Imagine navigating above the clouds, steering a multi-million-dollar piece of machinery, and holding the safety of hundreds of lives in your hands. While many dream of a standard office job, my eyes have always been locked on the horizon. Recently, our class toured KPMG. It is an incredible firm, packed with brilliant minds, but walking through those doors only clarified my own path. Where others saw a future in spreadsheets and boardrooms, I saw mine in the sky. Stepping into that corporate environment was the final proof I needed: I belong in a cockpit.

Visiting KPMG was an incredible opportunity, but it ultimately proved that a desk job cannot match my true passion. The panelists expertly addressed corporate strategy, accounting, and consulting. While those pathways are vital and suit many of my peers, they did not spark any excitement in me. Instead of feeling persuaded to change my mind, the visit made me realise how much I value dynamic, hands-on leadership over office-bound routines. My strengths lie in spatial awareness, quick decision-making, and calm under pressure. These are skills that are perfectly tailored for aviation rather than auditing financial statements.

Some of my peers have asked me, “What if the plane crashes and it is your fault?” It is a fair question, but it stems from a misunderstanding of how flying works. No one is handed the keys to a commercial airliner overnight. To get this job, I will go through years of tough training, earn proper license rankings, and practice for hundreds of hours in flight simulators and training planes before ever flying passengers. I need to learn important science and math skills, including advanced navigation, meteorology, aerodynamics alongside crucial soft skills like communication and teamwork. I would never agree to fly a plane unless I was fully trained and completely confident. Safety in flying comes from preparation, not luck.

However, some people might argue that Year 7 to 8 is too early to choose a career path, or that flying is too risky compared to safe office jobs like those at KPMG. While it is true that I am young, finding my interests early gives me a big advantage. It allows me to pick the right high school subjects, such as physics and high-level maths, and build the mental strength needed for flight school. Flying is not just a job choice. It is a long-term goal that gives my current schoolwork a clear purpose.

To sum it up, the sky is not the limit; it is my destination. The visit to KPMG was an eye-opening experience, but it only proved that my heart belongs in the air. With hard work, dedicated training, and the right skills, I know I have the focus to become a successful pilot. Teachers and classmates, look up at the clouds in a few years because that is where I will be leading the way.

Greetings and Salutations viewers, today in this piece of writing I will be discussing the summary about a article ” The Mau Movement ” so come with me on this journey of reading!

Firstly, the mau movement is a group of Samoans that help balance widespread support with Tupua Tamasese leolofi the third becoming on an important leader. New Zealand tried to stop the movement but instead of giving up, the movement organized passive resistance. supporters refused to cooperate with the government by avoiding meetings, withdrawing children from government schools, refusing the pay taxes, and ignoring some government rules. With the rapidly rising may movement being two thirds of the samoan population and the establishment of a supporting newspaper in direct opposition to a pro government newspaper the mau was represented in all but two districts within anticipated visit within from the New-Zealand external affairs that caused tension to rise.

In conclusion, this is a short yet powerful summary of the history between New-Zealand & Samoa, and how they have differences in politics towards each other. And I’ve learnt about Richardson, the guy who wanted to keep balanced towards the two countries because he believed that the pakeha were an irritation towards the native people of Samoa and New-Zealand.

Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

Nga Mihi –

Pantaleon Natoealofa

Kia ora,

Yesterday in tech, we had to first check on our hydroponic and traditional soil plants and make a second observation on each one. My traditional soil plant is going well, it’s growing a little tall and vegetating. Secondly after that, we had to make a trapdoor for an alien, 400 meters wide and 700 meters tall and we used the kit Epro-8. Next week we’re gonna use the Epro-8 electric construction kit for it to be able to move away from 2 meters.

I enjoyed what we did in STEAM, during the make for the trapdoor, we successfully made a move-able trapdoor using these blue Lego pieces alike. It took us around 10-14 minutes and we’re continuing it again next week Monday I think? It was a really interactive and mind strategy.

For my reading, I learnt about the rise of the Mau movement in Samoa and how Samoan people began to strongly resist New Zealand’s administration. The Mau was an important movement because it represented Samoan people wanting more control over their own country and their future.

The movement began to become more organised in the 1920s. In 1926, meetings were held in Apia where people discussed their concerns about New Zealand’s administration. In 1927, the League of Samoa was formed and became known as the Mau. Its slogan was “Samoa Mo Samoa”, which means “Samoa for Samoans”. This showed that the movement wanted Samoa to be governed more by Samoan people rather than by New Zealand.

One thing I found interesting was how much support the Mau gained. Many Samoans joined or supported the movement, and it became organised across different parts of Samoa. Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III became one of its important leaders. The movement also used newspapers to spread its ideas and gain support.

