My Art

This movie that you will see will show you what the intermediate block have been working on for art. ENJOY!!!

Mr Tele'as Tatau

This term we have been learning about ‘Art’. So in extension we have been studying about symbols, and mostly island patterns and designs. One of the studies were the Samoan ‘Tatau’, meaning the Samoan Pe’a for mens.

So not long ago, Mr Tele’a (Mrs Tele’as husband) came in and showed us his Pe’a. We had a lot of questions that had been answered. One of the questions that were said was ‘‘Did you get to choose the style of how you wanted the tatau?’’ Mr Tele’a said no because the tattooist looks at your background and gets all the information there. So the info that the artist got from his background is permanently on Mr Tele’as body.

For his tatau, it took more than 1 week, it took 17 sessions. So basically it was 17 days. We asked him “What inspired him to get it?”. His answer was, that his brother was wanting to get a tatau, but he needed a partner. So Mr Tele’a bravely volunteered to be his brother soa (tattoo partner). The tattooist that did Mr Tele’as and his brothers Tatau was Tuifa’asisiga Su’a.

Mr Tele’a said that when he unravelled the pe’a and put it on a paper. It will look just like a bat. One of the symbols on the Tatau is at the back. It is the va’a (boat), the representative of the va’a is the mans family. So you have to protect them under your arms, it is really cool because the va’a is right under your arms. It is around your back on the ribcage. Another desing on the Tatau was on the belly button. Mr Tele’a said it was a relief when the tattooist were up to the belly button because it was that last part to tattoo.

When getting a Tatau, you need to be respectful. You cannot show your pe’a when it is still getting done, because that is rude. But if the pe’a wasn’t finished and you just gave up. You will be walking around with an incomplete tatau, and I tell you it won't be good, because you will be living in shame.

I have learnt so many things about the Tatau that I didn’t even know. Like how the tattooist looks at your background to get ideas for your pe’a. It takes really long to do your Tatau, and also one thing I am really surprised with is that he memorises everything in his head, he doesn’t copy off a paper. It is all on his mind. Also that the Tatau is very special to the Samoans.

Tattoo design

In term 4 for extension, we have been learning about symbolism. All our blogposts that we have made from extension are nearly all about symbols. We have started from what symbols are, to symbols in the 'Tatau'. Our extension group have researched a lot about the Tatau. So we had Mr Tele'a coming in and telling us more about it, so we could have more understanding to it.
This movie that you are about to watch, will show you patterns and designs that represents me. I hope you enjoy!

My Conclusion for movie:
I have learnt that not only people put art on their body to show off. But they have a meaning on why they have it. It might be a name of their family member who is very special, or might have passed away. So they permanently put it on their body to remind them of someone or something. Art can mean a lot of things. I am so happy that I have finished this movie because, this is probably my last movie for extension 2014.

Athletics

Athletics is a sports days that is held in Pt England, every year, just like cross country. For our athletics we had more than 5 events. There were 6 individual events and 4 teams events. Athletics was fun, I had come a place in 4 events. It was softball throw that I came 2nd in, shot put 2nd, high jump 1st and discus 1st. I was really proud because usually I always come a place in one event, which is high jump.

Softball throw was our first event. We (my friends and I) waited at the back of the line, to see how far other girls threw. Nearly all of the girls were pretty good. In 1st place was Allana, then Iron. No one could throw further than them, but when Ata threw she came in 1st place. After Ata was me and I came 2nd place. So Ata was 1st and I was 2nd.

We moved on to other events there were team events, Te Arawa, Mataatua, Tainui and Takitimu. The team events we did were relay, skipping and ladder and hurdles. It was really fun and enjoyable. The next individual event was shot put. We had splitted up into two groups. One group goes to Mrs Lagitupu and the others goes with Tanielu and Caleb. I was in Mrs Lagitupus group. Whoever threw really far moves on into Tanielu and Calebs group because thats where the placings were. I tried really hard to throw far but I couldn’t. But my third try I went real far. So I went into the next group.

