Ferry ride to Somme's Island

Ripples of bubbly water stream behind the boat leaving faded boat prints left for the next group to find their way. The fierce hands of the children hold onto the silver rails like a scene on Titanic. Salt water flicks up into our faces as the boat dodges round sea hazards. It was like boat dodge ball but in a gentle kind of way. Sweat drips down our faces like spitting water. Our hearts pound against our chests like the mallet of the judges orders. Overall we had an awesome time especially bonding with classmates and enjoying the scenery.  

Leadership conference

There were quite a lot of speakers that told us about their life and leadership. The one that inspired me the most was Joe, the head boy from Hastings Boys High because not only did he talk about what makes a great leader he talked about choosing your attitude, doing small things which make a difference, aiming high and having fun while being a leader. His speech motivated me to help out more often because it makes a difference in this world.

Liams writing buddy

I have been working with my buddy Liam, he is 6 and a half. This descriptive piece is describing his feelings through out the game.

The St Mary's Magic’s fought with exhaustion in basketball. Our bodies sweat with a pumping heart as we we're trying to win. My legs slowed down like a car without enough petrol and my body was running out of energy. The whistle was about to be blown, I bounced the ball repeatedly till I was nearby the goal. The ball flew high like a bird. It bounced several times on the rim. Luckily it got in. I was really proud of myself. But sadly we lost 5 to 7. My breath slowly faded into a whisper being surprised about the score.

Proportions and ratios

This term we have been learning about fractions, decimals, ratios and percentages. It has become a lot easier each time we have a lesson. Here I have different decimals that I know and below it shows the different decimals put in order on a number line.

Sacrament strand

For the last couple of weeks we have been learning about what commitment is. We created a poster which explained how we live as a young Christian. We put our 3 strongest quotes which explained it.

TAC's Cross Country

Have you ever been to a cross country with steep hills and unexpected opsticles? Well if you haven't this will explain the feelings of competing.

Butterflies were blocking my breathing hole as there was no way I could live after competing in this race.The order the race went was yr 7 girls, yr 8 girls, yr 7 boys then yr 8 boys. I could feel the nerves building up in each persons body which made me worser. It was now time for the yr 8 girls race. I had a moment in peace and I thought that cross country isn't all about winning its about participating, having fun and having an adventure. But winning is the best. My heart was finally back to its steady pace and I was ready.

The announcer told us the instructions of what to do, she counted down from three and blew the air horn which is my worst-est thing of all. The wind powered towards me which gave me energy. I couldn't believe how steep the hills were. But I just had to believe in my body and soul that I can complete this race with dignity. My fastest way of getting in front of people was to walk up the hills and sprint down hill. Their were different people standing at each cone encouraging us to keep going, Which pushed me even harder.

I had finally passed the crowd of St. Mary's. They supported and cheered each person who was representing our school. As I was running there was always are little voice that was encouraging me to keep trying cause these races won't come twice a year. After the race everyone was just completely knocked out. So glad that's out of the way.

Election

This week we have been using coggle for elections. It was really fun using a new app to present my work. We had to write down the different parties and policies and choose three topics to write about it. I picked Health, Education and Environment because I think  those are the most important things in our life today.

Why you should come to St. Marys intermediate

St Mary's is the place to go

St Mary's intermediate department is what brings us together as one family and one community.

Stripes and stars may not sound familiar to you. But here at St. Mary's, students show them with pride. It not only shows the different things you participate in, it acknowledges the things you have worked very hard on whether its to do with sports, Catholic Character, culture, arts and academic. To get a strip you have to earn 4 points. I'm going to let you into a little secret, to get the most strips you could ever get is to participate in as many opportunities that are offered. To get a star you need 2 points and by associating and participating in activities I seriously think you will be on a roll. So keep that in mind. To show off these stripes and stars, sew them onto either your jersey or cardigan. Trust me this is a really good memory to keep because you can look back and have pride and passion of how well you had succeeded in your intermediate years. If you're proud of something, discuss with the teacher.

