Excellence is about trying

Last year in term two Mike Henry from the New Zealand All Sports Academy came over to our school and asked anyone from our school if they wanted to be a part of the team. I seriously wanted to be in it so I set it up for me to achieve. After we finished assembly I asked if I can be in the team and Mike said "Yes, but you have to be good and behave until I come back next week".

So I tried to behave and I kept on trying and trying. Finally Mike came and talked to my teacher and my teacher was talking about the good things and what I can be sometimes e.g. noisy, talkative.

I was chosen to be in the Academy and I was full of joy. The first trip the Academy went on was the Wellington trip. We had to sell chocolate to people and a lot of people bought some.Then we had  to pay our flying ticket and then we zoomed off and left to Wellington.

Once we got to Wellington we went straight to fundraising and straight after fundraising we headed off to our hotel on a street named Willis St. When we got to our hotel we went to our room and placed our stuff in the closet and then went out for dinner. That was an awesome trip.

Achieving Excellence by conquering my fears

What a great and awesome break we had during the two weeks of school holidays and in one of those days something great had happened to me.It was on the 9th of July and it was one of my cousin’s birthday. We were in charge of her birthday party and it was going to be an awesome day.

It was of course a busy day when the phone rang. It was my cousin. She told me that I had to do a speech for her and it had to be nice. I had to say it in front of heaps of people. I was worried because I am a very shy girl but I couldn’t say no so I accepted to do the speech she asked for.

Two more days until my cousin’s birthday and I spent two hours moaning and disagreeing about the speech  and nearly a whole day working on a little speech until I knew what I was about to say. I was definitely scared but I knew I was going to do a good thing to my cousin.  

I woke up and I had just realised that today was the 9th of July. Today was going to be an awesome and fun day. Today was the scariest day for me and do you know why? It was all because of the one and only speech. We celebrated it at her house and I was really proud of what my family did to make her birthday awesome.The decorations were fantastic and there were plenty of yummy delicious food getting ready to be eaten and balloons filling the whole house with joy.

We had a great time spending every second wisely, playing fun games eating until our stomachs were filled with delicious food and then an announcement was made. It was my turn to shine in front of all the smiling people ready to hear my speech about my wonderful helpful cousin. I was really scared and shocked but I knew there was a lot of people supporting me.

My speech began like this...To all the people who knew her I would like to say that today as we all know is her birthday and she really deserves this because she is awesome and helpful in all sorts of ways. She cares for everyone and I know she is going to be successful person when she grows up. I have also written why she is a fantastic cousin to me and why she is the coolest cousin in the whole wide word. When I finished all I heard were people cheering for me and I was so happy and proud of myself. Later on my cousin gave me a big hug.

This was something I achieved because I wasn’t as confident as before and so if you have to do something in front of a birthday party just give it a go and don’t be scared like me.

Alyson reflects on a time when she achieved Excellence

All I could feel was my heart pounding. I was so nervous. It was a time when some students were awarded a trophy. I was excited and nervous at the same time.

My friends and I lined up for the big day. It was Graduation day for the year 6's. Graduation was when all students were farewelled and were given good luck in the future. All the students were happy but I was really was not that happy, because I was sure that I wasn't going to get an award. My principal went up on stage and announced the Sports Awards and the Cultural Award. Then it came down to the Learning Awards. It was then the Writing Awards. I was so confident I wasn't going to get it.

A few moments later I heard my name being called for the Excellence in Writing award. I was so surprised, I took a breath in and let it out again. I felt really confused because my friend was really good at writing but I wasn't. I didn't know what my family’s reactions until I saw them smiling away. I walked up with pride and I was really proud of myself, then my aunties walked up and put a lolly necklace on me I felt really proud.

After that the graduation ceremony was over. I was then given more lollie necklaces and I shared them among my friends. For the first time in my life I knew that I have made my nana really proud. To  see her smile just because of me was a really happy feeling. To win this award was a big achievement which brought great happiness for me and for my family.

