Christmas Day

Christmas day was alright. The weather wasn't as everyone had planned it out to be. There was rain falling down now and again and it had caused our plans for the day to be cancelled. But still my family and I found things to do of course. I awoke to the aroma of deliciously perfected ham roasting in the oven. My mother got up super early just to make the feast for the days event.

Instead of going to the beach like my family had planned out, we decided to go out far, and wide to all of our family member who we hadn't visited in a long time. After preparing the food, and of course ourselves for the day. We loaded the food into the car.

Our first stop was to my mother little brothers house. He lived in Manurewa and we thought it would be nice to visit him. When we arrived to his house, we gave him his food, and his present from the family and talked for a bit. Then made our way again. This time we were visiting an uncle of mine.

As we approached his driveway we saw that there were quite a few family of ours there. So my dad made the call that we would stay here, and have a feast with them. The day turned out to be quiet pleasant. Catching up with family members, and babysitting cute adorable babies. It wasn't the ideal Christmas I had in mind, but it was something worth writing about. There was still a lot of food which I am definitely thankful for.

The only lowlight this Christmas was the fact that my presents came at least 1 week after Christmas. Which were Shoes, Clothes, and money. All I have to do is wait for New Years day, where I'll receive a lot of money from my elderly aunties, and uncles. I can't wait!

New Years Eve

The preparation is so far exhausting, even though its 11 in the morning, the food preparation is coming along. My families plans for new years day, is to make our way out West for a family feast type of thing. There will be food, cousins, family, friends, and music. Its kind of an annual thing! I'm super excited for tomorrow though because I'll be getting to see my cousin. He's been gone for too long, and I just can't wait to see him.

One other reason why I can't wait is because all of my cousins from my fathers side will be there, and I haven't seen them all for ages! Another typical reason also, is because of the traditional food. There is going to be heaps! I heard there is going to be an Umu. Delicious.

New years is going to be awesome! I can just feel it. But I'm just nervous for the new year that'll be ahead of me after tomorrow. But oh well. Happy New Years Eve, and God Bless!

Last Day Of School

On the final day of school I didn't know what to expect. I said to my friends and I that I wouldn't cry at the end of the day. I didn't know if I was going to. School was finishing at 12:30 and I really didn't want things to end so fast. But at our assembly at the end of the day Mr Burt told all of us year 8's to load onto the stage. Right before we all said our "Happy Holidays" Gabriel thanked the teachers on behalf of the yr 8's once more. Then out of the blue all the yr 8 boys stood up in a fierce mode. So the girls decided to stand up to.

The boys were doing their haka they had all learnt in one days effort. They were going all out and it looked really epic! The stage was shaking, and the girls were starting to tear up. When finally the boys finished their haka a couple of the girls had already started to cry. It was getting to me, but I hardened up and held it in. After the whole school yelled out "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" after 3 go's it was time to say good-bye. We all stood up on the stage, and went running around and saying our farewells to each other.

After almost hugging every single student I decided to turn to the teachers. I still hadn't cried, but everyone around me was crying. It was astonishing for me, cause I would of thought I would be the first to break down. Once I started to approach Miss Jamali, I started to tear up. Once she hugged me was when I completely broke down into tears, and started to cry like a baby. I said my farewells to almost every teacher before I headed outside to where the rest of the class of 2013 were.

I started to walk for the gates to make my way to Swima-rama, but as I did, I turned around and saw everyone in the courtyard. It was probably the most heartbreaking moment of my life walking out of those gates. But as I did so, I thought to myself, what a wonderful life I've had here at Pt England. I will forever cherish all the memories that I had made here. And with those thoughts I walked out of the gate............ I'm gonna miss being a student at Pt England School definitely. And I'm going to miss all the friends I made their, who weren't just my friends, but had become family to me!

Prize giving Evening

It was prize giving night and my adrenaline was pumping! It was my very last for my life at Pt England School, and I was in the kapa haka group. Which meant I had to come a bit earlier than the others. Once I arrived I made my way towards the Library. When the event had finally started I was told to go on stage with Gabriel to do the opening prayers before joing the kapa haka group.

After doing the prayers, we scurried along to the kapa haka group that was waiting in the music room for us. Mr Burt had to do his short speech before it was our turn. It was our turn and I was feeling my goosebumps. I was really nervous, but I knew in my head that we were going to do great! We all single filed and walked onto the stage. The crowd was pretty big but it didn't get to me as much as it did before. Now we were all singing, and doing our haka, and it sounded pretty mean! When our bracket finished, we walked off the stage proudly!

