Holiday Happiness!

Camp Bentzon Highlights!

Kawau Island was a very exciting destination because I have never been there before. Have you ever had the opportunity to visit Kawau Island? If not, you really do need to plan a trip there as it is a beautiful place with lots of adventure.
When we finally arrived I was excited and tried to help everyone with everything. We did eventually transfer all of our luggage and food for the week from the ferry to the lodge.

Of all the activities that I got to participate in, sailing was my favourite. After a short time practising on a sailboat, we sailed to a seawall and then on to an old boat on the shore. I was going at least 5KM and it was so much fun! As I was sailing at great speed, I was yelling “yeah buddy”! I truly had fun learning to sail.

Abseiling was also a highlight from camp even though it was a significant challenge for me. Why was this such a challenge? (you might be asking yourself). Well, let's just say that when I hear the word "heights"... I begin to sweat profusely! Yes, that's right, I am afraid of heights. As afraid as I was, once I got to the top, I was determined to get to the bottom. As I began to abseil down, I felt like I was power walking on the wall. Determined to get to the bottom, I eventually made it.

Every afternoon except for Thursday, we were allowed to go for a swim and jump off the pontoon. When we jumped off the pontoon I always made a funny face. Once when we were on this platform, everyone was on one corner of it and almost made the water cover the pontoon. Jumping off was both fun and exciting.

I felt good at the end of the week, but sad at the same time because I didn’t want to leave camp Bentzon. I enjoyed my time and can’t wait for next time. Kawau Island was a great experience for me. I had an awesome time and I know that you would too!

Learning Can Be Done...ANYWHERE!

This is our classroom entry for the Manaiakalani film festival 2011. It will be shown on the "big screen" at Sylvia Park movie theatre today, with daytime viewings as well as an evening show. We had a lot of fun while we were bringing this idea together and we hope that you enjoy viewing it as much as we enjoyed making it!

A special thank you to the Pakuranga Place Maker store along with the Lloyd Elsmore Park for allowing us to shoot at their store and facility. We couldn't have done it without you!

We've been learning some badminton!

We enjoyed several sessions of badminton this term. Coaches came to the school and taught us the basics of this great game. This video highlights some of the things that we learned during our sessions.

Happy Canada Day!

July 1...Canada Day! We have been learning some bits and bobs about this great country over the last few days and were given the opportunity to share some singing with the rest of the school today at our assembly. First we sang the Canadian National Anthem, and then followed it with a catchy little song titled "Proud to be Canadian." Proud, honorary Canadians is exactly what we are today as we celebrate with our teacher, Mr. Canada himself. We hope you enjoy our movie.

Just Believe

Edit With The Stars!

Edit With The Stars! from Team 4 Pes on Vimeo.

This is a video that highlights Room 18, and our growing ability to edit our writing. We work hard to improve and expand our vocabulary, and as this video shows, we have great fun along the way! Sit back, kick back, relax, and don't forget to chillax while you enjoy our fantastic efforts like we know our good friend Mr. Bieber did.

Great Times With Tamaki College!

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Tamaki College and do some activities with the Year 12 students. They took their valuable time and showed us some interesting games. Even though we were considerably younger, they made us feel important.

Some of my favourite things that we did were... statues, bullrush and basketball. My absolute favourite, was when we had to search for letters to spell out a sentence. We didn't win, but it was still a great game.

When we met for our last session, we were surprised with a gift of delicious treats. It was a thoughtful gesture, and the treats were tasty!

I had an incredibly awesome time with these guys, and I hope we are able to meet again sometime in the future.

You Better Believe Our, Bigger,Better,Stronger,Faster, Topic This Term

My ears were stuck to Mr Burt, tuned in to the announcement that he was about to proclaim. I was full of anticipation, and when I finally heard what our topic would be, I knew instantly that it was going to be exciting! The name of our topic…(drum roll please) is Bigger, Better, Stronger, and Faster.
So this is how all the hullabaloo began. After relaxing in the holidays, on the 2nd of May, all of our teachers dressed up crazy, trying to explain the schools new topic for this term. It will be fascinating because we will get to learn about advanced technology. I’ve got the feeling that I am going to have an extremely awesome term.

Bring On The Easter Hunt

Even though I was really busy over the Easter holidays, nothing really eventful happened. On the first Sunday of the break, I was asked to help my auntie make food for our Easter celebration. I didn't really help her “make” the food, I just helped her “with” the food. In fact, I only helped her make the potato salad. What I did do though, was rap and hide the eggs for our easter hunt. Before we could begin this adventure, we had to complete a difficult task...everyone HAD to enjoy some ice-cream. Tough job! When I was finished setting up the hunt for the younger children, I had to first set the table, and then make sure that the little ones had everything they needed in the living room.
I also had to make sure that they all had seven Easter eggs in their little Easter bags that they are going to use when we go on our easter hunt. When I finished I had got a big shock because my auntie yelled out my name “Hainite!’’
I answered back “I’m coming”, and then she reminded me that I still had to go and hide the 10 big easter eggs in all the trees, branches, and leaves. Ten minutes later, my mum,sisters and brothers arrived from church, and I ran to change my clothes. I then ran downstairs, and saw everyone coming out of the van. I remembered that there were still two more giant Easter eggs in the kitchen, so I ran and I put them in the fridge, safe from my two little sisters and their incredible love of chocolate.
Soon everyone was ready, so my grandpa said a prayer, and we were for some delicious kai. When everyone had finished eating, it was finally my favourite part of the day... the easter hunt! At that moment, I knew that I was going to find the most easter eggs, because after all, I was the one that set it all up!

Point England Values!

We have been working to design some art that is all about our Point England Values. This slide show highlights all of the creative talents from Room 18, and will be part of our blog wallpaper as soon as we have all completed this assignment. Be sure to check back to see our new and improved blog.

Values Comic!

While we have been learning about values, we have also been learning about Comic Life! We put the two of them together and this is what we came up with. Be sure to check back to catch the comic of the day.

Acrostic Values!

Wondering what values are all about? Read this acrostic poem and maybe it will help you to understand them a little bit better.

Serving others
LeArning is important
ResponsibiLity is Taking Charge
Using valUes in your life is important
HopE for great things to come
Honesty means that people can trust you?

Values are truly important? Just wondering... how visible are they in your life?

Please let us know what you are thinking about values!

Point England Values!

Our school year is off to a great start and we have been learning about values. What do you know about values, and how would you explain this to others? Tough task, isn't it? We have nine values that we have been working with, and are putting together presentations to help explain how each of them "looks", "sounds", and "feels". Be sure to check back and give us your thoughts on the many values that we are learning about.

The Beach Trip

“Yes were here,” I shouted as I got out of the car and onto the sand. As I got into the water it was freezing! The waves hit me so hard I got a fright as I nearly fell deeper into the water. My little cousins were playing in the sand and as the gross seaweed touched them they were scared.
My brother and I had a swimming contest, I won the first match then he won the last match. When we got out of the water we found black sand. We were making sand castles with our little cousins and my Pop. That was a lot of fun at the beach, I really hope we can go to the beach again.