Awakeri School

Room 14 in 2017

Who are we?

We are room 14, we have 31 students and we are a variety of year 7 and 8's. We have the best class in the world, full of wonderful kids. The website monitors for R14 this year are Kalib Schuler and Kieran Butler.

Class news

December 13 We have had lots of entertaining radio broadcasts the last two days. Kieran's one was riddled (!) with lots of puns, some good some awful (should that be Orff-ful?!). Josh's was fast and funny, some people sang their own songs (Cate) and made fun of their class mates (there have been a lot of Rowe-ing puns)... more to come tomorrow!
See you tonight at Fancy Dress!

December 11 Some of us have just finished writing our radio broadcasts. There were four people that went today - Bonnie, Coral, Joel and Josh Brown, and they all did excellently. For the radio broadcasts you have to have 3 mins of talking and you have to have your station's name and you must have 3 or more ads and 2 or more bits of news. The first four were really entertaining and have set a high standard for everyone else in the class. Most of us are just about finished but we just need to add the finishing touches. I think everyone still to come will do an amazing job like the people today.

December 6 We have finished reading The Hobbit and we are now onto a Gary Paulsen book Nightjohn. It is a hard hitting book about slavery in North America. The girl Sarny is about the same age as us. She gets into massive trouble for trying to learn to read and write.

November 22 Room 14 did really well at the marae. Because of a tangi and bad weather on the first day, our programme was shortened a bit. "We sprinted to the shelter trying to dodge the rain drops like they were tiny bullets flying at us. My jeans got saturated and my hair was so wet it looked like I had just had a shower!" - Skylar H.
"Thanks Bishop (our bus driver). We all went onto the paepaes and sat down. A lady came out. She started the karanga so we could all enter the wharenui. Ow!! That really hurt! A prickle is stabbing into my foot, like a needle getting pushed into material. It gets worse every time you push down. Ok. We stopped, but on the grass. I got another one. I should have brought shoes!"-Olivia N.
We had the official powhiri in the wharenui. After that the chiefs talked to us about the history of the marae and the local area. Luckily then it stopped raining, so we went on a history walk down the river, to Muriwai's cave. Later that afternoon we did activities farewelled Room 13, then we walked up to Toi's Pa (see here for photos - opens in new tab).
That night we went into the wharenui to do our pepehas and sleep.
" 'OK, into the wharenui!' Mr Hawkes shouts to everyone outside. Suddenly there is a rush of people dawdling in the door and onto their beds. They slowly disappear into a warm nest of all different colours. We all say our pepehas..." - Oscar Murray.
"Since I was in the corner, I had to go first." - Joel C
"It comes around to Conner and he says 'Ko Chris ahau'. The rooms is filled with laughter. When it is Amie's turn, she tells us she is too nervous to say it. As the light dimmers, the room becomes quiet..." - Sammy N
" 'Quiet!' says Mr Hawkes. The lights are dimmer. He starts playing What About The Fishes quietly on the guitar. I hear JB start snoring lightly next to me..." - Conner R
The next morning we have two groups of nearly 100 people each to welcome. We are very busy being the tangata whenua.
"9:00 am is when the bus loads arrived. All the children and teachers get off and walk to the entrance gate to be welcomed by our kaikaranga. Me being the first caller... "Haere mai ra.... e nga tamariki.... nga kaiako, nga matua e...' They started walking and also replied to my call. Next Bonnie-Marie did her karanga, 'Mauria mai nga mate....' The manuhiri (visitors) started walking again and replying. Then they stopped while Isabel did her part. 'Whakatau mai ra....' The manuhiri stay still for a few minutes while they remember their ancestors and family that have passed away.After that all the boys went and sat down then the girls followed and sat behind them. The boys in our class did their whaikorero and then Room 15 did theirs. Both groups (tangata whenua and manuhiri) line up and hongi. We all go in and have some kai (food) to break the tapu." - Acacia L
"Standing in the hot summer sun, waiting for the powhiri to end. I could hear Acacia, Bonnie and Isabel calling on Rm 15, 11 and 12. Sharlee answering them. Kalib, Shaun and Kieran said their speeches then we sang our waiata. Then as Vinnie said his speech, his voice disappeared, so it took a while for him to get his voice back...." - Leanna R.

