Dear diary, 

Tuesday, 9:15am

Today is a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time because I haven’t been on a trip in years! There was lots of excitement going through my head. I didn’t know if I was nervous, excited, apprehensive or just very overwhelmed. I left the house full of excitement waiting for the bell to ring and the bus to arrive. On the bus we went to Ambury farm, setting sail on the dirt road surrounded by beautiful ancient stone walls.

 

9:45 am

We finally arrived! Ambury farm at last. I can’t breathe in, not a chance. All I can smell is poop. We got introduced to the rangers Richard and Janine who welcomed us and explained what we are doing today. This is making me even more excited. Now it’s time to start snacking on something EXTREMELY healthy and nutritious food called chocolate chip cookies!!! Janine and Richard “while everyone is eating here are some basic rules” 

• No chasing any animals
• Don’t put ur fingers near animals faces
• Toilets are in the corner 
• Don’t annoy the animals
• Have fun!

First activity for the day, sheep shearing. 

 

10:25 am

I am terrified and I’m sitting on the top of the bleachers. I can’t imagine being the two strong men shearing the rams. It smelt like a big bucket of sweat. What made it even worse was the humidity flowing through the room. We decided to go outside and talk about what we were seeing so that the other group could look before they finished shearing all the rams. Everyone was going wow, cool, fun while I’m over here saying poor sheep. I was curious about whether it hurt their skin but really it was a huge relief for them because they won’t be so hot. They shear the sheep at the start of summer so that they aren’t boiling during the heat and the start of winter for a clean layer to keep them warm. Their wool is very good for your skin because it has an oil named lanolin.

 

10:40 am

Hi Richard, what are we going to be doing now? We are going to be learning about fabric and what fabric comes from which animal, says Richard. I didn’t know that pig hair is used for brushes. ok everyone you will know turn right, go through that gate and be able to gaze around at the animals. 

 

11:10 am

These piglets are so cute! Since we are allowed to gaze around the farm I’m definitely going to check out the lambs. Wow, these cows are humongous and raucous. I wonder what they are saying? Why is everyone yelling? OMG! There is a peacock in the tree. It looks so pretty with the blue, green and yellow but they kind of look like mini avocados. Luckily I love avocados! Well not as much as my friend Pearl. Baaaaaa baaaaa look it’s a hurdal of lambs running around they are so cute I just want to take them home with me! But look over there, it’s a sheep dog rallying them up. I can never say no to a dog. Let’s keep looking around.

 

11:45 am

Guys come look, it’s a horse! Why are they so big? C why are they so big? Because they run a lot, eat lots of grass and are very lean with no fat! That’s very interesting. Pearl please put that down. You don’t even know if that’s a real horse toe nail it could be a stick or even very old dried up poop! Ewwwww. Tayler look, there is another horse over there but it’s not as big. Horses must need a lot of grass for just two of them because this is even bigger than my house. Rest of my group “can we go eat lunch now” “sure, let’s head over now but remember to wash your hands” says Mr Wong. 

 

12:05 pm

Lunch! Finally I’m so hungry from walking and talking. Mmmmm I have never enjoyed eating a sandwich more than I do now! Ooh next activity already we’re making felt. Nooo my feelings fell into the sink, can I make a new one? “Sure” says Janine. Ok so it goes fluff, sandwich it, drench ooh my. Favorite part…..bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. That made it very soapy. Ok now , rub, rub, rub, rub, rub ok break my arms are sore. And rub rub rub rub rub and done! Thank you Janine! That was so fun. Time for spinning!

 

1:25 pm

That’s spreading out so long. Quickly Tayler we need to try immediately! Ok ok, pull, pull, now you twist this way and I’ll twist this way. Keep going, oopsie it snapped let’s try yours. Ok pull, now twist, pull, twist……….it’s really long! Let’s fold in half now and keep twisting and pulling. Ok I think this is the end of it. Let’s tie it up to make a bracelet. Never mind it smells, I’ll just put it in my bag. I think we are getting ready to leave now, let’s get my bag then line up to get onto the bus. I bet lots of people are going to fall asleep on the bus! Hopefully I don’t. 

 

2:00 pm

Aww, we are leaving now. Thankyou Janine and Richard for hosting this for us! We really appreciate it. Hopefully we can come back to do a different section next time. Ka kite! On the bus back to school.

I was in the car driving back from a tiring trip when I heard my older brother upset on the phone. I turned my head and saw him sitting there trying not to cry so that no one would hear him. We were five minutes away from the gas station so I decided to wait until we got there to ask what was wrong. Once we got there we all went in to get a snack but he stayed in the car so i did too. He asked what I was still doing in the car so I told him that I saw him crying. He said “no i just got something in my eye” I knew that was a lie so, I told him that he can trust me, so he handed me his phone. 