The following thing that happened was the yr 5 awards and item. Their item was pretty cool. Although I loved the yr 6 item! It was off the hook. Their item had to be one of my main highlights of the night. Then there was the yr 7 item, they did a live MTV on stage act of the theme song of Prince Of Belair. An old one but a good one of Will Smith. Our year 8 item on the other hand was pretty awesome to. I liked it, and by the looks of the crowd they did to!

I enjoyed the evening because I got a few awards myself. 2nd academic was one of the 3 that I was most proud of. Once the night was over I felt relieved but yet again depressed that everything was over basically. The next prize giving I would attend to would be in college and I'm not just ready yet.

And The Countdown Begins

In less than 3 more days it will soon be Christmas day. I'm super ecstatic, and can't wait! The only low light is that my whole family won't be here. My sister Nive is in Australia with my grandparents for her birthday present, and for he Christmas present from them. My older sister Patricia will be down in Hamilton with her best friends family, and my eldest brother Kenny will be at his friends Christmas Dinner.

So Christmas day is left with just mum, dad, James and me. It's going to be a small Christmas this year, but I'm still pretty excited. Family time is family time, and I will cherish any moment I spend with them. I think all we'll be doing is unwrapping gifts, and eating as much as we want! I can't wait!

Pt England School Highlight

My life at Pt England School has finally after nine years come to an end. Through my tough trials and tribulations, between me and my long lasting friends, we've always come to a conclusion of friendship. Moving on to college next year is going to be so hard. Leaving everything behind, including my friends is the most hardest thing I'm going to have to do. I've enjoyed most of my years here at Pt England School.

My New Entrant year went by in a blur since I enjoyed being a student of Miss Anderson so much. Miss Wild was one of my many favoured teachers. She was my year one teacher. She taught me so much, she helped me so much, and she was the person who started off my footpath into becoming the person who I am today. In Miss Wild's class I made new friends, Mary Loseli was one and Ashleigh was another. I had a lot of friends but they were my two closest class mates. Thank-you Miss Wild!

Throughout the next three years Ashleigh, Mary and I stayed friends, but we were split into different classes. Ash and I were together but Mary had been split from us. In the following year I was in Room nine and I had Miss Wood as my teacher, she was amazing to have as a teacher. She taught me a lot, and she was so kind and friendly. During my year in Room nine I had the buzz of playing sport. Thank-you Miss Wood.

Miss McKinlay was my year 3 teacher. She was harsh, but I liked the way she taught us students. She was really cool to have as a teacher, and she helped carve my pathway into becoming the person who I am today also. Thank-you Miss McKinlay. The following year I got put into Miss Garden's class, she was my year 4 teacher. In her class she taught me a lot of things. I reckon being put in her class helped me extend in my learning, and so I thank-you Miss Garden. In room twelve I started to play netball, and I loved it.

Miss Squires was my teacher in year five, I didn't really enjoy that year because of dramas with friends. It was okay, Miss Squires did teach me a lot though. Luckily by the end of the year my friends and I managed to resolve everything. So I thank-you. The following year Miss Garden taught me again, I enjoyed that year, it was a tough year but I endured through it. When finally I entered into year seven, Mrs Lagitupu became my teacher. That was definitely a year to remember.

My final year I was put into Room twenty with Miss Squires as my teacher once again. I really enjoyed it, I made new friends along the way, and I learnt a lot of new things. Both learning wise, and life wise. My life here at Pt England School has been amazing, reflecting back on my life and years attending here I've definitely learnt a load of things.

The thought of college is daunting me. I really don't think I'm ready for it. But it's time for me to proceed along to college. I'm off to a completely different school with completely different people, which is making me feel a bit nervous. I'm going to miss playing sports here, eating my friend's lunch (just kidding) more like them eating mine. I'm going to miss all the teachers, and my lovely little children that always say hi to me whenever I walk past. I am just going to miss Pt England school in general.

Outlook for Someday Workshop: GJMR Studios

GJMR Studios Extension from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

As we all know Pt England School is indeed very into their movie making, and we as an extension class try to participate in as many movie competitions as possible. But there is one competition that stands out the most for us and that's The Outlook For Someday competition, held in Auckland, for people who love movie making right from the ages of 5 to 23.

Last term, our extension class and a few extra year 8 students were fortunate enough to have 2 people come to our school for a whole day workshop all about movie making. Their names were Chris, and Ilia. Being experienced and all in movie making, they took their time up to come and give us some tips on what we could do to improve our movie making skills.

