Awakeri School

Room 10 in 2006

Who are We?

Hmmmm.. well, you can't expect me to be too exact about us, but Room 10 is a class of 30 students, a mixture of Yr 7 and 8's, and Boys and Girls. Mrs Merry (a very confident and smart teacher who is not what you think she is) is the one responsible for our education, and she is doing a great job of it so far! It is Term 3, and everyone is enjoying the year and making the most of what they have. Scroll down to see some Student's Work, Class News, a message from the Teacher, and to find out who is responsible for this fantastic webpage.

Class News

Monday 18th December,
HAhahhaha you thought I wouldn't come back to wirte on this page well I did (yay!) Well what do you want to hear about . About how we are still doing maths ( it is the last week cheez) We are finishing our stars for the social. We are also finishing our visual language which was when we were given a heading and then we had to draw something to go with it. Well I have to go now so GOOD BYE! FAREWELL! AU RE VOIR!
Friday 15th December,
OOOOOHHHHH this is sad I don't want this to be the last time I write on this page. Karis isn't here so it is even sadder. Next week is the last week for all the year 8's in room 10. They will be moving on to high school which I think is sad because not everyone is going to the same highschool. In room 10 at the moment we are making stars as decorations for the social, which is like a disco for the year 7 and 8's. We have fancy dress on Monday night at which the school will farewell the year 8's. You have to come because I am making a speech with Rhona and Steffi.
Thursday 7th December,
Well what are we doing, we are... ooohhhh I know we are still doing maths and S.R.A and Science we are meant to be doing an experiment but I wasn't there so I'm not sure what that is so um yea. Well we are going to the Library today so that we can return all our books we are not allowed to get anymore out because we are coming to the end of the year. Yes that was interesting yip.....OK I thought of something we are doing we are doing a rotation with the other senior classes playing softball and padder tennis. For languages we are doing visual languages, and I was going to show you some photos of some ad thingies that we are doing, but then I accidentally deleted them cause I am a bit slow when it comes to these things so poor you, you can't see the photos.

Wednesday 29th November,
Tomorrow we intensive which means that all of senior school is spit up into yr8's and yr7's for the year 8's tomorrow we get to go to Tauranga and go ten pin bowling but I must warn you no matter what Nassah has told you we will not be going to McDonalds for lunch. While the year 7's will be doing team building games and reading to little kids, to prepare them for dundundun... being year 8's. On Friday the year 8's have a choice between going to the Pa site or playing golf for half the day for the other half of the day we go to the hotpools. The year 7's will be going to the Barrs farm for more team building games and then walking to the hotpools hahahahahhaha. We have started learning our Bob the builder man jump jam for fancy dress should be...fun...I soppose.

Wednesday 22nd November,
What are we doing in or class.Well we just finished our study on Marae stay so we are now going to start studying plate tectonics science. This should be interesting for me because unless we are testing something I lose concentration when it comes to science. We are turning our legend story boards into a book for Siri to use, so we have to write our legends out. I'm not really sure if I have mentioned the fact that we have started doing S.R.A's and if I haven't we are, I think the highest in our class is Karis who is on gold. This morning we improved our softball skills by learning how to catch properly, now don't go thinking what kind of class can't throw and catch a ball well there is actually a skill to it, so yes we practised that skill it was actually quite fun. This afternoon we are typing up our thankyou letters to the people who helped at the Marae (ssssssssssshhhhhhhhh!!!!!! don't tell anyone) and for the rest of the afternoon we will be doing technic lego with Mr Sheather and if he was telling the truth we will get to choose what we make yay! Now last time I think I forgot to mention the yankees so there we go I mentioned them this time and I must also mention that it is not true Devon wants to be a cheerleader how sad!

Wednesday 15th November,
Hello at the moment Room 10 are finishing off our wonderful Legend picture story things for the Marae stay tomorrow. Now what do I hear...Karina is loudly telling her myth to her group while Andrew angrily objects. I hear... Kelsi drawing (a horse most likely). I hear...Douglas, Nassah, Joey and Lindsey arguing over who is saying what for their myth. I hear... Leonie cross stitching with raffia for her picture. I hear... Mrs Merry telling people to use their own words. I hear... well the other table I can't really and most of the people outside are being quiet. Karis just told me a story about going to the Marae, when she was little she didn't bring any shoes ( silly girl is Karis) and when they went on the walk there were prickles everywhere and everytime she took a step she got like ten prickles in her feet and she was practically crying, poor Karis! Karis's brother Devon wants to be a cheerleader but seeing as he has a sore ankle because Karis kicked him he is in the sickbay and cannot comment on whether this is true or not. Read our list of things to do when you are really bored, at the bottom of the page.

Friday 10th November
Room 10 is concentrating on our Myths and legends, and singing for the marae right now. Every day after morning tea we sing the songs that we will sing at the Marae,. They are called Taku Rakau, Ehara I te mea, Maku ra pea, He honore and a Maori grace. For myths and legends we are also doing Maori. We had to find a legend, and now we have to do a huge poster of it. Some groups are very close to finishing. We are using the multimedia technique on our posters, with Indian ink, paint, collage, raffia, and anything else you can think of. My legend is about how Maui brought fire to the world. Another one is Maui and the magic fish hook, and the legend of Wairaka. This afternoon we are doing art, and carrying on with our printing. We have to draw birds. Then we are playing a game of softball. Wow, how American. I think I will remember to mention the Yankees and cheerleading in my next entry!

