Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York on 21 April 1926. She lived in London in a large house with her sister Princess Margaret and parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

 Her uncle Edward the prince of wales lived a simple life and taught Elizabeth the value of money with only 5 pence a week. 1937, Elizabeth’s life changed when her uncle was crowned king. The church didn’t believe in divorce but King Charles wanted to marry a lady that had been divorce. He had to make a decision in either being king or marrying the love of his life. His answer was shocking!

Her uncle decided to marry the love of his life, and by that her life changed forever. The crown was held down to her father meaning Elizabeth knew she would once become Queen. Once her dad was king in 1936 they moved to a royal residence in London at Buckingham Palace. 

In 1934 Elizabeth met her future husband at the wedding of Princess Marion’s of Greece and Denmark and Prince George. Philip (her future husband) was 13 and Elizabeth was 8 and they started sending letters in WWII. 13 years later they were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey.  WWII started, and Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service. After joining, she trained to be a driver and mechanic. Five months after training she was promoted to Junior Commander which was about the same as Captain.

1952, her beloved father passed with her only being 25 and having to be ready for many responsibilities. Elizabeth had now had the role of leading many countries, setting rules and many more leadership roles. Soon after Elizabeth’s coronation ceremony came around and she had one of the largest audience members watching at home as well as 8000 guests. 

As the years went by they weren’t so smooth as three of her children all went through divorces. In the same year a fire occurred and caused terrible damage at the Windsor Castle which is why it was called Annus Horribilis. Later on they smoothly got through all their troubles and celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 notching up to 60 years on the throne. The Royle family had never been so famous and were very proud of all her achievements and accomplishments. 

Sadly she can not live forever and her time has come. 2022 8 September Queen Elizabeth’s time arrived but she had proudly been the oldest living and longest reigning British monarch. She died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

This week is te wiki o te reo Māori week in new zealand. At our school when we celebrate we have different activities and prizes to be won but it isn’t just something we do in one week it’s something we try and do every now and then. 

Te wiki o te reo Māori is a week where we celebrate the national culture of our country for a whole week straight. In this time frame we do a special activity every day such as learning about Māori myths/legends, talk about traditional food (Hangi), learn and sing different waiata, practicing Māori phrases and more. Maori culture is very special and important to me because it is my culture and something I feel very proud of and it is probably the same with many other kids. 

On Rāhina (Monday) in assembly to start off the week we decided on singing a song our whole school has been learning to get everyone excited for the week called Te Manurewa. Some cool things that we have decided to do is to have a word of the week since the start of the term where we would have to practice that word throughout the week. On Rātu (Tuesday) we were reading about traditional Māori food such as Hangi and the process of it being made and talking about the food included.   Rāapa (Wednesday) we went over to the kotuku space to read with a buddy on Māori children’s books and then did some drawing about our human body names in te reo. 

On Rāpare (Thursday) we had lunch time activities such as Poi, Koru art, Māori story books and some other things. Today Rāmere (Friday) we will be decorating our own feather and using it to make a big school korowai (cloak) to put on display in our school. 

Each day we have had a secret patai (question) to look for around our space, translate it then email the answer to Kahu Kaioko (teacher) Mrs Kelly. If you do your name will be entered into a raffle in a chance to win an inā rawa (awesome) prize.

In my opinion I think Te wiki o te reo Māori week is nice way of celebrating the Māori culture as well as learning some really interesting things about New Zealand and the home countries first language.