I recommend "Taking the test"

I recommend the movie that room 18 Pt England has made, especially the ideas they have put in to it. It was hilarious and it made me laugh each time I think about it. Nice acting Starford and the rest of the room 18 students. You guys have done well, keep up the great work!

Absolutely Positively Poneke!

Amazing race group 5and 4

My Wellington trip highlight was visiting every activity. We visited Parliament, the Weta Cave, Cable Car and Carter Observatory.
This trip was new because I visited Wellington with my friends for the first time.I had heaps of the highlights and some   mixed feelings on my trip to Wellington. It was exciting,  happy and adventurous for me. The aeroplane was a bumpy ride for me because I was sitting next to Isi who just loves singing and Chylsea taking photos. For some people it was their first time on a plane so some of us had to cheer them up till we reached our destination. We left the airport and made our way to our accommodation which was the Wellington Backpackers.  Girls and boys all settled in their rooms. After the first night the girls got into trouble from all the noise  we made while we were meant to be in bed. Perhaps not the best start.

The second day was rainy and stormy for our ferry trip to Picton. It was fine at first but when we came back lots of people were  sea sick,  vomiting and feeling very sick. It was also very chilly.

On the third day we had three events. First was the visit to Parliament then Weta Cave and even though I was sick I still took the opportunity to participate in the “amazing race”. Each team was given a list of places to find in Wellington and take a photo as proof. I think the strangest thing was running around the Wellington streets with people looking at us like we were aliens who has just arrived on earth.

The most  interesting thing was meeting the Speaker of the House of Parliament which was a real honour for us. Going to the weta cave was awesome because we saw the characters from Lord of the Rings and Avatar.We took many funny photos next to Smeagol which was really funny. Coming back all excited and happy we got into our groups  for the amazing race around Wellington. My group number 7 came 3rd, all running, exhausted to the finish line.
Day four was cool but a little sad because we only had one night to sleep with  our friends before  we travelled  home. We also had three more events the cable car, Carter Observatory, and the Te Papa museum. My highlight was learning about the nine planets while playing  some awesome games. The Te Papa museum, what can I say, awesome! We saw lots of maori traditional displays including a marae and even a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi was enlarged in big and  hung on the wall. There were a group of little kids who performed for us which was really cool We browsed the magnificent works of the elders and listened to recordings telling us about each display.

Finally it was our last day.Feeling very low we all woke up tired and sad because it was our last day altogether. We had to pack all our belongings, put the bed covers on and fold all the sheets. We took a train from Wellington to Auckland. It took 12 hours. We left at 7:45 and reached the Britomart train station at 6:45. It was a bumpy ride going around the mountain, into the tunnels and along the coast to the other side of the country. We saw farms, mountains, river, lakes, houses and cars. Kids in the train all laughing away playing cards, strumming the guitar, while others couldn’t be bothered and just slept. The teachers gave us each a work sheet to do incase  we were bored. I really loved the Wellington trip because none of us got into a major trouble, well we all behaved I guessed and that was the main thing was to listen to the instructions that were given. I really had a great time with the teachers of course for helping them with the lunch, friends all chatting away, even some of us doing all nighters which was really tiring for the next day but of course i'm lucky I came home alive. I would of course thank my parents for giving me permission to go on the trip and of course the teachers for staying up all night doing our lunch, thanks to them I wouldn’t have been starving all day coming home sick. But most of all the most important person would have to be god for giving us a fine weather and guiding us wherever we go and making sure that none of us got hurt, but in the end I would have suggest to stay there for another week but I'm happy to be home all safe and warm.

Absolutely Positively Wellington!

Wellington Trip Map

My Google map shows the train route from Wellington to Auckland with some of the key landmarks that we saw on the way.
View Wellington Trip in a larger map

My Day of Excellece

         
!!My Day Of Excellence!!
L.I: I am learning to write a recount on the day I achieved excellence.

My day of excellence started during the holidays when I cleaned up the whole house and made dinner for my family.
I had to clean the house because my parents were away for almost 3 days, they were away because of family business. My big brother took my little brother to rugby training while my sister had to go netball training. Sitting there on the couch wondering what shall I do, I figured that I should clean the house because my parents will be coming home and my siblings will be tired, and no one would have the energy to come home and clean the house as they will be tired.

