These pieces of writing demonstrate how an authentic experience can provide students with the knowledge and vocabulary to produce a written recount or brief report about their subject.

Antarctica – The Frozen Continent

Antarctica is divided into eight territories and seven states have claim to them. Did you know that many countries have a base at Antarctica. New Zealand’s base is called Scott Base.  Japan has two bases. One of these is too cold for people to live there in the winter because it is too close to the South Pole.

Antarctica is known as the coldest continent on Earth. It is massive. It is 60 times bigger than New Zealand.  The winds in Antarctica can be very strong. They can reach 240 kms per hour. These winds are called ‘Katabatic Winds.’

Eight million years ago Antarctica wasn’t covered with snow and ice. It used to be a big land of forests with plants and animals and looked a lot like New Zealand. It would have rained.  Little by little Antarctica got colder.

Taking core samples of ice, give scientists information about climate change and what lived in Antarctica so many years ago.

Reported by Ryota

Year 6

Surviving the Antarctic Climate

If you are in Antarctica you have to wear a lot of clothing.  This is what you would need to wear if you were outside.  The first thing you would put on would be thermals, and a pair of thick socks on your feet. Next you put thick waterproof overalls on that do up over your shoulders. There are zips in the sides and back so that if you have to use a toilet, you don’t have to take your overalls off and can stay warm. Over top of the overalls you wear a windbreak jacket. The jacket has duck feathers inside of it. 

Once you have your ice boots on, it’s time to put your headband on and then your hat. The headband keeps your ears warm.  Before you go outside you must put your balaclava and goggles on. The googles keep your eyes safe from the glare of the snow and of course, if there is a Katabatic wind, goggles keep icy snow out of your eyes.  The balaclava covers the whole face except the eyes, and mouth.  You need to wear these because you can lose a lot of heat from your head. You have to keep your safe in the cold.

Elena 

Year 5

Visiting the Antarctic Centre – The 4 D Movie Experience

On the 18^th of June our ESOL group departed for the Antarctic Centre.  It was so much fun. We did lots of things. First we met the Antarctic teacher called Jane Porter.  She showed us how people keep warm in Antarctica and let us have lots of Antarctica experiences. One of them was the 4D movie.

Everyone loved the movie. When you sat down and put your special glasses on it was hard to see. But when the movie started, it was fantastic.  As the ship went down through the ice, it sprayed water in front of us, and our chairs moved. The bubbles splattered on everyone. Some people screamed, but not loudly.  You might laugh.  The movie showed us how the ships cut through the ice to get into Antarctica. It showed us what it was like to live there and told us about the early explorers.  We saw Emperor and Adelie  penguins.  We saw some blood on the rocks and I felt scared.  I thought that somebody had been killed. When I was scared I held on tight.

 After the movie we gave the glasses back and we saw bubbles. Before we went back to school I gave Jane Porter a hug and everyone said a big thank you together.

Aliya

Year 5

The Blue Penguins at the Antarctic Centre

You’ll never guess where we went on the 18^th of June. Well we went to the Antarctic Centre.  I’m going to tell you what we found out about the Blue Penguins that live at the Antarctic Centre. 

The Blue Penguin lives around the southern shorelines of New Zealand and Australia. They are the smallest of penguins and can’t live in Antarctica because it is too cold for them.

 One of the Blue Penguin’s at the Antarctic Centre had only one leg.  Jane Porter told us that when it was swimming in the ocean, something got caught around its foot and it got tighter and tighter.  The penguin had to have its leg taken off.  The penguins at the Antarctic Centre have been injured and might have died if the staff didn’t look after them.

  

Arozo

Year 5

The little Blue Penguins were cute.  It was hard to tell which penguin is a girl and which one is a boy. At the Centre the boy had a band on the left flipper and the girl had a band on the right flipper.  Blue Penguins would die in Antarctica because they are so small and don’t have enough fat to keep them warm.  Jane Porter told us that the penguins eat quite a lot.  They get food from the ocean, but at the Antarctic Centre they got their food from a bucket.

Aisha

Year 4

The Snow Room at the Antarctic Centre

The Snow Room at the Antarctic Centre is really exciting. It can get quite windy inside the room, but it is an artificial storm. It gets dark to make you think that you are in Antarctica. I found it hard to breathe properly. There is a little ice cave in the room and I went inside it. It is warmer in the cave. When it gets warmer in the cave the whole room starts to get warmer. There is an ice slide in the room.  I slid down the slide on my stomach and got really cold and covered in ice.

Shayan

We will include a slideshow of our Antarctic Centre experience. After you have watched the video, do read on, as the following work is that of our Year 3 ESOL group. 