The workshop started at 9:00am and finished at 3:00pm. By 3:00pm we were expected to have a short movie finished, that was either based around these sustainability areas Society, Culture, Economy and Environment. We firstly were each set in groups. In my group there was Mary L, Jay'lee and Gloria, and obviously me. We named our group GJMR Studios. Pretty decent right. Well we worked together for the rest of the day. Before we got started on the whole movie making, we did a couple of activities around what our movies were going to be based on or around.

Each group got given a file filled with pieces to a jigsaw puzzle we had to try and solve. This puzzle had different words written over it in specific areas. The word economy for instance on the jigsaw puzzle was surrounded by things relating to the word. After putting all the pieces together, the words Society, Culture, Economy and Environment were placed in different places all over it. After discussing with my group a bit about each word, and a bit about the pictures around them, it was time to pick one of the words and develop a storyboard on a movie based around that word.

My group and I chose the words Economy and Society. Our main question we wanted to try and answer through our movie we were going to make was 'How has the world come to evolve around money?' By the time I got hooked into the whole process of things, it was already morning tea time. We had to leave things where they were, and come back after play, and start filming.

As soon as we walked into Tusitala and took our seats, Ilia and Chris both started talking to us about the next step to the workshop. It was movie making time. Since my group and I had already planned our movie, we were ready to film. Two of the four of us, Gloria and Mary went outside to film, while Jay'lee and I stayed behind finishing off our script, which was a rhyming type of one. It was a simple job and we got it done fast and recorded it. As soon as we did, the girls had finished filming what they were assigned to. We put the movie together back in the ICT lab and edited it right in time before the bell rang for lunch.

My group was relieved because we knew that our movie was finished, and that after lunch we had a decent movie to produce. After watching our movies, it was time for judgement. The other groups movies seemed to be pretty good, but the GJMR productions film had to be my favourite. Once every bodies movie played and were judged, Chris and Elia were off. The days worth session was pretty cool, and I'm pretty sure in the future I'll be making pretty cool movies too.

Digital Reflection

This generation has more modern ways to lean. For example, we now use high tech fashioned mini net books, a couple of iPads in each classes, and many of us pretty much have moved on from using pencil and paper.

Using net books and digital technology this year has helped me personally be able to exceed in all my learning subjects. By automatically connecting towards the TLN Manaiakalani network, we are all able to learn online and become very fluent with the system. The wifi connection has helped me with my math subject just by using online math websites, for instance like Math Whizz and XtraMath. Both math websites that have mainly taken care of that subject for me.

I've learnt from the young ones in my class about the technical skills we are able to access. Very difficult to come by, but the year seven boys know the terminal page inside out. At home I've researched by myself a lot of things. One I remember off the top of my head are the math websites I signed up for by myself. Like Mathlete, funbrain, and a load of other websites.

Having net books that can be able to access the internet is a real convenience. We are able to do our learning at home, or possibly anywhere there maybe WiFi available. Everything we learn is all based online, so having our net book constantly connected to the internet is a real time saver.

It's been really cool this year because since I'm almost an expert in technology for my age, I've been able to help younger students. With their school work, and with technology wise problems. Especially my little brother. I'm now able to help him with any school work he needs help with.

I've advanced quite a lot in my subjects since we switched into becoming a digital learning school. And being able to work outside of school has also really helped me. Since our tasks are set online, I'm able to access them, and exceed in my learning in my own time.

My friends have helped me a lot with my learning, and with any problems I've had with my net book. Mainly Ashleigh, she's an ultimate expert with technology in my eyes.

I have really enjoyed researching by myself at home the many different learning websites, youtube videos, and lyric links that have helped me with my work at school. One in particular website is thesaurus.com! It helps me, and gives me a varied amount of words to help me with my writing, and songs.

Through the past three years, going digital in all my learning has really helped me a lot! I've been able to learn, and share my work and learning online with my friends and families. I've been able to work at home and finish off projects I couldn't finish at school. Digital learning has seriously helped me with my learning outcomes, and the way I learn.

Yr 8 Camp

My friends and I entered the bus hyped and ecstatic ready for camp, and especially for the 5 hour drive that was ahead of us. After Mr Burt said our prayer, it was time to board onto the buses. The team I was in was pretty sharp so we went on the bus 2nd. Kane, Jesiah, Brooklyn, Sesalina, Turuhira, Makayla and I all grabbed our bags and made our way.

Day one was basically one giant bus ride that I personally didn't quite enjoy, because I always get car sick when I stay in a vehicle for to long. Once we arrived to the camp site which was Keswick down in Rotorua, with a silent sounding 'w' we loaded off our luggage and got changed into comfy clothing worthy for running/walking in. My highlight for day one was going for a swim with the boys and Ashleigh, it was pretty fun, oh and the scenic view Gabriel showed us. It was beautiful. My low light though was the long walk, it was damp and raining.