When I went there Caleb told me it was my turn. I got the shot put and threw it. Tanielu went and looked and he said 3rd place. I went and sat next to the 1st and 2nd place, which was Ata 1st Iron 2nd. There were lots of people who tried real hard to get a place. When Puawai threw she had beaten me. So later on Caleb called out the people who had the chance to be in the placings. I put my hand up and we got into a line. Again I was last, none of the girls could beat Iron and Ata. But I did, I had come 2nd again and Ata came 1st also again. And the other events that I came a place in was High jump 1st and Discus 1st.

We did not finish all our events because we had started our athletics late. The grass was too wet and we would have slipped. So we did it this week on Tuesday 18th. We only did Discus because we needed to just do the events that is in the inter-zones.

Thank you letter

Dear Shannon (parent helper),

Thank you for taking your time off to come to the museum. You have been a real help to us, because if it wasn't for all the parents we would've been at school doing work. So that is a big THANK YOU! Our group had a great time with you because you were funny and also cool. Thank you for making our trip fun and active! Thank you for taking us to volcano to have a little fun even though we were there for art. Thank you Shannon for everything you've done during the Museum Trip. THANK YOU!!

Future Focused Student

Why do students need to be future focused?

Positive:

Students show that they are future focused by listening to the teacher, paying attention to what’s happening and showing respect. They know what to do straight away without asking people. Most teachers love future focused student because that shows them that they are obedient and easy to teach. Kids or even teens should be future focused because that could lead them to a successful life in the future.

How to become one:

To become a future focused student, you need to pay full respect to the teacher. Showing them that you love learning and care about what’s happening. Doing your work is one of the best things you should do, or even better finishing your work at the right time. In Pt. England we have koreros every week. One of the koreros were the ‘Right Place. Right Time. Right Attitude’. I think that is the best way to explain a future focused student. You should always be at the right place, at the right time with the right attitude.

Negative:

But if you don’t do those things, you’ll not be known as a future focused student. Why? Because you don’t listen, obey and do the right thing. If you’re not future focused, you will not be able to finish your work on time and that will cross your teacher. Also you might want to apply for a good school when you go to College, but they see you with bad reports so they decline you.

Conclusion:

So be future focused because your life in the future will be successful. All you need is a good, respectful attitude to be future focused. Be good because you’ll get a lot of opportunities in life. So avoid being naughty and get future focused.

Auckland Museum Trip

For the year 7 trip while the year 8 were gone for camp, we went to the Auckland Museum. We went there to look at some Maori arts and Pacific art. While we were there we had split up into groups. There were a small amount of teachers, since the others were gone to camp. So thats why we had some parent helpers. For our museum trip there were nine groups. You are either with a parent helper or a teacher. I was with Shannon (parent helper) and our groups were only girls.

In the bus nearly all of the girls were at the back. That's when we decided to play Chinese whispers. It was really fun and mostly funny. We played the game through the whole bus ride to the Musuem. Some people were quite annoyed because we were laughing too much, especially laughing too loud. As we got there we hopped off the bus and all went inside.

Firstly, we went upstairs to have a morning tea just before we put our bags away. When we had finished, our teachers gave our parent helper an activity sheet as well a pencil to give us to work on. We headed back downstairs to put our bags in a crate and also to start our adventure.

Our group had walked to the Maori art section, and on our activity sheet it said to draw harakeke. Also anything that you choose. First I drew a harakeke and secondly my choice, which was a 'Para'. 
Then we walked to the Pacific. As we walked inside there were a lot of traditional things. Obviously I went to the Samoan part of the room. I drew one of the most valuable things in Samoa, and that was a 'Fue' (fly whisk). They use the 'Fue' on special occasions.

When we had finished our activity sheet, we went to the volcano and had a little fun. We went inside the volcano house to experience what it feels like to be in a volcano eruption. After a while everyone went back downstairs and again our teacher handed a list of things to take a picture of to our parent helper. We all went outside and started snapping. Everyone was having lots and lots of fun! So when we had finished the bus came and took us back to school.

   For my choice in Maori, I choose a 'Para'. If you don't know what 'Para' is it is not the bags. It is all the way on the side, it looks just like a coat. 

 This is of the museum.  It is really big in the inside and really interesting. 

