Tikipunga+Information

toc =media type="custom" key="9813077"= =**Rubbish!**= A reminder - please remind the children that they must take their own lunch rubbish home as Tikipunga Primary School has a "no rubbish" policy. = = A big thank you for remembering our peanut allergy person. Your support has been outstanding. We also have two other children with severe allergies that I monitor closely :)- =Chess!= A huge =media type="custom" key="9813081"= to Simon, one of our Dads who is coming along on Fridays to take the Friday class for chess. There were a lot of excited kids this week, many having their first chess session EVER!!! Look how much they were enjoying "having a go" and learning about castling, en passante and other chess terms. media type="custom" key="9595866" align="center" =Spontaneous Learning=  This week we had a learning time that was very spontaneous! The children discovered the magnifying glasses and the sun was shining beautifully, some of us ventured outside and wrote our names by burning them into paper. A really fun activity closely monitored by Deb who stood by with a large bottle of water! Here are some of them having a go:

=A Visitor= In the last week of term, Hamish, a year 6 boy from Kerikeri Primary School who is the first ever Junior Individual Community Problem Solver to represent New Zealand at the World Finals in USA in June, came to visit the Gifted Kids Programme in Tikipunga to talk to the kids about overcoming arachnid repulsion. The kids were very impressed with his work and he has inspired some of them firstly to want to try Community Problem Solving as part of their service work, and secondly to have spiders as pets. I was very impressed with the way the kids were lovely hosts to Hamish and showed real enthusiasm and awe for his work. One girl afterwards said, "I think I could let a spider walk on me now... because those weevils weren't too bad to feel, so if a spider feels like a weevil, it can't be all bad!" Go to Overcome Arachnid Repulsion to view Hamish's fb page and see his fun movies.

Here are some gorgeous photos of the kids listening to Hamish and becoming acquainted with his weevils:
 * [[image:IMG_0242.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="Hamish answers questions"]] || [[image:IMG_0241.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="Emma looks after one weevil"]] || [[image:IMG_0240.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="William enjoys looking after a weevil"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0238.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="Ben gets up and close with another weevil"]] || [[image:IMG_0236.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="Hamish delivers his talk with his mum and dad in support"]] || [[image:IMG_0235.JPG width="240" height="180" caption="Campbell enjoys watching the weevil climb around his finger"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_0232.JPG width="264" height="406"]] || Hamish discusses the importance of spiders to our eco-system and our environment. He has been working with Ruud Kleinpaste and has some amazing information about spiders and their place in society.

Hamish's mission has been to help people become less repulsed by spiders and understand them better so that they come to have a greater respect for them.

We wish Hamish all the best in his endeavour to represent New Zealand at the International Problem Solving Finals in Wisconsin, USA in June this year and look forward to having him back to talk to us about his experiences over there.

We hope he does get the opportunity to meet and hold a tarantula!

**GOOD LUCK HAMISH!** || media type="custom" key="9813087" ||