This Week's Update

This is the start of our Spanish language. It covers greetings and replies.

This week we have been a bit busy and done some art work in our class - artworks which are bright and colourful, some with warm colours and some with cool colours. They are all up on the wall and look fantastic!

This is a list of our rights and responsibilities in Huia 1.

This is our treaty which is an agreement between all the members of our class.

This is what part of our back wall looks like. It has our NZ flag, The Treaty of Waitangi and our class treaty.

For our Poutama work some groups are mixed with other classes for Science in the food technology room, making wooden frames for hard materials and making a carry bag in soft materials. For our technology group we are learning about "What makes a good photo?" Once a group of students has got our teacher's permission they go out of class with a camera and take some interesting photos. Students learn how to use macro and how to zoom out and in with some of the cameras.

Some of the things that make a good photo are:

• close up - of faces, butterflies, patterns etc
• rule of thirds - features on intersections and horizons on lines
  
• contrast - of colours, near and far, young and old, hard and soft
• emotion
• humour
• action
• story
• perspective

That's some of the features we learnt that makes a good picture.

Here are some of the pictures we took:

We are also learning about The 2010 Winter Olympics games held in Vancouver, Canada. All Intermediate classes have been doing a project about it.

We have been practising playing the ukulele which is a small guitar with only cuatro strings. We are starting to play a song named "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."

We are developing in our ukulele lessons.

We learn about the Edgecumbe Earthquake

On the first day of school, Mrs Vincent read us a short story about the Napier earthquake which happened on the first day of the school year in 1931. We talked a bit about earthquakes and Rosie told us her grandmother was in the Edgecumbe earthquake of 1987. We invited her to talk to us.

In Week 2, Rosie's nana, Judy Dawson, came to talk to us about earthquakes and her past experience of being in an earthquake. In the year 1960, Rosie's nana was teaching a class in Whakatane and they didn't have our type of technology (e.g computers/laptops, not much electricity, etc.) and had not had any fire drills or earthquake drills. Once, a tidal wave was heading to Whakatane, (where she was teaching) and she didn't know that the town's siren was a tidal wave warning. Parents were worried and teachers tried to evacuate all the children. This was her very first disaster experience.

In 1987 she was working at a preschool with 20 children in Kawerau. The little children were doing a little project and some Intermediate students came to assist the preschoolers. Suddenly there was a strong eathquake and they all got under the very low tables. A big cupboard fell over and crashed to the ground but no one was hurt. Nobody could get home straight away because the bridges were damaged. It took a long time for everyone to find their families again and some people had to stay away from their children that night because they could not get home. A lot of people had a huge mess to clean up in their homes because food and crockery fell on the floor and glass jars smashed and it all got mixed together.

The railway lines were buckled, there were splits in the land and across roads, many houses were damaged and many people were frightened about another earthquake.

Can you see where the earthquake has split the land?

This is a photo of a newspaper page showing the buckled railway lines.

We learned a lot about what it is like to be in an earthquake and what to do if an earthquake happens. At school, you get under your desk or a table as quickly as you can. If you are at home get under a table which is a lot stronger than a door way.

We would like to thank Mrs Dawson for talking to us and sharing her experiences.

Check out these links to really interesting sites about earthquakes.

This is the geonet.org site which shows the activity of quake drums which show if there has been any earth tremors. Click on "Latest quake" and "shaking maps" to learn about the latest earthquake in New Zealand.

This map shows where the latest earthquakes in the world have happened.

This is a video of what happens to your home in an earthquake and tells you what to do in an earthquake.

How quake-safe is your home? Dial an earthquake. Create your own earthquake to see what happens as the shaking gets stronger.

It's 2010! Back To School...

Welcome back to our first post of the year!

This year we are Year 8s and some of our Huia 1 students (from last year) have moved to different schools and different classes, but don't worry we will still keep you updated with what's happening in our class or in our school.

We all had an awesome Christmas and summer holiday.