   In Samoa there is this thing called siapo, and there it is. But I don't think its the Samoan siapo, because not only Samoans have it. The Tongans call it Ngatu.

Now this is an interesting one. It is from Papua New Guinea, the one in the middle is called a charm bag. I was asking myself if it is a charm bag or is it just the name?

Again in Samoa this is called a fala. We use this for special occasions. Mostly we provide it to someone or they give it to us. It is one of the most valuable things in Samoa.

Tatau

Symbol:

a mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process, e.g. the letter or letters standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation.

Symbolic:

serving as a symbol.

Symbolism:

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Tatau:

Back in the days in Samoa, there were only 2 families that were allowed to carry the tatau (tattoo) with them. The families were Suluape and Su’a. But years after, Su’a Suluape wanted to show other people how to do it. Now he is in NZ, he is a tattooist as well as a principal.

Falaniko Tominiko is a resident of Auckland University. One day he wanted to get a tattoo, but first he needed his parents permission. Falanikos mother was scared that he might not handle the pain, and also she thought that he was only kidding. But his father said that the tatau is all about bravery, especially service. Falanikos parents said yes.

So when Falaniko got it, he had a ‘soa’ (tattoo partner). During the tatau, they had to follow some rules. The rules were: You were not allowed to sleep with you partner (wife). You had to keep yourself warm, also can’t drink and could not walk around during night time. The last rule was you had to keep the tattooist comfort, so he can do the tatau in the most peaceful and not painful. But if hes not comfortable, he will do it in a way that you will not want.

After all I have learnt that when getting a cultural tattoo, some people have it for cosmetic reasons, but not for whats its about. Also I have learnt that it is pretty good that Sua Suluape taught other people how to do the tatau.

My art

This is a turtle that I have drawn for a tattoo. If I/you were to get this tattoo, you will have to get this on your back. In Samoa turtles are where tourists sometimes come and swim with it. There are turtles in Savaii, Namua Island, and more places. I drew a turtle because people in Samoa and around the world who comes loves swimming with them.

Immersion Assembly

At Pt England School, there is an Immersion Assembly held at every start of the term. Do you know why? So that everyone in our school knows what the topic is for the term. For term 3 our topic is “Art Attack”. In Immersion Assembly every team (team 1 - team 5 teachers) have an item to perform. I know how our whole school’s topic is ‘Art Attack’, but every team has different learning areas.

The first team to perform their items were the Team 1 teachers, Ms George, Mrs Lau, Ms Belt, Mrs Tuala, Mrs Moala. Their learning for this term is going to be about the environment. They will be going to the river to look at some places to inspire their art and while they are getting inspired they will have a picnic. So this term team 1  will be drawing/sketching/painting a lot of enviromental type pictures.

Next to perform were the team 2 teachers, Ms She, Ms Glaze and Ms Dwyer. They didn’t do an item, they had played a video. The video was about the primary colours, which was blue, yellow and red. Blue and yellow makes green. Red and blue makes purple. Lucky last red and yellow makes orange. So team 2 will be learning about the primary colours.

Later on was the team 3 teachers, Mrs Barks, Ms King, Ms Nalder, Ms Trimble, and Ms Walters. On the stage the three teachers after Mrs Barks were the artists. The first artist to be introduced by Mrs Barks was Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo Da Vinci was very good at building, loved music, was awesome at maths, and was obviously a professional at painting. His best painting was called the Mona Lisa, painted in 1517.

The next artist to be introduced was Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol painted 100 soup cans, 100 tomato sauce cans and also 100 coke cans. His paintings looked so realistic. After Andy Warhol was the artist Jackson Pollock. Jackson Pollock paints a lot of paintings, and abstract paintings. His paintings are not those brush strokes one, he splatters on his canvas, and people love it. Jacksons Pollocks best painting is called No. 5, it was made in 1948. That is a long time ago. The last artist was an artist who I forgot what his name was. But the painting that he showed was a face on a foot. Whatever he dreams about, he paints it. This term team 3 will be learning about artists.