Antarctica’a Bases

In Antarctica there are many bases that are run by many different countries, like New Zealand, Russia, India, Japan, Norway, United States of America and Australia.  New Zealand’s base is called Scott Base.  It is close to the Ross Ice Shelf.  Japan has two bases but is using only one during the winter because one is close to the middle of Antarctica where the temperature can be – 89 degrees Celsius.  Russia uses both of its bases because they are on the coastline of Antarctica.

Avi

Our Antarctic Visit

You might have been to a 3D movie but have you been to a 4D movie before?  During the 4D movie at the Antarctic Centre, I felt scared. I was about to put my hand up to go out but then I felt good again. 

Water splashed on me when a bird pooped.  I ducked my head but it hit my hair. In the movie I saw penguins with blood on them. Some of them had already died. At times I could feel wind under my feet. It was like tiny balls were rolling under my feet. It felt a little cold. I put my feet up to keep them warm.

Hasini

Finding Out About Penguins

On our visit to the Antarctic Centre, Jane told us how cold it is there. Penguins survive in the cold winds and icy storms. They huddle to keep warm.  Jane showed us Blue Eyed Penguins at the Antarctic Centre.  We saw bands on their flippers. There were to let us know whether the penguin was a boy or a girl.

Jane also told us about the snow-room.  It was freezing.  She made us feel a fake storm and we all felt so cold.  We decided to go into the snow cave. It was a bit warmer in there. The snow was so hard.

Aakifah

In the Antarctic Centre there are Blue Eyed Penguins. They are too small to live in Antarctica and are found mostly in New Zealand. You might see them around the shorelines of Akaroa or Dunedin.  The reason why Blue Eyed Penguins live in the Antarctic Centre is because they have been found injured.  One of the penguins has only one leg.

Emperor Penguins are the tallest penguin in the world. Penguins huddle on the ice in the winter when it is colder and windy. They take it in turns to go from the outside of the huddle to the inside. The penguins that are on the outside tuck their heads onto their chests so that the wind can pass over the group and stop them from freezing. 

Penguin’s predators are seals, Orcas Whales and Squawks. The Squawks steal the eggs from the penguin’s nest or off the rocky ice. Seals sneak up on the penguins and even the whales come up onto the ice to catch them.

Manav 

The Snow Room

Have you ever been in an Antarctic storm?  Well I have.

At the Antarctic Centre I went into the snow-room. I was feeling a bit scared., but when the others came in, I felt better.  Then Jane (the teacher at the Antarctic Centre) turned on a fake storm.  Some of the group said to stay in the snow cave, but others didn’t listen.  The temperature went down and it got windier. When I put my hand up, I thought that it was going to freeze, but it didn’t.  

Vianca

Keeping Warm in Antarctica

“Oh, I’m cold!”  So, how do you survive an Antarctic winter?  If you don’t wear special clothing you will freeze to death. You need lots of layers.

First you need to wear thermals. You need special slippers on your feet and a jersey over the thermals. Next you put on your overalls and a puffer jacket. There are feathers in the jacket and between the feathers there is air. The air helps to keep you warm.

On your head you need a headband to keep your ears warm. Then you put on your woolly hat.  You also have the puffer jacket hood. But before you put that on you need to put your goggles on.  Don’t’ forget to put your gloves and ice-boots on.

This type of clothing is very tight and stuffy, but you will be warm.

Swali

This term we have been developing ideas around our school wide theme of  'Drip, Drip, Drip.'
Many of the ESOL groups have been thinking about what it would be like to live in a country where fresh water is in short supply. Others have been considering what life would be like in Antarctica for the people who work and live there.

The younger students have been learning about Emperor and Adelie Penguins.

Miu and Alyssa, Year 1 students were asked what their pet penguin would like to be doing at Antarctica. These are their written responses.

We have been using SOLO taxonomy to learn about 'Holi' a Hindu Festival 


After looking at a photograph of people celebrating Holi in India, a group of ESOL students provided these responses to the question, 'What you see in the picture?'


 

Hasini wrote:  I see lots of colours and colourful faces. I see people who have brown skin. I see people with handfuls of Holi dust.  People do this in India.

Avi said: People are throwing dust but the dust is full of paint. The people look happy because they are celebrating good things.

Swali wrote: There is a drum so there's music. There are animals among the people. They are Indian people. Many people are dancing and some people are wearing scarves on their heads to protect their hair from the paint.

Shiako thought that the picture looked like the Santa Parade. He thought that he could see a chicken in the colours. He said that the sand was blowing everywhere and it looked like a dust  bomb.

The three Indian students were clearly demonstrating knowledge at a multi-structural level. They knew that the picture depicted a Hindu festival and that it involved paint powder.  Shaiko having come from Iran had no knowledge of the festival and was trying to make sense of the picture.

After exploring the Holi festival further and sharing the historical stories that surround its origin, the students added:

Hasini: Holi is when everyone throws special coloured paint at each other. The paint is mixed with flour.