Moving all the furniture around I started up the vacuum cleaner, it made a very loud sound it felt like I was in a tornado. Moving all the furnitures, there was a lot of dust I started to scream as I saw a rat ran across the living room. I got the trap for the rat and waited after 10 minutes I heard the rat squeal and I know it was time to burn it up and never see it again. I went back inside and cleaned all the rooms, AHHAR!!! I finally finished now all was left was to put everything properly in the room,to bring all the mats and put it in the living room. I sat down and rested for a while.I heard my mum and dad's car I knew at that moment I had put everything properly and make my parents be proud of me.

My sister and brother arrived back home and feeling so lazy they didn't even speak but went to the room and layed down. My parents were surprised at the house been so clean. Evening came, I went to the park to play for a while and saw some of my friends, returning back home I felt tired so I had a bath and wandered off to my room with nothing to do. I waited anxiously at the table while drinking tea, and I thought why don't I make dinner as half of my family including my parents were tired. I seyyed of putting all the plates out and I cooked pasta, off I went cooking away it almost felt like I was in the kids master chief. I served up the plates and put out the drinks, I called out "Dinner is ready" all I could hear was stomping growing louder and louder.

Sitting down on the table we said our prayers to GOD and off we went eating away, My mum was very happy with me and said that she was going to buy me something, My dad was really happy with me and trusted me in staying by my own and said that I used my common sense really well.
In this holiday I learnt that wherever I go I will always use my common sense and remember that what ever I do I have to do it with care.
I think this would have to be the best day ever because no only I made my family proud but I also made my parents proud.

Now and then Olymics

Now and then Olympic stadium

NOW AND THEN
In 2004 the Olympic Games returned to its home in Greece, where it began around 3000 years ago. The first recorded Olympic festival took place in 776 BC. Similar festivals had been organised for at least two or three centuries prior to this, but 776 BC saw the start of a regular festival which was to take place every Olympiad, or four year period.
In ancient Greece citizens of different city states could not always travel freely around the country, but during the Olympics the various rulers agreed truces so as that their citizens could attend the Olympics without problems. Sport was only one part of the festival; there were also ritual sacrifices, poetry readings, exhibitions of sculpture and trade fairs. It was a festival which celebrated on the one hand the Greek gods, and on the other hand the abilities of the Greek people.
The early athletic competitions were only running races, but later other sports such as boxing and wrestling came to be included. It was not simply a matter of professional athletes arriving and entering the competitions; for one thing, there were no professional athletes! All the competitors were ordinary Greek citizens who felt that they were among the best in their chosen sports. Anyone wishing to compete had to arrive four weeks early, and undergo a full month of training. It wasn’t only physical training, either: would-be competitors had to prove that they were morally and spiritually suitable to compete. Even if someone was physically fit enough, they couldn’t compete unless the judges thought they were of the right moral fibre. Curiously, all sportsmen competed nude – it was widely believed that wearing clothes slowed an athlete down!
At the start of the games, every competitor had to swear an oath that they were a free citizen of Greece who had committed no sacrilege against the gods. In today’s Olympics, one athlete takes an oath on behalf of all the competitors, although of course it is a little different to the ancient Greek oath. Today, competitors promise that they shall abide by the rules of the games, will act in an honourable and sportsmanlike manner, and not use any performance-enhancing drugs. Cheating, though, is almost as old as the games itself: records of the ancient Greek games are riddled with tales of athletes paying off their competitors, and of boxers fixing the results of their fights. In ancient Greece, though, there weren’t many ways an athlete could cheat in a race: maybe take a shortcut, or borrow a horse.
By the time of the St Louis Olympics in 1904, more modern means were available. The original “winner” of the 1904 Olympic marathon, Fred Lorz, was disqualified after it was revealed that he had travelled half the distance in a car. The man later declared the official winner, Thomas Hicks, wasn’t much better: he was carried across the finishing line by two of his trainers. Hicks’s trainers had tried to enhance his running ability by feeding him a mix of egg whites, strychnine and brandy. This early attempt at a performance-enhancing drug was rather unsuccessful, as it left Hicks drunk and incapable. The trick of having two men carrying him, though, seems to have worked.
The motivation for cheating hasn’t changed much at all. Today, athletes compete primarily for the honour of being awarded a gold medal, but also for the enormous amounts of lucrative corporate sponsorship bestowed upon top sportspeople. Similarly, while ancient Greek athletes were officially only competing for the honour of being awarded a symbolic olive branch, winners were usually sponsored by their city state, receiving a large sum of money, or a new home, or a lengthy tax holiday.
As mentioned earlier, the connection between sport and business hasn’t changed much. Even in the earliest Olympics, sporting competition went alongside trade fairs and business deals. This was acknowledged in 19th century Greece when the first modern attempts were made to revive the Olympics. The “Zappion Olympics”, as they became known after wealthy organiser Evangelos Zappas, were the bridge between the ancient and modern Olympics, and took place in Greece between 1859 and 1875. It was the first real international sporting competition, but officially it was about far more than sport. Greek politicians of the time felt that nations were no longer competing primarily in sport, but in agriculture and manufacturing. It was decided, then, that these new Olympics ought to be as much about competing in industry as in sport. The sports events were highly popular, but in terms of funding and regularity were of a lower priority than the commercial side, which concentrated on the demonstration of agricultural and industrial inventions.
However, the sporting side of the games were hugely popular with the public, and the level of support meant that, in Athens in 1896, the Olympics as we know them began. Despite the occasional shambles of the sort we saw in St Louis in 1904, it has continued from strength to strength since then.