Day two was alright, I enjoyed breakfast but I didn't quite enjoy the part when we went for our other cross fit run basically. But watching the geyser was pretty fascinating. I also enjoyed being at the Agrodome, and carrying cute little animals. Especially the rabbits, they were so adorable and fluffy.

Day three was descent, it was Thursday and we were going to the Blue lake for a swim. My highlight of the day was swimming at Rotorua's aquatic centre, it was pretty buzzy. The lowlight of my day was the ugly weather we had to walk through to get to the Blue lake.

Finally on the last day, it was time to hit the Luge before we were headed back to Tamaki Makaurau. The luge ride was awesome, and I really enjoyed it. By the time we got back to school it was just past 4:00pm. I was glad to be home, but I did miss the camp sight as well. Maybe in another couple of years time I could visit down there once again.

Thrust Investigation

The year 7 and 8 extension group did a quick investigation on how far a balloon could thrust on a straw through a string. There were 4 groups of 4-5 students in them. The group I was in consisted of Vivienne, Shoal, Brooklyn and Lisia. Our first attempt wasn't so triumphant. The second time around our time improved, but not our distance. Finally on our third and last attempt it was successful. As they say, save the best for last, and we certainly did with our adjustments.  

Rest In Peace Nelson Mandela

The one and only, loving, caring and humble man Nelson Mandela has become an angel up in heaven. Tragically he passed away this morning in his very own home. Nelson Mandela lived a hard and rough life, but to him it was all a challenge he was willing to take. Nelson Mandela will forever be in my heart, and everyone else, he created a tribe to justice and humanity. But perhaps it was a dream of his he always knew would happen. A remarkable man, a remarkable life, that ended today at the age of 95.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another -quoted by Nelson Mandela. 

Rest In Paradise Papa Nelson Mandela <3

My Mihi

Kia ora tatou
Greetings to us all

Kua hui mai nei
Who gathered here today

Ki tenei kura
To this school

Ki te mau mai
To bring

I nga whakaaro pai
The good thoughts

Ka nui te hari
Greats is the happiness

Mo to koutou kaha
For your support

Ki te huihui mai
In assembling/gathering

Ki te hapai
To uplift

I nga take
The matters/ subjects

E pa ana ki tenei kura
Concerning this school

No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena ra tatou katoa
Therefore greeting once, greetings twice, greetings again to us all.

The Big School Garage Sale

It was 9.15am and I swore I was late, but by the time I got school, there were already kids helping out everywhere. Some were out front near the round about holding up signs, some were cooking the sausages, and the teachers were selling things in the hall. Things were going quite well I would say.

Once I got to school I was looking around for things that needed to be done. So I was told to either fold clothes or help out with holding signs, which seemed pretty embarrassing. So instead I helped to try and sell some things. Later on I made my way towards the BBQ where the boys were slacking off, so I gave them a hand. It was really hard having to serve a lot of people. I reckon I dished up about 25 sausages at the most.

By the end of the sale which was nearer to 12pm, almost less than half the things that were in the hall got sold. I was glad about this because everything we sold would be going towards our yr 8 camp next week. After all the sausages were sold, we all packed everything up, and made our way. I'm super ecstatic and can't wait for camp. It's going to be awesome.

St Kents New Entrants Day

It took a lot of nerve for me to speak to anybody, but when I finally did, I realized I had met a potential friend. I was sitting in the St Kentigerns chapel, with a heap of other kids entering year 9 next year. I didn't know anybody, and neither did the girl behind me, so I introduced myself to her politely. It was new entrants day, and that meant that we had our exams ahead of us. Which I wasn't exactly keen about.

My new friend Katy and I chatted for a bit, until a man walked through the chapel doors and told us to stand. From then on the day began. After he talked for a bit, then a man named Mr Gordons spoke to us, and split us into our groups. Fortunately I was in the same group as Katy. The groups we were put into were the groups we were going to be staying with for the rest of the day. I had a teacher by the name of Mrs Miller. She was very kind and polite, and I found her really cool.

When we arrived to our classes, our first subject we had to sit was English. It was fairly hard, but I thought I did well. Straight after English we sat the Reasoning test. This I found pretty hard, since I had never sat a test quite like it before. Then it was interval for 30 minutes. Katy and I hung out again, and I found out a lot about her. She happened to be Head Girl of her school down in Papakura. 

