News Archive

News from 2011

G is for Goat

Preschool Students spent a day studying goats. They loved the classic story The Three Billy Goats Gruff, especially when the mean troll jumps out and says "Who's that trip-trapping on my bridge?". Making pet goats out of tubes and pegs was challenging fun and bridges were constructed from a variety of sticks so then the story could be re-enacted. Some students also made great goat masks.(10/11/2011)

Something Fishy at Preschool

Dissecting a whole fish. What did we see? The scales on the body of a fish, protect them from getting hurt. Fish have five fins:
Tail fin
Dorsal fin
Pectoral fin
Anal fin
Pelvic fin
They have big eyes, small teeth and gills.
(27/10/2011)

Environmental Awareness

This week we talked to preschool students about how we need to care for our environment. We shouldn't throw oil, paper, plastic and other rubbish in our rivers and oceans because animals that drink or bath in the polluted water can get very sick or even die.
We planted some grass and will look after it by watering the seeds often.  Can’t wait for them to grow!! (20/10/2011)

Puppet Show

Weaving Maori myth and make believe, puppeteers entranced Marsden Preschoolers with a wonderful performance called Songs of the Sea. A story of four childhood friends who go in search of stories of the sea. Along the way they meet Taniwha  Ngake, the Great Shaper of the Universe, Te Ika Rā ( The sun fish), Te Ika Marama (the bright moon fish). The sea creatures invite our students to their wedding and as new fish join their family we learn how the sea life is gifted with their bright stunning colours. (28/09/2011)

Green Moth Rescue

A large green moth was found in the Preschool playground. A circle of cones was put around it so no-one would step on it. The children brought out magnifying glasses to look at it closely. Initially they thought it was dead but after a long time were rewarded to see the moth vibrating its wings, then a little later they were excited to see it fly away. Operation Moth rescue was successful. (08/09/2011)

Marsden Workshop A visit to the Marsden School workshop is always fascinating and a bit dangerous. Custodians, Jeff, Richard and Ben, use dangerous tools like saws, hatchets and heavy machinery in their job to keep the school running. Jeff took a flat piece of wood, and made a wheel on the drill press. Mini took it back to Preschool so she could sand it down, then everyone took turns sitting on Ben’s ride-on mower and wearing his protective helmet and visor. (29/08/2011)

"V" for Violin

This week we had a visit from Mr Gilling (Anne-Sophie’s dad), who is a violinist in the NZSO. We learned about the different parts of a violin, and why you need a bow. We discovered that the bottom of the bow is called a frog (but it doesn’t go “ribbet”), and that the bow strings are made from white horse hair. We learned that music is about emotions. He played Twinkle, Twinkle making it sound happy, then sad. We learned a lot about the violin during Mr Gilling’s visit! (10/08/2011)

Tricky the Clown visits Marsden Preschool

Skeleton in the closet

The Upper School Biology department is a fascinating place as Preschool students discovered when they visited this week. The classroom was filled with intriguing objects such as a skeleton, the human digestive system, gorilla skulls, goldfish and even a knee cap. They learnt that their brain is as big as two fists and their heart the size of one fist. Ribs protect the inner organs, and the heart is located in the middle of the body between the lungs.

	Back at Preschool they took this knowledge and created some impressive artwork.

Matariki Magic

Matariki is a constellation of seven stars that traditional Maori farmers relied on to indicate when to harvest crops for the winter.