                          My Speeches.
FLOODS.
Introduction:

The world is always changing because of disasters and also because of the changing weather.

Kia Ora,Bula Vinaka and greetings to you all,as you all know our topic for this term is disasters. Disaster is a sudden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss and destruction and devastation to life and property. There are 3 types of disasters, Natural Disasters,Personal disasters and also environmental disasters.But today i'm going to talk to you about floods which are natural disasters.  Natural disasters have always affected the way we live and have always been a fact in human history life. Flood,Famine, and creations myths and foundation stories,including, of course the bible. Great changes happen deep inside the earth and on its surface. A tiny raindrop will not harm you.But a terrible flood can be dangerous,so much water is very heavy and powerful.Days and Days of heavy torrential rain can cause a river to burst its banks and floods land,

What is a flood?

Flooding happens during heavy rains, when rivers overflow, when ocean waves come ashore, when snow melts too fast or when dams or levees break.Flooding may be only a few inches of water or it may cover the whole house to the rooftop.Floods that happen very quickly are called flash floods.Flooding is the most common of all natural disasters. It can happen anywhere!

water is necessary for life,we need water to drink,to grow feed and to keep clean.But too much water can be life threatening.People have had to deal with floods throughout history.There are many stories of great floods.The most well known is that of noah in the bible when it rained for forty days and forty nights,covering all the land.Archaeologists have found evidence of thick layers of silt that show were severe floods washed over ancient towns. people caught in floods often drown, but this isn’t the only danger they face.The force of fast flowing water carries large objects like trees, which can kill or injure people,and damages building and structures. Waterlogged soil can slip and cause landslides. If you ever get caught up in a Flood of fast flowing stream of water remember not to go sightseeing or get caught in the flood because you life can be at risk. Also remember to get to nearest highest ground,NEVER DRINK FLOOD WATER because it can be contained, and turn off all electricity or power in your homes.

Conclusion;

Floodwaters can ravage the land, destroying roads,bridges,railway tracks and buildings. Crops can be inundated and livestock drowned. Particularly in flash floods and Tsunami, where fast flowing filled with debris can sweep people away. The waters can even be strong enough to pick up vehicles.We remind ourselves that we are tough and generous people who, while struggling against what this country throws at us, will always lend a hand to a mate. We comfort each other in the face of enormous tragedy and loss of life. We celebrate the actions of the emergency services and ordinary people, which are testaments to an enormous capacity for individual and collective heroism that is stupendous in its everydayness. After a flood there will be a lot of damage and pollution to clean up. It may take months or years to recover, and this is what we do again today.

Thank you for listening and paying attention

I hope that in this speech you have learned something about floods.

No Reira Te Whanau Ka Nui Te Mihi Tena koutou,Tena koutou,Tena koutou katoa

By Ilisapeci Lolaka n& Sharon Sampson

               MY TAONGA

MY TAONGA: WHALE TOOTH


Hi my name is Ili and today I’D like to speak to you about my taonga a whale tooth. This whale tooth in Fijian is called the tabua. This whale tooth has been passed down from generation to generations. For example: if my dad died then my mums family will take my mum and my family back to live with them. Usually men get the whale tooth. The whale tooth has been passed down from my great,great,great,great,great grandfather to my great,great,great,great grandfather, then he had to pass it down to my great,great,great grandpa but he couldn’t because my great,great,great grandpa passed away early. So my grandmother passed this special whale tooth to my great granddad. So now if my dad died then my dad will pass this whale tooth to my big brother, and if my big brother doesn't have any sons then he will give it to my little brother.
MY TAONGA: MAT

