This week we have been doing things based on te reo Maori. On Monday we went to assembly where we had got the word of the week which was Kai.

A hangi is a traditional food for Maori where you cook it underground. You could put any kind of meat in a hangi and you can put cabbage and you can put carrots. The way to make a hangi is that you cook iron and rock and wood in the ground for a few hours while it’s cooking while you prepare your feast. When it’s time you can dig it up you can wrap the food and put it into the ground and cook it for another few hours. And then when it is finished dig it up and enjoy.

For a while a couple of us have been doing kapa haka for a couple weeks and today we performed in front of parents and after that we were finished performing the waiata.

 Te manurewa o Tamapahore was the main waiata we did and the first and is also the legend behind manurewa. There were 2 brothers and they were both chiefs and one day the had a kite competition and Tamapahore was winning and Tamapahure got jealous and cut the kite and the kite drifts away. That’s what the waita is about.

Every day for this week the has been a hidden patai for us to find and when we find it we have to answer it in Maori and send it to a teacher and if we get it correct we get our name put into a box and at the end of the we they do a draw to see who wins.

I love the Maori culture because there is so much to do and the beliefs and myths are also very cool.

Ingredients:

• Two people
• A Blizzard of the Best memories together
• Rainbows of kindness
• Dough of bond
• Sympathy 
• Empathy
• Feelings

Method: 

1. In a bowl get your flour and milk and then mix until it is doughy then add your bond and mix it together.
2. Get you two people and place them in a pot.
3. Next put your rainbow of kindness in another bowl, and then add your blizzard of memories, feelings, sympathy, empathy into the bowl 
4. Whisk everything in the bowl for at least 2mins
5. Put it into fridge of friendship
6. Then grab your dough of bond and knead it until flat 
7. Add your people into the dough and then wrap it, Then grab your sauce from the fridge and then put your wrapped people in the sauce.
8. Then cook them in the oven 150 degrees Celsius for fifteen minutes, and then take it out and it’s ready to serve.

Have you ever done tree planting? Well we were going to do tree planting. The teacher had organised a tree planting day and well it was the 10th August so we had to go to this farm to do tree planting. The owner of the farm was Jocelyn, Mark and Rosie, Rosie was this very cute puppy. When we got to school we had to get on the bus and then we were on the bus for about 30 minutes and then we arrived at the place.

When we arrived at the farm Jocelyn was waiting for us and then we all hopped out and then we walked on this rocky path into the very big shed. When we got into the shed we had to sit down and Jocelyn let us have some food before we went to the place where we had to plant the trees. In total, there were about 600 native trees we had to plant, however the terrain of the place we were planting was very steep and was kinda dangerous because if you were to slip you would roll right into the fence or you would hit one of the pinecones. When we started we all grabbed shovels and me sahib and Ryan all stayed at the top of the mountain and we planted a couple of trees each and then we went down the mountain and planted the trees in these holes they were already made. We were planting for a couple hours and then we had finally finished, then we went back to the shed we’re Jocelyn had made us some food .

All the food looked so good there were tacos, madirans, hash browns, nuggets and lots more. Every single one of us grabbed a napkin and then we ate the food and I even got the job of using the water gun on the shovels. After we all ate we were allowed to play for a bit longer before we had to go back to the bus and then we had to ride for another 35 mins. 

After the experience of tree planting I must say I loved it so much it was so fun and the food was so good and I loved Rosie the dog so much because he was so cute.

Do you like swimming or know how to swim? Well on Wednesday the 3rd of August we had to go swimming so we had to pack swimming gear, towels and a plastic bag and then I left. When we got to school the teachers said that the day would be messy because one of the teachers were not here so they had to split the class in half. After a while it was time for us to go swimming so we ate for 20 mins and played a bit then we had to go on the bus and then we arrived at the manurewa  leisure centre pools.

When we got to the pools we had to go inside and since the pools were closed we were allowed to use the public changing rooms. After we got changed we went to the pool area and we had to sit on the bench and wait for the other half of the class to finish their swimming lesson. When they finished we had to go sit on the side of the pool and the first lesson they taught us was how to get in the pool safely and then they wanted us to show them our freestyle and after that they decided our groups by what we need to learn more on. There  were three groups : breathing, kicking and the third group. I was not sure about the third group however the group I got into was breathing.

As soon as we got sorted into our group the first thing we had to do was freestyle so she could see what we had to work on. After that she told us that we were using our hands the wrong way then she told us to dig our hands in the water when we freestyle. After freestyle she made us do dolphin dive, dolphin dive is where you have your hands on top of each other and you are under the water and you have to kick with your legs. We also did this other one we’re we had to hold this board with one hand and have your other hand on your side and after every 4 kicks you lean your head to the side then take a deep breath then repeat those same moves. Then we had finished and we had to get changed then we got back to school in the bus.

I enjoyed swimming with my friends and I just loved swimming in general and I am very excited for future swimming lessons and I could be better at swimm

Cross country is this really big anual race where you have to run a very long distance. When you get to cross country day lots of kids are very nervous however some even act sick or hurt so that they can’t come can’t come. The races go in order from y0 girls y0 boys the order remains until year 8 boys

Before the race I was very nervous because I was not a fan of cross country at all and because I could get asthma very easily.
When it was year 6 girls turn I was the most nervous I had ever been yet but soon enough it was our turn.

When it’s your turn to run they make you warm up by doing quick high knees and side running and just warm you up so you’re ready to run the race. As soon as the race was about to begin we all had to line up in a line then CLANK!!!!

The race had began so everyone started running, we had to run around the field and then we left the school and went through this path into another street as from there I was not a really good runner also I had asthma so I was already kinda tired but some of my friends Matt and raam both ran with me. Whenever I needed a break they would both just wait for me and together we kept running. We also saw Kabir’s mum while we were running down the hill and then there was one final stretch then we got back to the school and went up and finished.

After the race my legs were hurting a lot and I had to go get a drink from my water bottle so I went with ram and Ryan my other friends had baby wipes so I wiped my shoes a bit then I went back up to the field and then I sat down and talked to my friends and then we had to got to assembly.

When we got to the assembly we all had to sit down and one of the teachers read out what place every house came from. Sadly our house came 4th then kauri came 3rd then rimu second kowhai came 1st place. After the house they read out good sportsmanship and other things and Matt got one since he was helping me and I got me for just running with my pump.

My feeling before the race were nervousness but now I’m very happy that I completed cross country

When I first heard I was lockdown I didn’t believe it but then when all my friends said it was lockdown I had many feelings and was saying in my head “Are we actually going back into lockdown.” “Why are we going back it lockdown, what the heck is going on?” But then my parents told me that it was a COVID 19 outbreak and then when they told me I was worried but I knew it was for the best.

For the first couple days I was completely bored and doing everything I would usually do at school was really making me sick and tired. Doing all my work at home was really unorganised compared to doing it at school where you can ask the teachers any time for questions. Another thing I wish was I could just go outside and play with my friends or hang after doing work like at school however because of lockdown I can’t 

When I asked my Auntie Kiana what she thought about lockdown she didn’t really have anything to say except for her being able to sleep in but she wasn’t enjoying lockdown fully because she couldn’t see her friends and other family members.  Another reason was because she could not go to university or go to the mall.

Do you think lockdown will be extended because I hope not but if it is I hope it’s not for long or forever…

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