After team 3’s item it was team 4. This term is the same as team 3, they will be learning about artists. Their item for us to choose the best paintings that the artists were holding up. The first painting to be showed was Fatu Feu’u. He is a Samoan artist who painted a lot of Samoan siapo, and he had shown us one of his siapo paintings. Next was Vincent Van Gogh. Well everyone knew who he was. Vincent Van Gogh is an artist who had cut his ear off for his girlfriend. On the stage he had shown us his best painting, ‘The Starry Night’. There was more after that. There was a French artist who drew a picture of a pink river with a bridge. Pablo Picasso was next, his paintings were of 2 people. There were more artists but the winner for that contest was a Maori artist who designed the Westpac cards.

Moving on to the last team, team 5, all the teachers went on the stage with black and white paint. They showed a video of someone painting a person, while they were painting three of our teachers upside down. At the end, they finished and turned the pictures around. It was Mr Jacobsen, Mrs Jarman and Mr Burt. All their pictures looked so cool!

Term 4 is going to be so exciting!

My 12th Birthday

Yesterday on the 23rd of September was my 12th birthday. It was great! I had my friends saying happy birthday and my family. In the morning of that day, my nana woke me up real early and took me to Mcdonald to have breakfast. My brother didn’t come because he and he had to get ready for his rugby tournament, my grandpa was too tired and my auntie was working on her assignment. So it was only my nana and I who went.

When we got their we just had the breakfast meal. I had the pancakes and my nana just had hash browns. After we ate we went back home at about 7:00am. I quickly got change and went to school. My friends saw me and they all shouted “Happy Birthday!” I was so happy. But when my other friends saw me which was, Mele, Hope and Asena. They shouted so loud that people heard, and then they ran around school shouting out “Its Jordennes Birthday!!”

As soon as they saw my teacher they ran up to her and told her everything. I ran away and the bell rang. When I got to class everyone was looking at me suspiciously. I sat down and Mrs Lagitupu started talking. Then after a while she asked for Mele and Annliz, that I had no idea what was happening. Suddenly my class started singing happy birthday to me. I was so shocked because Mele and Hope set this up. That was so surprising and I was really really happy!

Elections

On Saturday it was the last day to vote, between 9am - 7pm. My grandparents went to the elections while I stayed home. I wanted to go so I could see people vote, but I couldn't. So I just waited for them. In the elections there are 15 parties. But the two main parties are National and Labour. The leader of National is our PM (prime minister) John Key, and the leader of the Labour Party is David Cunliffe.

My grandparents told me who they were going to vote for, I can't say but the elections are finished so I can say. They voted for Sam Lotuiiga in National but voted for Labour Party. But what you didn't know or might already knew that you could not say who you are voting for between the hours. Well Israel Dagg from the All Blacks, and Jonah Lomu a retired All Black player are going to get over 20,000 dollar fine. They both posted who they voted for on social media. I bet your wondering why they are getting fined? Thats because people might copy them and vote for who they are voting for, and not voting for a party can help you with life.

In National, their plan for us New Zealanders is to give children more education, but mostly to the disabled kids. Also their are going to bring free doctors to check on children under 13. National are thinking of still paying parents even though they don't go to work within 18 weeks. If National win they would get the constructors and build new houses, and John Key will still be the Prime Minister.

But Labour on the other hand are thinking of letting the power company pay the bills for you. Instead of parents leaving for 18 weeks and still get paid, Labour thought that 26 weeks and they still get paid will be alright. Also if Labour won (they didn't) David Cunliffe would of been the Prime Minister of NZ.

When this whole Election started I was voting for Labour. I though Labour would win and make a huge difference , but they obviously did not. They could try nex time, in three years time. 2017!

Unique Sport

This is our unique sport. It is AFL but we changed it up just a little.

Cross Country 2014

Cross country was on and my stomach had butterflies while my knees were shaking.

At Pt England School, cross country is held every year. Everyone needs to participate. But if you have some kind of injury or sickness then you don’t need to worry about it. When you are little you do a small run, but every time you grow up, the run gets longer and harder. This year the Year 7 girls ran 3km. Cross country is very good for us kids to get fit.

