Thank you to Jessica Williams from room 9 and Isabelle Harfield from room 10 for a fun filled fundraiser with the year 1s!

At Gulf Harbour School we foster and teach leadership skills. It is fantastic to see these skills at work and delightful to see real life outcomes.

Jessica and Isabelle were supported by the Reading Crew, when they planned and carried out a morning of reading games and dress up with our youngest children.  They collected a gold coin donation for the special occasion.

The two girls are very proud to present the new books for our school that they chose and their initiative paid for.

Thank you, Jessica and Isabelle and thank you to the Reading Crew!

Mrs Goodall

Literacy Leader

Our youngest students work very hard and learn so much - very impressive!

I got my Christmas tree at the Christmas tree shop. I decorated it ... I found the elves.

By Abigail Cornelious, room 1








I heard a bird. The bird chirped. I thought a waterfall was flowing down the rocks. I heard a sweet song.

By Hazel Hanwell, room 5


 



The cat saw a strange bug. And a strange shark (said), "Need a hand, buddy?" "No, thank you." said the cat. Hi cat.

By Nathan Emmett, room 21

Enjoy this very informative report about "Travelling to Mars" by Mateo Prado from room 25

Meet our youngest story tellers from room 1 and enjoy a Splish Splash Day with them!

Meet Noah a year 1 writer from room 6 - what an amazing retell, Noah! I am looking forward to many more stories to come from you :)

Year 5 and 6 Speech Competition Finalists - An amazing battle of the pens fought by our senior students. Enjoy the speeches by Tane and Tiia from room 15. Congratulations to Tane, the winner of the year 5 competition!

Have you heard of a Hector’s dolphin? Do they have predators, or are we the predators? Why are they only in New Zealand? I think that hector’s dolphins should not be endangered, because this mammal is so beautiful that they are the key to my heart. We should work with the Bank Peninsula Sanctuary to re populate them.

The Hector's dolphin is one of the smallest dolphins in the world, they do not exceed 1.5m in length. They like to eat small fish and squid. This amazing mammal is endemic to New Zealand, meaning they’re only found here. Did you know that Hector's dolphin fins are curved like a rugby ball and their white belly is for camouflage? When their predators are looking up, they wouldn’t be able to see them and then when their predators look down on their grey silvery back, they will be camouflage again so they will not be able to see them. So now you know how unique they are, don’t you think they’re worth saving?

Hector's dolphin have many predators which are Sharks, orca and even us humans. They can defend them self against a Shark and Orca by working together to frighten the predator away. But they are powerless when caught in a fishing net. They are a mammal and need to breathe air. When caught in a net, they are stuck under the water and drown. Hector's Dolphins do not migrate like other dolphins, there only location is here in New Zealand, specifically the South Island and the West coast of the North Island. If we all work with the Bank Peninsula Sanctuary this mammal will still get to exist.

The Bank Peninsula Sanctuary is a place where they keep species like Hector's dolphins safe by banning most fishing. Do you care about the beautiful hector’s dolphin? Well I certainly do, also did you know that hector's dolphins are more rare than a kiwi?  If we didn't care about this type of dolphin they would no longer exist. To help the dolphins you can report dolphins that are stranded or in distress. Also, next time you’re in Christchurch, head out on a Black Cat cruise because some of the money that you pay will help save the dolphins. I would do anything to save them and I hope you would to. We can all work with the Bank peninsula sanctuary to make them not endangered and help their population increase by 5% per year and maybe eventually get to 10% increase each year.

 Dolphins like bottlenose dolphins are not endemic and go all across the world  

But hector's dolphins on the other hand are endemic to New Zealand. They don't leave this beautiful country so it’s up to you great people  to get off your butt and save them because no other country will do it. Now you know about the hector's dolphin you have no excuse to not save them. What will you do to save the Hector’s dolphin? Thank you.

By Tane Kelleher

 The first time I went to the South Island I wanted to see only one bird. As I stepped out of our car I was created by dozens and dozens of mosquitos. They definitely weren’t what I was looking for. After a walk to the majestic mountains we’d arrived back at our car. We got the biggest surprise of our life. There were green parrots pecking at our window wipers! It was the bird I had been hoping to see - the Kea. I personally think that we should all get an opportunity to see these amazing birds!      

If you’ve never seen a kea and you’re on the lookout, they’re an olive green parrot with a scarlet underwing. So if you’re up in the snow and you see a green and scarlet flash flying by you’re most likely gazing at the world’s only alpine parrot found only in the South Island of New Zealand. This makes them extremely unique which is why I think 100% of all New Zelanders should get the chance to see these cheeky mountain dwellers.  

Their cheeky nature sometimes gets them into trouble like this fun fact. Once a kea locked a DOC ranger in the Muller hut toilet at Mount Cook! It is this thrilling inquisitiveness that makes them endangered and vulnerable to predators. This is because they like to hang around human camping sites and campervan parks. It is these humans that have introduced the biggest threats to the kea and their habitat.

Keas have a number of pests including rats, stoats, possums and cats. Keas nest in holes in the ground in native forests which makes their nests easy to access. So if a stoat or a rat happens to be slinking by and sees a hole in the ground they quickly nip in while the mum is gone. Scoring themselves a delicious meal.This means that they are endangered and numbers range from only 7000 - 3000 left. So if we don’t do something soon there’ll be no more kea left in the whole entire world! It is so simple we can just get pest traps from Bunnings.

