Mock United Nations @ Nga Tawa

Caleb, Rohan and Bailey represented Greece at a mock UN assembly at Nga Tawa in November.  They debated international issues such as education for girls, caring for refugees, and improving access for all to education.  The other schools involved were Huntley,  Nga Tawa, and Carncot. It was really hard finding good arguments and rebuttals for all the points raised but all the boys presented their arguments very thoughtfully. They received a certificate for the best food representing their country.  They shared Greek honey pastries at the lunch which were much appreciated.   Hopefully we will have a debating group trained up to go to the Wanganui Youth UN Assembly next year. 

Below are pix of Caleb speaking and the other boys listening. 

Anti-Bully Visit

Bridgette Manunui and her three year ten classmates from Nga Tawa presented a mini show for us on Tuesday to help prevent or stop kids bullying or being mean to others.

Bridgette and her friend gave a short speech explaining the definition, types and results of bullying.  Then Bridgette introduced two girls who sang three awesome songs with the theme of anti-bullying or mean behaviour.  

The singers had excellent voices and were very confident performers.  All the children loved the singing and showed during the short question time afterwards that they understood the important messages.  

OTIWHITI FIELD TRIP PHOTOS

OTIWHITI SCIENCE FIELD TRIP 2015

Agricultural and Horticultural science and careers has been a major focus for us this year.

We have had very interesting practical and theory science lessons from Mrs Taylor, along with some great field trips which she has planned and led.  

Our latest trip was to Otiwhiti Station, where the farm cadets are trained.  What a great, fun, learning experience.

We heard from cadets about their studies, the papers they sit for credits, the lectures they have, and about all the practical side of learning to be sheep and beef farmers.

The farm manager and cadet managers led the practical learning sessions, from dog training, butchery, meat preparation, mustering, horse riding for farm work, shearing, drafting, identifying different quality of lambs, and working as a team.  

We also enjoyed a farm lunch, courtesy of Otiwhiti management and Sue, the station cook!

We learned so much and had such a great experience, almost all the class are keen to look at some kind of future studying the agricultural or horticultural sciences, and possibly careers in veterinary science, soil or cropping science, farming or horticulture.  At present, we are most keen on the outdoor and physical sides of all these subjects. 

Huge thanks go to the Duncan family and all the staff and cadets at Otiwhiti, we really appreciate all the time and effort put in to making our field trip such a success.

Mrs Taylor - you have really worked hard to give us great science learning experiences and this was one of the best!

Thanks also to Mr Black and Mrs Woolley for taking the whole day off to transport and help us out at Otiwhiti!  We really appreciate your help.

Year Eight Students of 2015

A great website for ag and hort science and careers is:  
http://www.getahead.co.nz/get-prepared/training-and-education-2/

Another site that is most useful for planning courses to take at college for particular careers is:      https://www.careers.govt.nz

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW!

WEEK 3 PLAN. JUST FOR FUN!

Possible Plan: Week 3, Term 4 2015

	Monday  27 OCT	Tuesday 28 OCT	Wednesday 29 OCT	Thursday   30 OCT	Friday    31 OCT
Notes	PROTOTEC X 1     MATHLETICS X 30 MINUTES      ENGLISH Booklets: 30 MINUTES
	LAMB & CALF ACTIVITIES TO BE WORKED ON:  AT SCHOOL:  ABORIGINAL ART, 3D RECYCLED CREATIONS, HOME OR SCHOOL: DECORATED CAKE
0900	LABOUR DAY.	ENGLISH: LETTERS TO OTIWHITI!! CO CONSTRUCT CRITERIA FOR QUALITY LETTERS! THE STOLEN GENERATION/RABBIT PROOF FENCE INQUIRY   -  INDIVIDUAL READING AND  PAIRED/GROUP THINKING ACTIVITIES THEN PRESENTATIONS TO SHARE		ENGLISH, CONT FROM WED. LOTS OF ONE TO ONE SUPPORT FOR TARGETS.	Bible in School Mrs Parkes Friday Programme
1040	Morning Tea Interval			1015 Morning Tea	Morning Tea
1110		MATHS VOLUME CAPACITY MASS - BOOKLETS THEN NULAKE L ¾ NULAKE  L4 ON TRACK  L4-5 12.15: XCOUNTRY TRAINING	MATHS VOLUME CAPACITY MASS - BOOKLETS THEN NULAKE L ¾ NULAKE  L4 ON TRACK  L4-5 12.15: XCOUNTRY TRAINING	Tech Bus @ 10.30	Current Events English Mathematics
1240	LUNCH				EARLY LUNCH
1325		ARB SCIENCE TRIALS TO BE COMPLETED ENGLISH BOOKLETS TO BE COMPLETED ART/CRAFT SPEECH FINALISTS	ARB SCIENCE TRIALS ART /CRAFT SPEECH FINALISTS ASSEMBLY PREP	ARB SCIENCE  ETC TRIALS 2PM REFLECT +	1PM: INTER SCHOOL XCOUNTRY
1420		SOFTBALL IF WORK IS FINISHED	SOFTBALL IF WORK IS FINISHED	2.10PM ASSEMBLY
1450		Reflect /Clean up	Reflect /Clean up		Reflect/Clean up
1500	Home/Bus!  Room 8 Teacher:  Supervise bus lines, check and tick off entries in Bus Book.