November 7 We are just getting near the end to our book that we are reading called the Hobbit. Well done to all those kids who got into the interschools athletics and we wish you guys all the best for the interschools day. Yay tomorrow we are finally going to the marae. Everyone can't wait to go and stay the night. Good luck to all those people doing speeches the next day.

November 2 HEADLINE: A junior kid comes into the room, with a note for the teacher. He sees Cate Robertson standing by the sink and asks her! Cate points him to the teacher over at his desk! Everyone in the class started to laugh, most peoples faces even went red.
Also we have just held the athletics for our school. Everyone did amazing and all the people in high jump did excellent. Shaun from Room 14 jumped the highest for the year: 1.29m.

October 25 A big thankyou to those students who helped at Ag Day and Group Day. They did jobs like running results, selling programmes and raffles and food, looking after the judges etc. Ka pai! Today is our first session on puberty with Suzi. We are looking forward to it! (Well, most of us are!)

October 20 Welcome back to the new term. It is a very busy term, with something on nearly every week. Scroll down to the bottom to read Mr H's class newsletter.

September 29 Congratulations to our homework award winners: 1st Teigan, 2nd Olivia, 3rd Issy, 4th Kalib, 5th Corban, 6th Ayla. They put lots of hard work and did extra activities all term!
We have just finished analysing all the surveys that the middle and senior school did for us. We had to go through over 200 questionnaires, it took us two hours getting the data off them. The results are fascinating. Have a look at them on the windows of room 14. Scroll down to Students' Work to see all the questions that we asked.

September 21 We have been thinking and writing up some survey questions about the school. We have put all the questions on the sheet of paper then photo copied it so the other classes can do the survey. Once the kids have filled in the survey we will then collect all the data and put them into some bar graphs and maybe pie graphs. We have also been learning a Waiata ( song) called Poi E. Tonight is the last night performance of our production. So the production better be a good show tonight or else people won't want to come to the show next year! Also today is Joshua's birthday. So wish him a good birthday.

September 19 Opening night of our show tonight. Let's hope Kieran (Stark) is well enough to do a good job. He stayed home sick to try and be ready. Our two kapa haka girl leaders have had their hair done by Whaea Andrea. They look great. Tino ataahua!
Today we started learning Poi E. Mr H promises we'll get good at it! He played us this heavy metal version of Poi E, it's pretty cool! (It opens in a new tab).

September 15 We have just started working on statistics in class for our maths. Also we have been practicing and getting sorted our songs and lines for in the production. We hope every one will enjoy it and will laugh at some of the hilarious jokes throughout our production.

September 5 We have tech on Tuesdays this term. We go to Edgecumbe College for it and it is really cool. There are a couple of things we need to remember every tech day... long hair tied up, and SHOES! Today Shaun forgot his shoes and he headed off to borrow some shoes at tech. It the end of the day, Shaun forgot that he had borrowed shoes and wore his borrowed ones back to Awakeri again! It was a bad day, because also Oscar forgot he was wearing hhhhhhhhhhha tech apron and he wore it back to Awakeri as well!! Lucky their heads are securely spot welded on!

August 24 We have been busy with things like science fair, and now production rehearsals are starting. In class we are learning some Spanish, like De donde eres? Soy de Nueva Zelandia. We have also learned some basic drumming skills on Mr H's drum kit, some basic computer coding. We have finished our Fantasy / Adventure reading theme. We all have a poem ready for tomorrow's Poem in your Pocket day. Today Ms Sisam has been teaching us because Mr H is judging at the science fair. We are learning about Taneatua - the man.

July 20 Scroll down to Students' Work to read all our memories of Mrs Prodger. We hope you're enjoying retirement so far Melva!

July 6 Today we have a special visitor from Ireland her name is Saorise and she is Cate and Oscar's cousin. She come from Cork in Ireland. Today some of the people in our class were picked to be the main parts in our annual school production. This year it is 'The Valley of The Voodons'. Samantha Yuill is the queen, Isaac Clements is Prince Dronos, Kalib is Viscount Pansy, Ayla Rowe is Astrid and Kieran Butler is Stark.

