No Hat, No Play! by Jack Daniel

Since Summer is approaching, sweatshirts and trousers are now BANNED! The sun is shinning everywhere around Auckland and I haven't seen a drop of rain around. At Ruapotaka School, hats are to be worn at interval and at lunchtime play. Not only are students wearing hats, but so are teachers on duty.

"No Hat, No Play," is a simple rule used for sunny days like these ones. Students without hats sit under the shelter, to keep nice and cool, on a hot day. The sun is going to burn off for a hard 3 months (November, December and January) and going to the beach or pools in the holidays would be appropriate.

Reminder: Hats are to be worn on heads at all times, and it is not a glove.

🛠 The Switch Over (Tech) 🛠 by Jack Daniel

Today was the day that the year 7's and 8's switched over to a different activity at Tamaki College's Technicraft. The year 7 students all attended Mr Pineda's 'Graphics' class, which was our previous class. The year 8's including myself, proceeded to Mr Grundy's Workshop and our particular topic is currently glass.

Of course Mr Grundy WARNED us students about what would happen if we didn't follow the rules with respect - We would get either burned, cut, or hurt. Mr Grundy has very strict rules which are intended to protect us.

Our first task was drawing our designs, and mine was not too bad. My favourite sketch was a castle. I'm thinking of using that design to use for my glass activity.

Orienteering Is Back! by Jack Daniel

Orienteering is finally back, and it's been four, long years since we've last done it. Our guide or teacher, was Mr Leon and he showed us a few symbols or icons on the map of our school. On the first day, Mr Leon gave us all a clip card. All clip cards were unique because they each had different numbers.

It was a bit complicated at first because the clippers were not in alphabetical order, but I managed to execute it and not place last. It was fun simultaneously. The same day, we all trotted around the school with maps, and found each base.

Unfortunately, people had their map taken off  them because it was not facing North. The following week, Mr Leon came back and handed us all a clip card and a map. We had to clip the card by using the map to find our destination.

I had heaps of fun and it was fun doing orienteering after four years.
   Orienteering (First Lesson)

   Orienteering (Second Lesson)

🎤 The New 'Lip Sync Battle' Champions! 🎤 by Jack Daniel

I have never witnessed an assembly so fascinating and exciting as the one I had seen on Monday (08/05/17). There were entertaining dancing, award-winning students and even hosts that were loud and clear. On Monday, the syndicate assembly was spectacular.

Room 12 were the hosts, and Rooms 11, 10 and 9 were the audience as well as their teachers. We had another lip sync battle and this time, Room 11 (The former L.S.B champions) were defending their prestigious title against the other classes.

Here were the contestants:
Room 9 - Jacob and Diego (Options)
Room 10 - Dominic and Peni (Let It Go)
Room 11 - Meafou and Vika (Rolex)
Room 12 - Mika and Lupe (Rolex)

The winners and new Lip Sync Battle Champions were Dominic and Peni from Room 10. Their performance and effort was super entertaining and they should be proud of themselves. The belt was passed to Room 10.

 

🍳 The Return Of Technicraft! 🍳 by Jack

Last week on Wednesday, (The first week of Term 2) we started Technicraft at Tamaki College again. The last time we went to Tech was in Week 9 (Term 1). On the first day back, we made truffles.

The truffles were the easiest and quickest recipe so far. The ingredients were oreos, coconut, condensed milk and chocolate. First we broke the oreos, then put them into a bowl. Then we added some coconut and poured milk on top of the crushed cookies.

After that, we mixed them together and put the bowl into the refrigerator to cool it down. Next, we melted the chocolate in a separate, smaller bowl in the microwave. We then took the two bowls out of the refrigerator and microwave.

Finally, we rolled the truffles into balls, and applied the topping which was the melted chocolate. Lastly, we rolled the truffles into more coconut. I made four chocolate truffles. They tasted sweet and appertising. I enjoyed the first tech of Term 2.

🏅 First Award For Term 2!! 🏅 by Jack

On Monday, there was quite a special assembly. This was because it was the first time back to school after the Term 1 holidays ended for 2017.