After Interval was over, we headed back into our class with Mrs Miller. This time we were sitting Mathematics, which for me was lucky, since I like the subject maths. As I turned the paper my fingers started to become more anxious as it was going to be our last exam for the day. I took my time with questions, and eventually got the end with an extra few minutes to spare. When time was up, we had a 2 minute talk with each other before we were released for lunch. S

Unfortunately Katy had to go for the rest of the day for her mothers events, so I was by myself. The rest of the day we played sports, and got to know the prefects a little better. At the end of the day, I found it alright. Aside from the fact that I was a bit to overwhelmed about everything in the beginning, it was okay. 

All I have to do is wait for another six more weeks at least, and I'll be attending the very school.

Maths Strategy

Question 1: An addition problem using decimals (to the hundredths)

Samantha had saved $89.50 to buy her dream cellphone. She needed $31.50 more. How much does her dream phone cost?

Questions 2: A subtraction problem using decimals (to the thousandths)  

Not where you can use partitioning.

Lucy had a 1.5litre energy drink. Her friend drank .789ml. How many litres are left?

Question 3: A multiplication strategy using  decimals.

There were 5 people wanting a 1.5g chocolate bar. If all the 5 people put their chocolate bars together how many grams would there be?

Question 4: A division problem (Sharing out) using decimals

Allison had 4.5m of fabric. She needed to make 10 (.15cm) shirts for her classmates?

Question 5: A fractions problem. Finding a fraction of an amount. (More than 1 part) or  from the parts or fraction working out what  total amount is.

If Sarah ate 1/2 of the pie. How much of a fraction would be left over?

Question 6: A proportions/ratio problem

Waimaria went to the pools. In every 4 pools there were 5 girls and 9 boys. How many boys were there all together at the pools?

Maths

1. The world record for throwing a cellphone in 2012 was 102.68 metres. James attempted to beat the record but only managed to throw 97.89m. How much was he short by?

102.68 - 97.89 = 4.79

97.89_____.11______98____________4___________________102____.68____102.89

2. Sione uploaded a presentation to his blog but it was too big. In the HTML code he saw that the size was 920  pixels wide by  648 pixels high. He thinks if he reduces it to ¾ of the size it is, it should fit. What dimensions does he need to change in the HTML code?

Answer 630 pixels high, 754 pixels wide

3. Tiaki is fixing part of his fence. The pickets he needs are .68m long each. How many metres of timber does he need to cut up 45 pickets?

.68 x 45 =

.68

x45

------

300

 45

2400

 320

-------

36.5

If the timber comes in 5m lengths only what is the minimum amount of lengths he needs to have enough for 45 pickets?

40x5= 200

5x5= 25

200+25= 225

The timber is $3.55/m. How much will he have spent?

3.55x36.5= 114.85

30x3.55= 90.55

6x3.55= 18.55

.5x1.75= 5.75

90.55+18.55= 109.10

109.10+5.75= 114.85

4.  Julia is an artist. She has been painting a huge mural for the town centre. For the main colour she used a 20 litre pail of white mixed with a 10 litre pail of blue. Unfortunately she ran out of paint before she finished the mural. She thinks that she will only need 6 more litres in total to finish. How much blue and white paint does she need to mix up to get the 6 litres of paint she needs that is exactly the same colour she has been using?

Answer - 4:2

The Horse And His Boy

This is a podcast that my friend Gabriel and I recorded. It is called The Horse And His Boy by C.S.Lewis.

Future Aspirations.....

Last week on Thursday a group of people came to our school to talk to the year 7 and 8 students about our future’s. There were five main speakers for the event, and one of them happened to be the same age as us, and he attended Ficino School. The other four speakers were adults and they all were well educated people, who had dreams, and aspirations for their futures.

We all were told to be seated in the hall first before we were separated. Andrew Patterson was the MC/Host for the event, and before we were split apart he spoke for a while. I stayed behind with the yr 7’s in the hall and was the videographer. The first speakers name was Tristan who was a year 7 entering University next year. He spoke to us about his life, and about his accomplishments at such a young age. Being able to attend University at the age of 12 is just amazing! Tristan also spoke to us about one of his projects where he thoroughly researched about this specific milk bottle. Tristan is definitely an inspiring person.

Tristan was my favourite speaker for the day, and he really made me think about what my future aspirations were going to be. I once thought about being a doctor, but now my heart is locked onto becoming a successful lawyer in crime. Through all the five speakers that spoke on that day, they all truly have made an influence in what my future dream is going to be.

My friends Shoal and Ashleigh like to listen to music so they say that when they grow up, their future dreams are to at least work around the music industry. It seems very predicted because they are very determined and amiable girls who always chase their aspirations and dreams.