The race started at 1 o’clock. So when the clock struck 1, every class came and sat down in front of a chair that had their Year level on it. When cross country had begun, the first age group went first, which obviously was the Year 1s. I was the flag person as well as my brother, and standing next to us supporting the kids were Gloria and T.J (house captains). Jorja was sick, so Gloria stood in for her as Takitimu house captain. When we looked closely we saw that a Takitimu runner was coming first. Our team was shouting saying “Go Takitimu!!” The first team to come first was Takitimu.

After all the little kids races were done, it was time for the year 7 girls. The teachers called for us and we walked up to the line. I said to myself “Wooh just get this done and athletics next!” My eyes looked to the side and saw the other girls looking very scared. Mr Burt was telling us to not bump each other. As he was talking, I took a big long breathe in, and exhaled out slowly.

Waiting for Mr Burt to say go, I was so nervous. “Go” shouted Mr Burt. I sprinted so hard that I was close to the front. But as soon as I got to the second teacher, I was really tired, that I couldn’t run anymore. I was so surprised that I was already tired when we needed to do 2 laps around the reserve and that is 3k.

While I was running I was so exhausted! My legs began to cramp up, and sticks were poking my feet. My heart was pounding really fast, and I was so puffed. I looked in front and I saw Kevine. She was coming first. When I saw her I was really happy because we’re in the same team, Takitimu.

I was just too tired to run. When I was on my second lap, I started running with the help of teachers encouraging us to run. While I was running, I was about to faint. Even though I didn’t come any place to go to the Inter zones, at least I finished the race with a big smile on my face.

Netball prizegiving

Last night we had our own netball prizegiving. A lot of parents were there to support their daughters. Everyone needed to bring a plate (food). My auntie bought chicken nibble for my cousin and I. I was so exhausted because we had our cross country. When the time came Mr Burt and Ms Va’afusuaga came up in the front. First Mr Burt did a karakia (prayer), then we started eating before the prizegiving started.

When it started the first team was called up and it was the yr 1 Besties team. All the players went up and got an award. In one of the awards there are 3 people who gets two awards. When yr upto the yr 6’s finished. It was time for our turn ‘Redferns’. Each player from my team went up and got their awards. The best sportsmanship was awarded to Sela, then the most improved player Kevine and the most valuable player was Asena.

After they have handed the awards we gave our letter to our coach, Mrs Nua. Then we did our chant. Well not really a chant, we were too shy. We walked back down and the next team went up. When the whole prizegiving was finished, everyone went home and only teachers and some parents helped cleaned up. See you again Netball!

Storyline Festival

As we (yr 7, 8 and some yr 6’s) arrived at the Vodafone Center in Manakau, we hopped off the bus and saw a lot of schools. We walked in and saw a whole heap of eyes staring at us, then a lady came to our teacher Mrs Tele’a and was telling her all the informations and instructions of what’s going to happen. When the time came for us to go inside, we walked and sat down.

In the Storyline Festival there were 4 authors. There was: Julliet Mclver, Catherine Mayo, Jill McGregor and Paula Green. They were all fun to watch but my favourite two was Julliet Mclver and Jill McGregor. I liked them the most because of their books.

Julliet Mclver loves to write, especially when it comes to rhyming. The book that I really wanted to read was ‘Toucan can’. When she told us a line from the book. That made we want to read it, because it sounded fun and cool. But then I realised that the books she writes are books for little children. Julliet reads her book to her kids who are about 2 or 3 years old. She was really funny while she was presenting, she kept on laughing. Thats why Julliet Mclver was one of my favourite authors because she wasn’t boring she was fun and active and especially because of her rhyming books.

Jill Mcgregor is one of my top two authors that presented at ‘Storyline Festival’ because her books are all about Pacific Island. I’m an Islander, my culture is Samoan. But my nana told me I had Tongan blood. So I just call myself both. Jill McGregor went to a lot of Islands such as, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji, Niue and the Cook Islands. She has been to a lot of places in Samoa more than me. Her stories about the Islands were so interesting and cool. I just loved it and I was so comfortable watching her talking about where we come from.

I would inspire kids to write by telling them to read books. By reading books you can find new words and your writing can get a lot better. You can also write more to improve, and you’ll be a very smart writer. So kids start reading books to show everyone you have what it takes to become a author.

