Sunday, December 4, 2016
Nature Is Speaking
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Week 7 Term 3
Bonjour Everyone!
I know it's been a while since my last post, and that's because I keep forgetting 😂. I'll try to recap most of the stuff that's happened though.
A couple of weeks ago we had Inter-House/Inter-Class Cross Country, and I did pretty well, for me anyway. I came 20th for the Year 8 girls, which is actually pretty good for me because it was out of over 80 Year 8 girls. My house didn't win the shield for Inter-house Cross Country though, which is sad because we kind of needed it, as we're coming last 😭. My class did get the shield for Inter-Class Cross Country though, and that REALLY good!😆 From like 2002 to 2010 (it was either that or 2000 to 2008) my class won the Inter-Class Cross Country shield, but then Room 7 came back, and took it off us for a couple years, but now we've got it back again!🎊
Last week I went to Murray's Bay on Wednesday, and Thursday with most of my school band. The school band takes a trip to Murray's Bay every year, but I wasn't in the band last year so it was new for me. I was very fun though. On the way to Murray's Bay, we stopped at Waiwera Hot Pools, had lunch, swam, and went on the hydroslides. On the long green hydroslide, I hit my head twice!😫 It was very sore, and then I hit my head twice the next day, but I can't remember what on, and mum took me to the doctors this week, and they said that I've got mild concussion, and so I had to stay off my device for a while, and take it easy on sport, and stuff that involves concentrating intensely for a long time😭. Anyway, after the hot pools we kept going till we got to Murray's Bay Intermediate School, and it was a very fun time.
All of this week people were away at AIMS which is a really big sporting thing, and there are over 9,000 competitors, which is about 2,000 less than the Olympics!!!!! So it's a pretty big deal. I hope lots of the people from our school did well!
Au Revoir!
A Bientot😂
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Week 3 Term 3
Bonjour everyone!
We had band festival on Thursday, and it was very bust at our school. All the Jazz Bands, and Symphonic Bands from other schools came and played, and it was very cool to listen to. Our schools Jazz Band preformed at 9:40, and our schools Symphonic Band preformed at 11:50. I'm part of the Symphonic Band. Everyone did SO well, and should all be proud of themselves especially the Symphonic Band who got a gold award!
We had our cafe on Friday, and it was so much fun! Sadly Mrs Fynn wasn't there, but luckily we had a cool new substitute teacher, Mrs Germann! She helped us with all the things everyone was making. I had a bit of trouble with my cake pops, as I made the icing WAY too runny, and so it just ran straight off my cake pops and all the icing left on them was clear because there wasn't enough icing to cover it. Since the icing was WAY too runny the eyes kept sliding off, and it made me really sad because I wasn't sure how to save them, but I still decorated them and put them in the fridge. I kept checking on them, and pushing the eyes back up, and at one point I just pushed one of the octopus's eyes up, so they overlapped, and they stayed, so I did that to all of them, and they turned out just fine. I've got a picture of one of my practice lots that I did on Tuesday, so I'll put that on here soon.
A Bientot!
We had band festival on Thursday, and it was very bust at our school. All the Jazz Bands, and Symphonic Bands from other schools came and played, and it was very cool to listen to. Our schools Jazz Band preformed at 9:40, and our schools Symphonic Band preformed at 11:50. I'm part of the Symphonic Band. Everyone did SO well, and should all be proud of themselves especially the Symphonic Band who got a gold award!
We had our cafe on Friday, and it was so much fun! Sadly Mrs Fynn wasn't there, but luckily we had a cool new substitute teacher, Mrs Germann! She helped us with all the things everyone was making. I had a bit of trouble with my cake pops, as I made the icing WAY too runny, and so it just ran straight off my cake pops and all the icing left on them was clear because there wasn't enough icing to cover it. Since the icing was WAY too runny the eyes kept sliding off, and it made me really sad because I wasn't sure how to save them, but I still decorated them and put them in the fridge. I kept checking on them, and pushing the eyes back up, and at one point I just pushed one of the octopus's eyes up, so they overlapped, and they stayed, so I did that to all of them, and they turned out just fine. I've got a picture of one of my practice lots that I did on Tuesday, so I'll put that on here soon.
A Bientot!
Monday, August 8, 2016
Week 2 Term 3
Bonjour!!
I can't believe it's week 2 of term 3 already!!!!! This year is going so quickly, and I'm so not looking forward to leaving, but at the same time I'm SO excited for college.
On Tuesday at tech arts we figured out the theme for our cafe. We were stuck between under the sea, and beach themes, so we decided to do beach, and rope under the sea in with it. Then we began to make our invitations. I'm inviting my mum, but that's all. For my card I used a yellow piece of paper and cut the back so it would be a pop-out, then I put some blue paper on top of the hole to cover it. On the inside for the pop-out part, I made an octopus with googly eyes, and stuck it on. It looks really cool. After making invites, we had to decide what we were going to make, and I'm making octopus cake pops, that why I put the octopus on my card! I haven't told mum what I'm making though, I want it to be a surprise. Here is a picture of what I want it to kind of look like:
On Friday we had our first go at making our dish, and mine looked nothing AT ALL like that picture. I made my octopus orange, because I didn't want purple, and the eyes look really big because I used white chocolate buttons, and milk chocolate drops. But I didn't put smiles on, maybe that's why it didn't look good last time? I'll try with a face next Tuesday.
Au Revoir!
A Bientot
I can't believe it's week 2 of term 3 already!!!!! This year is going so quickly, and I'm so not looking forward to leaving, but at the same time I'm SO excited for college.
