Bird of the year follow up tasks have never been so much  fun! We have been doing bird of the year! Here is my slideshow. Do you like black robins? (They won the contest)

Last week we did some follow up tasks call the bird of the year follow up tasks here are my slides.

Hi I did an animation look below to see it

Do you like it?



I have made a time stopper 30 second . It was pretty fun to make but the flower took a bit too long to make because you had to get all the shapes in the right place and it was actually really fun. Here is my amazing slideshow about it.

6AM Arrival:

I woke up with a huge smile on my face, which was surprising considering it was 4:30 am! I got ready into my winter sports uniform, did my hair, then waved goodbye to my family. My dad dropped me off, but on the way we stopped to grab a toasty hot chocolate to wake me up! The car ride took around 25 minutes, so a lot of time for me to wake up. I arrived in the dark, but I could slightly see a group of girls laughing. They turned out to be my class mates, all running towards me like a tsunami of laughing girls! I said my last goodbye to my dad, then I was on my way.

Boarding the Plane :

You could see the excitement throughout the air! We found our seats and got comfortable, talked for a while, then listened to the safety instructions. Then we were off! Taking off from CHCH was one of the easiest flights I’ve ever been on. It was a steady, smooth and enjoyable flight!

Our little green bus:

Once we arrived, we got to explore around the airport for a little while waiting for our bus to arrive. Had a snack, and drank some water, then went on a mission to find our bus. The bus we travelled on was a really cute mini bus! Each seat had a cup holder. The windows were really huge and clear!

Mount Victoria:

Our first stop was at mount Victoria. There were a few steps up the hill, but the view was so worth it! At the top you could see how beautiful Wellington really is. From the city side, to the countryside. There was a cannon just below the top, and the girls and boys separately took funny photos on top of it.

The church:

The church was sooo tall! We entered this massive holy place so quietly you could hear a pin drop. There were outstanding stained glass windows everywhere you looked. Father Ben introduced himself to us while sitting in the two front rows. He talked about the building, how old it is, what the stained glass windows represented and so much more! The church we went to was around 104 years old. Inside there were multiple gently crafted statues that were so tedious. This church was definitely one of the coolest I have been to!

Parliament / Beehive:

This was my first time seeing the beehive in person, and it was humongous! Before walking into the building, we had to do a safety check. Similar to the airplane bag scans and body searches you have to do. Once we were all checked, we made our way to the first room. This room had chairs from left to right, and one big table in the middle. There were so many stairs and windows, doors and people to see! We learnt about the protest, how children can have their opinions in law, That different seats have different meanings. We also got to meet and talk to Ruben Davidson, Reuben Davidson is a New Zealand politician and former television producer who serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Christchurch East electorate. He talked to us about what his job does for our community. I really enjoyed our visit there, I never had been interested in all that type of stuff until after that visit. 

Sushi / Cable car:

It was finally lunch time! We walked probably 1 km to get to the sushi shop. While waiting for our food to be prepared, we sat in the Cable car waiting area because that was our next location. We watched the Cable car come up and down multiple times building up our excitement for our turn. Then suddenly Mrs Gannaway and Mr Gray walked towards us with bags full of fresh teriyaki and katsu rice balls and sushi trays. We brought those bags with us on the Cable car, smelling so heavenly! We sat on the hard wooden seats waiting for take off. We slowly started to move up hill, then we entered a dark tunnel and suddenly a pop of light shone round the Cable car circling around us like magic! It was such a vibrant experience. At the end of the ride, we made it up the top to a mountain and ate our sushi there. I think everyone needed the sushi to refuel their energy!

Space place :

A little while later, we got to experience a cool space museum! Our instructor’s name was Stella, and she was very knowledgeable. She spoke to us for a while and shared heaps of crazy facts. I personally am not a huge fan of space, but that’s purely because I did not know much about it. Did you know you could fit our world into the sun 1.3 million times! After we talked for around half an hour, we got the opportunity to explore a part of the museum. We found parts of the moon, a cinema room, and several interactive objects. Once we finished the exploration, we made our way to the dome. We found our seats and listened to the tour guide, he told us about the echoes, and not to snore or else everyone will be able to hear you, which I found quite funny. We sat back and relaxed, and the movie began. The room filled up with shooting stars! It was the most beautiful thing I had seen all day. I loved how it almost felt 3D, like the planets and stars were creeping towards me. Although it was amazing, it also made me feel a bit dizzy.