I went onto his emails and saw that he was kicked out of his rugby team because he was apparently terrible which is 100% a lie. He loves his rugby so much and he achieved his goal and now it’s all gone. I told him that their opinion doesn’t matter and that it’s how he feels about how he plays. I saw a smile light up on his face. I comforted him for a while which was very useful for him.

 

Do you know what Halloween is really about? You may believe that Halloween is all about getting candy but it is actually about the dead spirits coming back alive and burning bonfires to ward them off. It originates back in the 9th century at the Celtic festival known as Samhain. At the festival they would come dressed up at night and have bonfires to ward off the spirits.

 

The reasons I don’t celebrate Halloween are 

1.  When you search up the meaning of Halloween there are so many different versions meaning it could be made up.
2.  On Halloween all you do is go trick or treating for candy at strangers’ doors so it’s kind of just doing what the government, teachers, ur parents and any grown up says not to do which is knocking on stranger’s doors.
3.  It is just giving the costume shops of food shops so much money for one day’s worth which could be a waste of money.
4. It involves a lot around ghost spirits and bringing stuff back to the dead and I don’t believe any of that stuff as well as my religion.

 

My full opinion is that Halloween is a waste of time and money with nothing useful happening. Although this is my opinion, other people can have different opinions and this doesn’t mean to stop doing it. This is just what I think about Halloween.

 

 

Is it a fox? Is it a fly? Is it a dolphin? No it’s a Flying Dixon 

 

That’s who you can hear right now. Zzzzzzzz, Thud! He is very lazy and clumsy so when he sleeps he makes A LOT of noise. Although he is very clumsy and lazy he is so caring for people and other animals around him and has a huge loving heart. He can’t really care for other humans other than people that visit me and myself because we live in a forest together in the middle of nowhere with other animals, but it is a special place for us. He has very luscious orange hair, smooth blue tail and bluey green wings.

 

 His abilities are very useful because he can just fly and get us food like pizza or ice cream (that’s his favorite). I usually end up giving him a bucket of grass with weetbix to help build those abs. Other than flying he can sing amazing songs so at night he sings to the whole forest and helps us fall asleep so peacefully and he can breathe out of water during the day but at night he sleeps in the water. 

 

Something special between Deon and I is that we have a secret language, that’s how I talk to him. Before writing this he wanted me to tell you something about our friendship “Ew era tseb sdneirf dna uoy nac reven tilps su pu” He was talking our special language he said “we are best friends you can never split us up.” 

 

 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.

This Country is made up of 33 islands and only 20 of them are prohibited. What country am I thinking of? It’s Kiribati! This country is part of the Commonwealth and is part of the Central Pacific Ocean, home to the South Pacific marine life.

 

In Kiribati there are always gatherings or get-togethers every now and then where they would have their traditional food, dance, songs and many more around their culture. Their very favorite Palu Sami (a coconut cream-curry powder-taro leave-seaweed concoction) Though some tourists prefer to have pork or chicken with rice as it tastes more natural to them. Another big thing is dance and clothing. For clothing the ladies wear a skiffuly top named Te Tiibuta with a lavalava. The boys also just wear a lavalava but depending on the fashion taste they wear it up to their knees as well as girls and boys wear shell necklaces and headbands as accessories.

 

In 1501 – 1600 Spanish explorers sighted some of the islands in the 16th century, but hardly any islands of Kiribati were charted until the early 19th century, when first whalers and then coconut oil traders reached the islands. Then a few years later The United States finally recognised the republic of Kiribati on September 20, 1979 when both nations signed a friendship treaty. Soon later The Gilbert Islands, previously a British colony, had gained independence on July 12, 1979, under the name of Kiribati and they were all very releafed.

 

A very special part of their culture is food because they believe that food is a gift of gods and it should be treated with respect so as long as their belief is alive the food is always to nourish the body and support the head and eyes.

 

Other facts

Currency 

• Australian dollar is the official currency of Kiribati as well as banknotes and were issued in 1979

Other things 

• Famous for world class fly fishing, scuba diving and seabird wildlife
• Only one airline with service to the most famous of kiribati Christmas island (Kiritimati)

 

 

• Taneti Maamau – President

• Nooa Takooa – Famous for Track and field athlete

• Nooa Takooa is a sprinter, who internationally represents Kiribati. He participated in 2009 World Championships in Athletics and 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. He represented Kiribati at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the Men’s 100m event. Takooa was eliminated in the preliminary round but finished with a personal best time of 11.53. 