The New Zealand administration did not agree with the Mau and tried to stop it. Instead of responding with violence, the Mau mainly used passive resistance. This meant refusing to cooperate with the government. Supporters stopped attending some government meetings, withdrew children from government schools, refused to pay taxes and ignored some government rules. This showed how the Mau could challenge the government without immediately using physical force.

What stood out to me most was how determined the Mau was. They were not simply protesting one small issue; they were standing up for their right to have a say in how Samoa was governed. The slogan “Samoa Mo Samoa” made their goal very clear and became an important symbol of their movement.

Overall, this reading helped me understand more about the relationship between Samoa and New Zealand during this period. I learnt that colonial rule could create a lot of disagreement and that people could resist in different ways. The rise of the Mau was an important part of Samoa’s journey towards greater self-government and eventually independence.

Have you ever wondered why we use Chromebooks, Google tools, blogs, and other types of technology in our learning? A big part of this comes from Manaiakalani. But Manaiakalani is more than just using technology at school. It is about changing the way we learn, create, and share our ideas with others.

Manaiakalani is a New Zealand education programme that supports schools and communities by using digital technology to improve learning. It gives students opportunities to become more confident, creative, and independent learners.

One of the most important ideas behind Manaiakalani is “Learn, Create, Share.” These three words represent different parts of the learning process.

First, we learn. This means gaining new knowledge, understanding new ideas, asking questions, and developing skills. We might learn through our teacher, classmates, research, or digital resources.

Next, we create. Instead of simply writing down what we have learned, we can turn our knowledge into something of our own. We could make a presentation, video, animation, drawing, website, or blog post. Creating allows us to show our understanding in a way that suits us.

Finally, we share. This is one of my favourite parts because our learning does not have to stay between us and our teacher. Through blogging and other digital platforms, we can share our work with classmates, whānau, and people around the world. Knowing that other people can see our work can motivate us to produce something we are proud of.

Manaiakalani also helps us develop important skills for the future. Technology is constantly changing, so knowing how to use digital tools responsibly and effectively can be extremely useful. We learn how to communicate, collaborate, research, solve problems, and think creatively.

What makes Manaiakalani special is that students are not just expected to sit and listen. We are encouraged to take an active role in our learning. We can explore our own ideas, make choices about how we present our work, and learn from our mistakes.

I also think sharing our learning can help us become more confident. When we publish a blog or create something for others to see, we are putting our ideas out there. It gives us a chance to receive feedback, improve our work, and recognise how much we are capable of achieving.

Overall, Manaiakalani is about giving students the opportunity to learn in a modern and creative way. It combines education with technology and encourages us to learn new things, create something meaningful, and share our learning with others.

So, the next time you open your Chromebook and start working on a blog, presentation, or project, remember that you are not just using technology. You are taking part in a way of learning that encourages you to Learn, Create, and Share.

Kia ora everyone!

Today I’m going to talk about an activity we did at school that really tested our problem-solving skills. We took part in a CODEBREAKER activity where we had to work in teams, think carefully, and try different ideas to complete the challenges.

At the beginning, we were given some instructions and had to get ourselves into groups. I wasn’t exactly sure how difficult the activity was going to be, but once we started, I realised that we needed to communicate properly if we wanted to succeed.

One of the biggest challenges was trying to understand the clues and work out what they meant. We couldn’t just rush through the questions because one small mistake could affect the rest of our answers. My group had to discuss different possibilities and decide which ideas were most likely to work.

Sometimes we disagreed about what we should do next. Instead of arguing, we had to explain our thinking and listen to each other. This helped us come up with better solutions because everyone had a different way of looking at the problem.

The activity also showed me that problem-solving takes patience. There were times when we tried something that didn’t work, and we had to start again. At first this was frustrating, but I learned that getting an answer wrong can actually help you understand the problem better. We could look at our mistakes and use them to change our approach.

The time limit also made the activity more challenging. We had to think quickly while still making sure our answers made sense. This taught me that staying calm is important when you are under pressure. If we panicked, it became harder to think clearly and find the right solution.

Another thing I enjoyed was seeing how everyone contributed. Some people were good at noticing patterns, while others were better at explaining ideas or organising the group. It showed me that teamwork can make problem-solving easier because you can use different people’s strengths.

The activity had some connections to our learning about New Zealand and working together, but for me, the main lesson was about how we approach problems. I learned that there isn’t always one obvious way to solve something. Sometimes you need to experiment, make mistakes, communicate, and keep trying until you find a solution.

Overall, I found the CODEBREAKER activity challenging but enjoyable. It helped me improve my communication and critical-thinking skills, and it showed me that giving up when something is difficult isn’t the answer. The most important thing is to keep thinking, try a new strategy, and work with the people around you.