Friends

My 7 main friends......

So there’s Shoal. She’s one of my main friends, she has to be the most funniest one out of the bunch, and the mature one. Then there’s Ashleigh, she’s the most boyish one out of all of us. But still she’s one of the most hypo friends I know. But then there’s Huelo-Ata and Brooklyn. I look at them as twins because they both have hypo persona’s. They both love to laugh a lot, and they're both quite fit and intelligently smart. Vivienne is the brainiac out of all of us, she’s the mature one, but she can be immature, and really funny and kick back most of the time. My best friend outside of school is Jasmine. She’s tall, but not taller than me I would say. (Kidding) We always hang out with each other after school, and we’ve known each other since we were young children.

Shoal is an amazing friend. I’ve known her ever since she came to Pt England in year 4. Her personality is very friendly, and she’s such a comedian. Shoal is very intelligent, and is highly up there with academic results. She is also my queen and I adore her 24/7...

Ashleigh is on of my friends that I’ve known ever since I first started school which is 9 years now. We were in the same class every single year after the other right up until we entered Intermediate. We still hang out every interval, and she is the most boyish friend I know. But she still has her girly ways, and I love her for that.

Vivienne is one of my mains as well. I’ve known her ever since I was in Room 15, but we only started hanging out in year 7 properly. She is the eldest out of the bunch, and she is very intelligent. She loves food, and she is very fit and skinny.

Huelo-Ata is my friend that I met last year. Yet it feels as if I’ve known her for ages. Her laugh is very contagious and it makes us all laugh along. She is very fit, and she loves her sports, and is very good at it.

Brooklyn is one of my mains also. And is a very awesome girl who is pretty in her own way. She loves to laugh like I mean A LOT! She makes the most funniest facials and noises ever. And I couldn’t imagine being in a different class from her.

Jasmine is of my amazing friend. She’s been there for me through thick and thin, and it really sucks that we won’t be going to the same college. Every single day after school we hang out and play at the park, or either sit at my house watching movies. I’ve known her ever since I started school as well, right from her very first day I’ve known her.

Darius is probably the only boy mate I have who I feel I can trust with anything. I’ve known him ever since we were in room nine together. He is a very kind and sweet type of boy, who is also academically clever. He’s also very good with his sports, and is unfortunately also not attending the same college as me next year.

All my friends will always be kept dearly near my heart. Even when we all depart our separate ways in life for college. It really sucks that we all may not be going to the same college’s, but we’ll all still be friends in time.

The Three P's

Protection: My mother fought for her life to be able to stay alive and protect us. Her very own children. My Dad wouldn't be strong enough to take care of the five of us. So she had to stay strong so she could protect us as we grew older, and she ended up doing so.

Partnership: As my Mother tried to recover in rehab it took co-operation and partnership between my dad and us kids to be able to help her each day. Including my grandparents, we all collaborated together to help my mum recover from her big operation.

Participation: Almost everyday my brothers, sisters and I went to the hospital with our Dad to check up on our mum. Some nights my eldest sister slept with her, and most of the time we took turns feeding our mum. I was only 3yrs old but I loved my mum dearly, and I wanted to participate in any kind of act that would be able to help her become stronger.

This is a movie/poem that I made with the help of Joshua Iosefa based around my beautiful mother! Hope you enjoy.

Writing Sample Narrative - Jungle

It was a seven day cruise and my parents thought that it would be a good idea to spend our first week of the holidays occupying our time in the middle of the ocean. The thought of water made my stomach squirm. I hate being around wet surroundings, and my parents knew that. I guess this was a punishment for getting really bad grades. On the other hand my little brother James who loved to be around water had good grades. So I was guessing that he had chose the location for our family vacation this year.

“Rita have you packed all your stuff yet? We’re leaving in five” my mum asked me. “Yeah. I’ll be down soon” I responded in a sluggish voice. I wasn’t keen on spending seven days in the middle of the ocean but I had no choice. The ship was huge! There were a lot of people planning to spend their first week of their holidays on a ship which meant that the cruise was going to be full. It was already day 3 of the cruise and the sun was beating against my skin as I lay there on the skydeck of the ship. I felt dehydrated so I stood up and went for a walk to the vending machine. I tried looking for my parents, and my little brother but none were in sight. I bought a drink

I stood on the railing sipping my drink when suddenly a couple of kids thought that it was funny to bump into me. Just from that little bump I went flying overboard. My heart was pounding so fast. I couldn’t do anything because I was flying off the ship! Then suddenly my whole body was under the ocean. I was being thrown and tossed around by huge waves. I thought that I was dead. But then I woke up along a sea shore.