The Storyline Festival was awesome. It was fun and really inspiring. I just want thank all the authors for taking your time off, and coming to talk in front of a lot of schools about your books. They were all amazing! A lot of people from our school enjoyed your presentation. Good luck on your career. Thank You!

Argument - 'Should children exercise everyday?'

This is my argument, it is based on ‘Should children exercise everyday?” I agree. Some people love to exercise which is good, but some don’t.

Exercising can help you with a lot of things. It can help make your heart and lungs stronger. So when a kid or adult jogs a half of a kilometer , they won’t get tired. You’ll be extremely fit and maybe you can go further distance(1 kilometer). Unless you want to be unfit, you don’t need to exercise. But I recommend that you get up and start working out.

All the calories that you eat can burn by exercising. And one thing from your body will change, your weight. By exercising it’ll help you manage or balance your weight. But if you think you don’t have that much calories in you, you really don’t have to worry about exercising. In fact you should keep doing it, but not 24/7.

I think when you exercise your brain can improve your learning. You can achieve your goals maybe by just exercising. Everyone needs a fun and active life, but if you don’t you’ll just be un fun and in active. You’ll be sitting at home doing what? EATING! That’s why exercising can prevent you from fatness and can make you healthier.

Not only kids have to work out or exercise to make their muscles big. Adults need to do it as well. Kids are not the only ones that are weak and unhealthy, there are some adults who are just the same. That's why adults should exercise often to strengthen their body.

So now we come back to the question ‘Should children exercise everyday?’ Yes, they should exercise daily because therefore you can get fit, sporty, healthy and strong. So exercise because that can give you a better life.

Why is it so important to take care of your mind and body

Taking care of your mind and body are very important. Why you ask? Because you just have to. Think of your body like its something special to you. What is so precious, so valuable in your life that you just want to keep it safe from any harm? My one is my family. I love my family so much that I would never leave them. So I’ll think of my body as if it’s my family. I’ll keep my body safe from any harm.

There are a lot of wrong, dangerous food (or stuff that people put into their body such as pills) in the world that can make you sick and can also make you die. Drugs are one of the most harmful pills in the world. Do you happen to know what panadol, tablets and all those kind of pills that the doctors gives you? Yes those, they are drugs also. But they are not as dangerous as the others such as, cocaine, weed, P and more.

If you drink, sniff, eat too much of those, you can get very sick and you can die as well. Your brain slows right down and you won’t be able to speak properly. You won’t think straight, and maybe you will get a brain damage. Some people in the world are just addicted to drugs, sometimes I just think you can’t do anything. But most people need it.

To keep your body and mind safe, my decision is you have to stay away from junk food but drugs mostly. You’ll never get a good life if you take drugs. Just like in Harold, a boy lost his chance of going to rugby by taking drugs. A women cannot be a teacher, and cannot go to other countries because of what she did. See, those kind of people have a sad life, all because of drugs. Now I think that they feel sorry for themselves.

Your body needs lots and lots of exercise. Thats how it gets healthy. But not only exercise but eating healthy. You should eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Your body works very hard to keep you standing and alive. That’s why its important, you should keep that in your mind. Your body is precious, so don’t put any wrongs in there.

Astria Countdown to Impact #2

Today my partner and I have worked on the Astria game. We have found four clues. It was very hard looking all around the place. There's four labs including the council. When we find all the clues and everything we need to stop the astroid coming to destroy the planet Astria, we go to the council and they will take us from there.

Inside the place there are only three labs. 1: Council, 2: Sail lab, 3: Hangar and lucky last 4: Nuke lab. The clues were very hard to find. It nearly took us 5 - 10 minutes to look for one! Right now we have about 36 days left until the astroid hits the place. So we need to look for the clues quickly!!

We had a test on Monday. It was a multiple choice test. We had to chose what the word meant. When we had finished we played the game. Some of the words that we had on our test was on the game, and now I'm starting to know why they put it on the test. This I have learnt a lot about what some words mean.

Astria Countdown to Impact #1

In extension we have been given an opportunity from the Auckland University to try out this game called 'Astria'. Our extension group split up into two groups, A and B. I was in B group and we were the second group in the whole world to try it. The A group tried it last week.