On Tuesday at tech arts we figured out the theme for our cafe. We were stuck between under the sea, and beach themes, so we decided to do beach, and rope under the sea in with it. Then we began to make our invitations. I'm inviting my mum, but that's all. For my card I used a yellow piece of paper and cut the back so it would be a pop-out, then I put some blue paper on top of the hole to cover it. On the inside for the pop-out part, I made an octopus with googly eyes, and stuck it on. It looks really cool. After making invites, we had to decide what we were going to make, and I'm making octopus cake pops, that why I put the octopus on my card! I haven't told mum what I'm making though, I want it to be a surprise. Here is a picture of what I want it to kind of look like:
On Friday we had our first go at making our dish, and mine looked nothing AT ALL like that picture. I made my octopus orange, because I didn't want purple, and the eyes look really big because I used white chocolate buttons, and milk chocolate drops. But I didn't put smiles on, maybe that's why it didn't look good last time? I'll try with a face next Tuesday.
Au Revoir!
A Bientot
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Week 1 Term 3
Back to school!!!
The holidays flew by WAY to fast! I got up to heaps of stuff, and barely had any time for anything else. In the first week we worked on my mums Arapuni house from Monday-Friday. Then Saturday I went to a funeral for Aleesha, which was really sad, and after that I went to my friends house for her birthday sleepover. Then we got up really early on Monday, and went to Coromandel from Monday-Wednesday, and we relaxed the whole time. On Thursday my mum had a dentist appointment, and we had netball practice that evening. On Friday, we had a free day from running around endlessly. Then on Saturday, I had netball and lacrosse, then went to my other friends house for her birthday on Saturday night. I didn't get home until late afternoon Sunday. I wish the holidays had gone slower, or there had been more:(
The holidays flew by WAY to fast! I got up to heaps of stuff, and barely had any time for anything else. In the first week we worked on my mums Arapuni house from Monday-Friday. Then Saturday I went to a funeral for Aleesha, which was really sad, and after that I went to my friends house for her birthday sleepover. Then we got up really early on Monday, and went to Coromandel from Monday-Wednesday, and we relaxed the whole time. On Thursday my mum had a dentist appointment, and we had netball practice that evening. On Friday, we had a free day from running around endlessly. Then on Saturday, I had netball and lacrosse, then went to my other friends house for her birthday on Saturday night. I didn't get home until late afternoon Sunday. I wish the holidays had gone slower, or there had been more:(
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Week 10 Term 2
The last week of school!
We found out this week that we have speeches next term!! YAY! I'm really excited, but I need to find a good topic like the one I had last year which was 'Is technology affecting face to face communication?' It was a really good topic and I got 2nd place! I haven't thought of a topic so far, but I hope I can think of a good one! Even if it take me the whole holidays just to think of one I know I can write it fast because I'm a pretty good writer.
This week is also Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori week, and each class went on a marae visit. My class went on Wednesday, and it was quite a cool experience. The marae we went to was called Mangatoatoa Marae. When we got there there was a porhiri to welcome us, and then we were split into groups so we could do all the activities set up around the area. The activities were singing, where we learnt a new sing, a maori stick game, where you each had a quite tall stick, and then stood in a circle, until someone called left or right in te reo maori. I forgot how to say it though. Once they called left or right you had to move the way they called and grab onto the next persons stick before it fell. Then there was another game where instructions were called in maori, and you had to run, walk, fly, hop, or whatever they told you to do, to the place they told you to do it. The last person to the place was out. Next was capture the flag/ripper rugby. This was fun, and there was no te reo maori learning about, but I'm not sure why. Then there was the rako stick activty which was definitely one of my favourites. We were taught each movement, and had to do each one four times each. It took us a while to get it all right, but then after that it was really fun. Then we learnt the haka with Raiha, who was a very good teacher. I mostly remembered the haka from last year so it wasn't to hard for me luckily. Then we did a colouring activity where we went around the marae and placed our te reo maori books on one of the carvings, and then ran a crayon lightly over top and it imprinted the pattern into it, it was very cool. Last, but definitely not least we did fry bread, where we copied down the recipe for it and then got to try some, it was so yum. I really enjoyed the visit to the marae I wished I could've gotten the opportunity to do it last year as well when I was a year 7.
Also this week on Thursday I went to Indoor Bowls in Hamilton, and there were heaps of people! There were four teams for the girls from our school, and four teams for the boys, but the boys were on Wednesday. Each team played three games and then a final. Me and my buddy Waiare got the top placing out of our four girls groups, our placing was 16th. Really big thanks to Mrs Grace who tooks us to and from Indoor Bowls, and put up with us crazy girls.
Au Revoir!
See you next term!
Week 9 Term 2
Second to last week of school. Yay!!
From Monday to Wednesday we had the Science Fair judging, and I was a finalist, but didn't get a placing sadly. My project was on milk and pH levels and my question was 'How does the fat in milk affect pH levels? It was an interesting experiment to do, and I learn quite a bit. How I id my test was I had three different types of milk, trim, lite, and regular, and I had nine beakers, three for each kind of milk. I put 100 ml of milk in each beaker, then kept them in a container in a dark corner, and tested their pH level every day, morning and night, for a week. It was a lot if testing, and the milk started to smell quite bad after a couple of days which was not very nice.
Also this week we started a new tech art, and us year 8's are doing food!!! I've been really looking forward to doing it. On Tuesday for our first lesson we didn't do much but we did get to make cheesy roll ups, and dipping sticks. It was quite a simple recipe so I should be able to make it at home. Then on Friday I was supposed to make bread, but I didn't go to school because I was sick. It's very annoying being sick all the time because I like school! My sinuses have been playing up a lot from the cold, so I keep getting quite sick. Hopefully I don't miss to many more days!
Can't wait for the holidays!