Kaisara's speech

The tsunami as it struck Japan 

Ko Maungarei te maunga
Ko Tamaki te awa
Ko Waitemata te moana
Ko Ruapotaka te marae
Ko Mahuhu i te rangi te waka
Ko Ngati Whatua te iwi
Ko te kura takawaenga o Tamaki toku kura
Ko Tamaki te waahi
Ko Mr Horan te tumuaki
Ko Mrs Raj ko Mrs Parker Tofa toku kaiako
Ko Vaea te matua
Ko Atauloma te whaea
Ko Kaisara toku ingoa


When I say DI - you say SASTER, DI-SASTER, DI-SASTER. When I say DI wait, wait, wait  hold on did you feel the ground shake? Whoa! Did you hear the waves crashing? It must be a disaster. Yes it is, the Japanese Earthquake.

On March the 11th last year a massive earthquake hit the coast of Japan with a magnitude of 9.0 at about quarter to six in the afternoon. It was approximately 70 kilometres of Tohoku.

Did you know that this earthquake was the fifth largest in the world and the most powerful earthquake to ever have hit Japan? Well this earthquake was so powerful that it killed 2,000 people and over 10,000 missing people in Northeastern Japan. It was also confirmed that about 5,100 people died and almost 2,000 were injured in Tohoku.

People said that during the quake roads were waving up and down causing buildings and houses on fire. They also said that about three to five nuclear power plants were badly damaged and were quickly taken down because of the tsunami.

Minutes after the earthquake a powerful tsunami was triggered in Tohoku making buildings collapse in a blink of an eye and sending off violent terrifying noises. The tsunami soon travelled as fast as a jet to about 10 metres inland to a city called Sendai. The tsunami began to grow quickly to the height of 40 metres which is about three quarters of a tree!!!

At the schools, teachers and students were shielded under their desks and tables. They screamed and screamed. The teachers quickly assembled the students in the playground and started to call the roll. While they were waiting for response the teachers noticed that seventy students were missing and ten teachers too. They heard the bad news the next day that those seventy students died including the teachers in this terrible tragedy.

How would you feel if your family had no water or power to survive? Well one million homes had no water and a massive five million homes without any power. How devastating is that?

You might be thinking what happened to the elderly people? Well did you know that the elderly were abandoned to go into the hospital? Did you know that fourteen of them died shortly after? Do you think you can help them make a better future and a better life? Do you think you should donate them money to make a memorial stone for those who have lost their lives? Yes? So why can’t you stand up for them and help. Please this is your chance to help Japan because maybe they can help you someday.

My preparation for my speech.
I went to different websites to research facts about my chosen topic. From these websites I collected a lot of information about the Japanese Tsunami. After that I started to draft my speech on my own. After I wrote my draft, I took a closer look at it and started to edit. I enjoyed writing my speech and I learnt so much from this sad tragedy. The next stage is to present my speech to my class and teacher. 

Throughout the weeks in ALiM (Accelerated Learning in Mathematics) I’ve learnt so many things about maths that I didn’t know before. The strategies that I was taught got more interesting and clear to understand. I think I will improve on the test and will reach national standards.

Every year I have told my friends that I hated maths, but now with Mrs Raj I am starting to love it and I am really interested in maths. The ALiM group will help others achieve in maths too.

Alyson

I have been learning in the ALiM group and I think that I have learnt a lot of new things about maths and now I can use all the new strategies I have been learning. I used to hate maths but now I love it. It is easy and when I do my post test I will improve from a stage 5 to a stage 6 or 7.

I did well and I am very proud of myself, my parents will be extremely proud of me and I would love to thank Mrs Raj for teaching the group all the new strategies and I think that the ALiM group has helped a lot.

Norbegun

I am so happy that I am one of the students that were picked to be in the ALiM group. This year I was not very confident in maths but now I am FLYING!! through it. Next term I am hoping I can still be in the ALiM group.

Sariah

Being in the ALiM class is fun and I am really enjoying it. I wish the work were a bit more challenging but I still love the class. Now I am a lot more confident in maths and I can use smarter strategies to solve problems. I now think that I will achieve high standards and I hope I continue to be in the ALiM group throughout the year.

Chylsea

The ALiM programme is just what I need to learn and to push me up in my maths. I like this programme because I am learning lots of different ways in which to solve problems and I like Mrs Raj to be my teacher.

Jimmy