Kelly Tarlton's

It was Monday 1st November 2010 at 5:30pm. We arrived at the school and went tearing into the hallway outside our library. Miss Samson was NOT happy with us because she was in the middle of a "whānau hui” about the hikoi to Rotorua she was taking some of the students on. We left our bags in the hall and then gapped it to the shop.

6:00pm we loaded ourselves and our luggage onto the vans.  Mr Kopa-Katene and Mr Furivai drove us to Kelly Tarlton's, then they went back to school and picked up everyone else.

First up was Steve. He was in charge of us.  He told us about the dos and don'ts at Kelly Tarlton's and then he talked to us about penguins.

Next stop, the NIWA Interactive room. We got to look at different animal skins up close with a microsope, get squeezed like we were being held by the tentacles of a squid and play fooseball.

What happened next? We got to feed the fish. I was the first up. The fish came for the food, I got a fright and dropped the fish food. Everyone laughed.

Kelly Tarlton's was really cool. The only thing I didn't enjoy was everyone staying up really late. We were all tired the next day. Miss Samson took us back to school and said we were going to continue with a normal classroom programme because of our behaviour.

Labour Day

Wow! Labour Day! 2010 was the best year for Labour Day for me.  Do you want to know why? ......  Not going to tell you, you'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Monday morning my dad woke me up at 6:00am to feed our dogs.  I got up, but I was really grumpy because I still had a couple hours of beauty sleep to get to.  We had to go allllll the way to Onehunga because the dogs live with my nana.

On the way to my nana's house my sister texted me to tell me that my friend Luana was at home waiting for me.  This was the best thing ever because it meant I could get my dad to take me back home and I wouldn't have to feed the dogs.  My dad turned the car around and then we rushed back so that I could speak to Luana.

I spent the whole day with Luana, just chilling out, relaxing and talking about all the exciting stuff we were going to be doing this term.

Riders On The Storm - Floods

Sophia, Talivaka and I studied floods for Term 3.  Miss Samson gave us 2 weeks to find the information we needed, write a script, sketch a story board, gather and film our video footage and put it together.

Girls Open Grade Representatives

Five Tamaki Intermediate Girls Open Grade Rugby players were fortunate enough to be selected to be in the South-East Auckland Girls Open Grade Representative Team.

On Saturday 11 September 2010 four of us met Miss Samson and Mo at Tamaki Intermediate at 9:00am. We loaded ourselves into Miss Samson's car and then we were all off to Royal Oak Intermediate to challenge the West Auckland Girls Open Grade Rep. Team. (It was just as well that we left early because we got lost on the way.)

We were all eager to play because its been a long time since we've played.

When we arrived both teams went into the hall at Royal Oak. Shawnee (sorry if it's spelt wrong) instructed us what to do, we were given our uniforms and then we went to put them on.

After 15 minutes of hair braiding we went out onto the field. Our coach Craig met us there and started to warm us up for the game.

The game was fast and furious and after 40 minutes neither team scored. We went into over time. Tensions were high because both teams really wanted to win. Within 10 minutes of the over time East scored and converted first. With only 2 minutes to go West scored but luckily for us they did not convert their try.

At the end of the game both teams came together, did one massive cheer, had photos together and then we went into the hall, got changed, got presented with an Auckland Rugby Union t-shirt and had a feed.

We had an awesome time.

THANKS MO! THANKS CRAIG! THANKS MR UTANGA! FOR COACHING US.

THANKS MISS SAMSON FOR TAKING US TO OUR GAME.

Flood Evacuation Plan

Just in case a flood happens you will need to keep calm and have an evacuation plan for you and your family to learn.

First Make sure everyone knows the emergency phone numbers and when to call them,
Second Learn the quickest and safest way from your home or school to high ground.
Third Make sure you have organised housing for you and your family if you need to evacuate your home,
Fourth Make sure everyone in your family knows some pre-arranged meeting places and phone numbers just in case they get separated,
Fifth Teach everyone in the family how to turn off the gas, electricity and water mains.

