups had a simulated diplomacy
task - each group was given a different stakeholder group to represent in an imaginary location - commercial fisheries, Island residents who fish for their food and sell fish to others for money, a large neighbouring country with not much coastline (or Exclusive Economic Zone) and a big population to feed who value fish in their diet, Conservationists who are concerned about the ocean ecosystem etc. They had to discuss their position with government representatives and what they wanted, plus come up with ideas for how they could work with other groups to ensure everyone was happy. Lots of great debate and a realisation that it's not easy to negotiate with so many different needs and opinions. 

It's important for our highly able children to realise that challenge is part of life and actually can help us learn and grow. It's equally important that they understand that it's ok to ask for help if we need it, and to know that different people have different experiences and opinions so we need to be mindful of that and not expect everyone to be the same as them. Lots of great learning this term. 

Making choices / Elections

While looking at the concept of challenge we thought about the challenge of making choices.

How do we make choices? 

Do we ever have to consider others when making choices?

Do some choices only affect us or do all choices affect others too?

How do we feel when others don't agree with us? What can we do about it? 

If we need to make a choice as a group what is the best way to make it fair? 

Children were outraged when we had a class vote and I only allowed a small group to vote on it. This led to discussions on feelings and fairness. 

We then looked at the history of NZ voting. 

• Did you know that in 1853 NZ held it's first election. To be eligible to vote you had to be male, over 21, and a British subject who either owned or rented property worth a moderate amount of money. 
• In 1860 men who had miners' rights became eligible to vote. 
• In 1867 all Māori men over 21 became eligible to vote.

The girls in the class were up in arms that females were not allowed to vote, but very proud when we looked at Kate Sheppard and the suffragette movement. 

• Finally on 19 Sept 1893 the law was changed so that women were allowed to vote. NZ was the first country in the world to allow this.  Kate Sheppard graces our $10 note for her part in NZ history. 

 The following week the year 5&6's took part in a mock election. We talked about qualities we think are important in people, and what we think the world needs more of. We then looked at candidate statements from the leader and deputy of the 5 current sitting parties - Labour, National, Greens, ACT, te Pāti Māori. The candidates were not identified as being from any particular party, but some children knew some of them. Candidates had also been asked, by the Save the Children organisation, to respond to questions about the most important qualities in people and what they think the world needs more of. They were also asked what they thought political leaders should do to support children. 

Children were asked to vote for who they thought should be the next Prime Minister of NZ. We had a voting booth and ballot box set up for their votes. They were also given the opportunity to write what they would like the next Prime Minister of NZ to do to make Aotearoa a better place for children. 

Here are some of their ideas to make Aotearoa a better place for children:

• Drop food prices
• Help kids with learning difficulties
• Give children optional jobs so they get more money
• Listen to children to get ideas
• Pay us to go to school
• Lower prices for video games and toys
• They should listen to us more as our imagination can be very creative so adults should use more of our ideas
• Better tech
• Pay teachers more
• More freedom
• No school
• Enforce laws
• More football teams and cards
• Lower prices for houses and better education
• Care about the environment more
• More food and more nature
• Better homes and food. 
• Make sure that all children and adults have a home, food and water
• Cut down the use of fossil fuels and polluting the world
• Stop bullies because it can make kids shy and stop kids from socialising

And here are the results of their vote.

If you are interested, here are the candidate statements from Save the Children. 

TERM 3 - CHALLENGE

 This term we are looking at topics through the concept lens of 'Challenge'. The aim is to explore challenges that people face and how they deal with them, and for children to see that everyone faces challenges. Some of our children can have perfectionist tendencies, so it is good for them to understand that it is normal to find things challenging at times and have strategies for dealing with that when they experience challenge. It is also good for them to have some empathy for times when others may not find things as easy as they might. 

DIFFERENTLY ABLED

We started by looking at challenges of  being differently abled. We tried doing some things without using our hands, and then looked at this inspirational girl who was born with no hands. 

We discussed how we felt when things were difficult and what we could do about it. 

We also thought of other ways people could have different abilities  - both visible and invisible differences. This brought up some good discussions about ADHD, dyslexia, ASD, tourettes etc -  some children have some of these and were happy to share their experiences.

Children chose a variety of activities to extend their learning - some learned how to sign their name, some experimented with drawing using their foot, some read more about learning differences.