Au Revoir
From Monday to Wednesday we had the Science Fair judging, and I was a finalist, but didn't get a placing sadly. My project was on milk and pH levels and my question was 'How does the fat in milk affect pH levels? It was an interesting experiment to do, and I learn quite a bit. How I id my test was I had three different types of milk, trim, lite, and regular, and I had nine beakers, three for each kind of milk. I put 100 ml of milk in each beaker, then kept them in a container in a dark corner, and tested their pH level every day, morning and night, for a week. It was a lot if testing, and the milk started to smell quite bad after a couple of days which was not very nice.
Also this week we started a new tech art, and us year 8's are doing food!!! I've been really looking forward to doing it. On Tuesday for our first lesson we didn't do much but we did get to make cheesy roll ups, and dipping sticks. It was quite a simple recipe so I should be able to make it at home. Then on Friday I was supposed to make bread, but I didn't go to school because I was sick. It's very annoying being sick all the time because I like school! My sinuses have been playing up a lot from the cold, so I keep getting quite sick. Hopefully I don't miss to many more days!
Can't wait for the holidays!
Au Revoir
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Week 8 Term 2
Bonjour Everyone, the term is almost over!
This week in tech arts we did dance and we had to create a dance using the song Freaks, but the version we had was kind of a remix though. In my group was Hadlee, Caitlin, and me, and it was quite fun. We had to use different elements of dance like cannon, which is where you pass the move along, mirror, which is where you go opposite another person and copy what they do, freeze frame, which is where you have to hold your pose/position for four seconds, and I think there was a few more which I can't remember. The hardest thing probably was trying not to make our moves too similar because the beat was repetitive throughout the song. I think we did okay though.
On Friday I had Jump Jam workshop which was quite cool. Brett Farweather came, and help us make our moves look better when teaching other schools. He told us key words we had to remember: Posture, Big, Clarity, Head, Energy, Sharp. We had to remember these words to help us make our actions look good. We learnt about verbal and physical Q's, and some people went of stage to try and Q everyone. It was fun, but hard. I would really like to go to another Jump Jam workshop because they're really fun, and you learn heaps.
Au Revoir.
This week in tech arts we did dance and we had to create a dance using the song Freaks, but the version we had was kind of a remix though. In my group was Hadlee, Caitlin, and me, and it was quite fun. We had to use different elements of dance like cannon, which is where you pass the move along, mirror, which is where you go opposite another person and copy what they do, freeze frame, which is where you have to hold your pose/position for four seconds, and I think there was a few more which I can't remember. The hardest thing probably was trying not to make our moves too similar because the beat was repetitive throughout the song. I think we did okay though.
On Friday I had Jump Jam workshop which was quite cool. Brett Farweather came, and help us make our moves look better when teaching other schools. He told us key words we had to remember: Posture, Big, Clarity, Head, Energy, Sharp. We had to remember these words to help us make our actions look good. We learnt about verbal and physical Q's, and some people went of stage to try and Q everyone. It was fun, but hard. I would really like to go to another Jump Jam workshop because they're really fun, and you learn heaps.
Au Revoir.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Week 7 Term 2
Bonjour Everyone!
We had Volleyball on Monday after assembly, but sadly I couldn't play because I hurt my fingers!! I hurt them in a really stupid way though. When I was putting my jeans on on Sunday, I caught my finger on the material and my middle finger bent and it REALLY hurt!!! Mrs Tyson said she thought it was definitely broken, and that I shouldn't play volleyball. Mum took me to the doctors that afternoon, and they x-rayed it and said they couldn't see anything!! Which is quite annoying because I keep hurting myself and it turns out to be nothing every single time. I don't WANT to break anything, but it's just annoying hurting myself all the time and not being sure if I'm being dramatic or not.
At competition Jump Jam on Tuesday we started a new routine for our video entry later on in the year, and it's got a lot of tricky movements, but I hope I can get them! Next Friday we have a Jump Jam workshop since Wims was cancelled, and I'm excited because Brett Farweather, the creator of Jump jam is coming! Lots of other people have already met him at other workshops, but I haven't so I'm kinda excited. I hope it goes well and I learnt lots.
Au Revoir! A Bientot!
We had Volleyball on Monday after assembly, but sadly I couldn't play because I hurt my fingers!! I hurt them in a really stupid way though. When I was putting my jeans on on Sunday, I caught my finger on the material and my middle finger bent and it REALLY hurt!!! Mrs Tyson said she thought it was definitely broken, and that I shouldn't play volleyball. Mum took me to the doctors that afternoon, and they x-rayed it and said they couldn't see anything!! Which is quite annoying because I keep hurting myself and it turns out to be nothing every single time. I don't WANT to break anything, but it's just annoying hurting myself all the time and not being sure if I'm being dramatic or not.
At competition Jump Jam on Tuesday we started a new routine for our video entry later on in the year, and it's got a lot of tricky movements, but I hope I can get them! Next Friday we have a Jump Jam workshop since Wims was cancelled, and I'm excited because Brett Farweather, the creator of Jump jam is coming! Lots of other people have already met him at other workshops, but I haven't so I'm kinda excited. I hope it goes well and I learnt lots.
Au Revoir! A Bientot!
Week 6 Term 2
Bonjour everyone!!!
This week was off to a normal start, but got very exciting towards the end!
On Friday I went to a place called Ngaruawahia, and did the Tough Guy And Gal Challenge. It was SOOO muddy, but REALLY fun. This year was my first year doing its, and I can definitely say I'm going to do this next year. There were lots of obstacles and they ALL involved mud. Even if you were running on flat ground, it was still really muddy. At the start there was a hill we had to run up that wasn't that slippery, but then we got into the paddock, and that's were things got slippery. We had to climb through tunnels that were full of mud, and they smelt really bad!! Before we started we painted our faces with yellow, red, and blue face paint, and put CK on our foreheads which stands for Cure Kids, what we were fundraising for. The paint didn't stay on long though. We had to swim through huge pools of mud, and we slipped over heaps in the muddy banks. It was still so fun though!! I ended up running with my friend Bobby, and towards the end I had to pull her up because she got stuck! When we crossed the finish line together we were very happy, but very worn out. Can't wait to do it again next year!!!!!!!
