Sarah’s Space

The annual Te Awamutu Intermediate Gala has just happened and what a good time we have had. Our class was doing our usual-Balloon Pop. We made quite a bit of money, I think, and we all helped out too. I even won a chocolate bar by hitting the balloon with one of the darts! As you can imagine it was quite hectic trying to get people out of the throwing area. But we managed.

This year we had quite a good turn out and I especially enjoyed seeing my old friends Taegan and Laura who came as well.

The theme was ‘gypsy’ although the actual gala didn’t really represent this theme. But It was still good all the same. There was one stall which was selling a range of knick-knacks. I bought a cap gun dart. It’s a metal dart shaped thing and at the end you put on the cap gun ammo. Don’t wory it was harmless. However, we did get a kick out of seeing some people jump when they saw it. When thrown at a hard surface it makes a small banging noise and has very small sparks. It was just a mere toy- completely safe.

Each class had a stall where they aimed to make as much money as possible to go towards our school. Some stalls had things like, guess which teacher was which baby photo. And things like throwing sponges at fellow students plus more. There were heaps of things to do. We even had bouncy castles, jeeps and a chair-o-plane.

Overall, a good night. Even though I think last year’s was probably slightly better. I think this was because I had lots of friends there and this time not so many came. But still I had fun.

Finally! We have finally started learning our social dances in preparation for the year 8 ball. We started off, boys on one side of the hall, girls on the other. The year 8s were excited but the year 7s didn’t really know what to think or what to expect. Josh from our class was asked by another teacher to kindly show all of the new-comers how to dance the waltz properly. He chose me, so I stood and we did a fantastic job of showing the students how to do the dance. Well, we weren’t bad at least.

We all then stood in our correct positions with our chosen boy/girl partner at hand. Some people were nervous at first, unlike my partner and I. Most people seemed to be enjoying themselves which was good to see.

Personally, I really enjoy doing social dance as it is a relaxing, fun, exciting and enjoyable way to spend some of our school time. I cannot wait til we do our next lesson. And this time it’s the girls turn to pick…

First of all, Life Education Trust is a corporation that focuses on New Zealand children learning about health and life in general. They have many mobile classrooms that visit the schools in their area. They even have a mascot, Harold the giraffe, who we have all grown to love, even though he is just a puppet. Just recently we were lucky enough to have one of the classrooms visit our school, Te Awamutu Intermediate.

Last week, on Wednesday night the mobile classroom that was currently located at our school endured severe fire and smoke damage. Local police believe that this was a case of arson and have already arrested and charged a 15 year old boy. Nicky, the classroom teacher was absolutely devastated by this awful event.

The next day, we had a special assembly to inform the students of what had happened. However, Nicky, did confirm that Harold the giraffe stopped, went down on his hands and knees and crept out the nearest exit and is just slightly singed. This did brighten up the mood but not for long…

We were all devastated and disappointed. We all felt great sympathy for Nicky. Personally, I think that the 15 year old that did this is stupid and has absolutely no respect for property or people’s feelings. And the fact that he is a teenager shouldn’t matter to police. He was fully aware of his actions and the consequences that were to come with them.

This was a very sad incident and we are already trying to raise funds for the Trust and also for Nicky. 

Those are my views.

What do you think?

Term 4 is already underway, so these are some of the goals that I am going to be striving towards this term.

I am going to pass my saxophone music exams. I will do so by practising and listening to my tutor.

I am hoping to do well in the upcoming inter house athletics events. I will do this by making the most of the athletics P.E time that we have in class.

I will work well in my inquiry group. I will do this by making sure we deal with ‘hitchhikers’ accordingly and also by listening to what other people in the group have to say.

I am going to learn how to perform our social dance’s properly. I will be able to achieve this goal if I have a positive attitude towards social dance and also by not mucking around in our dance time.

I am going to get better at English work. Not only written, but also oral and visual. I will do so by participating in discussions and focusing on my work

I will try to improve on my time management skills by starting tasks straight away and not procrastinating which I have a tendency to do at the moment.

