Diwali Celebration 2018

Thank you Mahi, Yashica and Tanisha for performing a beautiful Diwali dance.
The Hindu Festival of Lights celebrates new beginnings and light over darkness. What an amazing amount of effort you all put into the choreography, music and presentation to showcase your culture. Namaste!

Room 21's paper diyas - usually these are candles that lit to ward off evil

Diary of our experiences during Chinese Language Week 2018

Dumpling Team preparing ingredients and back up supplies

Year 1 students practising putting in the filling with chopsticks

Anne demonstrating how the skins are made from dough

Calligraphy Workshop - students learning how to paint the Mandarin characters

Mrs Ko leading the Calligraphy Workshop using Zodiac signs

Our cultural ambassadors with Ping Pong Workshop leader Miss Irene Liu, and Bilingual Support Worker Miss Lucy Liu

Ping Pong Workshop in action

Relay teams practising ball skills at Ping Pong Workshop

Mrs Ko teaching the choir "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" 頭兒，肩膀，膝，腳趾

Ni Hao - We are celebrating Chinese Language Week 2018 at Sunnynook Primary School!

Click on the link below to listen and learn some key phrases in Mandarin.

Sunnynook Primary School Chinese Key Phrases

Thank you to April, Enid and Isabelle for being excellent role models.

We hope that you enjoy the activities we have lined up for you this week:

Monday: Making Dumplings

Tuesday: Calligraphy

Wednesday: Ping Pong Tournament

Thursday: Chinese Songs with the Choir

Mandarin Greetings Song to start Chinese Language Week

Korero Maori

Korero Maori for Maori Language Week 

Māori culture is a beautiful and expressive language and you can have some fun with te reo.

"pākia te ringa", or "high five"

"Ao noa, pō noa" means "all day, all night", or "24/7".

Another confident expression is "kāore e kore", which means "without a doubt".

What is your favourite phrase?

Kiwaha Video - Key Phrases in Maori

Sunnynook Kapa Haka perform at the Totaravale Playcentre for Maori Language Week

International Languages Week 2018

Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, 
te tuakiri tangata. 
Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.

Your voice and my voice are expressions of identity.
May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled.

We celebrated our culturally diverse voices with the SPS Mandarin and Korean Speech Competition this week.

Congratulations to our winners:-

April Pian in R1 for her speech in Mandarin

  保护环境 从我做起！

Protect the Environment - starting  with us.

Chloe Bae R4 for her speech in Korean 

한국과 뉴질랜드 초등 학교의 차이점

Differences between Korean and NZ Primary Schools

April Pian and Chloe Bae

Thank you to our other contests - Eden Kim, Henry Wang, Anna Wang, and Samuel Wong.

Both of them competed against other students in the area school competition at Murrays Bay Intermediate on 23rd and 27th August. Chloe won first place and April received a participation award.

Celebrate the Maori New Year - Matariki

Celebrate the Maori New Year - Matariki

Look in the night sky this month to see the seven sisters or Pleiades cluster

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in mid-winter. For Māori it symbolises the New Year and is a special time to be with family and friends. In the past a clear bright sky with a visible new moon meant a good harvest. Today it is still important to celebrate and respect the earth and land we live on. Matariki literally means the 'eyes of god' (mata ariki) or 'little eyes' (mata riki).

There are many events on around the city in June to celebrate Matariki.It is a great time to visit Stardome in Cornwall Park where they have a special Matariki Dawn show. You can learn about astronomy as well as Maori mythology.

This Monday we'll celebrate Matariki with a special assembly. 

Look out for our talented kapa haka performers. 

Lest We Forget - Anzac Day 2018

Anzac Day, April 25, fell in the school holidays this year.

For new to New Zealand this is the anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I in 1915. On this day New Zealanders pay tribute to all our defence forces and loved ones who have died in their service to the country. Peace promotes harmony and tolerance towards people regardless of religion, culture, language or circumstance. 

Images from Anzac Day 2018