FLIGHT

We looked at the challenges of designing and making something that can fly. What helps something to fly? We explored the Bernoulli principle and air pressure,  and looked at thrust, lift and angle of attack. Then children made a paper plane and experimented with improving it. Some looked at flying creatures and explored how they fly. Some designed flying machines of the future. Some looked up information about the Wright brothers and Richard Pearse. Some explored how to make the world record breaking paper plane. Some taught others how to make different paper planes. 

Inventions and self-reflection

 INVENTIONS AND SELF-REFLECTION

The concept of exploration continues in Term 2. 

ELECTRICITY

We looked at the invention of electricity and Nikola Tesla's creation of the AC current (as opposed to the original DC current). We looked at difficulties that faced Tesla on his invention journey (a difference of ideas with Edison, illness in early years, expectations from his father to become a priest like him, fears, difficulty in social situations), and the things that helped him (curiosity, determination, sense of humour, support from his inventive mother). 

We looked at the basics of how electricity works and had a chance to experiment with the brainbox equipment to make circuits.

ROCKETS and SATELLITES

We looked at satellites and what their purpose is. We thought about how we use satellites in our everyday life (GPS, weather data, communication).  Some of the year 3-6 students had a talk from some space ambassadors from Rocket Lab. They explained about innovations they are using to make exploration of space and getting information about the earth and the solar system more accessible. 

EXPLORING OUR IMAGINATIONS AND OUR PERSONALITIES - self-reflections

We took some time to think about how we use our mind. One week we looked at how some people are creative and the fact that imagination requires us to just have a go - there is no right or wrong way of being imaginative. We looked at the work of artists like Victor Nunes, and tried some creative thinking exercises ourselves.

Another week some children looked at our values and identity - what kind of person are we? What do we like? What do we think is important? What do we find difficult? We looked at how everyone is different and just because someone is different to us does not mean that they are less of a person - they just see things / do things / think in a different way to us.  I love some of the things that children said they value...

• Memories
• School
• Being kind
• caring for the environment
• being alive
• Teddies
• not being late
• keeping my bedroom clean! 
• Earth
• Being alone
• Family
• Being unique

It's always good to take a moment for some metacognition (thinking about how we think and work). It's helps us not only understand ourselves, but also to be more accepting of differences when we realise that we are all unique.  Some of the year 5&6 children looked at personality types and started thinking about their personality types and how that affects how they make decisions, pay attention, resolve issues, and what energises them (extravert personalities are energised by being around people, introvert personalities are energised by having time alone). 

Exploration topics

 Topics to do with Exploration

Early Explorers - we acted out the pūrākau (legend) of Kupe and the wheke (octopus). We thought about HOW early early explorers might have found their way, and WHY they went exploring.

Exploring inventions - We looked at the life of Nikola Tesla and his exploration of things to do with electricity and transmission. Many recognised the name Tesla from the cars, so we looked at why the company might be called that. We thought about problems Nikola Tesla faced, and also things that helped him along the way. His Mum sounds like a pretty interesting and creative person!

Some of the children explored making circuits with the brainbox equipment. 

How explorers travelled - we investigated modes of transport (ships, waka hourua, aerolpanes, feet etc) and thought about the advantages and disadvantages of each transport method. 

Look how advanced waka hourua were. 

Tamariki investigated different transport methods and technologies, some looked at current exploration of planets, and some thought of designs for time travel machines. 

TERM 2 - EXPLORATION

 EXPLORATION is our concept for this term. 

We started by thinking about the meaning of exploration - in small groups children sorted words or pictures into groups of things that were exploring, and things that were not. This brought up a lot of great discussion as children justified their thoughts and discussed whether they agreed or not. We talked about personal opinion and how some people see things from different perspectives so it is good to listen to everyone's ideas. 

What do you think? Which ones of these could be exploration? 

Once we had figured out the definition for exploration we brainstormed how people can explore earth. There were many great ideas such as drilling to get rock samples, scuba diving to explore underwater, drones, mountain climbing, spelunking (cave exploration - some remembered the vocab from last term). 

We looked at how satellites can help us explore things about earth - maps, weather patterns, GPS, communication etc

Many of the year 3-6 children had fun exploring google earth and finding where they lived on the satellite view and/or on street view. Some designed and created models of satellites. Some explored NASA technology website for kids, some found out how GPS works. 

My year 1 and 2 groups had some time exploring thinking games and puzzles - challenging themselves to solve problems. 

School life

 What is school for? 

We brainstormed different things about learning - what is it important to learn? What would you like to learn? What helps us to learn? What makes learning difficult? What could you help others to learn? 