June 29 This coming Friday (7th) we have some very sad news, Mrs Prodger is leaving our school. We are going to miss you very much. We will remember how much work you put into everything and how you helped us when we were hurt or not feeling well. Thank You Mrs Prodger XoXoXo.

June 28 Our web site monitors have been slack! Recently we have finished speeches (well done Bonnie-Marie!), started science fair work (it's due in week two next term), finished geometry, started measurement. Our book at the moment is The Hobbit. We have been copying the features of the great writing of Tolkien, with our own stories. Scroll down to Students' Work to read some of them.

May 24 On Friday we had a huge fund-raiser. Room 14 did very well because we raised $1132 . 90. We had fun and made a lot of money. Heaps of people went to the food groups and also the other games as well. The groups were the Haunted house, Kai kings, Sweet As, Junk food pit stop, Mission Impossible and Animal Barnyard. Room 14 had lots of fun. I hope the other kids had fun too.

May 11 Scroll down for a new Teacher's Message.

May 9 We have been learning some more ways to respond to how are you in Spanish, like feliz gracias which means happy thanks and another one is aburrido/aburrida which means bored thanks. We are probably going to finish our book called the Fat Man which has been very interesting. We have just started learning geometry. We are learning about angles and how to draw a triangle with a compass and a ruler. We are also starting to train for cross country.

1 May Welcome back to school. We are straight into it: starting Spanish and our social studies topic about Parihaka. Today for current events there was lots of news about Cyclone Cook like chicken coops flying away, 55 trees falling down and mail boxes being blown away.

7 April Since we have finished learning our own pepeha (our family background and family tree in Maori), we have had some fun writing fantasy pepeha for ourselves. People have had all sorts of interesting grandparents, parents, wives, husbands, brothers and sisters!
Here is the start of Leanna's one:
Tena koutou katoa
No Vanuatu ahau
Ko Mt Fuji toku maunga
Ko Amazon toku awa
Ko Titanic toku waka
Ko Donald Trump toku koroua....

3 April We had a talk about internet and social media safety this morning, to follow on from a duscussion last week. We learned how to screenshot phones if you need to, to get evidence. We also looked at statistics from the port of Tauranga for our maths. Did you know there were 26 thousand tonnes of onions exported from Tauranga last year and nearly a million tonnes of kiwifruit? A cruise ship visiting there is about 3.5 football fields long!

March 29 This morning before school we were looking at Kiwi Kids News, which has all sorts of cool, random and fun news. We saw this cool chair trick and decided to give it a go. After a few fails, we did it!

Kalib Schuler, Cole Hendl, Shaun Snow and Josh Brown support each other. The chairs have been taken away! Rheet, Sasha, Skylar and Coral assisted.	Look, no hands!

March 23 Room fourteen has been reading an interesting book called the Fat Man written by Maurice Gee. The book is about a little boy called Colin. Colin was in a forest and he got caught by a fat man who is a robber. The only way Colin can get free is by helping the fat man rob some rich people. Colin is so afraid of him, every time he talks he mumbles.

15 March We have just started reading fiction books by New Zealand authors. Margo has selected a great box of books that we can choose from. Most people have rated their books highly in the first few days. We are also planning our Fun Raiser, which is happening in the lunchtime on the last day of term. We have three food groups and a haunted house, a challenge games and an animal farm group. Room 13 are also doing fun(d) raising at the same time. In class we have just finished reading the House a Pooh Corner by AA Milne.

9 March Scroll down to Students' Work to see two amazing songs written by the Nolan sisters about camp.

8 March Yesterday we worked out how many seconds we have been alive for. Isaac is over 378 432 000 seconds old, Kieran is over 408 844 800 seconds old and Mr Hawkes is more than 1 955 232 000 seconds old! Impressive eh!

3 March Today we have been making some sports men and women with some uniforms relating to our school. People have been trying really hard with topschool trials. Everyone is waiting nervously to find out who's going to get in on Wednesday. We have also just finished writing our camp letters to the parents who came on camp. I can't wait to see the parents' faces when they get the letters.

