Powerless At Amesbury

Our 21st century school which is so reliant on technology was powerless for most of today. It was a dull morning anyway with low cloud hanging over the hills but I thought it strange that the reception area was so dark when I entered the school. When I flicked on the light switch in the library and nothing happened I realised there was a power cut. The school was strangely quiet until the children arrived at 8:30. There was no background hum of computers and other machines. The coffee machine stood idle and a couple of coffee addicted staff members drove to Johnsonville to bring hot drinks back for everyone. The power was off in most of Churton Park and while I was supervising road patrol I helped a neighbour lift her garage door so she could get her car out of the garage.

There was a quick re-plan for the start of the school day, which ended up being a complete re-plan as apart from a brief return of the electricity mid-morning we were without power until 2pm. So it was back to pencils, paper and books for the day. The iPads, iPods, interactive whiteboards and touchscreens were abandoned as good old fashioned handwriting and drawing on paper was used. No books could be issued from the library although I set up a fun treasure hunt type of activity so the seniors could practice some library skills.

The biggest challenge of the day was going to the toilet. The staff toilets were pitch black, you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. At least I already knew where the toilet roll and hand basin were as the only way to find anything was by groping around in the dark.

Staff Toilet

School Library Blog

I haven't posted anything on this blog for a over a week because I've spent the past few days setting up a school library blog. Some of the girls were busy at lunchtime today finishing book reviews to post on the blog.

Shelves At Last

The library shelves have finally arrived! Well, most of them have. After a six week wait the shelves arrived at school this morning and installation began - only to discover that several of them were missing! Fortunately the installer hadn't sent the original incorrectly painted shelves back to the manufacturer yet. They are sitting in his shed so he was able to retrieve some and they will be installed temporarily until that problem is sorted. At least the non-fiction books will have something to sit on other than the floor. The mobile picture book shelf isn't quite right either and nor is the proportion of sloping display shelves to flat shelves. Ahhhh! Who knew that shelves could be quite so complicated? One good thing is that the kids are excited to see shelves in the library. We almost appreciate a few pieces of wood more than iPads and touchscreen computers at the moment.

Arcane

One of the reasons I was looking forward to living in Wellington was to enjoy events and experiences in the 'coolest little capital in the world' (as Lonely Planet recently described Wellington). Today was a gorgeous summer day and my sister, nephew and I spent the afternoon at the waterfront in the heart of Wellington. The harbour itself was busy with watercraft from yachts to pedal boats, and even dragon boat racing. We bought lunch at Pandoro Panetteria (a bakery that I now highly recommend) and then watched a fascinating and unusual performance in Waitangi Park. The New Zealand Festival of the Arts is on at present and the performance by Arcane is best described by the Festival website as follows:

With two wheels that look like they’ve been pinched off a giant’s bicycle and two fearless French performers, this is the jaw-dropping acrobatics of Arcane.

Performing perfect flips, spins and somersaults on a nice steady platform would be difficult enough for most of us. Make that platform a moving, rolling structure and you add an entirely new level of complexity and skill.

Invented by trapeze artists Maxim Bourdon and Sebastien Bruas, Arcane’s wheel is much more than a mere prop. Like two spiders on a huge web, the daring duo clamber over the structure, expertly propelling it around the stage. As the performance progresses, the tricks get riskier as the wheel becomes the inspiration for excitingly dangerous and original feats that will transfix the crowds in Waitangi Park.

After Maxim and Sebastian finished their performance two more bare chested young males climbed on stage to emulate the acrobatics - see photo below!

The Library at Lunchtime

I walked into the library at lunchtime and found that even without shelves children were making full use of it. Kids were reading, drawing pictures, using netbooks, browsing the temporary shelf and issuing books to each other. None of these photos are posed - it's exactly as they have decided to do their thing now that the library is open for them at lunchtimes.

Brownies

I spent this morning supervising two groups of Year 4 to 6 children making brownies. We had the recipe on the iPad and six kids at a time taking turns to measure, melt and mix. A bit more practice in reading instructions is needed but with some good teamwork and regular reminders to 'read the recipe again' they produced delicious brownies that are a chocoholics delight.

This is the recipe from JoyofBaking.com :

Ingredients:

150 grams of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

113 grams of unsalted butter, cut into pieces (we used salted butter, it was fine)

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 large eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a nonstick cooking spray) an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a large stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and sugar . Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and chocolate chips (if using).

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a little batter and a few moist clumps clinging to it. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. These freeze very well.

Makes 16 brownies.

Squashing Again

A couple of weeks ago I had some strange dreams about squash. I'd turn up at a club and for some reason be unable to play e.g. the courts had missing walls. I was either going through some strange sort of squash withdrawal or my subconscious was telling me that something was missing from my daily routine now I'm back working full-time at school. So I located the Tawa Squash Club, paid my subscription and went to their Club Night the following night. I had three really good games that evening. My muscles suffered for it the next day but the strange squash dreams disappeared.

The people I met at the club were very friendly and I've organised a couple more games. The main challenge may be court availability as it's a very busy club with only three courts. There is an online booking system and you can book up to a week ahead. I'm not sure what time most people get up in the morning to book a game in advance but one woman told me the advantage of her job (she is a nurse who works night shifts) is that she can reserve a court when they become available at midnight!