Te Papa :

I was truly amazed by how colossal the Te Papa museum was! it is 6 stories tall, and packed with amazing creations. We stepped out of our mini bus and split off into 3 groups, my group included Zara, Despina, Theo, Mitchell and Yanni.

– level 1 was the main entrance, ticketing, visitor information, and introductory exhibits like the Quake Breaker.

– level 2 included major interactive experiences, including the Te Taiao Nature exhibit, the colossal squid, and the Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War exhibition.

– level 3 is full of historical and cultural collections focusing on the environment, change, and early settlement stories.

-level 4 has multiple collections focusing on the environment, change, and early settlement stories.

-level 5 is the home to Art, Te Papa’s dedicated spaces for the national art collection and large-scale sculptural installations.

and lastly level 6 includes function venues, learning facilities, and spaces for rotating short-term exhibitions. I loved how interactive each floor was, it made learning about history things a lot more interesting!

Airport:

We made it to Wellington Airport! But, we were really early. We took our time because there was still an hour and a half until we left to board. We sat on two long tables and ate some subway. I gobbled mine up, it was still warm and toasty! After that we still had quite a while, so we split off and played some games. There was a banana grams table, a quiz table, a card table and a calm talking table. Time flashed by! We went to the bag checking area, found our seats on the plane, and prepared to take off. The trip back home was definitely bumpier than the morning trip, but I enjoyed sitting with Leah and Mrs Gannaway. We looked through the photos taken during the day. Then we tried to ignore the boys sitting behind us ( William, Theo and Yanni ). With a smooth landing home, I couldn’t wait to get picked by my dad and share my adventures with my family!

Overall, I loved Wellington so much, I would love to travel back there for a holiday some day soon!

Have you been to wellington, what was your favourite part?

Wellington by Kiara Iosefo

Mālō e Lelei,

For the past few weeks in maths, Ruma Tekau has been learning about algebra. After spending a few weeks learning how to solve and figure out certain questions ourselves, we were given the task of recording ourselves explaining how to solve an algebraic question using Polypad. This gave us a chance to show what we had learned and explain our thinking in our own words.

If you don’t know what Polypad is, it is a website where you can explore maths concepts using virtual tools and manipulatives. Manipulatives are physical or digital objects that students use to explore mathematical concepts through hands-on learning. I found this activity pretty difficult and different from the usual maths activities, but it was definitely worth the time. It required a lot of patience and understanding, especially when trying to explain each step clearly. Out of all the activities I have completed, I would say that maths-based activities are probably the hardest for me.

Based on this week’s maths, learning algebra can be pretty difficult at first, but once you start to understand what the letters and numbers mean, you slowly begin to get the hang of it.

Making this video also helped me understand the process better because I had to explain each step clearly. Here is my video! Please forgive me if my speaking is a little muddled, as I tried my best to explain everything as simply and clearly as possible. I hope you enjoy it and learn something new!

Do you enjoy algebra?

What is your favourite type of mathematics?

This week we started a new story. I learnt you can write anything without even knowing what you are going to write.  We  can do stories about things we did on the weekend, and you can also do narratives!    Here is my story.         

Go all the way down when you  finish the first paragraph  …..

                         Do Not Read

                  I’m serious, do not read this!

              This is a book not for you to read. 

         If you read this there will be consequences!

                       DA DA DA DA DA

                             AHHH!

           I said don’t read this, can you not read. “Gosh”.

                    Now I’m going to go have dinner,

                             BYE BYE!

                  Are you really still watching, 

                              OMG.

            This will be the last time you’ll be seeing me.

                           GOODBYE

              What on earth are you reading!

            Do you not know what stop means!

              You know how annoying you are. 

     It feels like you are playing peekaboo with me!

             YOU KNOW WHAT I QUIT

Hi from Wellington!
Last week, our class of Year 8 went on an amazing trip to the windy city – Wellington (or Welly for short)! We had to be up nice and early in the morning for airport security scans, check-ins and boarding the plane. Most people arrived at 6 am, the time we were told to meet up. For me, I overslept a little and woke up at 5:30 am, resulting in a very tight schedule and almost missing my flight. Luckily, the plane hadn’t departed yet.