Otiwhiti Station Visit

Last Friday, all of our year eights went on an agricultural science visit out to Otiwhiti Station at Otairi.  It was planned by Mrs Taylor, our specialist science teacher, to give us an idea of what is involved in farming careers, and the school and tertiary subjects best for agriculture diplomas and degrees.

Mr and Mrs Duncan, the owners of Otiwhiti organised lots of really interesting, fun activities and we had an awesome day, with lots of great things to learn and great people teaching us. 

Jed McAlley is the farm manager and along with all the farm cadets who are in training, he taught us all about dog training, shearing, horse riding, and lots of farming skills.  The cadets told us about the subjects that they are studying and how they are going to get the credits they need.  

Highlights for us: definitely the shearing skills challenge, the horse activities, and of course, the great lunch shouted for us by the Duncan's and cooked for us by Sue.  

It was a really good field trip for all of us, and we thank the Duncan family, Jed and Sue, all the cadets and staff at Otiwhiti for their time and giving us a great farm experience.  Also, thanks to Mr Black and Mrs Woolley who drove us and stayed for the day with us.

We want to thank Mrs Taylor for all the science programmes and teaching this year.  We have learned so much and really enjoyed all the lessons, especially the field trips and the biology and dissection work with Mr Walshe, our vet.

Mrs Parkes has been teaching us on Fridays about the ocean, its habitats and the status of sea creatures.  We are each creating an imovie about one aspect of sea life.

Here is the first one, by Rohan Gower.

Sharing:  Here are some of our first sentences using RECIPE FOR WRITING WITH ETHERPAD writing buddies.  We are going to add a sound sentence and then have a character or two appear!  We will edit, add, subtract, and proof read when we have completed the whole recipe which is published below.

1  The blazing sun shone over the planets as the black hole darkened the sky.

2  As the sun rises across the sea I can see the islands in the distance. 

3  As the sun rose above the horizon across the deserted plain the vultures began to swoop down and attempt to devour the sheep below.

4 Among the clouds lays the island of Azzreal, an almost barren island except for large mountains that sit on the edge of the island's surface and a long winding river that flows through Azzreal's one city, the city of Assara. Surrounding Assara are large walls engraved with the names of Assara's previous rulers. Surrounding the cities centre are rows of grand 

buildings and overwatching the city upon one of the highest hills in Azzreal stands the king's palace.

5  The rain hits the soft green hills and the drops of water roll down the hill into the rising stream. 

6   On the beach waves are crashing and the sun is slowly settling down into the sea. 

7  Out on the farm the lambs are running around, the sheep are munching the last of the brown stubble and the morning is clear and bright.

8    As the glowing sun disappeared behind the lushest green hills in the outback hill country, the far cry of a new lamb filled the crisp, clean air. 

Freddie & Brodie   As the sun set, the moon rose from behind the hills and the wolves howled loudly.

Rohan & George L   Up on the hill, a rusty old lighthouse looked down as rolling waves came crashing in and hit the rocks of the rugged coastline.  Sleek seals jumped across the rocks and the surfers...

Ethan & Sam  As the sun rose above the grey clouds one big white cloud came rolling in.

George S & Rebecca  The sky darkened and all that could be seen were the outlines of the ghostly trees covering the hills.  And all that could be heard were the loud howls of the midnight wolves.

Lucy, Janine & Charlotte   As the morning sun rises, melting the morning frost, the lambs feel the new spring in the air.

Morna & Tineisha  I watch the sun set behind the tall wispy trees and wonder where the sun is heading?

Maia &   Shardae  The sun was just setting on the horizon  as I stared down at the poppies, with glistening tears sliding down my face. 

Welcome to the...

RECIPE FOR WRITING WITH ETHERPAD:

Ingredients: 

1. Setting the scene, 
2. Tuning in the ear, 
3. Developing the character, 
4. Creating the action, 
5. The resolution.

Method:

1. Bring your reader in to a powerful setting of the scene where your story is to unfold.  It helps to imagine that you have a digital camera and have taken a photo of the place where your story is to happen.  Remember you are holding the camera, so you are not in the picture at this stage.  It is a still camera, so while there may be suggested movement, such as "the waves rolled gently to the shore", there is no action in the story at this time.

2. Introduce some sound into the scene to further engage the senses of the reader.

3. Have your character appear dramatically within the setting.  We should get to know something of this character by the way you portray them.

4. Create the action that will bind the reader into the story and continue to develop this to the penultimate moment.

5. Resolve the story with some revisiting of the initial scene, the sounds or the character that was central to the storyline but something has changed - perhaps forever.  Leave your reader with something magic to hold on to.

COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON AND JILL HAMMONDS