I partnered up with Iron and her netbook. It was getting really exciting when we started playing it. Iron and I were one person on the game and we were the Alpha leader. We had to look around Astria and find clues before the astroid comes and destroys the planet. When we started we had 99 days before the astroid comes. In the game about 2 minutes is one day, because right now we have 59 more days.

The most difficult part we had to do was looking for the clues. Right now we only have clue 2 and clue 3 but not clue 1. We need the first clue to finish off the symbol game. This games is really fun! Now starting from today we had to play it every half an hour a day. To be very honest it has helped me a lot!

Life Education Caravan

This term we had four weeks of ‘Life Education Caravan’ with Lynn. We had been learning about drugs and alcohol and how it affects our body. Lynn showed us some adults who started drugs when they were 11 - 14 years old. Each person had a reason of why they started early. There was Rita, Zeb, James, Jason, Amy and Malcolm. They all nearly had the same reason. The reason were, they wanted to join in with friends, fit in, wanted to be cool and they saw people doing it. They didn’t realize that taking drugs will make them have really bad consequences.

We also learnt different kind of drugs. There was marijuana, P, cocaine and more. Lynn gave us a mint that looked like some panadol. As soon as she gave it to us, some of us ate it. Lynn said and asked “Raise your hand if you ate the mint?” I put my hand up aswell the people who ate it. She said to us why did we eat it when we didn’t know what it was, then she said to us “Imagine that someone came and asked you to eat/drink this drug. What would your reply be?” My first reply was “No thanks” but then Lynn said then you’ll start a conversation and the person will beg you to eat/drink it. So then I changed my mind and decided to say “No thanks, already had one” to pretend. Lynn said that was a good idea.

Lynn taught us what drugs can do to your body. She said that when you drink lots and lots of alcohol, your neurotransmitter slows right down and you won't be able to speak properly. Your words will not sound clearly and the people will not understand. You can also lose your memory of what happened when you started drinking.

Lynn showed us a video of girls who went to a party. There was a girl who completely got wasted and forgot everything. Nearly all of the girls who went said that they nearly got attacked. Lynn told us its alright if you celebrate someone's birthday and you’re drinking. But if you drink too much, you’ll get really drunk!

Now that I know all about this, I don’t think I will ever drink. Life Caravan was awesome!

Remembrance Assembly

Today we had a Remembrance Assembly, to commemorate the people who died in World War 1. We also remembered the centenary of the war. The war started on August the 4th 1914, and that was exactly 100 years ago. Our Prime Minister Mr. John Key told every school to have an assembly to commemorate our soldiers who fought in the War.

Mr. Burt showed us what had happened that made the people fight. There was a man named Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He and his wife Sophie were in a car. While they were driving, a man from behind came and shot them both. There were countries on the Archduke’s side and other countries on the shooters side. This is what Mr. Burt told us that someone said it was known as “A shot that echoed around the world’. So that is how World War 1 started. Lots of countries jumped in and fought.

The thing that interested me the most was that Mr Burt’s and one of our office teachers (Mrs Flavelle’s) grandfathers volunteered to go to the war. Mr Burt even showed a picture of them. I thought that volunteering to help and support your country was very brave. Luckily they came back safely.

Mrs Flavelle’s grandfather came back safe and Mr. Burts came back safe but wounded. When Mr. Burts grandfather came back he married his wife with his uniform, because he had no other good clothes.

When he had told us all about it, we watched the flag go half mast while the bugle was playing.

Retelling Whats For Lunch.

This book we are reading is called ‘What is for lunch’

Mr. Kenna came towards Alex and said to him, that he always has a nutty bar in his lunch instead of some fruit. Alex was careless about his health and said “Who eats fruit?” “Lets find out what our class eats” answered Mr. Kenna. Mr. Kenna pinned up a pyramid full of food, the top was all the junk food, the middle were oily fat food, and obviously the bottom were the healthy food. Alex checked the chart and said to Mr. Kenna that his nutty bar was okay, and Mr. Kenna gave him a food survey chart to fill in over the next five days. Then suddenly Alex chucked his healthy roll and got out his nutty bar and said "Today will be easy for me". His friend looked at him and opened his lunch box and said "I have two apples today. I'll give you one apple for half of your nutty bar." After lunch Alex filled in his food chart, then later Mr. Kenna showed the charts in front of the students of what they had for lunch. Mr. Kenna looked at Alexs charts and was very happy about his improvents.