Au Revoir!
This week was off to a normal start, but got very exciting towards the end!
On Friday I went to a place called Ngaruawahia, and did the Tough Guy And Gal Challenge. It was SOOO muddy, but REALLY fun. This year was my first year doing its, and I can definitely say I'm going to do this next year. There were lots of obstacles and they ALL involved mud. Even if you were running on flat ground, it was still really muddy. At the start there was a hill we had to run up that wasn't that slippery, but then we got into the paddock, and that's were things got slippery. We had to climb through tunnels that were full of mud, and they smelt really bad!! Before we started we painted our faces with yellow, red, and blue face paint, and put CK on our foreheads which stands for Cure Kids, what we were fundraising for. The paint didn't stay on long though. We had to swim through huge pools of mud, and we slipped over heaps in the muddy banks. It was still so fun though!! I ended up running with my friend Bobby, and towards the end I had to pull her up because she got stuck! When we crossed the finish line together we were very happy, but very worn out. Can't wait to do it again next year!!!!!!!
Au Revoir!
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Week 5 Term 2
Bonjour!
On Monday I received my SILVER BADGE!!!!! I was very happy, and it was very cool! It looks the same as the bronze badge except it has silver on the back and around the edges of the front. There are only FIVE of us who have it (including me), and we are on the achievers board! The funny thing is the people who got it are all from my class, and it was: Hadlee, Cheng-Yu, Arden, Catlin, and ME!!! It's very exciting to be in the first five to get it!
Mrs Crowe was away on Monday and Tuesday, but on Tuesday I managed to catch up with mainly ALL my work! I had to do my whole writing task, whole reading task, and all my maths, but luckily I got it done!!!
On Friday was teachers only day, but sadly I had to go to school because my mum had to work :( So all I got to do on Friday was laminating, and it was very boring, but it wasn't too bad because I didn't have to do to much so it was just a nice quiet day. After lunch I went to my friends house though, and we made cookies. Then on Monday of next week it's a holiday as well for Queens Birthday, so it'll be an extra long weekend!!! YAY!
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Week 4 Term 2
Bonjour,
This week has not been fun, apart from Monday.
On Monday 23 leaders from our school went to the National Young Leaders Day in Rotaroa. It was very fun. After arriving in Rotaroa we took our seats, and were ready for the day. We had a notebook on our seats so we could write down notes and quotes. We had about six or seven awesome speakers come to talk about leadership to us, such as: Billy Graham, Brylee Mills, Valentine Taumiti, Pio Terei, Marina Alefosio, and Emily Muli. They were all VERY inspirational, and made us think about what we're doing to influence people as leaders. A cool quote that Brylee Mills said was 'you don't have to be a leader to be a leader', she was very inspirational as she was in a car crash when she was six, but she is still a really great dancer. It was an exciting day, and I'd definitely like to go if I get the chance next week.
On Wednesday, and Thursday I was off school because I was sick with a cold which was very horrible, and I missed a bit of school. On Wednesday the most exciting thing I missed one was some people earned their silver badge!! I really thought I'd be first to get it, but since I missed school on Wednesday I missed out!!! Also on Wednesday I missed teaching the new Jump Jam routine called Freaks. On Thursday I missed band which is sad because I really like playing my instrument and learning new songs, but oh well. Also I missed student assembly which is REALLY gutting because me and Hadlee were supposed to be doing the National Young Leaders Day presentation thing, but since I was sick we couldn't.
On Friday the most EXCITING thing happened, I earned my SILVER BADGE!!! And it's all thanks to Caitlin. I don't know how or what she did, let alone what I did, but I really happy that I got my silver badge!! Thanks Caitlin!
Au Revoir!
A Bientot!
This week has not been fun, apart from Monday.
On Monday 23 leaders from our school went to the National Young Leaders Day in Rotaroa. It was very fun. After arriving in Rotaroa we took our seats, and were ready for the day. We had a notebook on our seats so we could write down notes and quotes. We had about six or seven awesome speakers come to talk about leadership to us, such as: Billy Graham, Brylee Mills, Valentine Taumiti, Pio Terei, Marina Alefosio, and Emily Muli. They were all VERY inspirational, and made us think about what we're doing to influence people as leaders. A cool quote that Brylee Mills said was 'you don't have to be a leader to be a leader', she was very inspirational as she was in a car crash when she was six, but she is still a really great dancer. It was an exciting day, and I'd definitely like to go if I get the chance next week.
On Wednesday, and Thursday I was off school because I was sick with a cold which was very horrible, and I missed a bit of school. On Wednesday the most exciting thing I missed one was some people earned their silver badge!! I really thought I'd be first to get it, but since I missed school on Wednesday I missed out!!! Also on Wednesday I missed teaching the new Jump Jam routine called Freaks. On Thursday I missed band which is sad because I really like playing my instrument and learning new songs, but oh well. Also I missed student assembly which is REALLY gutting because me and Hadlee were supposed to be doing the National Young Leaders Day presentation thing, but since I was sick we couldn't.
On Friday the most EXCITING thing happened, I earned my SILVER BADGE!!! And it's all thanks to Caitlin. I don't know how or what she did, let alone what I did, but I really happy that I got my silver badge!! Thanks Caitlin!
Au Revoir!
A Bientot!