2 March 30 years since the Edgecumbe Earthquake. Lots of talk about it this morning, looking at photos, discussing where parents and grandparents were. Mr Hawkes was teaching in Room 8 (it was called room 5 back them). Josh's Mum was at Awakeri School. We learned the Earthquake Rock song that they used to sing back then:

Earthquake Rock – 1987 (Apologies to Elvis!)

1. Going to a quake at Awakeri School
Room 5 were there looking pretty cool
Kids were jumping and the joint began to swing
Should have heard the knocked out children sing

Chorus: Let's rock, everybody let's rock
Everybody in old B Block
Dance to the Earthquake Rock!

2. Anthony was jumping up and down on the plank
His reading group thought it was just a prank
Then he fell from the plank to the ground
And all you could hear was a rumbling sound

Chorus

3. Sixty people slept here on the Monday night
The Bells' gas cooker it stayed alight
Library books were scattered all over the floor
Better stack em up so there's room for more

Chorus

28 Feb Camp was great. Check out some cool photos here. Room 14 had a blast at camp with all the fun activities like orienteering around Kati Kati. The best parts of camp were Mock court and the very best - Waimarino. Waimarino had everything like a tramp, U.F.O [unidentified floating object], the blob, gladiator pole, tarzan swing and also the best of all the hydroslide. Camp was so fun.

17 Feb We have mainly finished our profile art and also our koru art. Yay we can finally have a weekend and then we go straight to camp. We are starting to practice our singing and also practicing the guitar. We know quite a lot of songs and heaps of chords. We are starting to create our camp booklets.

14 Feb Only a week to go till our camp at Aongatete Lodge. We are getting organised! We have also been learning how to swim side stroke, how to play three chords on the guitar, how to do fractions, all about trees, how to recite the poem Te Kaititiro O Te Po (by Katarina Mataira).

Students' Work

Where do you mostly play at school? _________________ What do you do there? _______________________ (OMu)

Do you think the canteen should be open? ____ If you do, what days should it be open? ____________________ (KS)

Were you displaced by the Edgecumbe floods? ___ If so, how badly did it affect you? (1 not badly - 10 Extreme)_____ (IC)

Should we have a choice to be in/watch the production? ____ Why/Why not? ______________ ___________________ (AR)

Do you prefer physical games or video games?_________ What game is that? ___________________(JBrn)

If you could have any tame animal for a pet, what would it be? ____________________ (JC)

Do you have a device of your own (e.g. computer, tablet, etc.)? ____IF yes, what do you mostly do on it?____________________(IL)

Do you prefer Apple or Samsung? ____________________ (AL)

If you could have a super power, what would you choose? ______________________________________________________ (RF)

Are you going to play sport next year?__________ If yes, what sport? ___________________________ (LR)

If you could have one wish what would it be? __________________________________________________________(SN)

Do you think we should do more school work on devices?_________If so why? _________________________________________(SS)

What is your favourite subject?__________________ Why?_________________________________________(CT)

Where do you live: Whakatane, Thornton, Edgecumbe, Kawerau or other (please state)?___________________? Are you out of our school's zone? ______________ (SH)

Have you ever been bullied? _______ If yes, was it cyber, physical or teasing? ____________________ (BW)

Have you ever done a water sport, e.g. Biscuiting, skiing, surfing? (yes or no) ______ Do you think water sports are fitness activities? ____________ (KB)

What is your favourite game to play at lunchtime? __________________________ (CRen)

Do you like travelling? _____ If so what is your favourite way of travelling? ________________________________ (JBRD)

What is your favourite sport? ___________________ (JBoy)

How do you usually get to school? ________________ (CRob)

If you could, would you have a dragon as a pet? _______________ (CA)

What is your worst fear? ______________ Why?___________________________________ (TN)

Are you bringing an animal to Ag Day? _________ If yes, what sort? ________________(ON)

Do you prefer sitting on the mat or at your desk? ____________________________ (AP)

Should Awakeri School allow students to use devices for their learning? ___________ (SY)

Do you prefer Playstation or Xbox? ___________________________ (TD)

Do you prefer biking or running? ___________________________ (C.H.)

