Term Three Year 7 News

With Health being our main focus of the term, our Year 7 classes have now completed their Puberty and the body changes unit and have been looking at Hauora over the last week.  We had our second visit this week from a presenter from Attitude New Zealand, Christian, who presented a light hearted, informative and engaging talk to finish off our Puberty unit. 

We have continued our focus on Hauora and in this unit classes have been looking at the importance of keeping all aspects of our wellbeing in balance - Hauora is a Māori philosophy of health unique to New Zealand. It comprises taha tinana- the physical wellbeing,  taha hinengaro - mental and emotional wellbeing,  taha whanau- social wellbeing  and taha wairua - spiritual wellbeing. Our classes have also been involved in a number of rotations within our syndicates looking at different elements of wellbeing as ignitors into the second half of our term.  We were also lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to the Edgar centre in Week 1 to take part in a skills based programme to enhance our physical wellbeing. We would like to thank the Otago Polytechnic students who ran our sessions. 

All classes now shift their focus to our Term Three PBL. This project involves the Hospital Rebuild with a focus on the wellbeing of children in hospital. There are three main project areas that classes may be working in - one is around the body - creating a "LAB"- (Learning about Bodies) centre in the hospital with interactive tools and displays for children to learn about their bodies, one is about exercise and the importance of getting people moving to aid recovery, looking at things that could be created and made for the hospital setting, and the other is around Hauora - looking at ways to support wellbeing while in hospital. 

We are all very excited to see what ideas, designs, models, and future thinking designs our students create and prototype over the next few weeks for this project. Depending on future restrictions, it would be great to finish the term with a display of these open to parents and our clients - watch this space! Thank you to those parents who have indicated they are able to either act as experts for the students to consult, or to come in and speak to our students or run an activity. 

Other areas we continue to work on this term include our Balmac Way - look out for some Art work and links to some rap videos that classes have worked on as part of this. In our writing programme we have had a focus on creative writing and we have been amazed at the imagination, imagery and use of language from our students- this newsletter also has some samples of this writing for you to enjoy. 

Finally, we have been impressed with how our students continue to thrive and show resilience in what has been a rollercoaster of a year. The tone both in and out of classrooms has been fantastic and the growth we see in our Year 7's has been amazing. Thank you also to our parent community who continue to support us in so many ways. 

Lisa Dixon

On Behalf of the Year 7 Team.