A whole gigantic jungle was before me and I was scared to my bones. I stood up slowly and sluggishly, and peered around. I was all alone in the middle of the ocean on an island, probably not even on the world map. I didn’t know what to do, so I made my way into the jungle. I could only see green all around me. Night almost fell and I needed to find shelter for the night. The only clothes I had were the ones that were on my back, and they were still quite damp. I saw a tree fairly high off the ground that was climbable, so I spent the night in there. After five days of treacherous nights all alone I began to think no one would ever find me, when suddenly.

To be continued.

One Direction

The famous boy band One Direction started off each being individual singers auditioning for the television show X-Factor. They were all eliminated after boot camp, but Simon Cowell brought them all back together to become the now popular icon One Direction. Niall Horan, Zain Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlison and Liam Payne are five good looking boys who have stolen the hearts of many young teenage girls. After their first song was officially out What Makes You Beautiful, the song and the band went sky rocketing to the top of the charts. Now they are famous world wide! A lot of girls are One Direction fans, and I know I am truly a Directioner!!

Life In Auckland Compared To Life In Syria

Auckland: Opening my exhausted eyes felt like the usual everyday wakening. I had a late night watching movies with my sisters once again and I had woken up late for school. I slowly got out of bed feeling glum and still very tired, not intrigued about what I had planned for today. But my life went on, and it was going to be another normal everyday life for me. Syria: Startled awake by my little brother screaming in my ear telling me to wake up, I jumped to my feet from the cold hard floor. He had another nightmare. When I was eight my mother left my little brother and I to care for ourselves. I was now fifteen-years old and I was used to things like this happening. “BOOOM!!” went another bomb. Kenny wrapped his arms around my legs and said with a worried voice “when will this war ever end Rita?”

Auckland: I grabbed my lunch, shoved it in my bag, kissed my mum good-bye and was off to school. Half way towards the school grounds I met my friends and walked the rest of the way with them. School was normal today. All I was excited for was the volleyball training I had after school. I couldn’t wait, because that was probably the only sport I was ever good at. Syria: It was empty, as usual, the cupboards were never even half filled with food ever. My brother and I were stranded in a house filled with 5 families. When would I ever expect it anyway. “You can’t catch me” said my little brother as he scurried along playing with the other children. At least he had friends, and wasn’t as miserable as I was. Although at times I wish I could go to school, to make some friends. I had that feeling once again of isolation, and hunger. Auckland: Running laps wasn’t quite the ideal training for me. But since I had slacked off hanging out with my friends instead of arriving to training on time I had to face the consequences. After a good five laps around the gym I finally was told to stop and join the team for proper training. Afterwards as I was walking home I stopped by the shops and bought myself some food with my pocket money I got each week for doing my chores. Than I was on my way home, with my day coming to an end. Syria: Food and money was hard to come by, and a good education as well. I couldn’t make enough money for my little brother Kenny to attend school, so I had to tutor him myself. I could hardly read but I tried my best to teach him what I knew, how to survive, how to stay of trouble, how to fight. If I left this world unexpectedly at least I would know that my ten year old little brother Kenny knew how to take care of himself. Auckland: I entered through the back door, then made my way up the stairs to my room. I was exhausted from training and needed a shower, so I took one for at least 20 minutes or so. I hopped out of the shower, got changed, and went down for dinner. Dinner was scrumptious, and after washing my dishes I checked my Facebook, then hopped into my cosy warm bed. Once my head hit the pillow I was all lights out. Syria: Dawn was falling and I needed to get home from a long day of work as fast as possible before something bad happened. I pushed my way through the rubble, and dirt blocking the entrance to my house, and entered through the front door. I only earned $5 today, which wasn’t enough to buy a loaf of bread but enough to buy at least five slices. So I bought five slices anyway and took them home for supper. My brother and I halved one slice, then decided to make our way to bed (hard floor). He lay his head down against my chest and fell asleep. I could hear his stomach rumble, which made me feel bad because I blamed myself for this happening. But my stomach was empty as well but there was nothing I could do about it. So I laid there staring at the almost completely wrecked ceiling wondering why life was to tough.

Career Path

Career Path:

1- Lawyer

Three main things you have to do to become a successful lawyer, you must have confidence in defending your client. Two you must either have graduated with a masters, or bachelor of laws degree from university. And also thirdly you would need to be legally licensed. I really want to become a lawyer when I grow older because it pays a really good amount of money.