Fire Evacuation Procedure

There is a fire at your school and you don’t know what to do?
Here is a step-by-step procedure.

Step 1 The fire emergency bell rings.
Step 2 Stand and start making your way towards the emergency exit.
The teacher is the last person out of the classroom and will make sure that all of the windows and doors are closed.
Step 3 When you are out of the classroom make your way down the stairs and head towards the netball courts.
Step 4 Sit down in your class lines when you arrive at the netball courts.
Step 5 Wait patiently while your teacher marks the class roll to ensure the whole class is there.
Step 6 Keep quiet, listen and do what the adults tell you to do.

Do not run. Keep calm.

Bob McDavitt - The Best Guest Speaker

We learned a lot of things the day Bob McDavitt came to speak to us about the weather.
When my class walked into the hall and I saw him I thought that it was going to be boring. When he started talking and giving us information that I didn’t know it got more and more interesting.
By the time I left the hall I thought he was the most interesting person I had ever listened to.

Bob McDavitt - Rain and Clouds

The most interesting part for me was when Bob McDavitt talked about how rain is formed.
Did you know that rain in New Zealand actually starts as snow? By the time it makes its way through the clouds and sky to us it has melted so much that it is just water.
My favourite part was when he started to talk about all the different clouds. Clouds like: cumulus, nimbus, stratus and other cool clouds we had never known about. He showed us some pictures on the big screen of the different clouds and gave our teacher a poster about the clouds. I liked that because we did more studying about them in class and got to work using the poster.

Bob McDavitt

Bob McDavitt is a Met Service Weather Ambassador.  He spoke to us about all the different things to do with weather.
He talked to us about things like: the affects of weather on the environment, the causes of different weather disasters, jobs that a person can get based on weather and how weather is formed.

Let's Talk About It - Term 2 Reflections

The worst thing that happened to me in Term 2 was when I was running on the stairs while it was raining. I slipped in front of everyone. It was really embarrassing. What did I learn from this? Ooh aahh walk don’t run. Hahaha.

The best thing that happened to me was when I faked that I had a sore leg and didn’t have to run for fitness with the whole school. The dumb thing about it was that my teacher saw me running around at morning tea and made me do fitness all by myself during lunch eating. What did I learn from this? Uuummm. Don’t lie because you’ll get caught. Heh heh.


The most interesting thing that happened to me was when I paid my netball fees but did not get to play. I’ve been moaning all week even when ORPHEUS (the ONLY house that rocks) kept on winning. What did I learn from this? Nothing really.

I Am The King Of The Mountain - Term 2 Runner Like No Other

For two months a few select people of Tamaki Intermediate had been training for a 5km run. It was cool. Training started at 7:30am every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. After training we would go back to school, have a shower and then have breakfast ... IN THE STAFFROOM ...

Sunday 27th June 2010 those special people attended a special running race in Panmure called “King of the Mountain”. We had to be at the starting line by 7:30 am. When I got there Miss Popata (our coach) told us to do some stretches before the race.
Miss Samson, our head cheer leader arrived late. Some students missed out on the run because they didn’t show up, but the rest of us still went on.
A French man warmed all the runners up with an exercise routine known as “ZUMBA”. We started with some basic moves like waving our arms up and down to the music. After these moves we did some Latin dance moves like the MUMBA.
When zumba was finished I was all hyped up and ready for the run up Mount Wellington. John Banks, the mayor of Auckland city was ready to blow his horn so we could go. He yelled “On your marks. Get set. Go!!”.
Everyone ran like crazy. The worst for me was running up the hill. My legs started to get tired and they felt like they were dead. Taiapa got in front of me on the hill.
When we got down the other side I was ahead of him and he yelled out for me to run with him.
I said “Nah”, so he sprinted off and overtook me.
Thanks to Miss Popata and Miss Samson for giving up their time to organise, train and feed us while we were training. Also thanks for giving up part of your weekend to cheer us on.
It was a cool experience. Especially at the end when we went into the family bar at the Landmark and got spot prizes. Heaps of the Tamaki Intermediate kids got prizes. We’re that good.

