Pet's Day

Brightwater School had a wonderful day on Friday. Room 5 constructed flower entries in the morning and some of us even got some prizes for our beautiful efforts. In the afternoon we brought along our pets to share with everyone. It was a great day.

Marae Visit

There was loud voices from two women on the Marae because they were calling out a karanga. All the kids from the Middle Syndicate and parents (mums and dads) were at the Marae. We experienced te roa - maori language.  After the karanga's we were welcomed onto the marae with a powhiri. Then Whare Sue lead us to the kai room ( dining room). We were entertained by Parkland school. They performed a haka and some waiatas which took about 10-15 minutes. Mr. H handed everyone a  napkin which allowed them to grab two things from the table, after we had to sit down until we were asked to move.

We were split into two groups ( group one and two ). Rm's five and six were shown around the marae village while rm's seven and eight were taken into the meeting house. Whare Donna talked about the plants and how when the christchurch people came to stay, they could fit 1,000 people in one marae.
Each week they would have a hungi out the back. On the way we passed the pre-school for the little kids under six that wanted to learn moari language and history.
We went to see the carving studio. John, a well known carver was carving a walking stick on the walls were marvellous maori statues. After half an hour we met back at the meeting house we switched groups and entered the meeting house.The rules were:

• Take of your shoes.
• Do not take photos inside incase you copy.
• Walk up the steps not over the carvings because it would be disrespectful.

We slipped off our shoes and rested them tidily by the wall. Wharae Sue pointed at the weavings hung along the wall. The interesting thing was that they all had a story and a meaning. We had the chance to walk around the room and look at the carvings.It took three whole years to make.  John taught some people how to carve so that they could decorate the meeting house with ancesters.After we got to ask some questions about either the ancesters or the weavings.
The meeting house was used for keeping visitors.

Our half an hour had been up. We walked out positioning ourselves on the seats. They did one more karanga to say good-bye. Wow that was an amazing journey to the marae!
I hope to go again!!!!!

By Ella and Talia

                                                                                                                                             

Trip to Bishops School

Bishop School is very different to our school and keep a watch out for some of our stories that will tell you what it was like. In the meantime we will include a few photos of what we got up to.

Swimming lessons at the aquatic centre

Heart central - body parts

Room 5 children worked with a partner to draw a body outline with chalk and then marked on the important body parts that are connected with the circulatory system.

Charlie's lizard

This is Charlie's lizard he brought for oral language!

Motocross Success

I went to the New Zealand Motorcross Championships in the holidays. I had great results in my races as I got a lot of points. I had to go as fast as I could to finish to get my points. Overall, I had to race five times over two days. The points I received gave me second place in the 7-8 year old, 65cc category.
My brother, who was also racing, and I had friends and family there to watch and cheer us on. There was a big crowd of people watching all the racing. We had to wear a pass code around our necks to get in and race so it was very strict security.
The championships were in Wellington and we stayed at a hotel. We mostly had fine weather while we were there, except a little bit of rain on the first day.

It was such an exciting time. My prizes were a trophy, a t-shirt, and oil for my motorbike. It was awesome!

Luca