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Week 3 Term 2
Bonjour
This week a lot of pretty exciting stuff happened. I am now TWO signatures away from my silver badge!!!!! I'm soooo excited!!! I would really like to be the first to get it, but another person in my class, Cheng-Yu, is also two signatures away, and he's a head student so it would be really good for him to get it first because he's a role model. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying!! It's going to be quite hard to get because the two we both need are Including Others, and everyone in my class does that automatically, so it's the hardest one for Mrs Crowe to give out. I really hope I can get it, and if I work hard I know I can get it before the end of the term. Everyone's telling me that I should just come up to them at lunch or something and 'include them', but I don't want to get it by telling lies, I want it to be completely truthful.
On Tuesday we had our first session of music for tech arts, it was quite fun because at the start we listened to some Latin music and it was really interesting to learn about. Sadly, just when we were about to go on the keyboard, I had to go and get my second year 8 girls injection. It's quite a painful one, and it aches for a couple of days, but it's okay. The injection is for year 8 girls, and we have to get three this year. The first one was at about the start/middle of term one, and I'm not sure when the last one will be, but I think they have to be reasonably far apart from each other.
On Wednesday and Thursday was band camp. It was the band and quoir students from our school, Cambridge Middle School, and Matamata Intermediate. For most of the two days we practiced lots of songs over and over and over again so we'd learn them for the concert that was on Thursday night. The junior band, the band I'm in, played five songs on the night of the concert, Power Rock, Let's Rock, Hard Rock Blues, Byniup Blues, and a christmas carol, O Come Little Children. It was a really fun experience, and I think that we all learnt a lot about music, and how to play the music properly. I used to think that two lines of music was hard, then I tried page music, and I found that not to difficult, and the two lined was really easy. Some of the girls from the other schools were having a bit of trouble understanding some of the music, so me and my friend Jess helped them because we play clarinet too. I think after we helped them for the the first time they felt comfortable asking us questions. I made a couple of friends which was nice, and they're all really friendly.
Hopefully they had a good time. On the night of the concert, the quoir sang about five songs, I think, the junior band played about five songs, and the senior band was supposed to play ten songs, but ended up playing nine. The song they didn't play was called Mama Mia, and I was really looking forward to it because I like the song, but the drummers couldn't find there music, and so Mrs German quickly changed it so they were playing a different song. It was a bit gutting because everyone was excited about that song, but we all laughed about it in the end. Overall it was a really fun experience, and I hope it's just as fun next year as it as it was this year. Also thanks to all the teachers who came from Cambridge and Matamata, and helped us learn the music better, it really helped.
I had lots of fun with my friends this week, and INCLUDED them lots :)
A Bientot!
This week a lot of pretty exciting stuff happened. I am now TWO signatures away from my silver badge!!!!! I'm soooo excited!!! I would really like to be the first to get it, but another person in my class, Cheng-Yu, is also two signatures away, and he's a head student so it would be really good for him to get it first because he's a role model. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying!! It's going to be quite hard to get because the two we both need are Including Others, and everyone in my class does that automatically, so it's the hardest one for Mrs Crowe to give out. I really hope I can get it, and if I work hard I know I can get it before the end of the term. Everyone's telling me that I should just come up to them at lunch or something and 'include them', but I don't want to get it by telling lies, I want it to be completely truthful.
On Tuesday we had our first session of music for tech arts, it was quite fun because at the start we listened to some Latin music and it was really interesting to learn about. Sadly, just when we were about to go on the keyboard, I had to go and get my second year 8 girls injection. It's quite a painful one, and it aches for a couple of days, but it's okay. The injection is for year 8 girls, and we have to get three this year. The first one was at about the start/middle of term one, and I'm not sure when the last one will be, but I think they have to be reasonably far apart from each other.
On Wednesday and Thursday was band camp. It was the band and quoir students from our school, Cambridge Middle School, and Matamata Intermediate. For most of the two days we practiced lots of songs over and over and over again so we'd learn them for the concert that was on Thursday night. The junior band, the band I'm in, played five songs on the night of the concert, Power Rock, Let's Rock, Hard Rock Blues, Byniup Blues, and a christmas carol, O Come Little Children. It was a really fun experience, and I think that we all learnt a lot about music, and how to play the music properly. I used to think that two lines of music was hard, then I tried page music, and I found that not to difficult, and the two lined was really easy. Some of the girls from the other schools were having a bit of trouble understanding some of the music, so me and my friend Jess helped them because we play clarinet too. I think after we helped them for the the first time they felt comfortable asking us questions. I made a couple of friends which was nice, and they're all really friendly.
Hopefully they had a good time. On the night of the concert, the quoir sang about five songs, I think, the junior band played about five songs, and the senior band was supposed to play ten songs, but ended up playing nine. The song they didn't play was called Mama Mia, and I was really looking forward to it because I like the song, but the drummers couldn't find there music, and so Mrs German quickly changed it so they were playing a different song. It was a bit gutting because everyone was excited about that song, but we all laughed about it in the end. Overall it was a really fun experience, and I hope it's just as fun next year as it as it was this year. Also thanks to all the teachers who came from Cambridge and Matamata, and helped us learn the music better, it really helped.
I had lots of fun with my friends this week, and INCLUDED them lots :)
A Bientot!
Friday, May 13, 2016
Week 2 Term 2
Bonjour!
For this exercise we had to flip the stick in front of our face with the ball in it, to learn how to control it and keep it from other players in a games.
For this exercise we had to do what we were doing in the previous exercise except we had to run with the ball around cones.
Once we reach the end of the cones we had to shoot a goal. We could shoot however we wanted. We could do a normal over the shoulder pass, we could do an under the leg shot. Practically anything we wanted.
Big thank you to Dean, our instructor, who made it a really fun session. We all really enjoyed it and I think it inspired most of the students to maybe play next year at college, or later in the year in Term 4.