Going to Welly
As a group, we boarded the plane on time. It wasn’t my first time flying, but it was my first time on a Jetstar flight. It was also my first time travelling  from Christchurch to Welly, in fact, my first domestic in New Zealand ever. That made me excited and happy, especially going back to the air for the first time in around six years. I remembered the quiet and peaceful cabin during cruise in mid air, the nice free foods, the entertainment screens, and the spacious, comfy seats, when on international flights. I was expecting the same, but I overestimated the reality of Jetstar’s budget domestic flights.

We got on the plane. The engines were on standby and not yet running, so the cabin was still a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. A genuine smile was given by the flight attendant, who stood at the entrance of the plane and checked the boarding passes as everyone entered the plane. We found our seats. They were quite cramped and packed together.

The engines started and we were given the briefing for what to do in case of an emergency. The engines rumbled, growled and vibrated significantly. It was quite loud, but not yet too bad. As the plane began rolling, the noise got worse. Even when we finished taking off, the noise never left. I ended up needing to block my ears with my hands on the whole flight.

Arriving at Welly
Finally, after what felt like at least an hour, we arrived at our destination. The airport was stylish, with clever artworks, like the end of the word “Wellington” seems being blown away. Walking in Welly airport, I ran into my friend who was not part of my class but happened to travel on the same flight as us. It was surprising to see a friend randomly outside of our hometown, Christchurch.

The View of Welly
Some of us snacked on food as we waited for others going to the toilet then and for the bus to come. After the short break, we left on the bus and headed for Mount Victoria, which is also known as Mt Vic. There, we had a breath taking 360°­­­­ view of Welly, seeing townhouses to high rise buildings. Our teachers snapped lots of photos of us, like when we posed on the cannon. It was such a great place to be but unfortunately we had to leave very shortly due to quite a tight schedule.

The Church
Our first indoor stop was the National Shrine of St Mary of the Angels, where we started our day off with some prayers. On the way there, we drove past the rainbow crossing on Cuba Street. It was cool, having the 6 colours of the rainbow instead of the universal white and grey.

At St Mary of the Angels, we were greeted by the priest, Father Ben, and led to the inside of the church, which was amazing. There were lots of cool arts, from stained glass windows, to paintings, to sculptures. I learnt that this church, like a lot of other churches, was first built plainly. As time went on, donations helped make things happen, such as those stained glass windows made in Germany. It has such an awesome collection and history. Shame that we had so little time to explore the church further.

Parliament Visit
Next, we went to the Beehive and gathered outside. There, we met Helen, our parliament tour guide, who gave us an introductory briefing. Then we went through security and entered the building. We regathered in a room and met Reuben Davidson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch East. He talked about how Parliament worked, how the debates operate, examples of a debate topic, and described what he does for his job. After the talk, we explored the various spaces around Parliament. Helen informed us the function and history of each room as we went in. Thank you, Helen!

The time was up for the tour inside the Beehive. It was a very interesting place and a fantastic learning experience. We hung outside the Parliament, playing around and eating the snacks that Reuben gave us. Thank you, Reuben, for the snacks as well as your talk!

Since the tour, the boys in my class started calling “Christopher Luxon!” to every bald person they saw because Mr. Luxon is our current prime minister and Parliament is where he spends most of his working time. The boys must’ve been very excited and eager to find Mr. Luxon. It was quite hilarious though a bit annoying and eventually they got told off by our teacher.

A Petition starting outside
Some people were also waiting outside. Soon, more and more people gathered round Parliament. Our teacher asked one of the people waiting. The person said they were petitioning about something to do with the Treaty of Waitangi and horses. We waited around, believing that horses would show up very soon, as the person said. Unfortunately, we ran out of time waiting since we had to move on the cable car. We collected our sushi lunch on the way.

Riding the History of Welly
It was only a short ride, but the most remarkable thing I found on the ride were the colourful lights in the tunnel. They moved like waves, glowing brightly, coming out of the dark. The narration of Welly’s cable car history came out of the speakers. It was fascinating and impressive.

