Celebrating Gifted Awareness Week 14-20 June June 10, 2009

Maia's Chindogu invention

Check out this Moustache Brush and Beard Curler!
The Upper Clutha S.T.A.R. programme kids are creating Japanese Chindogu inventions – useless (or are they?). Click to see more of their works ( micronations) and what they think about S.T.A.R.

Danielle Nicholson, facilitator of the S.T.A.R. programme, is offering an information evening for interested parents and members of our community to share and discuss how we identify gifted children. Come along Wed 24th June, 7.00pm, room 12A, Wanaka Primary School.

The S.T.A.R. (Students Thinking Achieving Reaching ) programme enables children professionally assessed as gifted, to gather once a week for a programme designed to meet their emotional, ethical, social and academic needs. Research shows that gifted children learn in a different way, often need help to achieve, and thrive when they are working with like minded peers. This programme is administered by Central Otago REAP.

Children are born gifted – regardless of their socio-economic or cultural groups. The future of the S.T.A.R. programme is threatened by lack of funding – can you help save this valuable programme? Donations, big or small, can be made by contacting Central Otago REAP 0800 267 327 or admin@coreap.org.nz

River Heights – a micro nation May 11, 2009

The students from the Alexandra and Wanaka S.T.A.R programmes created micro nations: they thought up fact files, decided on economies, created national costumes, produced maps and models.  Then they met together to present  their micro nations to each other – they came dressed in their micro nation’s national costume and bought with them their national food to eat!

River Heights Micro Nation (c)

This is River Heights:

  A folder, a photo board and a diarama was produced to introduce other students to this micro nation.

 

 

 

 

River Heights National Flag: 

River Heights Flag (c)

“The blue horizontal lines represent the calm flow of River Heights amazing River.  The fish represents the freedom of swimming up and down the river on your own accord and the white stands for purity”.

“Motto: Just go with the flow!  There will be obstacles in life , you just have to swim right through them and go with the flow.”

Introducing River Heights Costumes:

The national food is shrimp and salmon on toothpicks, dipped in thousand island dressing.

Meeting of the Minds in Alexandra April 25, 2009

The last day of  term 1, the children got together in Alexandra to present their Micronation.

• they dressed up as citizen of their nation,
• they created a display which explains their micronation: flag, map, fact files…
• They shared their national food
• And had lots of fun!

Micronation Presentation (c) Maia