Avi: When the colours are bright and light they represent good and when they are dark they represent bad things. The good has to be stronger than bad. Holi is to celebrate good things happening.

Shiako: Holi is an Indian festival that is celebrated in India by Hindu people.They throw paint dust at each other and have fun.

Swali: Holi is an Indian festival celebrated in March. The Hindu people celebrate it because they want good to conquer evil. The colours are to celebrate the good things in life. It is celebrated following a full moon.

The exercise was to demonstrate the importance of establishing what a student knows as a direction for future learning. The student's prior knowledge provided an opportunity to take their understanding to a relatonal level where they were able to make important connections to why the festival existed and how it impacted on Indian families within our school community.

Swali with her family

Important links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/hinduism/holi.shtml

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/solo.htm

This year a senior group of ESOL students have been given the responsibility of organising and publishing items of interest as they occur in our ESOL classroom and wider St Albans School ESOL community. I'm sure that they would enjoy any feedback that you are able to provide them with.


                                    Goal Setting Interviews in Week Six

A letter has been sent home to inform you about our interview process. If your child is receiving ESOL support within the school and you would like to meet with me to discuss the ESOL programme or your child's progress within it, please make an appointment according to the online booking information sheet, or with our office staff. Please be aware that appointment times are 15 minutes.

    Adapting to a new country and a new language:

The first time we met as a senior ESOL group, we talked about what it was like when we came to New Zealand. Most of us didn’t speak English. We had different reasons for coming here.  

The sentences that we have written, are about everyone’s reason for coming to New Zealand. We want you to know how difficult it was to understand the language and how unusual we found the behaviour of people who lived here.

Introduced by Ryota and Shayan

Ryota  

I’m from Japan. I came here one year ago at the beginning of 2013.  It was my mum’s idea to come here.  My mum wanted me to speak English like she can.  She was in England when she went to Intermediate School.

When I came here for a holiday I couldn’t speak English so I felt crazy.

During that holiday, my parents bought a house and that’s why I’m here to learn English.

When I joined this school I was out of my depth. Can you imagine that you are in the classroom where everyone is speaking another language and you don’t understand anything they are saying?  It took me ages to feel comfortable.

Now I am feeling totally comfortable because I have Kiwi friends and I’m just feeling fine. I often think about the time when I came to NZ and how I felt really funny sitting on a chair facing the Teacher when I couldn’t understand anything.

Shayan

We came to New Zealand for my mum’s work. She is doing a doctorate in oncology. She is a nurse and is studying here. We may be going to stay in New Zealand for two more years. My mum would like to find a good job here.

When I first came to New Zealand I was quite sad because I couldn’t speak English.  It was hard to be in the classroom and my head hurt. I thought that English was supposed to sound the way the American people speak.

ESOL classes have helped me to understand the kiwi accent and to read and write. It’s much easier to learn when the groups are small and everyone is trying to learn English together. 

Nabin

I came to New Zealand because I was a refugee. I came here from Nepal.  When I first came to New Zealand I didn’t know any English or anything about my new country.  I couldn’t speak, read or write in English.  Coming to school I have learned more and more.  I am proud of what I know.

Uday

I came here two months ago. I come from India, a place called Himachal Pardash.  The population there was very large.  When I came to New Zealand, I didn’t really know how to speak English well.  I like how the people speak in New Zealand. They speak very fast but sweetly.  English helps me to use technology. I can use the ipad and computer.

My father came to New Zealand first and he loved this place. He thought it would be good to bring his family out from India.  I love this place too.  The streets are clean and you are safe on the roads.  I really like going to the local park to play.

I hope that going to school in New Zealand and learning English will help me become a rich man one day.

Nisha

My family came from Nepal two years ago. I wanted to come with my grandmother, but she went to Palmerston North.  We came out as a refugee family and we stayed in Christchurch.

When I was in Nepal, we had people come along to school to teach us English. That made it easier when we got here because I could understand what people were saying some of the time.

After having two years at school in New Zealand, I feel a bit like a kiwi. I am feeling that I fit in now.

Elena

In 2008, my family came to New Zealand. My grandparents were already here.  My mum thought it would be a safe place to live. In Russia some people were finding life quite hard.

I was only three when my grandparents found a house in Christchurch for us. I was nervous at first because I could only say, ”Hello.”  I really thought that we were still somewhere in Russia. It was really strange for my brother and I.

When I started kindergarten, nobody taught me to speak English.  I had a friend who didn’t speak English and we used to use our hands to talk to each other. After a while I knew a few words.

I came here to school at St Albans when I was six. I’ve found speaking and writing quite hard at times. The great thing is that I’ve made friends at school. They come from different parts of the world; Ethiopia, Japan, Russia and of course New Zealand.  We all know that differences are really special.