On Friday we had our first session of Japanese with the new teacher, Etsuko. She is really friendly, and we learnt quite a lot about Japan for our first lesson. She is a teacher in Japan and she teaches students our age, about 12. Etsuko doesn't speak much English so we had to speak slowly so she'd understand us. She gave us a booklet about Japan, and it had lots of pictures of different places. It even had some pictures of her class room. We saw some pictures of the little year one students, with the older students helping them. All the year one students were wearing bright yellow bucket hats, and we weren't sure why, so we asked Etsuko. She said that the year one student wore those hats because sometimes they cause trouble, they could walk onto the road ad not be seen by a car and get run over. So the yellow hats are a pretty good idea. Etsuko gave us a piece of paper with our booklets, and told us to write down anything we wanted to learn about Japan. It was a really fun session, I can't wait till next Friday to do it again! Special thanks to Etsuko for making it lots of fun.
Au Revoir!
This week has been quite fun!
On Monday we had assembly, but I got my second Honesty and Excellence band! I only need six more signature till my silver badge!! How exciting. I hope I can be the first person to get it, but it doesn't matter if I'm not because I'm just really exciting that I've almost got my silver badge! In second block we had a session of Lacrosse and it was really fun. It was my first time playing the sport and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed so much in fact, that I joined a college team! We had our first practice on Thursday and it was lots of fun. Some of them are quite experienced and others only started on Thursday, like me! Here are some photos of our Lacrosse session at school:
For this exercise we had to do what we were doing in the previous exercise except we had to run with the ball around cones.Once we reach the end of the cones we had to shoot a goal. We could shoot however we wanted. We could do a normal over the shoulder pass, we could do an under the leg shot. Practically anything we wanted.
Big thank you to Dean, our instructor, who made it a really fun session. We all really enjoyed it and I think it inspired most of the students to maybe play next year at college, or later in the year in Term 4.
On Friday we had our first session of Japanese with the new teacher, Etsuko. She is really friendly, and we learnt quite a lot about Japan for our first lesson. She is a teacher in Japan and she teaches students our age, about 12. Etsuko doesn't speak much English so we had to speak slowly so she'd understand us. She gave us a booklet about Japan, and it had lots of pictures of different places. It even had some pictures of her class room. We saw some pictures of the little year one students, with the older students helping them. All the year one students were wearing bright yellow bucket hats, and we weren't sure why, so we asked Etsuko. She said that the year one student wore those hats because sometimes they cause trouble, they could walk onto the road ad not be seen by a car and get run over. So the yellow hats are a pretty good idea. Etsuko gave us a piece of paper with our booklets, and told us to write down anything we wanted to learn about Japan. It was a really fun session, I can't wait till next Friday to do it again! Special thanks to Etsuko for making it lots of fun.
Au Revoir!
Friday, May 6, 2016
Week 1 Term 2
It's Term 2 already! This year is already off to an incredible start, and I can't wait for more exciting opportunities.
I had the Lit Quiz on Tuesday which was quite an interesting experience, there were some VERY competitive teams there. The Lit Quiz was held at Southwell School, and there was about 45 teams there. Most schools had two teams, but some had one. There were ten different categories and each team chose a category that they wanted to aim for double points in. My team chose books into movies, and it was a good choice. Our other intermediate team chose hero's as their category, but when the questions started I think they realized that it wasn't the kind of hero's they were thinking of.
I trialed for the Jump Jam competition team on Wednesday, which was lots of fun. My friend Caitlyn trial with me, and I think we did pretty well at our audition because I made it into the call backs! I'm really excited for what happens next and hope I can get into the actual team because that would be very exciting! Even if I don't get in I don't mind because I just really like Jump Jam, and we still do Jump Jam every week, and I can also go to fun Jump Jam at lunch times.
On Thursday I had computer coding. In my group it's only girls, and we just started on Thursday. We use a program called Scratch, and it's quite fun to experiment with all the different things you can do. We watched a couple of videos to explain how to do some stuff like making waves move, putting characters in the boat, and making them talk. It was a bit hard at first, but once we got the hang of it it was really fun.
I had the Lit Quiz on Tuesday which was quite an interesting experience, there were some VERY competitive teams there. The Lit Quiz was held at Southwell School, and there was about 45 teams there. Most schools had two teams, but some had one. There were ten different categories and each team chose a category that they wanted to aim for double points in. My team chose books into movies, and it was a good choice. Our other intermediate team chose hero's as their category, but when the questions started I think they realized that it wasn't the kind of hero's they were thinking of.
I trialed for the Jump Jam competition team on Wednesday, which was lots of fun. My friend Caitlyn trial with me, and I think we did pretty well at our audition because I made it into the call backs! I'm really excited for what happens next and hope I can get into the actual team because that would be very exciting! Even if I don't get in I don't mind because I just really like Jump Jam, and we still do Jump Jam every week, and I can also go to fun Jump Jam at lunch times.
On Thursday I had computer coding. In my group it's only girls, and we just started on Thursday. We use a program called Scratch, and it's quite fun to experiment with all the different things you can do. We watched a couple of videos to explain how to do some stuff like making waves move, putting characters in the boat, and making them talk. It was a bit hard at first, but once we got the hang of it it was really fun.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Camp
Last term for the last three days my class, and Room Seven, went to camp. The camp we went to was The Narrows. It was a really amazing camp, and I think everyone could agree that we had a good time.