Thursday 2nd October
Ummmmmmmmm....... Well Room 10 are practising for relays at the moment with the other senior classes. On Tuesday we had our field events, which was delayed for an hour because there was this foam stuff on the field ( you're probably going why did they put foam on the field well that would be because it was on the council land and I don't know why they put it there) so we didn't get High Jump in. We are doing that this afternoon. Tomorrow we have sprints, so we will be sitting in our houses so remember to wear your house colours Red (Rata), Kowhai (Yellow), Tawa (Blue) and Rimu (Green).

Thursday 26th October
Today we had our first of two maturation talks, it was interesting...We talked about the kinds of growth we go through during puberty. I don't exactly think it is appropriate to say some of things we learnt erhm erhm...cough cough...
We also went out to athletics today and did some relays Room 10 are doing Ok but Room 12 are still leading (Room 11 wasn't there). But on the day it is relays for our houses so that should be interesting. We just finished our guilty, not guilty case on whether or not the Wolf is from Little Red Riding Hood . The judge has just found him guilty and he is sentenced to one year of cleaning the toilets. I personally think that the Wolf is not guilty.
Back to athletics , we have our field events on Tuesday. Which includes long jump, discus, shot put, standing jump,vortex and high jump in the afternoon. The little kids have their field events on wednesday and we all have the track events on Thursday.

Tuesday 17th October
So we are back from our holidays and I know you just can't wait to read what's happening in Room 10 ( because we just have the skill of making anything sound better than what it really is). Well I better get on with what we are doing. We have just started a new topic. But before I tell you about that I should tell you that on our last topic some people did awesome jobs and got A+ (like me and Karis) others were Kelsi and Kayla. Now on to our new topic we are studying......................MAORI MYTHS AND LEGENDS. In fact right at this moment people are pooring into Room 10 to learn our waiata's. In a couple of weeks we will be going to stay at the Marae YAY!! Not so yay for Karis though because she doesn't want to sleep by a window in case the spirits come in and not so yay for me because we have to look after the little kids and someone told me that they got kicked by one of the little kids when they were there.
We are finishing off our novel study, some people have not finished their first books (chichichi) but I'm sure they will finish them by the end of the week. Wow you probably dont really want to know that some people in our class are behind in their work so I will stop talking about that now.
In art we are still doing printing. Our fish are looking great, mine isn't done at the moment but I'm sure when it is will be the best one up there.
The lunches just arrived and are sitting next to me they smell really good so I should warn you that I might stop talking about food. But the bell just rang so I probably won't have time, Good bye. hehehe

Monday 11th September
So do you want to hear a story about Joel (yes you do ok??) well last week we were doing a prop reherseal for production, so Mrs Merry got Joel to take some props over to the hall in a big box. Now if you're a boy like Joel you often need to pull your pants up. If you're holding a box this becomes quite difficult so Joel tried to tell Samantha that he needed to stop to pull his pants up. Of course Samantha didn't believe him and made him keep on walking. By the time he got to the complex his pants were around his ankles. Now that may not seem funny to everyone but it is very funny to Mr Fitz, the teachers and most people who know Joel. We have suddenly started doing skipping a lot lately. Karis doesn't like skipping. I'm not sure of why so I will ask her right now. She says it is because she isn't good at skipping and it is very hard to be good at skipping when everyone around is really good at it. She thinks it might be the weight of her muscles pulling her down so it is hard to jump long enough to get over the rope. Our class is trying to have litterless lunches every day at the moment. For some people this is easy and they have litterless lunches everyday, for others like me it is hard because a lot of the food I eat comes in plastic or rubbish and I eat a lot of oranges (I just noticed) and I hate peeling them at school. So I peel them at home but of course I can't just have an orange in my lunch box otherwise everything would be soaked in orange juice. We have finished our masks and we are going to be having a mask parade at assembly. Leonie and Jemma will be commentating on this at assembly. Click here to see pictures of some masks.

Tuesday 5th September
Today the day started with not many year 8's, which was obviously very hard for mrs merry, and the year 7's to handle. I can't imagine the classroom without me, or my fellow year 8's. Anyway, the year 8's were all at the Trident High School Open day. But let's not talk abut that depressing topic. Onto more happy things...
The class is busy trying to come up with ideas to stop the school's massive rubbish problem. I know, that makes our school sound like a rubbish dump or something, but it isn't!!! I won't reveal too much, but we can't use the incinerator anymore, so are at a total loss of what to do with all of our rubbish. To find out more, click here and read Kayla's interesting report on what's happening at the moment.
Right now we are going in the computer suite on Monday afternoon's and doing our calendar art. We took group photos, and then on Adobe Photoshop we are editing them and drawing on them. Me(Karis) and Kayla went to Mr Sheather's room and got to use the advanced version of Adobe. If you click here (again) then you can see one of our edited photos.