English books may be the first thing that comes to mind when the words writing and reading are shouted out to you. Well think again. Ms Crowley, Mrs Hawke, Mrs Hoogerbrug and Mrs Hutchins have especially treated each student with a Chromebook. It comes really handy when doing reading or writing. You have Google docs to save your work and files in, kind of like how you write in your books. Also each student has their own G mail which is easier for reminders, late notices and homework handed in by the due date.

Portfolios are not in use any more. You may be thinking, tests, posters, samples and religious education, where is it going to go? Each student has a blog and you post up all the things you are proud of and its useful when your parents want to find out how much you have been improving in class. So instead of portfolios being sent home and being lost you have a blog. Of course blogs, Chromebooks and emails have passwords which only the teachers knows so does easier learning with technology and helpful reminders sound good to you?

Sports is something St. Mary's strives to have success in. It is fun to play with classmates and community as there are heaps of sporting events that we get to take part in.. There is TACS (town and country sports) cross country, hockey, soccer, triathlon and netball. Also there are school sport competitions, cross country, canoe polo, netball, beach 5’s, cricket, optimist yachting and loads more.If your child isn't as associated with sports as much St. Mary's will change that because not only is it about commitment its about fun and encouragement to do things.

St Mary's has loads of opportunities you never thought you would get offered. This is what makes the students proud to be at St. Mary's.

Waterfall

Waterfall

The waterfall was as calm as usual;

It had a cliff to jump off, a rope you can swing on,

rocks that was built like brick walls

and a small bridge we used as a diving board.

My cousins and I did the complete opposite of what a mature kid would do.

We ate junk food while swimming in the water,

we spun ourselves around like a roller coaster,

did belly flops,  smashed our bodies as the waves

crashed towards us and fought like pro wrestlers.

Doing nothing important.

                                                 By Silaulelei Gafa

                                          Inspired by James K Baxter

Recount

We are learning to:

recount an exciting event so that our reader knows what happened and how we felt.

A new house? A trip? A new pet? what could it be.

Mum and Dad always had that secret parent talk about something none of us would expect. We didn't know anything about the secret and the best way for us kids to find out was to listen but what they called that was eaves dropping. They mentioned trips about 100 times, and when they say trips to us it usually means going to like Flaxmere, and Havelock and stuff. But this time it was real. As my parents walked passed us we acted like nothing happened, but the “secret” was just flopping around in our stomachs. We were going to pop like a blister.

With a fading voice my dad pronounced the words, “expect what's coming ahead and don’t be bots or else you are not going to experience an adventure”.

(Parents using our language these days)

Bags packed, house cleaned were the tasks that we had to do in like 4 to 5 hours. An idea struck my head as we did this last time. We were moving houses! Us sisters had a fit like we were going to america or something. As we thought that we were moving houses. We planned out everything and discussed it without thinking of the actual “secret” they were talking about.

Our parents talked to us and sat down with us like something bad happened. That's when everything went pitch blank in our minds. Mum opened her mouth and talked for quite a bit but it was so long I couldn't keep up. But what I did hear were the words, HOLIDAY !!

I sat up straight like I was listening for ages and we were all wrong. The trip to Samoa was something we all ever wanted besides getting a new house and a new pet. We couldn't wait.

Samoa, here we come!!

Science Fair

For the Science Fair project I chose the topic, "Which liquid freezes faster" I enjoyed testing out this procedure because it was fun telling which one froze faster. I learnt that keeping a log book to put down your information really does help you. The thing that I would do next time I would have more research to back up my information.

Visual art

In art we have been using Pablo Picasso's paintings. "I've got my eye on you", is the title of my artwork. I chose this theme half happy and sad because its an emotion that each student feels everyday.

Report Writing

This week we are learning to write reports. Our subject was to prepare a report about Intermediate department informing new families and students.