Our class is a Year 7 and 8 mixed class, although we still have some of our last year's students. On our first day back at school we were desperate to know which class we were going to be in and to know who will be in our classes. We haven't done much work lately since it's our first day back, although we are doing some tests. (Note from Mrs Vincent - we've done a lot more work since this was first written....) We also have new students that have arrived in our school. The new students to our school that are in our class are Ben and Anton. Surprisingly, we have 28 students in our class compared to last year where we had 31.

We have a link to the school website and you can also find out about what's happening in other classes.

We have been updating a bit about the Treaty Of Waitangi, and just basic facts about it. See if you can answer or quiz your family or a friend about these questions: (The answers are down below)

1. When was the Treaty Of Waitangi signed?
2. Where can you find the original Treaty on display right now?
3. Who is the Treaty between?
4. What year was the first New Zealand flag decided?
5. Who signed the Treaty first?

James Busby - his house was where the Treaty was signed.

This is what the Treaty looks like now. It is in the New Zealand Archives in Wellington.

Hobson was called ashore to sign the Treaty just after noon on the 6th of February because many Maori were starting to pack up and leave. Hobson was still dressed in his civilian clothes and only carried his uniform hat.

Captain William Hobson

Hone Heke became unhappy with the consequences of The Treaty and chopped down the flagpole at Rusell to show his dissatisfaction with how Maori in the Bay of Islands had been affected.

ANSWERS:

1. 6th February 1840
2. Archives New Zealand, Wellington
3. Maori Chiefs and The Crown
4. 1834
5. Hone Heke

Fact: Hone Heke signed the Treaty Of Waitangi first, although Kawaiti had his name signed above Hone Heke's name so it might seem that he signed it first.


By: Nikeeta And Brittany

Felices Vacaciones y Próspero Año Nuevo

By Mrs Vincent while Huia 1 students are on holiday.

Here are some photos from the last day of school for 2009. This is the last time we were all together as a class.

We had a lovely surprise visit from Mrs Willet, of Mauku school, who has been following our class blog with her own class. Can you find Mrs Willet amongst us? Her students were intrigued to see photos of Daffodil the Lamb in our classrooms because they have a "Calf Club" day at their school - sometimes known as Agricultural Day or Country Life Day etc - where they bring animals to school for competitions.

We also had our class morning tea as part of our prize for winning the STANZA primary and intermediate section of the ¡Aprender español es divertido! video competition. We had hot chips with tomato sauce, Coca Cola, Fanta or Sprite with ice cream, ice blocks and lots of lollies and chocolate. It was a great way to finish the year and to celebrate our win. We wanted to have a Spanish or Argentina theme to the morning tea but it was just too difficult to organise in a short time for the last day - so everyone had to ask for their food in Spanish instead. It was a good way of checking what the class had learned during the year and no one went hungry...

While we were waiting for the hot chips to arrive, every student was presented with a Huia 1 "Fantastico" certificate for a special achievement during the year.


We farewelled Theo and Mikayla who are going to new schools next year and Daniel who is now back home in Korea. We presented Daniel with a Maori bone carving of a fish hook as a memento of his time with us in Huia 1. The fish hook represents strength, good luck and safe travel across water.

Daniel receives his fish hook pendant and his Huia 1 leaving certificate.

Waiting for the hot chips to arrive....

Still waiting.... and watching the lollies and chocolate on the tables....
Eating ice-blocks

The last of the hot chips - with tomato sauce - a Kiwi "essential" .

Mrs Lee is making an ice cream soda for Caitlin. Place a blig lump of ice cream in a tall glass and then pour soft-drink over the top of it.

Our party also included the World Premiere of our second video: ¡Aprender español es divertido! parte dos navidad especial.