Exploring Space
Next, we went to the Space Place at Carter Observatory. Since the door was closed when we arrived, we ate our lunch nearby while waiting for its opening. The lunch was from a sushi restaurant and it was either something with chicken on rice or something with rice ball. I’m not fond of sushi, so I ate my own food.

When the Space Place opened, we were greeted by the wonderful Stella, who works at the there. First, we gathered in a briefing room and learnt about our solar system. Scaling down the sizes of the planets, Stella showed us the incredible distance between each planet from the sun. After learning the basics of the solar system, we started exploring the marvellous place itself by ourselves. Soon, we had to regather for the planetarium.

Space Snooze
Jordan, Stella’s friend and also a worker there, introduced the planetarium to us. The planetarium is like a cinema room, with comfy chairs facing up to a dome-shaped ceiling. Its shape makes sound bounce around and amplifies the quietest whisper. Therefore, we were recommended not to sleep due to the disruption snoring might cause.

The animations were cool. They were hyper realistic at times, spinning around and making me a bit dizzy. I didn’t get a bad migraine though. Other times, it was very cartoon like. The only thing I disliked was the loud sound. To be honest, the noise on the plane was definitely way worse, so the planetarium wasn’t too bad of a deal. In fact, the seats were so comfy it was kind of hard to resist sleeping. I resisted by keeping my eyes wide open.

Afternoon Tea at a nearby Playground
After that, we went to the playground and had a break for fresh air. We vigorously played tag, releasing our pent-up energy. Our teacher had to call us in for a snack, before we dashed off again. Soon we had to leave for the bus, heading for Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Welly’s Museum
Te Papa was a nice place, filled with lots of history and artwork. We branched off into groups, exploring the exhibitions simultaneously. My group first went to the war memorial that said “Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War”. I was curious in how they made such giant statues so realistic and the wounds lifelike. There was even sweat on the statues. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to touch the statues and there wasn’t much time to examine them more.

Next, we went to the Te Taiao Nature section. There were a lot more stuff that one could play and interact with, but I found the war memorial more interesting. One of the fun things in the Nature section was the earthquake simulations, where one could experience rumbles and vibrations of the ground. A mock house shook as a big screen displayed falling objects, imitating an earthquake. There is a button that one could press to build up pressure, and as one released it, the floor vibrated and the screen showed what type of volcanic rock one have made. These were some of the cooler things I found in the Nature section.

Last, we explored the Māori and Art sections. I thought some of the things there were cool, but not as cool as the other sections. It was edging close to tea time when we started. I relaxed and sat back, as some other classmates wanted to draw and create art in the front. Finally, it was time to get on the bus and head home.

Going Home
Once again, we gathered in the airport food court and ate our tea. While waiting for our plane, we ate subway sandwiches for tea. After eating, we played some games as well as chilled and killed time in the peaceful airport. It was fun to idly kill some time after all the things we did.

We got lollies as a treat from our birthday classmate, after we went through security. The trauma came back, with the uncomfortable seats of the plane and the loud noise in the cabin making the flight home suck.

On the plane, some people vomited and some cried. I ran away as soon as the plane door opened. I found my teacher quickly to say goodbye, then my mum to take me home. I rate this trip in Wellington a fun way to learn, but definitely do not recommend that cheap Jetstar flights to and from Wellington.

In Room 9 we have been learning about monologues. What is a monologue? what have we been learning about them.

What is a monologue a monologue is  a long or short play with 1 person in a play. We have been learning what they are, how to make our videos (click here for my video) look professional we used Clark the shark video for that.

Have you ever done a monologue video?

last week we started monologues  my monologue was about Godzilla having feelings as well. So have you ever done a monologue?

this past week we have been learning about speeches i have been doing the grim reaper story it was made by By: Will Woolwine, Georgia, USA, Age 14 Description: The Grim Reaper laments his job. Gender: Male Comedy Here

Hello my peeps! Last week in Room 9 we did a Monologue [specifically an appropriate one for kids]  And my monologue was about the “Grim Reaper” MUAHAHAHA but my monologue was the Grim Reaper daily life! When you see the Grim Reapers daily life it would be tiring even I would kill myself! Sadly my video got deleted so for now you are just gonna get this speech!