Is there anything you would change at Awakeri School? _________ If yes, what would it be? __________________________________ (SB)

What is your favourite musical instrument? _________________________________ (OMa)

What age do you think it would be the most fun to be? ____________________

How many schools, other than Awakeri, have you been to? _______________________

What is your favourite football (soccer) team? __________________________________

Have you been to… the South Island? ______ Auckland? _____ Wellington? ______

Australia? ________ USA? _______

Do you like answering these questions?! _________ (DR)

Memories of Mrs Prodger....
I remember in Room 12 Ms Sisam said to not run down the ramp. Of course, being the 11 year old kid I was, I ran down the ramp. I tripped up and I got cuts all over my arms and legs. I went to the office where Mrs Prodger cleaned up my legs and arms and she got an ice pack to numb it. Then she put plasters on my cuts and a few weeks later they were gone. But I still have a mark on my elbow.
Joel Carter.
When we walk into the office we always see you working hard on whatever thing you are doing. But you are always there to help in whichever way we need help. Such as when I tripped over. You gave me an ice-pack. Then after a bit, I felt better! Thanks!
Isabel Lambert
I remember when I was in room 13, I accidentally swallowed a spring. Miss Reeve took me to the office and you helped me get the spring out of my throat, by making me vomit it up! You are the nicest, kindest person I know.
Amie Phillips.
I remember when I slipped in a big muddy puddle, you gave me some clothes to wear, you dried my hair, and bandaged up my sores. Do you remember when I forgot my lunch? I was very upset, you gave me some of your lunch. I hope you don't forget me cos I'll always remember you for ever. You are my favourite office lady and the best. I wish you will come to visit lots.
Lots and lots of love from Bonnie-Marie.
To Mrs Prodger,
Whenever I walk into the office you smile at me and you are always doing something.
You are always so organised and very quick at doing your job.
From Oscar.
I remember when you cleaned up my blood after I fell off the tower on the playground.
By Dan.
I remember when I was little I used to get my shorts dirty and you used to give me spare pairs.
By Oscar Murray.
Mrs Prodger,
You're so nice and kind and I've only been here for two years. I'm not going to name all of them or we'll be here for days. So I'll tell one I saw. A little boy fell and had a bloody knee so I took him to the office and you were on the phone but you looked after him just as well.
By Olivia N.
She's very nice. She always has a smile on her face. She is caring and she is lovely too.
Coral.
I remember when I was running and I hit my head on the edge of the table. There was a lot of blood and you cleaned it all up and stopped the bleeding and put bandages on it.
By Josh Broadmore.
One time I forgot my purple lunchbox. I went to the office because I was hungry. I then told Mrs Prodger that I forgot my lunch. She then went away and got me some jam toast. It was lovely.
Cate R.
Mrs Prodger.
I remember one day our class was playing dodge-ball and while I was running towards toe ball I scrapped my toe-nail on the ground. Miss Reeve told me to go to you so I did. Then when I turned up to the office, you dunked it in some Dettol stuff then you taped it down and it didn't bother me again.
From Sammy Neale.
I can remember when my earring got caught into my ears and I couldn't get it out and it was sore and you helped me and then I got it out in the end and I was happy when it came out. Thank you Mrs Prodger
By Taya.
Every time I walk into the office you ask how I am and say Hi. I really enjoy talking to you about what is happening after school.
Leanna.
One time I went to the sickbay and I felt really sick so you called my mum to pick me up.
Skylar.
I always remember the times when I got a migraine and every time I came to the office and straight away you knew what was wrong.
Samantha.
I remember when I broke my thumb. You thought it wasn't serious. But then it puffed up like a balloon. You came and saw it, you then made a horrid face. Then you made me a splint and called my mum. Thank you for everything.
Kieran Butler.
One day I had a sore swollen eye. I went to the office and you were there. I told you I had a puffy eye. You gave me a flannel and I felt better. Thank you Mrs Prodger.
By Joshua Brown.
I remember when you helped Ollie F. when he had tried to do parkour up the target wall and stepped on a nail. I helped him get to the office and you helped.
By Tawha.
I can remember once we were out on the turf when I got a bee sting so I ran to the office and you gave me my medication and let me sit in the sickbay. Thank you so much, Mrs Prodger.
When you helped me when I got a bee sting. You gave me cream to put on it and an ice pack. You were extremely nice!
Teigan.
I remember when you helped me when I got an earring stuck in my foot and I could not get it out.
Acacia.
I remember when you gave me a sling when I broke my arm. You also gave me an icepack to help get the pain to go away.
Corban.
I remember when the printer and computer was playing up. It kept printing the wrong thing over and over and we had to walk back and forth to check if it printed right. We must have walked a marathon that day.
By Isaac.
Do you remember when I had the most sorest leg? You had helped me so much, you got my book for me, you also got my bag for (well, you called Mr Hawkes and he brought but anyway) I really appreciate it, thank you so much! PS And thank you for not doing an operation on my leg!
Rheet Farrar.
I remember when you helped me when my eye was bleeding when Gabriel poked his nail into my eye.
By Kalib Schuler.
When I fell into a puddle she gave me some clothes to wear.
By Jake.
I remember when on my first day of school coming into a big friendly smile. I remember when I got sand in my eye you gave me a smile and said, "I'll see what I can do." You gave me a wet paper towel and said, 'try this.
Ayla.
Dear Mrs Prodger, You helped me when I broke my foot on the playground and none of the teachers believed me. You gave me an icepack which helped relieve the pain I gained after limping to the office. Then you rang my parents so that I could go to the hospital.
From Shaun.
I can remember when I got a tiny prickle in my foot and I went to the office and Mrs Prodger took it out just like that. I am going to miss you a lot when you leave us. You make me smile and happy. You are a funny person. I remember I fell off the flying fox and got dirty and you lent me some clothes. You are my favourite office lady ever.
Lots of love. Sasha Burr.