This month in celebration of Matariki Preschool have been studying this theme. We have looked at the stars and constellations, how stars indicate harvest time, the number 7 and its value and Maori dance and drama. As well as creating visual arts, students had opportunities to work with the poi and piupiu skirts creating a dance or movement piece accompanied by traditional Maori music. Many of our students enjoyed this drama opportunity. (16/06/2011)

Visit with our Leader

Marsden Principal, Ms Jenny Williams, welcomed preschool students this week when they visited her in her office. Ms Williams showed them around and told them a bit about her daily routine. She has lots of meetings with new families and staff members. The students asked Ms Williams some questions about her work as a leader and other interests. She also talked about her dog, Sushi, and we are looking forward to the day Sushi visits the preschool! (16/06/2011)

'O' for Outer Space

Recently our students looked at planets, stars and astronauts as part of an investigation into outer space. We then invited them to design their own planet, choosing from a range of coloured paints. Some chose patterns of stripes; others were keen to adorn theirs with dots; some even chose one solid colour. All enjoyed the second part of this craft, applying the glitter. As the shimmering planets dried they looked spectacular. (08/06/2011)

Dress Up Fun

Golf Tips

Matching Challenge

We gave our students the task of matching bottles with their tops. They loved this challenge as each top fitted only one bottle. Putting the tops on and off required a circular wrist motion, a very specific fine motor skill. They concentrated hard as they explored this different way of increasing their agility and coordination. (26/05/2011)

Beehives and Animal Homes

One of our themes for ‘h’ week, was animal homes: beehives, bear caves, spider webs and birds nests. To learn about beehives, children experienced a staged process of cutting the frames comprising a beehive, gluing them in order, drawing bees (using bee photos and their knowledge of arthropods as guidance) and then dye washing the finished picture. (26/05/2011)

Our students absolutely adore having their photos taken especially when it is with Head of Preschool, Mrs Vasti Venter.

Busy start to Term 2

Harley Davidson

The letter 'H' was for Harley Davidson last week when our custodian, Richard Seymour, brought his bike and his biking gear to the Preschool. He told us all about the different parts of his bike and asked us if we could spot the letter “H” on his bike.  Our clever students immediately found the words Harley Davidson and pointed to the letter “H”. (30/03/2011)

Grasshopper

Grasshoppers have been a theme at the Preschool. Here Lucia paints hers after lots of discussion at mat time. (30/03/2011)

News from 2010

Christmas is coming!

There was huge excitement from the Preschool as they explored the Capital E Christmas show in central Wellington. They met Father Christmas and listened to stories. Here they are in Santa's sleigh.
(01/11/2010)

Athletics Day

Our preschoolers loved joining the big kids to jump through hoops and throw balls on Athletics Day. There was something for everyone.
(03/11/2010)

Nate's Locker

Nate loves creating things and recently he built a minature school locker for his lunchbox. We can see a builder of the future! (20/10/2010)

Te Reo Maori

At Preschool, as well as learning Spanish, students also learn te reo Māori. Pictured left are the Leaders of the Day who are standing in front of the class to say their ‘mihi’ (introductory speech).

During mat time we often sing and dance to Māori music. We also have lots of fun learning to use pois (balls on a string). Pictured right some of our children are performing a classic poi song ‘E rere taku poi’ about twirling the poi in different ways, up high, down low. (13/10/2010)

Spanish

Marsden Spanish teacher, Miss Cristinia Triantafilo, visits Preschool once a week to teach Spanish basics: numbers, colours, simple commands and common food words. Our students really enjoy her lessons.  She starts off with a greeting song then moves to the topic of the week. Lately we have been learning about food. For example 'ensalada' (salad) - we look at the food, learn the word and then get to taste it. Many parents have commented that our students talk about Spanish and like to repeat the words they have learned at home. Muy bien! (13/10/2010)

Self-Help Skills

We would like to focus this term on our students’ self-help skills.  This includes opening their own lunchboxes and drink bottles, wearing shoes that can easily be put on and taken off, and user-friendly, named clothing. (13/10/2010)

Lunchbox Maths

When students are making guesses about what might happen in different situations, they are learning about probability. The more experiences they have with concrete objects the more accurate their guesses will be.