This week in room 9 we have been reading monologues.We practiced them and then recorded them.A monologue is a play that you perform alone.Mine is about a girl who lost her glitter and needs to find it for her beauty pageant.Do you like my play and what do you think I sould work on?

Today I recorded myself reading a monologue called I’m done with AI… kinda and here is the recording of my monologue.

what are your thoughts on this monologue?

Hi today I finished my monologue. I really enjoyed recording this monologue, I would differently do it again. Here is my work. Can you record a monologue?

21st, September 2026.

Last week upstairs in kapa iwa  we have been learning about monologues ! We had to watch a video from storyline online. The book is called Clark The Shark read by Chris Pine. So what exactly is a monologue? A monologue is sort of like a play, except it’s only you reading and you put a lot of emotion in it. I found my monologue funny and also very strange. My monologue is called I Hate My Sister. I really enjoyed it and was so fun!

Here is my video!!

For the last week rm 9 has been acting out monologues. It was kinda fun. We did this because we were working on speeches. I chose barbie girl because it seemed kinda cool. I did one called barbie girl.

Here is my work…..

Have you acted out a monologue and did you enjoy it?

MORNING 

At 5 in the morning i had to get ready to go off to the airport at 6, when i got there i caught up with my friends and a couple minutes later more of my friends came.

AIRPORT

After all my friends came the teacher called us to go in the airport, when we got inside we had to drink all of our water because the teacher said we had to get rid of it, (but we didnt need to do that) after we went through the security we boarded the plane, and on the plane the teacher gave us some lollies.

WELLINGTON 

When we landed in Wellington I had a little bit of food then we walked out of the airport and got in van that was rented out for the day, and we went to the top of mount victoria and saw the top view of wellington, then the teacher took some photos and then we left.

SAINT MARY OF THE ANGELS CHURCH 

to go to the Saint Mary of the angels Church, the church was amazing, the tinted windows, the art, the whole thing was amazing! And at the back of the church there was a piano or something that looked like a piano with huge pipes.

PARLIAMENT

After the church we went to the parliament, saw the room were the people/party´s sit down and talk etc, we learnt about what the wip does, we learnt about the speaker and how when they are talking hes basically the ref, his in charge and the prime minster is basically like everyone else.  we saw just basically everything.

For me this was the most boring one.

CABLE CART AND LUNCH

For lunch we were going to have pizza but instead we had sushi, which was still good but the sushi was that great, what I got/asked for was a smoked salmon brown rice ball, wasnt the greatest but still pretty good.

After we ate we went on the cable cart and went up to the top and through-out the ride the tunnel had some lights which was cool.

SPACE PLACE

At the top of the place where the cable cart took us there was this space place called space place, (believe it or not) it was pretty cool. We learnt some facts, played a game, and the coolest of all there was like a little circle place that had really nice sets and above us there was a screen that felt 4D, it showed like some people who invented stuff or whatever, ( i cant really remember it properly) but it made me feel really sick

TE PAPA

when we went to TE PAPA the first thing we went in was the war exhibit, the sculptures were amazing, i´ve seen it tons of times but the sculptures look so real! even the hair on their arms, after the war one we went to the art museum, the passport one, they were all great.

AIRPORT

After that busy day, we finally got back at the air port and had some dinner, but before that we had to go through the security again (of course) find a place to sit down, then the teacher had got our subway, she also got a big box of mini pump waters, after we ate there was some board games (only one board game really) and then for desert sorta we had someone mixed nuts and pea crisps,

Then we flew home.

PHOTOS 

In room 9 this week we have been working on monologues! We are learning to read with fluency and phrasing to build confidence and transfer skills to plays and debates. Our job was to find a monologue and record ourselves reading it. I sadly didnt get to perform this because I was at Canterbury for netball! Here is my monologue!

Did you like it?

Question: If you could do any monologue what would you do it about?!

Hello, these couple of weeks, we have been working on monologues, my monologue is called,

LETTUCE WOES

Pretty funny aye. We are learning about monologues to learn how to speak fluency and speak confidently.

I think I should work on my pauses, but I think my enthusiasum was kindof good.

Have you ever made a monologue?