LI:

Is to write a report in our intermediate school

St. Mary's Intermediate Community

St Mary's makes you feel like one big family. We offer unique uniforms, different opportunities and a change in curriculum.

Curriculum:

In the intermediate area we are challenged in reading, writing and maths, as seniors should be doing. We research ideas for homework as well as writing and we learn different languages as it gives us an insight about other cultures. All students are dedicated to their work, as well as doing their best and striving for personal best. This makes each student achieve more things in life.

Different Opportunities:

We have loads of opportunities that we offer for your child such as participating in choir, wheels day, tests, camp, sports, houses, Tac’s sports and self defence. As in our cultural activities we have Kapa Haka and production. Learning is made more fun.

Uniforms:

St. Mary’s uniforms are what we are known for. It makes all of our students look the same. We have had some students debating on having uniforms and about 80% of them agree, also having the same statement that is said that no one would get bullied therefore no one would feel left out, neglected and sad. There are also new winter uniforms for both girls and boys as it makes us different from the junior and middle school syndicates showing other schools that the intermediates of St. Mary's are proud to be a part of this school.

St. Mary's is definitely the place to be.

Writing a report on Intermediates was really fun as it made me think of all the cool things we do.
N.S is to start with different sentence starters and edit my work.

Favourite piece of writing

My Holiday

My family and other close whanau came down with us to the beach. The soft sand wrapped round our feet as my dad and uncles were getting the barbecue set up. Bright averaged sized fishes squirt out of the sea as the gushing waves banged towards them. This was the day.  

1, 2, 3! we all shouted. We hop into the sea. The sizzle from the barbecue made us really hungry but it wasn't ready yet. So we just carried on with the fun. All of a sudden our mums rushed into the sea took their lava lava off, with really squeaky laughs and splashed around. Like they haven’t experienced it before.

Big waves start to come, curvy and pretty scary. My cousins and I smashed ourselves towards them but could never keep standing. Our mums were hugging each other as we knew that they were horrified. With a great big shout my dad told us to come and eat. We dived this wave and then went. Our mums were struggling to get up so we just left them hanging. After a few disturbing minutes they got up. We all ate after we had done our prayers. And then we began. The food just kept disappearing like there were vacuums around sucking them in.

Two tasty hours after we ate, we hopped back into the sea. More and more waves kept coming and so we just stayed till it went pretty dark. Nothing would be better than spending time with the
Whanau!!

This was my favourite piece of writing so far because I have included interesting sentences.

My next step is to use language features.

Feed the Birds

Feed the birds is a book about siblings going in the backyard, feeding the birds food because since it was winter the food scraps on the ground gets frozen. They feed them at certain times of the day just like us and they also need water and food of course to survive.

I enjoyed this book because it gave me an idea about, what birds need to survive and  what times they need to be fed.

Writing

Novel

Synopsis
Do you want to read a book about teenagers escaping out of thick creatures in a waterfall. Well if you do this is the book to read, Expect the unexpected is the title of the book, its about five teenagers going for a holiday at the waterfall, without our parents of course. But we face a strange adventure. Do we escape or die?  Read it and find out.

What I enjoy
In writing I enjoy creating a novel for people to read, adding in adventurous parts of the book so the reader will read on.

Picture Book

Synopsis
This book "Get it or get nothing" is about a spoilt girl getting a present, (potato head) from her big sister but she does not like it. The sister goes to different shops and finds a new toy for her. She bought it finding that her little sister was holding the potato and a knife. Read it and find out what happens.

What I enjoy
I enjoy writing a picture book for little kiddies, ages 7 to 8. Giving them a message to just enjoy any present given because something is better than nothing.

I enjoy writing both books, because my chapter book is about an adventure gone wrong and the picture book is about kids not being spoiled.

Maths

On Fridays we work in our groups and solve rich questions, here are a couple of examples that I have come up with:

Advocate

Jesus,
Advocate for the poor.