Wednesday:
We left school at about nine o'clock, and headed for The Narrows. I was nervous, mostly because I, unlike some people, hadn't been there before. When we got there we loaded out our gear and found our cabins. Luckily, I was in a cabin with all my friends which made it a lot more comforting. We sorted out our beds, and then went on to start our first activity. The first activity was orienteering, which we did in pairs, mainly so we could get to know where everything was. After that, we started with some activities. My first activity was Archery, and since it was my first time I had a bit of trouble to start with, but soon got the hang of it so it turned out to be really fun. Second was Trolleys, for this activity we had these trolleys that you used ropes to control, they were SO much fun!! We rolled down the hill and then used the ropes to help us turn around. After that activity we had a quick lunch break, and then headed back for our next activity. Next, my group had the Water Slide!! We wore old clothes, and then slid down a steep hill really fast and it was really fun. The water was really cold though, so by the end of it we had blue lips which was funny. Once we were all showered and dressed we went on to BMX which we did around the old go kart track. It was full of puddles and was really muddy but it was worth it! Lastly, we had Air Riffles. We used these special type of guns and tried to shoot different object that were sitting on this big wooden pellet, like milk bottles, tins, cans, and there was even a spoon hanging from a wire which someone manage to hit! After that we had free time until dinner. After eating lots, we had a short break, and then were allowed to choose if we wanted to watch a movie or do the Burma Trail. After that it was time to get a sleep. Though, I think most of us stayed up till late.
Thursday:
We had some breakfast and then went off to do our last activity. Ours was Go Karts, and for that they had some really cool proper little go karts, that went really fast. One had foot petals for the acceleration/brakes, and the other had levers attached to the steering wheel. The one with the levers was slightly smaller and that was the one that I drove and it went pretty fast. Then we had a quick morning tea snack, and then played some narrows games which were team building activities. Then we had some lunch and free time. Then we did the narrows fire challenge which was a lot trickier then we all expected. First we had to get into teams of three, and then grab a plastic cup. One person stood with the cup between their feet and the other two had to figure out how to collect water from the nearby river using objects around us which took a while. Next we had to build a tower type thing using crates and other objects around us, but it had to be as tall as the adults shoulders, and balance our cup on top. Then we had a piece of metal and a stick and we had to guide it along an ELECTRIC fence but all of us had to be holding on to the stick, if someone lets go then you have to restart. Next we had to stand out side a roped area and try to reach the matches on the other side using thick sticks, pipes, and other objects. Once we had our matches we had to make a fire using twigs and leaves and then cook our afternoon tea over it. My group had trouble getting our fire to stay alight, so we had to use other peoples!! But it was still a fun challenge. Then we had free time, and dinner then a bonfire, where we roasted marshmallows, and sang songs until late.
Friday:
After breakfast we got straight into Paintball! My class went first, and at the start I was really nervous because I'd never done paint balling before. Once we were done I was devastated because it went so quickly and I was having SO much fun! Then we had some morning tea, and the other class went to paintball and we played sport. Once they were back from paintball we had a clean up and got all our gear together. Then we had some lunch, and it was time to go back to school.
I had so much fun at this camp, and I would really like to go again. I was nervous to go there at the start, but then I really didn't want to leave. Thanks to the Narrows staff made us feel at home, especially thanks to the cooks for not making us do the dishes! :)
Wednesday:
We left school at about nine o'clock, and headed for The Narrows. I was nervous, mostly because I, unlike some people, hadn't been there before. When we got there we loaded out our gear and found our cabins. Luckily, I was in a cabin with all my friends which made it a lot more comforting. We sorted out our beds, and then went on to start our first activity. The first activity was orienteering, which we did in pairs, mainly so we could get to know where everything was. After that, we started with some activities. My first activity was Archery, and since it was my first time I had a bit of trouble to start with, but soon got the hang of it so it turned out to be really fun. Second was Trolleys, for this activity we had these trolleys that you used ropes to control, they were SO much fun!! We rolled down the hill and then used the ropes to help us turn around. After that activity we had a quick lunch break, and then headed back for our next activity. Next, my group had the Water Slide!! We wore old clothes, and then slid down a steep hill really fast and it was really fun. The water was really cold though, so by the end of it we had blue lips which was funny. Once we were all showered and dressed we went on to BMX which we did around the old go kart track. It was full of puddles and was really muddy but it was worth it! Lastly, we had Air Riffles. We used these special type of guns and tried to shoot different object that were sitting on this big wooden pellet, like milk bottles, tins, cans, and there was even a spoon hanging from a wire which someone manage to hit! After that we had free time until dinner. After eating lots, we had a short break, and then were allowed to choose if we wanted to watch a movie or do the Burma Trail. After that it was time to get a sleep. Though, I think most of us stayed up till late.
Thursday:
We had some breakfast and then went off to do our last activity. Ours was Go Karts, and for that they had some really cool proper little go karts, that went really fast. One had foot petals for the acceleration/brakes, and the other had levers attached to the steering wheel. The one with the levers was slightly smaller and that was the one that I drove and it went pretty fast. Then we had a quick morning tea snack, and then played some narrows games which were team building activities. Then we had some lunch and free time. Then we did the narrows fire challenge which was a lot trickier then we all expected. First we had to get into teams of three, and then grab a plastic cup. One person stood with the cup between their feet and the other two had to figure out how to collect water from the nearby river using objects around us which took a while. Next we had to build a tower type thing using crates and other objects around us, but it had to be as tall as the adults shoulders, and balance our cup on top. Then we had a piece of metal and a stick and we had to guide it along an ELECTRIC fence but all of us had to be holding on to the stick, if someone lets go then you have to restart. Next we had to stand out side a roped area and try to reach the matches on the other side using thick sticks, pipes, and other objects. Once we had our matches we had to make a fire using twigs and leaves and then cook our afternoon tea over it. My group had trouble getting our fire to stay alight, so we had to use other peoples!! But it was still a fun challenge. Then we had free time, and dinner then a bonfire, where we roasted marshmallows, and sang songs until late.