Wednesday 30th August
Well Room 10 are really getting into our wise shopping topic. Most people have started doing surveys on what most people buy at our age. We also are doing lots of Operetta practice, actually at the moment I am listening to Kirsty one of the leads practising to sing (she is very good, so the show should be excellent). Some people (erhm Karis) have finished their first novel study and are now onto their second book. Ag Day is the only topic I can think of at the moment so I might talk about this for quite awhile... Well for all those who don't know what Ag Day is, it is a when the kids from our school all take care of either a calf, lamb, kid, dog or pet. In term 4 we bring our animals to compete against each other. If your animal wins a ribbon, you can also go to group day, which is when you all the schools come together to compete against each other again. WOW that wasn't very interesting and it didn't even take up that much room on this page.
HAROLD!!!!!!!! I just remembered that we have been going to Life Education over the past few days and have learnt lots of new things like....
1. Girls have to drink and eat lots of milk products because their bones stop growing at 16
2. That energy is measured in Kilojoules
3. How to read the NIP on the back of food packaging.
4. We must eat 6 wheat or flour products a day
5. There are no bad foods just better options
6. That you should eat 5 vegetables or fruit a day
7. That we shouldn't stereotype people because of what they look like.
8. Jogging is at the top of the list for exercise.
9. When you are watching T.V you are burning as much energy as when you sleep.
10. Dancing and Mowing the Lawns both burn 23 kilojoules per minute.

Thursday 24th August
Well, as you can see, we haven't done this page for (exactly) 21 days. So that means I have to do another very long piece of writing. How unfortunate for you. Don't worry though. We have another website monitor on this page, so It shall be done more often from now on. YAY!!
Everyone that got Highly Commended, and over for their science fairs got to go to the Eastern Bay Science Fair, and everyone did very well. Alex Moore won a total of $175!!! Anita Hope got a Silver award, and the sports award. The best of all, though, was Kate McConway who won overall. Hers was called The Silver Solution. Well Done to everyone.
Last week we had Soccer and Hockey day, and everyone was excited as we have been practicing heaps for it. The Soccer teams were all pretty much safe, with no balls in the head, but as for the hockey... well.. Anita ended up getting stitches in her eyebrow, because the hockey ball hit her in the head! Alex would also like to add that she got hit in the head too and it was very painful indeed. Production sessions have gone from singing, to read-throughs, and now to the whole shibang! The choir and orchestra go to Room 8, and practice singing. Mrs Merry is full on with the back stage crew, and costumes. Mrs Tagget and Mrs Shaw are the choreographers of the dances, and Mr Fitz and Mr Sheather are busy in the hall, with people acting out the scenes.
We have started a new study, on wise shopping and are learning about things that you should and shouldn't buy, and about consumer laws. We don't know much about it yet, but Mrs Merry said we will have to make a little booklet up at the end of the study, which I'm sure everyone is looking forward to.
Tomorrow at 11:00 we are having a Talent Quest, and the people that are good enough will get to go in the Production. From what I've heard, we are having everything from Singing, to Instruments, Juggling, Comedian acts, acrobatics and much more.
We've started a new unit on Maths, which is on Algebra. Yay. Fuuunn. Maths!
We are giving in our Ag Day forms, and people's lambs are being born. I know a certain person that forged her mum's signature so that she could take her dog.. Afetrwards, after ALL THAT TROUBLE her mum said that she could anyway, which is stupid.
Everyone in the class is changing photos of themselves on Adobe Photoshop, and then writing poems about those pictures. The finished product will be put in the school magazine at the end of the year. Also, for calendar art, we are taking group photos and drawing on them too.Scroll down to see some of them.
There. I think that's long enough! Hmm, maybe not... How are You? Oh, thats good. What about the kids? If you are a kid, how are the parents?

Thursday 3rd August
HHHHmm well yesterday wait not yesterday the day before that (what day was that I've lost track of days lately) well I think it was on Tuesday night we found out who won the science fair, and if you read the news page you probably already know who won but anway I'm going to tell you, so the winner was (drum roll everyone leans forward expectantly on the edges of their seats) Stephen Glassbrook won the science fair and Anita Hope won the technology. They both had fantastic projects. Stephen did his project on recycling and Anita made a quick reaction ball for her hockey playing (she is a goalie). Well done to both of you but I still think I should have won but sometimes you just can't win everything. So instead I am given a highly commended and not given as much attention as I should be. This morning we had production singing, we got to listen to some of main people sing some solo songs but of course Mr Hawkes had to sing too and so in result of this we could not hear the others sing because he is louder than them. But luckily there was only one solo song. Today we had Mrs Shaw who will take over Miss Issacc's job when she leaves in a couple of weeks. Just in case you are wondering why this weeks website is so great is because I Alex Moore wrote it because our usual writer is busy doing some other website work and I really wanted to write on this page. You can read more about me on room five's website page and if you scroll right to the bottom of that page there is some random facts about me and Karis ( Yay everyone wants to read about me and Karis because we are so interesting, see Mr Hawkes, people do want to read our facts!!!) Well Good Bye my loyal readers.

