Weta Stall

"Ok guys were gonna go to the weta stand now."

We get to the weta stand and the guy starts talking about where weta’s live and how big they get. 

Did you know that the weta is the biggest insect in the world  and the biggest weta record weighed 70 grams. That's pretty big considering it's an insect.  

Did you know that there are over 120 species of weta in New Zealand. 

Next he brought out a massive tree weta. The creature slowly came out of his little house and onto people’s hands. It’s giant head and eyes searching for food. It’s massive legs with knife like spikes threaten everything in it’s path. It comes to me looking like a killer. It crawls onto my hand - “Hey it tickles." Weta's aren't so scary after all!

Lincoln University Ecology Stalls

On the 21 March we went to the Lincoln University stalls as part of the Lincoln Heritage festivals celebrating Lincoln Townships 150 th anniversary.

At one of the stalls we visited, the expert grabbed our attention by letting us touch the possum fur and tails. Then he discussed the diseases of T.B, then he carried on to tell us about their population which was 70 million but went down to 50 million. We were intrigued and wanted to know more.

Then he taught us about the cameras they use to get footage of wildlife. He told us that it holds up to 8000 photos and takes 3 photos per second. They are specially designed with no flash, so it wont scare the animals away.

Hamish, Macca and Brooke thought it was a great experience and a different way to learn. We really enjoyed it and are grateful for going. A big thanks to Wendy and Simon and all the parent helpers.  

By Macca, Hamish, Brooke. 

Field Days 2013

On Thursday our class went to the field days. I saw the tractor of the year and other tractors like Case, Class, John deere, Massy Ferguson and there was more and more machinery. It was my favourite part of the day.

I also saw some of the new machinery get tested, like the super seeder, tractor and balers and much more. But! The best thing was getting to be there with my friends

Lincoln Field Day

On Thursday our class went to the Lincoln Field Day. I was interested in the Tractor of the Year and the combine harvesters. I heard the Tractor of the Year was made in France at the Ferrari factory. 

Jack said, “The inside of the tractor had lots of buttons!” 

Here are some of Team Inaka around the Tractor.

2013 Weetbix Tryathlon

On Sunday I competed in the 2013 Weetbix tryathlon along with eight others from my class. I think that’s a pretty good effort from Team Inaka!

I competed in the 11 year olds and I had to swim 200 m, bike 8 kms and run 1.5 kms. I got my medal off Anna Harrison (Scarlett) - she is a lot taller than me!!

I was disappointed at the end that Sanitarium were not selling Up and Go’s. I enjoyed going with Jack on the rugby obstacle course. This was my fourth tryathlon for this year. I think I might try doing the duathlon at the end of the term.

Here is a picture of the Springston Competitors at the end of the day - Springston School Rocks!!

Canterbury Triathlon 2013

On the 13 March 2013 we had the Canterbury Triathlon which was held at Pegasus Lake.

When we arrived we unloaded our bikes and started to make our way into the grounds. I could see crowds of people from other schools piling across the bridge. When we got into the grounds we made our way to the transition area and parked our bikes on the bike stands provided. We then got our helmets, shoes and towels out and place them beside our bikes ready for the race!

We walked over and meet up with the rest of our team. The following kids were the ones who made it into the Canterbury Triathlon from Springston School:

1.   Harriet
2.   Haidee
3.   Alice
4.   Lucy
5.  Heather and
6.  Macaulay!

We’re all very excited but nervous for our race we decide that we should get wet before the race so then during the race we wouldn’t find it so cold! We ran down to the water’s edge and dipped our feet in the lake. It was not very warm, but I went for a dive!! It’s was cold but quite refreshing.

We get called over to line up in our age groups for our races. While we are in our lines we each get given numbers to identify us and mark our times against the other competitors. The first age group to go was the 9 year old boys then not long after was Heather’s race the 9 year old girls, working up from there to the oldest age group the 12+ girls….

The races were fun, tiring and exciting. We started off with a 75 metre swim for the 9 and 10 year olds and a 100 metre swim for the 11 and 12+ year olds in the Pegasus Lake.  For the swim, on the word of “Go!” everyone sprinted into the water and dived in (it wasn’t warm!!).  

We then had a 4km bike - for the 9 and 10 year olds - or an 8km bike for the 11 and 12+ year olds. It was on the road, some of the corners had gravel on them, so you had to be careful not to fall off. On the way back it was a head wind, so I had to pedal hard! But it was worth it.

Last of all we had a 2.5km run for all the age groups (9 - 12+years). The run was right around the Pegasus Lake…

For the run, because I had just done a bike, my legs felt like jelly so it made it harder to run….but luckily after a while the feeling went away. Unluckily, not that long after my jelly legs, I started to get stitch, but I decided that it would be better to run through it - so I did.    I was just about at the finish line when I made my final sprint!, It felt great to finish it.

To cool off we all went into the cold lake and went for a dive it was really cool and refreshing.

We all had lots of fun and I thought it was a great experience!!

A few days later our placings and times came out and are shown below

Harriet: 11 years             57th          - time: 40:10

Alice: 11 years                52nd         - time: 39:02

Haidee: 12 years             55th          - time: 40:37

Lucy: 10 years                26th          - time:  26:02

Macaulay: 10 years    55th          - time : 26.34

By Alice K

Swimming Sports & Beach Ed

Swimming Sports/Beach Ed on PhotoPeach

Biking on the School Triathlon

On Friday 1 March our whole school took part in a triathlon. This is our new bike section.
Springston School Triathlon - On our Bikes! on PhotoPeach

Georgia and Molly's buddy

This year Molly and I are lucky enough to have Renee as our buddy.
So far we have really enjoyed helping Renee and here is some things we have already learnt about her.

Her favourite book is the Wonkey Donkey.
Her favourite colour is purple and she loves princesses!

Swimming Sports

On Thursday the 21February the senior and middle school held their school swimming sports. This year we went to a new venue, Southbridge pool, the general opinion from talking to kids and parents, it seemed that most people liked the new place. Once everybody arrived we got in to our togs and sat down and got ready for the first races.

The order of events was as follows; freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke. The races were divided into age groups. The race was started by Simon hitting the clappers together. First, second, third and fourth place getters were given sticks in the colour to show their places.

The quality of some of the swimming was outstanding.

After the serious part of the day was over the fun started, first we did a pyjama race then the hydro slide opened and we had free time in the pool. We were back at school by 2.00pm.

From the results, children were selected to go to the Lincoln Zone Swimming Sports on Thursday 28 February at Burnham Pool.