This was organised by Nikeeta and her team. The idea is to show what Christmas means to some of the students in our class and some of the different ways it is celebrated in New Zealand. You will notice that the background is often a "mirror image" because some of the recording was done straight onto the computer using the webcam and it seems to record that way. This was an interesting feature of the process. Here's some notes from Nikeeta, the producer:

"Since our video called ¡Aprender español es divertido! is beginning to be popular on Youtube, we decided to make another movie named ¡Aprender español es divertido! parte dos Navidad Especial.We asked around all of the classmates if they would like to be in it. Some of the students said yes however some said no. We won't tell you who is in the movie, you will have to find that out for yourselves."


After the party we had our final whole school assembly which was also a farewell for the year 8s going to high school next year, other students leaving to go to other schools and a farewell to two teachers, Mr Williams and Miss Wood, who are going to new schools next year also.

Our Principal, Miss Fowler, farewells two of our staff members, Miss Wood and Mr Williams. Some of the Year 8 boys did a haka for Mr Williams.

The Year 7s are waiting to farewell the Year 8s.

At our school, at our very final assembly, the Year 7s sing a farewell song to the Year 8s who are walking around everyone else in the hall. Then all the other leavers join in walking around the hall as everyone else sings to them.

Well, that's pretty much it for 2009.
Enjoy your holidays.
See you back here next February with a new Huia 1 class.
¡Hasta luego!

End of Year Bits and Pieces

Hi, I'm Shane and I want to tell you about what has happened in the the last few weeks of school. First there was the James Bond Water Day which I entered in with a team of five. It was Mark, Anthony, Nathan Stanley and me. The James Bond Day was a day where we act out as James Bond . You might have seen the movie Quantum of Solace or the 007 series and it was based on that. It was so cool but we didn't win. (P.S. I am very competitive for my age.)

This week I am missing my last few days of school to go down to Hamilton to represent my water polo club, called Mountfort Park. This is the most important tournament of the year so hopefully we do better than on the James Bond Day. This tournament starts on Wednesday and finishes on Saturday but I will still be taking part in the end of year prize-giving as I am a foundation student which means that I have been in the school since it started. This means that I am able to be in extra photos and I am a leader in the school.

I am a Year 7 this year and next year I will be a Year 8. That means I will be a role model and a leader in this school. I am already a road safety person - that means I help the little people cross the busy street and I also hope to become a councillor and a house captain and hopefully a wet day monitor. I hope to be nominated for sports cup and hope to win it but you can never be to sure, aye!

So, do what I have done and follow your dreams, then you can be the best in your age group for something like my water polo team.

by Shane.


Best wishes for your water polo tournament Shane. We look forward to hearing how you go. From your classmates in Huia 1.

Other bits and pieces added by class members and Mrs Vincent.

- Hello to Huia 1 student, Kenneth, who is already on holiday in the Philippines. We got your message. Caitlin brought a newspaper article about most active volcano in the Philippines starting to erupt. We hope you are safe.

- Farewell to Theo and Mikayla who are going to other schools next year and to Daniel who is returning to Korea after being in New Zealand for over a year. We hope you keep in touch and follow us on the blog next year.

- Congratulations to all the students in Huia 1 who helped make the "Aprender Español es Divertido" , our two minute video which won the STANZA competition Primary School section a few weeks ago. We will be having our class party (which was the first prize) on Thursday morning where we will have the world premiere of "Aprender Español es Divertido 2: Christmas Special.

- In a few short weeks every one in the class has learned to play the ukulele. We now have a class set of brightly coloured instruments and try to play them nearly every day.

- The class has enjoyed learning social dances and are getting pretty good at the Maxina, Saturday Night Fever, Cotton Eye Joe, Run Run Rudolph, the Palais Glide, the Circle Waltz and the Veleta. Everyone is more confident dancing with a partner and we have competitions to see who is the best and who has improved the most. Competition winners for Saturday Night Fever were Mikayla, Juliana, Mighael and Kenneth.

- We have had 999 hits on our blog since June.

-Prize giving is on Wednesday night. The Intermediates are singing,"I Have a Dream" and, much as we all liked it the first time we heard it, we may never want to hear it again because we have practised it so much. Nathan, Rebekah, Theo, Te Ana, (Isaac from Kea 2 and Mark from Kea 1) are playing the guitars to accompany the singers.