My next item is the mat the mat in Fijian is called the umba. This mat has been passed through 4 generations. My grandmother whom my sister is named after, past away and gave it to my great,great,great grandmother and my great,great grandmother husband gave it to my mum's mum when she was married. So since my mum has grown up, she will give the mat to my older sister and if my older sister doesn't have any daughter then she will give it to me.
Usually my mum and dad have 2 whale tooth for my 2 brothers and 2 mats for me and my sister. As I have already said the mens get the whale tooth and the woman's get the mat. Mats are special on: Birthdays,wedding,marriage, and many other special occasions. Whale teeth are presented on Birthdays,wedding, and many other special occasions.
My dads whale tooth is special to him because it was given to him by his great granddad who would care for him like his own child.
My mum's mat is special to her because it was given to her when her mum died. She received the mat on her birthday. Now my mum has a step-mum.


These taogans will always be special to me because of my ancestors and my parents.

By: ILI LOLAKA

     Room 12 girls rap
School is cool
But we don’t have a pool
We get our lunch
And have a big munch.

School is cool
Because we have cool rules
We have lots of friends
But not colourful pens.

Learning in school
Is very very fun
But when we go
Out there’s lots of sun.

We have kapahaka
And choir to
We do technology
With room 2

Made by: Elizabeth,Maria,Alyson,Ilisapeci

                              KIWIANA

The term Kiwiana is given to items and symbols that are uniquely New Zealand. Below is a list of the items and symbols I consider to be a Kiwiana and an explanation as to why I have chosen them.

FERN:
The silver fern is very special to our country as we are the only ones to have a silver fern. You can only get silver ferns in New Zealand. On the uniforms of the All blacks and Silver ferns and other sport teams there is a little fern that represents New Zealand.

KIWI:
A kiwi is our native bird. A kiwi cannot fly it comes out at night; it has a long beak to eat under the rocks and bark.


LAMB:
Did you know that there are more lambs in New Zealand than humans?
The lamb represents the farm in New Zealand.

By: ILISAPECI LOLAKA

Beautiful Rainforests

Why are Rainforests getting smaller ?

Tropical rain forests grow in warm parts of the world, near the equator. The largest rainforests are in Indonesia, Africa and South America. But rain forests are getting smaller.
Rain forests are becoming smaller as people cut them down. Every year, more than five million hectares of rainforest are cut down or burnt. Enough rain forest to cover two football fields is lost every second.
Rain forests are cut down for timber, they are also cleared to make cattle ranches and farms. People dig them up to mine gold or extract oil from the ground. People bury rain forests under huge dams.
The tropical rain forests are far away, but we can still help to repair the damage caused by: recycling paper, buying things with no cardboard or paper packaging, making less garbage, planting more trees and telling people about rainforests.Tropical rainforests grow in warm parts of the world, near the equator. The largest rainforests are in Indonesia, Africa and South America. But rain forests are getting smaller.
Rain forests are becoming smaller as people cut them down. Every year, more than five million hectares of rainforest are cut down or burnt. Enough rain forest to cover two football fields is lost every second.
Rain forests are cut down for timber, they are also cleared to make cattle ranches and farms. People dig them up to mine gold or extract oil from the ground. People bury rain forests under huge dams.
The tropical rain forests are far away, but we can still help to repair the damage caused by: recycling paper, buying things with no cardboard or paper packaging, making less garbage, planting more trees and telling people about rain forests.

Domestic n& International

AIRPORT TRIP

Getting ready to leave, having one last look.

                                                  

Excitement filled the air when Room 7, boys and girls ran and piled up inside the van. While singing along to songs from our school and laughing away, we finally got to our destination which was the Auckland International Airport.

There has been a lot of changes in the airport recently when I went there and on Wednesday 21st of March 2012, when Tamaki Intermediate visited the airport. There are two different runways one is domestic and the other is international airlines  some planes are medium,small but most of them are big. The aeroplane takes and brings passengers from all around the world to visit New Zealand

Getting out of the van and breathing the fresh air was like a relief to me. The closer we got to the door the more nervous I got. Everything to me was like a dream come true, even though I had been there before.
Sticking together, walking with our smiles, being proud of who we are, we finally got to our cool big meeting room with Tiana Samasoni. Tiana Samasoni was an educator at the international airport. An educator is a person that sorts everything for other schools to come and have a tour around the big airport. The educator is also a person who needs to know everything, about the airport where everything is and is also a  person that is really good with kids.