The Cause Of Bullying In Schools - Term 2 Explanation Writing

A lot of things can cause bullying in schools. Some students bully other kids because they are just mean or they are hurt physically or in other ways at home. While some people bully because they were bullied by bigger kids at their school and no one really did anything about it.

Nike Rocks Advertising World - Term 2 Speech

Ko Maungarei te maunga. Ko Waipuna te awa. No te Kurawaenga o Tamaki ahau. No Mangaia ōku matua tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. E ngā manuhiri,nau mai haere mai. Haere mai ki tēnei marae ō tātou. Haere mai i raro i te korowai ō te rangimarie. Ka nui te koa me te hari ki te kite i a koutou. Everyone knows about Nike. That, is how famous they are. Hopefully by the end of my speech you will know a bit about Nike and the advertising side of Nike and how good they are at it. Nike was originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports. Nike produces a world wide range of sports gear. Nike has a slogan that is well known in the world. The slogan is “JUST DO IT.” This slogan is so famous that now people are using it in their everyday language. This slogan is now more than just a slogan it is now a motto or a catch phrase. It was first created in 1988. The other famous advertising thing that is well known by the world for Nike is ... the BIG TICK. It is everywhere. It is on shoes. It is on t-shirts. You name it. If it is made by Nike then the tick is somewhere on the item. 1982 was when Nike made its first TV ads. Their TV ads were so good they won 2 Cannes Advertising Festival awards for “ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR” and they won an Emmy award for the “BEST COMMERCIAL”, twice. Nike pays a lot of famous sports people like Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and André Agassi to wear and use their stuff. These people get seen and it makes us want to buy the things they are wearing. Why? Because WE ALL KNOW THEY’RE FAMOUS!! These are some of the tricks of advertising that Nike use. They are so good at it that they are worth millions of dollars. Buyers need to be aware because we are getting things that might not be worth the money we pay for them. Is $500 for shoes worth it just because of a tick or because a famous person wears it? I don’t think so. What do you think? No reira kua mutu taku kōrero tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

MY WONDERFUL MUM

My mum is very important to me. She is a very entertaining mum.

She encourages us to try hard at everything we are part of.

She takes us shopping and buys us new things. She is such a funny mum to go out shopping with.

Every day she always makes sure that we have lunch. Lunch is important because it helps me to think at school.

My mum always says “No matter what happens to you I will still be there for you.”

I will always love my mum in my heart and because of that she will always be with me forever.

Two Merge or Not Two Merge

None of us liked the idea of NZ combining with Australia because we are different. We have our own sports teams, history and culture.

What are we going to call our rugby team? The Wallaby Blacks or The All Wallabies? Will we be combining the NZ colours of black and silver with green and gold? That would look wierd.

NZ people think and act differently to other people in the world. On a lot of websites NZ is in the top 5 of the safest countries in the world. Australia isn't even in the top 10. If we combine with them we'll lose that rank.

NZ and Australia have their own animals, histories and cultures. They celebrate the Aborigine people. We celebrate the Maori people. They have the emu. We have the kiwi.

We are different. We should stay the way we are so we can keep celebrating those different things. Waitangi Day or Australia Day? We think Waitangi Day is better.

United States of New Zealand

For reading our group looked at a newspaper article from the New Zealand Herald. The title was:

Australia and NZ merger 'inevitable'.

The article was about Australia and NZ combining together. A research group asked NZ people and Australian people if they like the idea of NZ becoming a state of Australia. We came up with the name USA (United States of Australia) for the new country. Our teacher said that name was taken, so we thought a better name would be USNZ. The United States of NZ.

Room 8 Students