- School finishes for the Christmas holidays on Thursday and starts again in early February.

Random Photos of recent activities.

This is Huia 1 when they are being sensible.
This is Huia 1 when they are not.....

We are all here except Kenneth (Philippines) and Shane (waterpolo tournament). Gulnoza is holding our class canvas-art work. It says "Somos el Huia 1 - We are Huia 1 2009" Theo and Gulnoza were commissioned to create an artwork which represented who we are this year. They chose a red frame and the Southern Cross from the New Zealand flag and a light blue background and the "Sun of May" to represent the flag of Argentina. This stands for all the Spanish we have learned and all our learning about Argentina this year.

Gulnoza designing a piece of art based on the flag of Argentina.

Learning to dance Saturday Night Fever in the hall.



Maria, Juliana and Jenna working on our class totem pole for outdoor art. They are gluing pebbles on shapes of hands.

Our class totem pole-makers. The team who won our class Wearable Arts competition got to make our piece of outdoor art. It represents all the cultures of our class. It was made from a recycled fence post (Thank you Mr Fowler). It is painted terra cotta which is our school uniform colour. Any visible pink adhesive was covered with another glue then sprinkled with sand so that no pink would show. We want people to be able to touch our art work (rather than have a sign "Don't Touch") and place their hands over our pebbled-hands to compare size.

Daniel learning to weed a garden in one of Culture Club groups. Goodbye from all of us at The Gardens school , Daniel. Keep in touch.

Jenna describing in Spanish which colour lolly she would like from Mrs Lee. We learned colours , numbers, questions and answers in Spanish using lollies.

Day One of ukulele lessons ..... there has been a lot of progress since this lesson. We cannow play at least four chords:C, F, G and A .

Intermediate Ball 2009

Eighty-one Year 7 and 8 students went to the Las Vegas theme ball.It was in the the school hall and it started at 7 pm and ended at 10pm and it was on last Thursday night.

The students from the school council did the set up and the planning for the ball and the intermediate students did dancing lessons with Mrs Vincent two weeks before the ball .We started learning “Saturday Night Fever” for the first dance of the night but in the end it was one of the last of the dances we did. Some of the other dances we did were “Cotton-Eye Joe”, the waltz, the circle waltz and “Run Run Rudolph”.

We had heaps of food and heaps of dancing. Some girls had to take part and dance like the boys because there were more girls than the boys. The councillors did the first dance of the night the council boy had to say, “Would you like this dance?” to a girl and the girl councillors had to say it to the boys. It was quite frightening at first although you do start to relax after a while...


When we had partner dancing, we had other music playing and when a song came on that lots of kids liked they started to dance and sing with the music. Some of the girls and boys went a little bit crazy when the DJ played the most popular song.


The girls wore dresses, high heel shoes and the boys wore nice coloured ties with black pants. Before the dancing started, the girls had great fun showing off their new flash dresses they had got for the ball and the boys were sitting down, doing nothing.


All 81 kids had photos taken of them at the ball or at home with family and friends.

The music that was played was pop and hip hop and a lot more .
It was great fun and we all enjoyed it. We all got involved in someway...

By Nikeeta and Brittany.

Extracts from other students’ written work about the ball:

“I spiked up my hair with gel and I dressed my best to impress the girls. LOL.... (Laugh Out Loud) I think one of the greatest things I achieved last night was asking someone to dance. Once I did it, it was normal and I was not afraid...The ball was an amazing experience and I am really hoping to go next year.”

"I wore Lynx deodorant for men .... I felt like James Bond or Al Pacino....."

" I had to be the boy in nearly every dance..."

"When I first danced with girls I was so nervous I was paralysed with fear..."

"I'm going to be more confident next year...."

"My favourite dance was the circle waltz because you don't have to stick with the same partner and you can dance with a variety of people...."

~SOME PHOTOS OF THE BALL ~