The airport is a very big place filled with a lot of companies and a lot of people coming out of the country and from inside New Zealand to. The airport is a very popular place. In the airport there are at least eight hundred business around the airport, employing about twenty two thousand people, with some twelve thousand workers based on Auckland airport . Only seventy five percent of  New Zealand's visit the airport at least once in a 12 month period.

The airport was first built on the twenty fourth of November ninety ninety five. The airport is in Auckland North Island, New Zealand. It  is located in Auckland city mangere, only twenty one kilometer from downtown Auckland. The airport has also been awarded for being the best airport in the world in two thousand and eleven, best airport in Australia pacific and the ninth best airport in two thousand and ten and also for the staff service excellence award in two thousand and ten.

Once she had  given us all this valuable information, we lined up  ready for the next place after the conference room. Walking out seeing knew people was a great feeling seeing knew things having people smile back at you ‘’was an awesome feeling to me’’

Going to our next tour stop we kept walking and walking and wondering where we would go next, asking people in front of us. Stopping next to a couple of stairs we were still wondering where the stairs is going to take us. We didn’t ask anymore questions because we were too busy focusing on the stairs. Walking up the stairs we could hear the planes taking off and landing. Seeing all those big boys that the airlines owned was quite a shock to me and I have realized that some of the airplanes were not the same size. Some of them were BIG, small, LOOONNNGG and short. Just by looking outside through those clean glass windows, I was just amazed at how everything works and how everything's is organized in only a short time. We all learn that the biggest plane is the Airbus three eighty. We were all excited that the time was running out and we had to move on to the next step, and that was looking at how people work. After the stairs we came back down and we were looking at the actual plane that jean batten flew to Australia on her first flight.

We were all excited looking around and seeing people board their plane ticket to different countries. Next we had to say goodbye and had to look one last time at the airport and see if there will be any changes when we come back, Ofa Pita one of our classmates said a big thank you to Tiana Samisoni for teaching us about the airport,what business was there, and what people do there. We came back to school with everyone singing in the van and having a good time, some of us were sad to leave the airport because they were heaps of amazing things and questions to ask about the airport. Through all that we all would like to thank Mrs Sigamony for organizing the trip.


By: Ili Lolaka

My Culture Poem

NA NOGO MATAVUVALE

I am a Fijian girl

proud of my ancestors

When I see the stars in the sky,

they are my ancestors in

       heaven

I have grown up

    To be a warrior and to look

   after myself

I love and care for my family

I gain courage from them

I am happy to be in this

family

I have no fear but I have joy.

By: Ili Lolaka

Champions Girls Softball Team

      Champions of Champion- Softball

It was on a Thursday 15th that our girls softball team went to rose dale park to play against the school that came 1st 2nd and 3rd. The Tamaki Intermediate girls went with Mr Utunga our coach Mrs Parker Tofa our supervisor and Mr Waetford our van driver.

It was a hot day to start with everyone feeling so nervous and  excited at  the same time. First we played against whenuapai  the scores was 10-9 us girls won the game, there was a lot of improvement to this game like us catching the ball our batting and our fielding. First of we prayed then we had to field, our team captain Elizabeth was the person to bet on other team to see who got bat or field.

The second team we played against was Glen Eden,they were hard especially the pitcher she pitched fast faster then the a cheetah. Our coach Mr Utunga told us not to worry about how fast the pitcher was as long as we focus on what we do. The score to this game was 8-6 Glen Eden won.

Our 3rd game which was very important because they had to decide whether we could go through to the semis or not. When we versed Holy Cross we had to focus more but the scores was 16-2 holy cross won this game,the pitcher was also fast in this game and it was hard for us to keep in time. Even though we didn’t win we still could go through because they counted the home runs.

Next we versed Murray's Bay the score to this was 5-4 but Murray's Bay won, and we came 6th out of the whole  Auckland. We tried our best to come 2nd but we came 3rd.

At the end it was all about the effort that we had put in that showed our results, We had a great time and it was also a great day for us girls. Our player of the day was Ili Lolaka. As us girls were sad that we had to go home but through all that us girls improved and there was some other stuff that we could improve in, but at the end we had a great time, and lucky no one got hurt.