Monday 31st July
Today was the deadline for everyone's Science Fairs to be in. Almost everyone finished their Science Fairs. We had everything from "The Taste Test" to "Flour Power" for the names of the science fairs. The whole class is going to enjoy looking at the fairs on Wednesday, but if you want to, you can see who came First, Second, Third, Highly Commended, and Commended on Tuesday night. Right now the class is watching a random video about a guy in a one man band, but they were just watching our camp powerpoints. They are all fun to watch, and we are looking forward to next time we get to see them. Mrs Merry is going to choose a couple to go to assembly, so that the whole school can see them.

Wednesday 25th July
Today I changed the font for this page. I don't know if I will keep it like this. We had a different type of maths lesson today. We drew triangles with compasses and protractors as a class. It was quite easy once you got used to it. We have also started Instructional writing, so I will join the two together and tell you how to draw a triangle with a compass, protractor, and ruler in Student's Work. We are all finishing our Alliteration now, and they are ready to go up in the school library. In instrcutional writing we learnt how to make Paper planes, and we had to write steps to make one. We are still focusing on our science topic, flight in the afternoons. We are starting to get into Soccer and Hockey practice, and that is why I have to go now. I have to start practicing Soccer!

Thursday 20th July
Ha, would ya look at that? It's been like, a month since I last wrote on here! You must be thinking "Not ANOTHER long entry!" Well, not today folks! Today is the third day of the third term, so It doesnt matter that I haven't written on here for awhile. Isn't that great? Well, I just read my last entry, and I noticed that it makes NO sense at all. Well I cant change it because it actually does have some information there. Our class is starting to do "Jump Jam" again. It is a great way to excercise. We kind of.. dance to music, but there is specific things we have to do whcih makes it challenging. We have been doing Jump Jam every morning for about 15 minutes, as it does not take that long. We are the first class in the senior school to learn the new songs, and on Friday we are going to teach Rooms 11, and 12 how to do the new dances. I can't wait! The dances we are focusing on are "Burraquito" "Blame it on the Boogie" and another one with an unknown name. We've started our new topic of Maths - Geometry. We have two groups. Group 2, and Group 1. Right now Group 2 is trying to make 3-D shapes out of paper, and will soon have to make a shape for a peice of food. Group 1 is busy trying to work out angles without a protractor. Next on our day is Smartwords, Nothing interesting there. After Smartwords we have to finish our Alliteration, most people are drawing pictures for their story that they made up, but some are still writing it. If you don't understand what I'm saying, We were each given a letter of the alphabet, and we have to write a very short story, or a sentence of Alliteration with that letter. Once we've done that, we have to type it out on the computer, and draw a picture to go with it. Go down to student's Work to read some Alliteration, and see some of the pictures that people have drawen. We are all caught up at home with our Science Fair's, and to help us understand Science more, Mrs. Merry is teaching us about flight, and we have been learning abou that the last three afternoon's. OH, I almost forgot! There is a new kid in our class today, his name is Stephen. He's a Year Seven, and is fitting in well. Man, I feel sorry for him though. I would hate to be the NEW KID. Like, everyone looks at you, and they're like "He's the new kid" Even though you've been at this school for like a month. He hasn't been here for a month, though. This is his first day at Awakeri.

Thursday 29 June
YAY! I remembered to do this in less than a week! Okay, well, umm, I didn't win the speech contest (sob), but umm atleast i didn't say I was going too. Hehehe. Yea, sure I didn't. (cough) Anyway, Rhona Whitaker won the speech contest, well done rhona. Mary-Louise Barkema came second with her speech about her healthy role model, Dune. And third was Steffi Rogers. On the 21st of June we had School photo's (I know, my last pece of writing was on the 21st, weird!) and I dressed up. I looked very pretty. Everyone thought so. Anyway, I will stop talking about myself now! Today we had to finish our disaster's study, and we are trying to finish our Alliteration sentences. It is the second to last day of school, and it is a half day, so I can't write much or else I will be wasting time to... WALK UP TO MY DAD'S WORKSHOP! Yay!! Ahh I keep talking about myself. Well, I am irresistable, but.. yea. We did a maths pre-test today for Geometry, whoopee! And yesterday we did like a 2 hour long post-test on Statistics. K, home time! byebye.