My Commonwealth country

Samoa is located in the continent of Oceania. Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Island, Vanuatu and more are also located in Oceania. This country is the 9th most populated island/country in Oceania, with the total of 187, 275. That is a lot. The capital of Samoa is Apia. Apia is also the largest city in Samoa with Upolu. In Samoa there are approximately 51.6% (96, 697) of males and 48.4% (90, 578) females. So of course there are more males.  

The culture of Samoa is Samoan and the language is Samoan. But they speak English also. In Samoa the most popular sport to play is Rugby 7’s. They love to play this kind of sport, they also love rugby and volley but 7’s are the most known sport. In Rugby 7’s the Samoan team is called Manu Samoa, and in the Commonwealth 2014 their last game was against Australia and Samoa lost. They came 4th. Samoa is one of the top ten for the Rugby 7’s teams, and they are coming 8th in the world.

On the Samoan flag there are 5 stars. It is red on the outside and there is a blue square on the left corner of the flag with the 5 white stars in it. The Samoan flag has a meaning. It was adopted on the January 1st, 1962. The 5 white stars symbolise the Southern Cross. On the Samoan flag, the blue is said to represent freedom. Red is the representative of courage, and it is also the Samoan colour.

Samoa joined the Commonwealth games in 1970. They compete in Rugby 7’s, Weightlifting, Boxing, Track racing and more. Samoa has only 3 medals, this Commonwealth for only weightlifting. They got 2 Silver medals and 1 Bronze medal, and they are coming 21st on the Medal Table.  

Commonwealth games facts

5 Facts that I already know about the Commonwealth Games:

1	The Commonwealth games is held in Glasgow
2	It is just like the olympics; its full of sports
3	71 countries compete and involve
4	Every four years
5	17 sports

10 new facts that I found out about the Commonwealth Games: (include a link to the site where you found your information. Your information needs to be in your own words)

1	Best in sporting talent
2	Glasgow was chosen by Commonwealth game Federation as the Host city
3	Commonwealth games are held every 4 years
4	Over 1.5 billion go and watch
5	First Commonwealth game was held in Hamilton, Canada in 1930
6	The games were actually called British Empire Games
7	In 1944 and 1946 there were no Commonwealth game due to the World War 2.
8	Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales have been attending to every games.
9	Participating athletes represent 71 nations
10	Scotland hosted the games in 1970 to 1986

Holiday

In the second week of holidays on Thursday, my friends, my auntie and I went to the movies at Sylvia Park. We watched the ‘Dawn of the Planets of the Apes’. It was amazing! When I first watched part 1 ‘Rise of the Planets of the Apes’, it was my favourite movie. Now that I watched part 2, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ it is my favourite movie. Right now it is one of the best movie in the world and it has 8.4/10 stars!

The main character of the movie is Caesar. He is the leader of all the apes. The funny thing is that I have a German Shepherd named Caesar. He has a son named Blue Eyes and and a newborn. Caesar has a friend named Koba who wanted to fight the humans because of what they did to him and to the apes. But Caesar said "But how many apes will die?" That’s how the apes started the war, because of Koba. He was so angry with Caesar because he did not let them fight the humans. If you haven't watched the movie, you should watch it right now. I really don't want to spoil it!

After we had watched the movie we walked around Sylvia Park. Then we went to the food court to eat. While we were eating we saw Paris Goebal. She is the leader of the 'Royal Family' the dance group. You can search up Royal Family on Youtube. Their dance group came first in the 'World Hip Hop Championship Finals' in 2013. Paris Goebal is one of the best female dancers in the world. When I saw her, I was freaking out! My friend and I ran up to her and asked if I could take a picture with her, she said yes and we took a photo.

When we had finish eating, we went and walked around and looked at some shops. After a while we hopped into the car and went back home. It was really fun watching 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' also another highlight was meeting Paris Goebal.