Lest we forget Andrew / Rob Gourlay

On Friday, Maria (one of our lovely teacher aides) came to talk to us about one of her family members who had served in World War 2.
She also had some amazing personal items from the soldier which she showed us.
One of these is called an 'hassif', which is a sewing kit that soldiers would use to mend their uniform. In it were things like a darning needle, thread and buttons.

An hassif (sewing kit).

Inside the hassif. Can you see the needle, thread and buttons.
What else can you see?

Another thing she showed us were the soldiers 'pay book'. She told us how soldiers were paid to go off to war, and for many families this was their only source of income.
Inside the pay book were the soldiers dental records so that if the soldiers were killed in battle, and their book was on them then they would be able to be identified (along with their 'dog tag' which was a special necklace they wore as well).

Rob Gourley, who later re-enlisted in the army as his brother Andrew Gourlay.

A soldier's pay book.

Read the 'rules' for the soldiers. Why do you think these were important?

It was very interesting listening to Maria talk about her great great uncle. He was quite a character! 
Do you remember what he did to go to war?
He said he was older than he actually was. Later when he was found out to be only 15 and sent home, he signed himself up again, this time as his older brother - who was unable to go to war because he had polio (a disease which meant he couldn't walk properly).

He survived the war, but later died from war related illnesses.

Anzac biscuit baking - Yum!

Today we baked ANZAC biscuits as part of learning about ANZAC day and the importance of them to our history as New Zealanders.
We got into small groups and worked with Mrs Allen in the kitchen, while the rest of the class worked with Miss Hooper on writing 'letters' to soldiers.
Baking was fun but... as some of us discovered, it was very important to read the recipe correctly so that we got the measurements of the ingredients correct!
However...all the biscuits tasted delicious (even if some of them were a little bit crumbly!) 
How would you describe the taste of the ANZAC biscuit? Crunchy? Chewy? Sweet? 
Did it remind you of anything you have tasted before? 
They smelt delicious cooking in the kitchen didn't they? The yummy smells drifted along the corridor into the other classes!! 

How are you going to commemorate ANZAC day on Saturday?

Here is the recipe for ANZAC biscuits if you would like to make them at home.

Ingredients

100 g butter

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup plain baking flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

1. Melt butter and syrup together in a large saucepan. Cool.
2. Mix sugar, coconut, rolled oats and flour together.
3. Dissolve soda in water and mix into butter and syrup and stir until frothy.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
5. Place rounded teaspoons on a greased oven tray.
6. Bake at 180 C for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

ANZAC Biscuits on PhotoPeach

Scooter Safety

On Monday Constable Gordon came to talk to M5 about the importance of being safe on our scooters.
We rode our scooters around the courts, weaving in and out of cones to practise good control when we are riding as well as using the break pedal instead of our foot!
Another important thing we were reminded of was ALWAYS checking driveways for cars when riding along footpaths!!! And we must STOP, LOOK and LISTEN when we come to a pedestrian crossing and WALK our scooter across.
We did some races in teams too! Constable Gordon made us do exercises like star jumps as funny punishments! It was lots of fun!

Scooter Safety with Constable Gordon on PhotoPeach