Wednesday 21st June
Woah!!! I haven't done this for ages!! (cough)
Alot of stuff has happened since the last time I did this, so I will try to explain it all, but sorry if I don't.
Hmmm where to start? I don't think I have mentioned Cross Country...
We had been training for Cross Country day in, and day out so that our whole class had a much better chance to get into Manawahe, or even better, come first, second, or third. Even though they aren't in our class, I will still mention them, because I am SO nice, and SUCH a good website monitor! - Danielle Le Leivre (I hope I spelt her name right) came First, followed by Steffi Rogers, and then Selena Shaw. Well Done! Now, I can't recite the list of placing's and all of the people that got them, but in the end all of the people that are 7 and 8 yr olds, and up who got placed 12th, 11th, 10th, and so on... Got a place in the Manawahe Team, and have to now train almost every day with Mrs Merry. Hmm poor them! For once I'm glad I didn't get in... The were all put in squads, either A team, or B team, but seeing as some people are pulling out (and I don't blame them) the reserve's, who are the people that got over 10th are being placed into those squads.
Anyway, I don't want to go on like I usually do, so lets go on to... Umm... Speeches! Yeah!
Well, as most of you should know, every year the Senior School holds a Speech Competition, which is compulsory for everyone. (No, This time I am actually happy that it is on.. Yippee!!)We all had to choose out of 5 topics to choose from, and seeing as I always write too much information, I can't tell you what they are, but they are all Health Topics. We have to write a three minute speech about that topic, then present it to our class. Then the 5 best people out of each class get chosen for the semifinals, which is the same, but they have to present it to the whole of Senior School, and instead of the kids judging, the three wonderful, almost perfect teachers get to judge. Then the 7 best speeches from that get to go into the finals, which is held in the staff room in front of all the parents, and is judged by outsiders. (Wow, that makes them sound evil) And, I guess you guessed it, the best person there wins! Their name gets put on a shield, and they have eternal glory and King Neptune decides to visit them, they full in love, and live happily ever after. Well, at least I think thats what happens...
Right now we are up to the finals, and the lucky, talented people that got in are.. (In no particular order, but the one on the whiteboard) Alex Moore, Steffi Rogers, Rhona Whitaker, Mary-Louise Barkema, Guy Khamporst, Meron Mc Cardle, and (suprise, suprise!) ME!! And for all the people that are forgetful enough to know my name, Karis da Silva. I'm going to win. I hope. Hahaha imagine if I didn't. That would be embarrassing
AHH! This is taking so long! Hmmm.. What else? Science Fair.
(Wimper)Do you know how hard this is? I hate Science Fair! Anyway, Yes, it is that time of year again! All the poor Seniors of Awakeri have to start their Science Fair's. The Year 7's have a choice to do Science Fair, or just a Science Project (I know, what's the difference??) Well, luckily, I know the difference so I am able to tell you.
Well, to sum it up, cause I'm in a hurry, a science Fair is much bigger, and more important, and you can choose any subject to test. If a Science Project gets 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, they do not enter their project into the Eastern Bay Science Fair competition, and there is probably alot more reasons, but I cannot list them. The point of Science Fair is to teach us kids how to do fair-testing, and seeing as some people don't even know what that is, I guess it's a good idea. To help us learn, and to make sure that we don't muck up our whole Science Fair, Mrs Merry is doing fair-testing in class aswell. Such good teachers!
Ughhhhh! How are you still reading this?? Next up - The stuff that I should have been talking about, but haven't and that's why this is so long.
Well, we are half way through completing our Paper Mache masks, which is really cool, the masks are fun. First we had to make struts out of Newspaper, to make the outline of our masks. Then we had to put them together, to actually make the mask, next we had to Paper Mache in it, and the funnest part, we get to do the features, like big bulgy eyes, large, wobbly ears, spikes, mouths, noses, and heaps of other stuff. Once we have done that, we put a layer of tissue paper on top, so that you can't see the Newspaper underneath the paint, and last but not least, we get to paint it. We aren't up to that stage yet though, so there might be another stage in there..
We are also doing Camp Powerpoints, and I think most people are almost finished that. They have to have credits, at least 5 slides, and music on them. I am doing mine with Jemma Shaw, ours is funny. Hahaha. Oh, what's the point. You don't find this funny anymore, and I just can't be bothered.
Remind me to do this more often, so that you aren't forced to read huge pieces of writing at one time.