2- Flight Attendant

Travelling around the world is awesome, and by becoming a flight attendant it can become much easier to travel. To become a flight attendant you must have passed level 3 in hospitality. It is an amazing job that lets you travel around the world.

3- Teacher

To be a teacher you need to obviously be educated. Becoming a teacher is a really good thing, because you are able to teach, and help children learn.

4- Game Tester

Playing and testing video games for companies is a real convenient job. If you are very interested in to game playing like me, this is definitely the job for you. You get to play and test games both online and on consoles to see if they are good to be released and played worldwide.

5- Chef

Chefs are usually good with food. They have the ability to cook superb types of food. Being a chef means a lot of study, and cooking work obviously. I reckon becoming a chef would be really cool because you would learn how to cook for your family, and eventually you will have your own restaurant.

What In the World Is Going On- Skydiving Crash In Belgium

Just recently in Belgium there occurred a devastating plane crash, taking all the lives of those who were on-board. It was supposed to be a fun day, but it had all gone wrong. The Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter plane which the instructor and the skydiving pupils were all boarded on took off in partly cloudy weather.

A few minutes away from where they took off witnesses say that they saw part of a wing break off, which sent the plane skydiving itself. One witness said in his own words “It nose dived and crashed into the ground like a stone.” The plane was estimated to be 3km high above the sky before it suddenly came plummeting down.

The skydivers and instructor had no time to escape, a few tried but failed doing so. Everyone on board was tragically killed. No one was hurt on the ground, but the families of those who had died were definitely hurt inside.

My Maths Work

Mahia's Mural.

Mahia is an artist. She has been commissioned to paint a mural on wall of a company's warehouse. The company wants the mural to be abstract (not representational) and they want it to show the colours of their company logo. They have specified it needs to have 1/3 blue,  1/6 red, 1/12 yellow, 1/12 white 1/12 purple and 1/4  green. They want it to have 2 lines of symmetry (reflection)  and  a rotating and translating pattern somewhere.

Day 3 of the Amazing Riverside Camp!

So it was the usual routine. Wake up at 7:00am head down to the Rimu room to line up then head for the gym for fitness. It was day 3 already! The night before I didn't really get enough rest so I ended up waking up a bit later then the morning before. Which meant some of the other girls had to do fitness for me. When I got to the gym Brooklyn, Vivienne and Ata were sorting out fitness. After fitness had passed the day went by super quickly!

After breakfast was duties and a quick wash up. For the rest of the day we were going to be playing a lot of sports. Devo was right until morning tea, and then after that is was sports and fun activities! But we were going to be teaming up with a boys group. Fortunately the EADivas were teamed up with Lorenz and Siones team which were the New Era crew. It was fun participating in sports and games with them. For one of the games we played on the beach, we as a teamed up team won them all. Except for one. Our teams both worked together very well and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Once all the activities were over down at the beach it was time to head back to the campus for showers or free time.

My friends and I decided to hit the showers, since tonight there was going to be a disco! I was super excited for the disco because Peter, one of the head leaders had planned an exciting game for us to play during the disco. It definitely had to be my highlight of the day. After devotional which ended at 8:30 it was time to get ready. Once everybody was ready we were told to make our way back down to the Rimu room for further instructions. When everyone arrived  Peter started to explain the game. There were going  to be three stations in the hall. One was outside which was the police station. The other station was the buying station, and the final one was the smuggling station. The police, buyers, and smugglers. On the dance floor you would dance to the music, and while you would dance the police would try and find the smugglers which were trying to smuggle diamonds, (bottle caps) to the buyers who each got given money (coloured paper strips) to buy the diamonds without getting caught. If you were caught by the police with a diamond they wold take you to the police station to be held there for 1 minute. But if the police was wrong and you were bought to the station with a dollar, the police would be thrown in to the jail cell for 1 minute. If you did happen to have accomplish a swap with money, and a diamond, and return it to your station without getting caught you score a point.

It was a simple game to get but, very hard to pursue. Once the game started everyone was going everywhere. I was a buyer, so I tried my best to buy a diamond off a smuggler to get a point for my station. Unfortunately I was caught by the police on the dance floor more then three times in fact. It was so buzzy, the lights, the music, it was an awesome disco! When finally the game was over, we only had enough time for a dance competition and a quick dance to 2 songs.

Then the lights came on. Everyone looked tired, and sweaty cause it was getting stuffy. Then Mr Burt said it was time for TTB (toilet, teeth, bed). Another excellent day went by, and I couldn't stand leaving from this camp ever. But there was only 2 days of camp left before heading back to G.I! So I was to surely make the most out of the time left!

To be continued.......