You might be wondering why scientists haven’t been able to track down the exact number. It is because they live in the southern districts of the Hurunui River that stretches into the high country of Nelson and Marlborough and up into the mountains. They travel long distances making the exact number hard to count. The area they live in provides the food they eat such as leaves, flower buds and fruits, together with insects. But people are reducing their habitat for farmland, so we need to protect the forests and their habitat before they become extinct and lost forever. 

By introducing pest traps and protecting our native forests, we can help save these unique and inquisitive birds from introduced predators like rats, cats, people and so on! Next time you go to the South Island I hope you are lucky enough to have Kea destroy your car! So do you want these awesome birds to die out? What can you do to help?

By Tiia Cooke

Mateo Prado from room 25 shares his knowledge about Saturn with us by writing a very informative report

ESOL students Benjamin and Jihoo from room 10 and 15 created descriptive texts about rafting on the Kaituna River

When I sit on the raft, I can hear people shouting, "Arrghh!" People shout, because they are terrified. I can hear a bird singing, because it is on the tree.

I can see emerald green water, because I sit down on the boat. I can see water bubbling around the rocks. There are three colourful parrots on the tree.

I feel happy rafting down the river. I am scared of falling out of the raft. I am terrified of falling down the waterfall.

By Benjamin Lee


I can hear people laughing, when they are so excited. When we sit on the raft, we can hear people shouting, when they are so scared. When we are on the Kaituna River, we can hear birds singing.

When we are on the Kaituna River, we can see water bubbling. We can see parrots. The water of the Kaituna River is emerald green. When we raft on the Kaituna River, we can see a lot of trees.

Before we go to the 7 meter waterfall, we can feel worried. When we raft on the Kaituna River, we can feel excited. When we fall off the 7 meter waterfall, we can feel thrilled.

By Jihoo Lee

Room 19 shares their camp memories with us - what a treat, thank you, room 19!

Isla Lightfoot from room 6 is an amazing author. This year 1 writer has written a beautiful narrative. Enjoy!

The ESOL students wrote stories about the Matariki myths - enjoy!

Once upon a time where the seven sisters lived, they zigzagged around the sun. They annoyed the red and blue star. Their dad and mum were angry and sad. Dad said, “They need a new job.” Dad called the biggest sister to get her sisters to start the new year.

By Elli from room 12, year 2

In the sky where the stars lived there were seven sisters of Matariki. They went to the sun and they zigzagged and buzzed all over the place. The blue star said, “They are so annoying!” and the red star said, “Settle down! Settle down! Settle down!” Then their mum and dad had an idea. Then the seven sisters became the sign for a new year.

By Nara from 11, year 2

Up in pitch black space with millions of stars were seven sisters who were zigzagging around all the time. Wainui and Tangotango were the parents of them. The seven stars’ names were Matariki, Waiiti, Waita, Ururangi, Tuan-a-rangi and Tupu-a-nuka.

“Come, let’s play!” one of the sisters said. They went around the other stars calling out, “You can’t catch me! Lalalala!” which annoyed the other stars. After hours of play they settled down, but not for long.

After a bit the seven sisters started to play hide and seek and tag. Ruaranga was moaning and raising his eyebrows. He shouted at them, “Stop playing your crazy games! You are annoying the others.”

Takurua had a purple face and shouted, “Stop pushing me!”

Suddenly Waita crashed into Puaranga. Puaranga had a yellow face and did not look happy.

Wainui was just about to call the seven sisters, when she heard that complaint. When Tangotanga came, he had a red face and said, “I can’t bear these complaints about our daughters.” Wainui’s lips were closed really tight and her eyes were cast down.

“What are we going to do?” said Tangotango.

For a while they were both thinking of a way to stop their daughters annoying the others. They were both embarrassed about their daughters. Then Tangotango had an idea. “Let’s make our daughters the sign of the new year!”

“Great idea” replied Wainui. They called their oldest daughter, Matariki, to get the other sisters. Wainui was happy, because they had a solution.

By Sophie, year 5

One night in our amazing galaxy seven little star sisters speedily zoomed around the area. They were like non stop, speeding Flashes. Through day and night the girls kept zigzagging and zooming with no worry about speed, time, other stars or crashing into each other.

Every morning Puanga, the rd star, spilled his very hot Starbucks on himself, because the sisters always bumped into him.

“Why dod they do this? I literally have more than twenty-five purple blisters on my face and my chest and it burns a lot!” Puanga yelled to all the other stars around the milky way.

“Settle down, you … you … you noisy children!” Takurua, the blue star, tried to yell as loud as possible, but he was unable to. He was too tired.

The other stars were wondering where the parents of the cheeky little stars were.

“Oh, my goodness”, said Wainui, “What are our daughters doing? I know that our daughters can behave much better than how they are behaving right now.” Both parents felt worried and embarrassed.

“Wainui, we need a plan. A plan to make them stop behaving like this.” …

“Ah, I know! Maybe they could be a sign for the Maori new year?”

“That sounds perfect!” said Wainui. “But where are our children?” she wondered.

“MATARIKI, COME HERE, PLEASE!” shouted Tangotango. “Could you gather your younger sisters and tell them about their new responsibilities?” Wainui asked.

Matariki told her sisters about their new responsibility and they put themselves into their new positions. So Matariki, the sign for the new year, was formed.

By Katya, year 5

Once upon a time there lived 7 sisters in the sky. They were entertaining and they zigzagged around. Then there was a problem. They were annoying the Red Star and the Blue Star. “You are annoying!” said Red Star. “Settle down!” said Blue Star. The parents looked at the blue star and the red star. They were annoyed. “They need an important job. They can be the sign for the new year.” Dad called the biggest sister and she called the little sisters.

By Vika from room 14, year 2