Wednesday 31st May
Not very long ago we went to Tui Ridge for three awesome days of camp! I interviewed Leonie Hall from Room 10. Here is what she said...
What did you do on the first day of camp?
Well, we had a tour of the camp, where we saw all the activities like High Ropes, Abseiling, Flying Fox and more. Then we had a competition called the amazing race.
What was the Amazing Race about and what did you do on it?
It was a series of 6 activities like 'Spider Web', 'Skii's' and 'Go-Cart'. You also had to make your own flag and take it to the top of the lookout. And after you had finished all the activities you had to go and get the flag, then go to the dining room.
What did you have to do for the 'Spider Web'?
It was a whole lot of ropes that were tied across a pipes which made it holes. It looked like a Spider web. You had to get each team member through the holes without letting them touch the rope. Some people dived through, some people were lifted, and some people crawled.
What was your favourite activity?
The 'Spider Web'.
What were some other things you did in the amazing race?
In our groups we had to make a chant which says why we are the best group.
Do you remember yours?
Yes. It was a song to the theme of Jingle Bells . It went...
Group 6, Group 6, Group 6 all the way
We like eating cheese but only on Sunday's
Hey!
What activities did you do in the night?
Yes, Spotlight. It was really fun and also wet because of it raining! The first time I hid I hid in a big bushy area which made your pants wet when you sat down! Yuck! We had a huge area to hide in, which had bushes speckled on it, and the forest all around. Luckily no-one got lost, cause we all came in when mrs merry's bell rang.
What happened the next day?
My group and I went to Archery and Gemma Orr got a bullseye for the girls team (we were having a competition of girls v. boys) After that we went to Games. We played Indoor Hockey, Tabletennis and Volleyball. For Tabletennis I won twice against Zara. For Volleyball Mr. Schuler dived twice, just to get the volleyball but he still didn't get it! And our team lost. Indoor Hockey was really rough! I got hit twice! The next thing we did was abseiling. I was the first girl in our group to go down the big wall. But when it was Kelsi's turn, she cried because it was so high up but she still did it. When it was Gemma Orr's turn.. she cried and didn't want to do it but I convinced her to do it so she did it.. twice. So did I.
What did you have for lunch?
We had Tofu Burgers and chips. Our camp was vegetarian, so we didn't have meat the whole time (obviously). Jemma Shaw kept on playing a joke on me by telling me to look somewhere and then she stole my chips every time I looked. It was annoying!
What happened that night?
First we did the Skit Practising. Our group had to make up a skit about camp. Ours was about the activities at camp, and Sam was acting as Steve Irwin. Then my group went on to the Burma Trail. Sam went in front of us and kept telling us what to expect. Even though we kept on walking into trees. The next activity was Orienteering. We had to make up an activity card where we had to follow degrees, and paces to get somewhere.
What activities did you do the next day?
Umm.. we went to the Flying Fox.Which was really fun when you were really high up above the trees. I went on it four times because it was so fun! I went down eating an apple and wearing my sunglasses. And Zara went down blindfolded. Douglas kept on running in mid-air and Gemma acted as superman. And I hit the tyres at the end twice, one of those times I held onto it. It was fun! Mountain Biking was next. It was very tiring andI fell off my bike twice. My finger is still sore from being bent back! We went on the Red track, and that was all. But Gemma and I went and rode around on the concrete. It was.. also fun! Our next activity was High Ropes. It was really challenging even though I was the first girl to do every challenge there. I did the can-can across the log, and five press-ups. I wasn't strong enough to do the other five. For the Leap of faith (a huge trapeze hanging in mid-air which the only way you could get to was climbing up a hiuge pole, then jumping for it. I free-falled on my second go. Gareth got it on his second go, and Sam got it on his first. Mr Schuler got the trapeze, but wasn't able to get his legs up, cause he was too big. That was also fun.
What did you have for lunch?
Nacho's. They were very spicy. But also yum. Who would think a vegetarian camp could make such good Nachos?
What did you do that night?
We watched a movie in our pj's and sleeping bags. It was called 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. We also performed our skits. They were really funny. Jemma Shaw's group was really funny. It was about 'Tui Ridge's Dummest kid' Taylah Bateson won. He was crowned Tui Ridge's dummest kid, and he had a choice of 5 cents or one million dollars as his prize. He said he's split the 5 cents with Guy Kamphorst. For our last dinner we had Banana Splits and Sausage Rolls, Baby Carrots, Peas, and Potatoes.
What did you do for the last day?
For breakfast we had Pancakes. They tasted weird, but they were Pancakes so I can't complain! We had a selection of activities to choose from. They were Flying Fox, Indoor Hockey, Tabletennis, Volleyball, and a Technology Challenge. But the Technology Challenge was cut out because of some unspoken reason. Once we had packed up, we went to the Aquatic Centre. There was a huge Aqua Run there that we could play on, but a few people got injured so we had to pack up and leave. Early. Which means I was happier so that I could see my mum earlier. Once we got to school again, everyone was happy to be back but they all said they would never forget camp. We all went home. Some people forgot their stuff though. I think. See the cool photo's we took there!

Thursday 11th May
Today was a really cool day, because we had the great honour of having Flat Stanley with us. He is here to take a photo with us, so that he can send it back to his school for a School Project. NOw, let me explain a bit more. Flat Stanley is a small cardboard man that has a red T-shirt on, and who was laminated. He was made by a girl called Katriona, who lives in the United States of America. For a school Project, Katriona made Flat Stanley, and she had to send it to someone that she knew, who lived in a different country. This girl that Flat Stanley was sent to is named Kelsi Parker, and Kelsi is in Room 10. Kelsi needed to take some photo's with Flat Stanley in New Zealand, and then send them over to Katriona again. So Kelsi took a photo with all of her classmates (including me) to send over.

Wednesday 3rd May
Today is a very unusual day because we are doing Maths in the afternoon instead of the morning. This is because (no, it is not back-to-front day, opposites day, or any other type of thing like that you can think of) a very nice lady called Mrs Peterson is going to watch us learn Maths and to help us, plus to see how Mrs Merry is teaching us. It is also a weird day because normally we go out for alot of Fitness, but because it is raining we can not go out for some sports. In the last couple of days we found out alot of things about camp - Our activity groups, what cars we are travelling in, and where we are sleeping. We have lso written up our Pre-thoughts, highlighted our map of the camp we are going to (Tui Ridge Camp) and drawen up our title pages. We started a very small project for reading, which the whole school is doing. We have to write about our favourite place in the school, and our least favourite place in the school. Scroll down to Student's work for some great samples of our writing.