Based on The Hobbit, first paragraph...

In a garden in a hutch there lived a rabbit. Not a nasty, muddy, small hutch covered in hairy spiders and a rotten smell, nor yet a wet, plastic, cracked hutch, with nothing to lie on or drink: it was a rabbit hutch and that means fresh grass.
Bonnie-Marie

In a room in a house there lived a Charlie. Not a dirty, dark, smelly room with holes in the walls and last nights dishes, nor yet a perfectly tidy room with stained glass windows and pictures perfectly aligned: it was Charlie's room and that means colourful and bright.
Oscar Murray

Camp Songs 2017

Based on Ten Guitars, by Olivia Nolan

I have a class of 30 and all they do is play with me,
They come from Awakeri, to get to Aongatete
Beneath the trees my wooden stilts will play soccer with me.
And if you get the togs you love, this is what you do,
Oh swim, swim, swim to the water hole
And very soon you'll know how cold it is.
Through the dark of the night you see a thousand stars
When you shine, shine, shine your spotlight torch.

Camps are made for fun
Room 14 will always say
Give us each a big kayak and we will start to play
At Sapphire Springs my rescue skills will save your life for you
And if you're at Waimarino, this is what you'll do.
Oh, blob, blob, blob until my time's up
Through the eyes of Judge Shane we are all guilty,
When you swear, swear, swear to the Beacon Bible.

Based on Delta Dawn by Teigan Nolan

CHORUS:
Mr Hawkes, what's that guitar you have on?
Could it be an alarm clock from days gone by?
And did I hear you say we were going to Waihi today?
To take us to the gold mine in the town.

She is eleven years old and the judge still calls her guilty
All the folks at mock court says she's crazy
Cause she walks in the bush with her togs in her hand
Looking for a killer winking man
In their younger days they went to Waimarino
- Prettiest blob- you ever laid eyes on
Then a man of certain weight stood by her side
And promised her she'd fly into the sky.

CHORUS

Teacher's Message
Dear Parents
The final days of 2017! A big thank you to you all for your support. We have had a great year. The class has been very tolerant of all the changes of teachers, and they have been cooperative and well behaved. Of course there has been lots of learning, successes and achievements. This week we are trying to broadcast all our recently written radio scripts. They've been very entertaining so far! Hope to see you all at Fancy Dress. Have a great holiday, Merry Christmas and all the best to our year eights as they head to their new adventures at high school.
Kia ora tatou katoa,
Barrie Hawkes.

Want to check out last year's page? It was cool. Click here: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 or 2009.