An Advocate,
kai korero is a person who speaks and acts on behalf of others and who pleads for them with those in prayer.


The Salvation Army,
They are passionate about transforming lives, giving the people they help a brighter future, as well as teaching them life skills to get a step ahead in life. They have helped others get on with life and saving them through times of crisis. The Salvation army is practically located in every part of the world. Their statement is to help social issues around the world and giving people a better future.
Facts,
When the USA had entered World War 1 in 1917, the salvation army sent 11 officers to France as Chaplains. Wanting to provide the soldiers with flour, bread, home cooking, cinnamon, baking powder and milk.

Websites:
www.salvationarmy.com
Wikipedia

My prayer

Dear God,
Thanks for giving me great friends and family that are really supportive. Thanks for everything I have today, the sun, food, money, a roof over my head and a lovely family. Please watch over my wider whanau as they have passed away. May we still be strong and supportive for those who have lost loved ones also. And to pray and acknowledge all those kids and parents in the Solomon Islands and may they one day have hope that they get things that we have today.
Amen

The story of Orion

This a story about Orion and how he falls in love with Diana. Who had so much in common with him. One day Diana's brother went with her to hunt Orion down. But what they did not know is that they had shot Orion with a bowstring. Read more if you want to find out what happened to Orion.

Tac's triathlon

Last Friday, the senior students from all schools participated in the Tac's triathlon. I was competing in the 2km run. I kept yawning as the nervousness was melting in my body. But I still didn't give up. Overall, I think I did my best.

Aesops fables

The Goose that lay the Golden Egg

There was once a poor man who lived with his wife, they were both farmers who reared some geese on the farm. There was only one goose that lay golden eggs everyday. The man would sell it and get given a lot of money, they then became rich. The man suggested to cut the goose’s stomach so that he can get more golden eggs. So he grabbed a knife and started cutting, thats when the goose never laid an egg.

Moral: Don’t be greedy or you will lose everything.

www.englishstorybooks.com

Navy Band

The Intermediate students at St.Mary's School had the opportunity to go visit the Navy Band in Napier. The Band played a variety of songs from different places all over the world. It was really up beat because during the music that they played I felt like I was on an adventure going to different places, like I was in my own fantasy. 
Anyway, the concert was really awesome because we could participate in things and sing along with the songs they played with the different instruments.  I Wish I could experience this day over and over.  

All about me (Lei)

Hi my full name is Silaulelei Gafa but since most people had trouble pronouncing my full name my parents decided to tell the teachers to call me Lei for short. I live with 6 people, their names are Tali and Toa my parents, Pou and Vii my two sisters and my cunning brother Ronardo (no offence). At the moment it is just my dad, my brother and I that live together because my two sisters have gone down to university, and my parents work had moved down to Gisborne, my mum wanted to go work their because she got paid a lot and since me and my brother wanted to stay in Hastings for school my dad is staying with us. She is staying their for about 1 and a half years and coming back. And plus we visit her every month on the 20th.

My family is originally from Samoa, Apia as I am the only one raised up in Auckland. But when I talk I sound like I'm from the islands so no surprises their. Anyways, my favorite subjects in school are writing, reading and maths even though some of them I struggle a lot I still enjoy learning so that I can get higher as the terms go by. Anyways, my favorite subjects in school are writing, reading and maths even though some of them I struggle a lot I still enjoy learning so that I can get higher as the terms go by. I love music so much,dancing and singing even though I am not quite good at it, tennis basketball, netball, badminton, volleyball, touch rugby and swimming. I just love being active.

My goals that I really want to improve on and hopefully achieve this year is:
1) Training so hard so that I can get into the Hawkes Bay Netball team
2) Improving my maths so that I can get better and better at decimals etc.
3) Our power points, researching things and actually knowing the meaning of it.

Well that's me,Silaulelei Gafa, I have more but I will just leave it at that :).