Thursday 27th April
Welcome back! After twelve days of fun and relaxation, we are back at school and have a wheelbarrow full of work (Not that I have a wheelbarrow, or could fill it up with work.. It's just a saying, we have heaps of work already, get it? Good.) In the afternoon's we are joining up with Room 11, and getting ready for our 3 night (4 days) camp in Week Three. We are also doing a mini-study on A.N.Z.A.C. Day, focusing on the battle of Gallipoli, and have been reading Fredrick Dill's diary, it is very interesting as he survived the war, and we know that it is true. We have already done alot of fitness and sport, because we are training for the annual school Cross-country. We are doing 12 minute runs every two weeks, and same with an obstacle course around the playground. In between times, we will be playing sports in the afternoon. This Term we will be starting Manual, and will be going to Edgecumbe College every Monday for Technology, Cooking, and Woodwork. Also in week 7 this term, we will be starting the Senior Speech Competition, where we have to write and present our own speech to the class. There is also Semifinals, and finals. At the beginning of Term 3 (which is still ages and ages away) We will start our Science Fair's, and the judging will be around the end of Term 3 aswell. So... is that busy... or is that busy? I would choose the busy one, but I was asking you, wasn't I?

Today we learnt: A.N.Z.A.C. means Australia and New Zealand Army Corp!

Wednesday 12th April
Today is (YIPPEE!) the... Drumroll please.... Last Day Of School!!! WOOO yeah! And tomorrow is good Friday, which also means that on Sunday we get to eat our Easter Eggs!! Yay! But the real reason that I came on here is because we had a great session of Badminton this morning, for an hour. Two adults from the Badminton Club, Sue Shaw and Nick Chambers. Came and talked to us about it, and played games and things. First we warmed up by balancing the Shuttle Cock (The thing that you hit in Badminton) on the Racket,then we ran around the courts trying not to make it fall off. Once we had done that for awhile, and everyone's Shuttle Cock had fallen off at least once, we stopped and got into teams - 4 teams of 8, and had a relay. We had to run as fast as we could to the other end of the court, then run around a chair, switch hands with the racket, then run back to our team. If we dropped the Shuttle Cock, then we just picked it up and kept going. Next we played around the world - All the girls got into one big team (except for Lindsey, he came in late and had to join our team), and all the boys got into a big team (except for Aimee, the teams were uneven so she had to go into the boys team) Yes, we got into teams, then the girls lined up on one side of the court and the boys on the other. Sue hit the Shuttle Cock to the girls, and we took turns to hit it, while Nick did the same to the boys. Once we hadn't hit the Shuttle Cock three times, we were out and had to go and play somewhere else till we start again. We then played games against each other (boys against boys, girls against girls) it we didn't hit the Shuttle Cock, one person had to go on their knees, then if It happened again, they were out. After heaps of games we played another cool running game, then all sat down. Jemma Shaw stood and thanked Sue and Nick, (Oh my Gosh! Jemma Shaw? Sue Shaw? Are they somehow related? Of course they are! Jemma is really good at Badminton, and so is her mum! Hmm... don't tell me you are thinking who is her mum? Sue Shaw is Jemma's mum!) She thanked them, then we all left. It was overall a really cool experience, and everyone learnt heaps, and got heaps better. BUT now it's... Lunch Time! I've got to go. Have a good Holiday! Enjoy your Easter Eggs! I know I am... But before you go, look at these fantastic photo's that Mrs Merry took! You can see how much fun we were having, can't you??

Monday 10th April
Today is the monday of the last week of school for Term 1. It is so sad to think of being away from school for 1 and a half weeks! But not for me! I can't wait to have a sleep-in, and stop learning for awhile, and then feel the wonderful feeling of (cough) stupidness when the teacher asks you to do something that you've forgotten.
Last week on Thursday was Touch. We had been practising alot, and were totally ready to face any team that came near us. Unfortunately, the next day everyone was tired and sore, so... they were angry and Mrs Merry didn't have a very (hahaha) Merry day! One of the best parts of practising was listening to everyone's names. They were anywhere between 'The Cheese Munchers', 'The Blue Cockatoos' and 'Cheifs'. We also had other original and funny names on the list. The weather turned out great, and by lunchtime evryone was wishing they hadn't come, and wanted to be subbed off for the whole game. We have heaps of cool artwork up on the wall, with family portraits.. Mobiles made of things from Otarawairere, Fun Facts about Me posters, and there will soon be Finger painting of Flowers up there too. We are all just finishing our Superhero stories, we had to write about our own Superhero that we made up, and that was fun thinking up a name for your very own Superhero, mine was called Squeeman (the black), Kelsi Parker, the girl that sits next to me called her's Pina Fina, Leonie's one was Pearl Girl, and Alex's was Purple Electra! Once we have all finished the stories, we will make a book for the library so that everyone can read our wondeful work. We are now writing stories about a Superanimal! Once again, I will tell you the names! Mine is called Super Suzy the Swan! In my story she battles Evil Eric the Electric Eel. Another one was Super Meercat, with his twitching tail! Yes, well I have to go to lunch now, so I will stop.