 

Native animals – Polynesian rats, dogs, cats, pigs, 75 bird species, 600–800 species of inshore and pelagic finfish, some 200 species of corals and about 1000 species of shellfish

 

Flag – 17 rays of the sun represent the 16 gilbert islands and Banaba

 

Language – Kiribati and English

• Known as Gilberteses

City/Capital city 

• Tarawa

Landmark/famous places

 

• 1. P2. Sacred Heart Cathedral

• Aranuka Island

Parliament Building

Have you done tessellation art before? Well today I will be telling you about my experience of doing it. First let me explain what tessellation/geometry art is. Tessellation is a shape or something that you duplicate on a piece of paper with no gaps or spaces. This term we have been practicing doing more art to display in our class while also using watercolors. Since tree plating was happening the same day as our art Wednesday, only a few people made this art but the next day everyone else made one. 

 

We all had a choice on what to do like making a fish with the help of a video or use some shapes to make our art. I wasn’t very interested in making an animal one so I decided to make one using hexagons and the steps were very simple. Firstly use the hexagon shape and trace around it on the whole page with no gaps or spaces. After everyone would finish tracing out their templates to create tessellation on the whole page we all went over the pencil in vivid to make it pop. The best part was watercolouring which was very fun and relaxing and ended up looking very cool once dried.`   

 

I think that this was very fun to do and also cool that we used math in art. I would definitely recommend doing this if you have the right material but if not you could try using something else. Someone’s artwork that I think was very cool is Chanel’s because she used the tesselation but she added her own cool touch which made it stand out more to me.

 

Equipment needed: 

• Paint brushes
• Water colors
• Newspaper and paper towels 
• Two cups of water
• Vivid or permanent marker
• Something u can use to trace around to use for the tessellation

Steps

• Trace the shapes
• Overliner with vivid
• Color with watercolors
• Let dry

Have you ever been to a swimming lesson for free with your class? Well I have and actually I just had my first lesson for the year on Wednesday. Most years we go swimming with our class but it’s our first time in a while since it was closed due to Covid – 19. Us Piwakawaka were put into groups and those groups were who we were going with on the bus and swimming with. Our swimming lessons were held at the Manurewa Leisure Centre and we had 3 very nice teachers named Lyall, Teegan and one other teacher but I never got to get her name. Schools across Auckland were getting swim classes for free for all students to learn how to swim or get better in case of a life living situation.

 

The next step after getting there and changing was to sit down on the edge of the pool in a nice line so that they can show us the proper way to get into the pool. As we get in, they tell us all the rules and get us to test our goggles by putting our face in and blowing our bubbles. After that we were all paired up and had to show them our freestyle swimming as well as our breathing. A few minutes after everyone showed off their great freestyle swimming we were all put into groups. Group 1, group 2 and group 3. I was put into group 2 but there were a lot of us so we did another freestyle so they can see who can actually be put into group 3 and lucky enough for me I was moved up to group 3 which I was very happy about. Another great thing about group 3 is that I was with Teegan, one of my favourite teachers.

 

Now was the fun part! Learning well is more like practising our swimming skills. The first swimming skill we practised on was swimming with one arm and our legs so that we can use it to rest our head on to catch our breath. Next skill was backstroke which I really enjoyed because it was very relaxing. I can’t entirely remember the other skills we did but I do remember the games we played. The first game was going to swim to get a dive stick but there’s a twist. We weren’t allowed to use our legs which I thought was very challenging but wasn’t even that hard. Next game was keeping the flutter board on our head without dropping it into the water. We were allowed to use any strategy but I didn’t know what to do until I realised that we were allowed to hold it and that made it so very easy.

 

Sadly it had been the end of swimming but I really enjoyed it. At first I had been really nervous because I was thinking what if I embarrass myself or do something wrong but I just had to give it a go and look where I am in group 3. I am very excited for next week because we might be doing some even more challenging things next week.

Do you have a fear of something? Well I do. 2015 I was only four years old when a traumatising thing happened to me which grew to a fear of… are you ready? RIVERS! 

 

I was four years old and went to a river with my older brother Jericho, my twin Xavier and my grandparents. When we went there my grandparents set down some rules if we wanted to stay. I was following the rules and having a fun time until I slipped into the river and fell over into the current of the river. I was terrified and panicking which made me get even more stuck under some rocks and started drowning. Xavier saw it happen first so he told my grandparents and then went to help me which didn’t turn out so well because he got stuck too. My grandparents came to help us and got us free and I was very thankful. 

 

When we went home my grandparents told my dad everything and how I was so scared that I never wanted to go again. He wanted to help me, so he took me to lakes that didn’t have as many rocks and kept going and going till I wasn’t scared. Another way I conquered my fear was honestly just looking at people swimming in rivers and lakes but also just letting me think about it also helped so now i’m not afraid anymore of swimming in rivers or lakes.

 

If you ever have a fear of something you should always tell your closest ones about it because they are always there for you and will be there to help you overcome your fear.