This brought up a lot of discussion as children moved around the room writing their ideas on the different sheets of paper. This 'bus stop' activity where they travel around the room and stop at each paper to write ideas helps them to have their own ideas heard, but also allows for mixing and discussion along the way. 

We then looked at photos of schools in different countries and thought about what might make it difficult or might help learning in each situation. 

We then thought about possible schools of the future. I posed a scenario and they had to think about advantages and disadvantages about it.

"The year is 2050. Schools have been declared 

too expensive and have been abolished. 

All children will work from home at online schools.

Students can choose any online school to participate in 

and could be working with children from 

many different countries." 

It was an interesting exercise as many at first were keen on the idea, but when they started to think about it they came up with many possible problems. 

There were several choices to expand thinking - designing an ideal classroom, thinking what makes a good teacher or a good friend and advertising for that, writing about what they would be like if they were a teacher etc.

SEA WEEK - Sea life

 Why is the sea important for us? 

We get over half our oxygen from the sea, and it is also an important part of the water cycle. Some food also comes from the sea. So it's as important to people as it is for the creatures who live in the sea. 

We thought about problems facing the sea and if we could do anything to help. We practiced kaitiakitanga (guardiandship) by going out to pick up rubbish to  stop it getting into the sea - we were surprised at how much we found. 

Children did various activities to learn more - learn to draw; researching sea creatures and some of NZ's  most endangered, the Maui Dolphin and the fairy tern; finding out more about Tīkapa Moana (the Hauraki Gulf - the area of sea that surrounds Whangaparaoa Peninsula), and some even asked to go out and find more rubbish. 

It's important for these tamariki to feel empowered and have a way to make a difference if they want to. They are often deeply caring individuals who can feel overwhelmed thinking about the issues in the world, so it's good for them to see people who are already helping, and to find a way that they can help too. 

Biospeliology - cave life

Bios = life (Greek)

Speliology = the study of caves

Ana = cave in Maori

We did some thinking about what life would be like in a cave. If you couldn't see how would you find food? 

We had a 'cave' set up in the room - under the tables - which children explored. I had some paper cutouts of cave critters in there for them to discover. Did you know that 'spelunking' is the name for exploring
caves. Lots of fun big words this week. 

We talked about glow worms (arachnocampa luminosa) and who had seen them before. Some had been to waitomo (wai = water, tomo= hole or go into). Did you know that we have glow worms at Shakespear Park? They can often be seen near the waterfall - go on a night walk and turn off your torches when you get to the waterfall. We thought about why they might glow. Here's a video about them.

Some animals live in caves their whole life (troglobytes - troglos = greek for cave, bytes from bios, life)

Some like to live in caves, but can live outside as well (troglophiles - phileos = love)

Some just visit caves (trogloxenes - xenos = guest).

We looked at adaptation needed to live in a cave.

People have lived in caves in various countries / times (some still do). We discussed why people might live in caves and what adaptations people would need to make - what would be difficult about living in a cave? We thought of advantages and disadvantages of living in a cave. 

Some designed their own cave houses (thinking about how to see, how to get rid of waste, how to get water), some created cave creatures out of pipecleaners - such as the tokoriro or cave wētā, some researched animals that live in caves etc. 

2023 - Term 1 LIFE

 Welcome to Quest 2023! This term's concept is LIFE. We are going to be looking at a wide variety of topics that link to this concept. 

WATER FOR LIFE 

“Ko te wai te ora ngā mea katoa”

Water is the life giver of all things.

We looked at what we know about water and made a PMI (plus, minus and interesting) chart about water. I chose this as it was topical due to the recent floods. I wanted tamariki to think about different ways we have water in our life. We looked at being problem solvers - how can we try to find a solution to a problem? If water can be dangerous when we are on a boat what can we do? (wear a life jacket, know how to swim, be careful etc). 

We looked at ideas for solutions to too much rain (floods) and too little rain (droughts).  Children explored a variety of ideas from looking at how desalination plants work, permeable concrete design, to designing flood proof homes. Some played board games to learn more about conserving water, others found out how our wastewater system works, some thought about the many ways we use water every day. 

We looked at the importance of water in different cultures. 

"Freshwater is taonga (precious) for Māori.In te ao Māori (Māori worldview) each body of water has its own mauri. Tribal identity is closely linked to freshwater." environment.govt.nz

Wai = water

wai Māori = fresh water

waitai = salt water