Friday 31st March
Yesterday we had a great day at Otarawairere Bay, We learnt about the creatures and plants in Rock Pools, but the best bit was climbing over the rocks and water to the low tide zones!!
First we drove over to Ohope Beach, then went on a Bush walk to Otarawairere Bay. On the way there we had a look at some slips, it was so strange! Next we had morning tea under a huge tree. Once we had finished our morning tea, we went over to the High Tide Rock Pools. We saw Prawns, Cockabullies, shells. My group was so lucky that they found some Armoured Isopods! They are native to New Zealand, and took ages to identify. I remember when a group of girls (including me) were talking, some were standing in some shallow water on rocks, we were all looking at a Starfish when I looked down and saw a humoungus crab! It was huge and red, and was crawling over Kelli's foot! I started screaming, then everyone looked down and ran away. All the girls were running away while all the boys were sprinting over the rocks with ice-cream containers to catch it!
After all of the excitement we went back to our tree, and had some lunch. Everyone got to hang around, I had fun finding Cat's Eyes, the mother's sat down and talked, the boys played beach cricket, everyone was having fun. Then the time came when we had to go back, climb over all of the rocks again, find a Rock Pool in the Low Tide Zone, and start looking for animals and interesting plants again. And guess what? After only about 2 minutes of looking, a group of boys found an Octopus! It was hiding under a rock, so they couldn't catch it - but we got to see it! After another 10 minutes, another group found another octopus! We were very lucky, the group caught it in an ice-cream container (even though it was much too big) it was actually quite disgusting, really. The group ended up putting the second Octopus back in its Rock Pool, and carried on with their work. Everyone had fun looking at the Kina, and just as we were leaving, to go for a (supervised) swim, A group found (Yes! You guessed it!) ANOTHER Octopus!! Fortunately,everyone had seen enough Octopuses for the day, but still crowded around it until Mrs Bateson told them to put it back in the water. So, with disappointed faces, everyone slowly walked back to the tree, got changed (with coverage, don't get scared!) lined up on the beach, and with Mr Hawkes (and his stubbie's) permission, everyone raced into the water. I unfortunately didn't bring my togs, but that didn't stop me from jumping over the waves! After I got soaked through and everyone had finished their (supervised) swim, they got changed (with coverage don't get scared) and made their way back to Ohope Beach, into the cars, and (in my case) to get an ice-block, then to school. And, since I forgot to mention it, the whole time Room 10 was looking out for shells and wood to put on mobiles that they were making for art. Now that you have read about it, you can look at it too! Click Here to see the wonderful photos that we took!

Today we Learnt: Karis likes to write very long pages about Otarawairere!

Monday 27th March
Today we started and finished two studies. The one that we finished was a Commonwealth games study, and I was so busy with it that I didn't have time to do this page! In the study we had to find out about a NZ Athlete (Mine was Georgia Rae Cervin, a young Gymnastics girl) and we also had to make a page called "The Friendly Games" with photo's and writing about athletes that were showing friendship and Sportsmanship. Of course, I got ANOTHER A+. Alex Moore and Aimee Jones got A+'s too.

Monday 13th March
Last week we were full on with our P.A.T's (Progressive Achievement Tests), one in the morning, and one after morning tea. Some of us have got our marks, and (OBVIOUSLY) Jordyn and I did very well. I know everyone is glad for them to be over, and hoping that they did well.

Tuesday 28th February
Last week we finally put on the Fun Raiser, after many hours of concentration, we accomplished many things... The little kids had fun eating sugary things, and playing on the activities... all of the groups were happy because they didnt make less then $7.50 like some-one last year *cough*. Room 10's money total was $285, we had two food groups, and four activities. The group that made the most amount of money in our class was Sugar Cafe, they made $74.15. But after the hours of fun, hard work, and laughter... The syndicate money count was the most important. All of the classes together made a total of $1475!!! (PLUS 20c of Canadian money) Hopefully, we will all be able to have a great camp, and it will all be thanks to the kids who organised everything. Ahhh, I know, us kids can be very helpful if we put our minds to it!

Today we learnt: If you are having a school Fundraiser, sell food. It makes the most money.

Monday 20th February
We are full on with work right now, getting ready for the 'Fun Raiser' to raise some money for camp. Finishing all of our start-of-year tests, that sort of stuff...
Everyone has just put up their Fun Raiser posters, and are now on to more serious things... The Fortune tellers are practising their fortune telling, The food sellers are preparing their food, the Jump Out The Window group (Yes, I know - who would pay to jump out the classroom window??) are ahh.. practising.
Last week at the school assembly a few groups did some really cool acts and jingles to advertise their activity. We had everything from songs, to dancing, to jumping on mats backwards. *cough*
We've just got our homework marked and given back to us and, of course, I got 50 House Points for mine. We had to do a study on The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and we had some very interesting facts!
Fact - The Leaning Tower Of Pisa is estimated to be around 14,000 tonnes!!
Well, after three weeks of hard work, some 'Fun Facts About Me' are on the wall for everyone to read. I myself have been keeping up to date with them!
Did you know - Aimee Jones has a Gold medal in Modern Jazz dancing?
Hmm... thats about it from me, I'm off to 'learn' how to swim with the rest of the class. (As If)

Today We learnt: The leaning tower took 200 years to build!