Friday:
After breakfast we got straight into Paintball! My class went first, and at the start I was really nervous because I'd never done paint balling before. Once we were done I was devastated because it went so quickly and I was having SO much fun! Then we had some morning tea, and the other class went to paintball and we played sport. Once they were back from paintball we had a clean up and got all our gear together. Then we had some lunch, and it was time to go back to school.
I had so much fun at this camp, and I would really like to go again. I was nervous to go there at the start, but then I really didn't want to leave. Thanks to the Narrows staff made us feel at home, especially thanks to the cooks for not making us do the dishes! :)
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Week 8 & 9 Term 1
Week 8
The Makuhari left this week, and it was quite sad to see them go. The night before that was the Farewell Evening, and we showed the Makuhari students some New Zealand cultural stuff like Jump Jam, and Kapa Haka. Then three Makuhari students showed us a karate performance, and it was really interesting. We had some great experiences with the Makuhari students, and I hope they had a great time with us too.
Week 9
This week was a short week because of the long Easter holiday last week. For the holiday we went to our beach house in Coromandal, and it was really fun relaxing and going to the beach. We had a disco on Thursday and the theme was house colours, and it was really fun because there was lots of people dressed creatively in their house colours.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Week 7 Term 1
This week we started our first tech arts session for science, and we did a taste test. Mrs Tyson, the science teacher, taught us about all the words you use when doing a science experiment because you can't use words like 'yuck, nice' and other words like that. She gave us different things to try, and we had to say whether it was:
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Spicy
Bitter
Bland
She gave us loads of different things to try like, beeswax which we all said was bland because it tasted like nothing. She gave us icing sugar which was the only sweet thing. She gave us this really spicy power, and I think it was curry powder. She gave us something REALLY sour, and I asked her to only give me a few grains, and it was still REALLY sour, and bitter. It was quite fun seeing all the different reactions, and it was a cool first session for science.
Next week on Tuesday the Makuhari students leave which is so sad, I'm going to miss them so much!
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Week 6 Term 1
On Monday, at assembly, I got my second Respect band, and I'm quite close to getting my second Never Giving Up, and Honesty! I think I'm about three or four signatures away. I'm hoping to get my Silver, and maybe even my Gold Badge by the end of this year.
On Tuesday, we had Boating safety, and we learnt about how to be safe in the ocean, except we did it in the swimming pool. We learnt about how to keep warm when we are lost at sea, so we don't get sick. We learnt about the safety, and communication equipment we need to have with us, and when/how we should use it. We learnt how to hop in a little boat correctly, and balancing our weight so that it didn't tip over. We learnt how to stay safe if the boat did tip over as well, and we had to go underneath it when it was tipped upside down. We also learnt how to save someone who was stranded in the water, by using a rope.
On Thursday, the Makuhari students arrived and it was so cool. We had a powhiri to welcome them, and then they got a tour around the school. After their tour, the people hosting them came to get them and take them home. I got my Makuhari student, and he's really nice, but he doesn't speak very much English.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Week 5 Term 1
This week we had Swimming sports which is when the whole school comes over to the pool for swimming. We had champs, and non-champs races, so everyone could get involved. Sadly I didn't get into any champ races, but I did all of the non-champ ones. For the non-champs races were:
One length freestyle
Three-Quarter length breath stroke
Half length doggy paddle race
Half length walking race
half length flutter board race
It was a really fun day, but we were all hoping our house would win. Sadly, my house, Waikato, slipped from first, to third! In the end, Waipa house came out on top, then Puniu house, then us, and then poor Mangapiko came last. But overall, the the results didn't really matter because we all had a lot of fun, and the year 7's got to experience their first TAI Swimming Sports.
One length freestyle
Three-Quarter length breath stroke
Half length doggy paddle race
Half length walking race
half length flutter board race
It was a really fun day, but we were all hoping our house would win. Sadly, my house, Waikato, slipped from first, to third! In the end, Waipa house came out on top, then Puniu house, then us, and then poor Mangapiko came last. But overall, the the results didn't really matter because we all had a lot of fun, and the year 7's got to experience their first TAI Swimming Sports.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Week 4 Term 1
We had Swimming Heats this week on Friday. Swimming heats is when the schools good swimmers, chosen by the teachers, go to the pools for most of the day to compete against each other to get into Wims Swimming, against other intermediate schools. I was one of the students chosen, which was really exciting. When you get chosen for Swimming Heats, you get to choose which events you want to do. I did one, and two lengths freestyle, and one length breath stroke. I sadly didn't do any other events, but I should have done two lengths breath stroke. It was a really exciting day, but I didn't get into Wims, but I tried my best, and other good swimmers got in anyway, so they'll probably get good places, and represent the school well.
Week 3 Term 1
This week has been really exciting for most year 8's. We found out the new House Captains, and Class Councilors. I didn't get house captain sadly, but I did get Deputy Class Councilor. I'm really happy that I got the position, as now I can help out with all the school activities, which I really wanted to do. Class Councilor went to Cheng-Yu. Some of my friends also got roles as House Captains, Hadlee got House Captain for Puniu, and Caitlin got deputy. I'm really excited to start getting involved in the opportunities available for the student council this year, as we get to organise things like disco's, mufti days, student assembly, and lots of other activities like that.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Week 2 Term 1
The past two weeks have been busy. There have been lots of things to sign up for, and get involved in. We have had tech arts, in which us year 8's are doing wood. We're making speakers, and it has been really challenging and fun making them. There was a band evening for those who wanted to play an instrument, or learn more about after school lessons. For those who couldn't make it, and for people who went to the band evening and put their names down, there was a meeting at school the next day, and Mrs German wrote our names and the instrument we wanted to play. I'm going to play clarinet, and I'll find out what time my lessons are on Monday. We had Minor Games on Friday, our first house competition. We will hopefully hear the results soon.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Week 1 Term 1 2016
Welcome back to my blog for 2016
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