This week we looked at lunch boxes to see which colour is the most popular at Preschool. The children guessed red, yellow, blue or pink, but it was only when we counted and made graphs that they discovered that there were more pink lunchboxes than any others. (23/06/2010)

Preschool Science

Sebastian demonstrates his science experiment on sinking and floating to his fellow preschoolers and the Head of Preschool, Mrs Vasti Venter. (15/06/2010)

Prime Minister's Visit

The Prime Minister, the Hon. John Key, visited our Preschool yesterday at the invitation of the children. They wrote to him last week when they were learning the letter "J" in the alphabet. He listened to them sing, read them a story and answered their questions. The children really enjoyed his visit. (03/06/2010)

Autumn Leaves

Flinging autumn leaves in the air creates endless fun for these preschoolers next to the Marsden tennis courts. What better way to learn about the changing seasons?

(28/04/2010)

Helicopter

Last week an Air Force helicopter visited Marsden.  It was very noisy as it landed on the playing field. Students were able to ask the pilots questions and then sit in the helicopter before it flew away.

From Leo's file:
What an exciting day!
A helicopter came to land on the big field at Marsden, and Leo had the opportunity to sit inside the helicopter.
whahoooooooooooo
(24/03/2010)

D for Dog

Our letter of the week is D, so what better way to learn about the letter D than to have a visit from Choko the long haired Jack Russell. We learnt that Choko will be 5 years old in July and that she will do anything for food. She knows 4 tricks: sit, beg, wait and drop. She likes to chase flies and her favourite colours are pink and purple. Thank you Maya and Mrs Catley for bringing Choko to visit.

B for Ballerina

Marsden Preschool were fortunate to have a ballerina visit to talk about ballet and dance. Some ballets tell stories, some ballets are about ideas or feelings and some ballets are meant just to show off the skill of the dancers.  But all ballet, unlike other kinds of dance, is meant to be watched by an audience.  When our ballerina dances her dance of the Nutcracker, she will be dancing not just for herself but also to give joy to her family, friends and audiences.

B for Basketball 

As part of B Week Coach Kenny, a Basketball Coach, took the students for a ball skills session. Kenny McFadden, is a very high profile NZ coach and was a long time player in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL). Kenny is currently the Junior Tall Blacks Coach and they will take on the world at the Junior World Champs later in the year. (11/02/2010)

We've had a great start to the year at Marsden Preschool as these photos show.

	Yummy Baking - A for Apples Apple muffins were a big hit with Marsden Preschoolers who thoroughly enjoyed baking and then eating them in the first week of term.
Building Blocks	Painting Hydrangeas (the school flower)
Letter of the week "A"	Picnic Time
Discus throwing	Bike riding
Getting hands dirty	Reading with Marsden Primary students
Water play	Showing off  the mural

News from 2009 Visiting Musicians The Preschool was lucky to be visited by a Bagpipe player and two drummers on Monday. They played some Scottish music for us. It was very loud and quite different to the music we normally hear. (18/11/09)
Information Technology Visit Preschool Letter of the Week last week was the letter "I" and so we visited the IT department in the main school. We had a talk from the Head of Technology, Mr West,  saw a LEGO® robot dance and then we went on a tour of the school to see where the network cables go that carry all the information from the computers in the Preschool back to the control room. It was great fun visiting the IT room. (10/11/09)
New PE Routine Marsden Preschool has incorporated a new PE routine in our programme.  Every Tuesday and Thursday morning the outside teacher will prepare a variety of physical activity stations on the tennis court before we have our mat time.  We will then divide children into three groups of 10, and rotate them between these stations.  (23/10/09)
Budding Photographers Our preschoolers have taken ownership of our cameras and proved to be excellent and creative photographers as these examples show.
	The photos they take are put into their personal folders and then their thoughts and words about the photos are recorded. Parents can view the folders and their responses to the images are recorded as well.
	W for Wheelathon Wheels rule on Wheelathon day at Marsden Preschool. (20/08/09)
	V for Veterinarian The girls and boys in Preschool have had some very interesting visitors, inspired by their letter of the week. Recently, Vet Maddie talked about her job and showed the children how to listen to the chest of visiting dog, Truffle. (19/08/09)