And my last goal is to keep doing my weekly blog posts.

(I will also achieve these goals by reflecting on them every so often and also to give me a bit more of an incentive)

As the students entered the hall my palms began to sweat and sudden shivers were being sent up my spine. After the first few speakers though, I could see it wasn’t that bad and began to relax a bit more. So, when it was my turn I got up and said my speech. My topic was ‘Strange Names’. I got a few laughs from the audience and knew this was a good sign. After my speech a sudden relief washed over me. The final speeches went by very quickly and before long it was time for the judges to make their final decision.

 

In third place…

Jamie

 

Second place…

Sarah

 

And first place…

Iain.

 

I am very pleased about coming second in the speeches. Even though it’s not first it was still a good effort and I know that I have tried my best.

 

Overall, a really cluttered and chaotic week but great fun all the same. This was a very successful week for me and I am personally quite proud of all that I have achieved.

 

 

Over the past few weeks the focus of our schoolwork has been the school’s wearable arts competition. We have really enjoyed doing this competition. Well I know I have at least. The main concept for this competition is to make a garment or outfit out of recycled materials.

For this wearable arts, Milly and I chose to be a pair and complete a garment together. At first it was a little hard to get started and up and running but after we had our design ready and sorted we were set to go. With our garment we did something outrageous and wacky. We decided to make a dress, with a twist. We made it with human hair! How you ask? Well, it was an extremely long process and involved a lot of hard work. The base for our dress was an old nighty which we glued a substantial amount of human hair onto. And oh, by the way, it was sourced from the hairdressers. After we had started, we just kept getting new and improved ideas. In the end we finished, way before it had to be, though, trust me, it was NOT a rushed effort. I will keep you updated on how it all goes, but so far we’re in the school finals..

On my next post, I will also put in a photo.

Anyway, wish us luck…

Over the last term or so we have been learning about the human rights issues in China. Here is a presentation about what I think…

The Belmont exchange has just finished again for the 16th year running. We left the Intermediate last week, chattering away to ourselves. We knew we were going to have some great times over the next three days.

Once we got to Belmont, we were so excited. I was going to be staying with two other girls from my school so I wasn’t too nervous. Once I met my billet, Chelsea, I knew I had nothing to worry about. She was awesome and I soon learnt that she was American too. The night went by so fast. We went and watched the waves crash on the beachfront and went and saw some great, memorable sites and historic places. We were also lucky enough to visit one of Auckland’s resteraunts.

The next day, it was an early start for me. I was up and itching to go. We were going ice-skating today! Once we got there it was a slow start but then it was all fun and games! It was so much fun, even though the ice was so cold. Some of the teachers needed a bit of practise though.

My sport was debating which I was the leader of. Sadly we lost by half a point. They had some quite good speakers, although I do believe we should have won…

The next night was full of laughter as we made the most of our final night up in the big city. After that exchange I know I have made some life-long friends

“Police will continue today try to establish the motive for the execution-style shooting of a man in Papatoetoe, South Auckland, early yesterday.

The Maori man, 26, was shot three times at his home while walking to his front door.

The man’s pregnant partner was home at the time of the shooting, and found him collapsed, trying to breathe in spite of wounds to the head and torso.

Detective Inspector John Tims, crime manager for Counties Manukau Police, said the attack was not a random shooting.

“This looks like a planned event; there will be a reason for it and that is what we will work to establish,” he said.” -stuff.co.nz

Another criminal offense…. When will people learn? Things like these that happen in our beloved nation are a real disappointment to us all. I would like to think that I am safe in my own home, but these attacks make me doubt this. Seriously! This is really sad. No matter what the reason is for this offense, it is no excuse. No matter how much people try to stop all these serious crimes, I don’t think New Zealand will ever be immune to them, or any other country. And if this is a planned shooting, which sick mind would plan to go out and seriously injure someone?

What do you think?