Over the holidays, there were two very important events. Easter Day and Anzac day. Anzac Day was important to us because we had learnt about the topic and even had our own special ceremony in the multi-purpose room.

Sadly, I couldn't attend the ceremony because I had left early. Anyway, after we sang our national anthem, three special people from specific classes (Rooms 1, 11 and 12) were called up to the front of the audience and received a book and a certificate.

I was one of the students who earned a book and a certificate. The book was called D-Day, which was based on World War Two. After school, I read the first five chapters of the story. It's a really interesting narrative, that involves a lot of complex vocabulary.

I'm looking forward to reading more of the story in my free time and find out what will happen in the conclusion.

😂 Too Much Laughs With Our Hilarious Visitor 😂 by Jack

On a Thursday morning, a person by the name of Robert Rakate, and Henry visited Ruapotaka.

It was a bit unexpected, because Mrs Pederson said that as she was walking out of the staff room she saw them and invited them to our Duffy Assembly. Robert Rakate used to work for the Mai.FM radio station. 

We saw Henry last time, at Tamaki Primary School. They were both very entertaining and funny. The room filled with laughter, joy and excitement every time Robert Rakate stood up and said something. He told us stories about his favourite stories and his year eight son. His favourite book growing up was Astrix. I have never heard of that book, but it sounds pretty interesting.

He inspired me to keep reading books in the near future and stay on my 'A' Game. When we recieved our Duffy Books (My last one for Ruapotaka School) it reminded me of all the memories of the other Duffy Books I had while growing up. 👍

                                                    Link To More Photos →Click Here

🎥 Te Oro Slide Presentation 🎥 by Jack

A couple of weeks ago, some students from Rooms 11 and 12 had the opportunity to form a group and make a slide presentation for Te Oro. Only the best of the best were picked.

The people who were great artists and great writers. They were Me, Mika, Saluselo, Athens, Meana, Maia, Katrina, Min Zin and Isabell. During the first few days, we spent time organising our ideas on what we wanted to do on the slide.

My ideas were to make a pie graph of our local pests, and also a banner. I used different colours for each slide. Our main purpose was to make it interesting, unique and entertaining.

Two more weeks are left and we will be  working on doing a voice over. I can't wait to see our amazing slide show.

First Senior Syndicate Assembly For 2017!!! 😁 by Jack Daniel

On Tuesday 7th February 2017, was the first ever Senior Syndicate Assembly of 2017.

Room 12 (My Class) hosted the assembly and it was amazing and entertaining. Firstly, Lupe introduced everyone to our assembly and welcomed Ms Riley because it was her first ever assembly with the senior block.

After a couple of lines from the students in Room 12, we sang our first song called 'Be Happy' by Velody. After that song, Lupe presented the certificates for people who did better than before. Vaimoana and Timote received the certificates in our class.

After the certificates were handed out to the students who were better than before, Azahar called on the dancers from each class to dance to their selected songs. Soon after this, Room 9 danced to 'Juju On That Beat.' 

Next, Rooms 10 and 11 danced to the same song as Room 9. Lastly, Room 12 danced to 'Hit The Quan.' Finally, we sang another song called 'Lean On Me.'

It was a great assembly to start the year off. 

Testing Is Over! 📄 by Jack Daniel

Today was the very last day of testing for 2016. We had so many tests like the E-asttle Writing Test, B.U.R.T Reading Test, Probe Reading Test, Measurement Maths Test, Algebra Maths Test and a couple more.

For the tests (Measurement and Algebra), I had the top mark. For the Measurement Test I had 39/40 and for the Algebra Test I had 32/40. However for the other tests I don't know what my results are yet.

I hope I receive a good mark for other tests.

During The Holidays by Jack Daniel

In the holidays I went to Waiheke Island. My family and I woke up at seven o'clock in the morning, and we drove to the train station in Glen Innes. We waited for a few minutes after my dad bought the tickets for the train. Eventually, the train arrived and we hopped on board. We were heading to the city so we could catch a ferry on Waiheke Island.

When we disembarked, we had to quickly buy breakfast and wait near the checkout. We quickly ate our breakfast and then had to board the ferry. During the ride, I saw splashing waves and amazing views. When we arrived on Waiheke Island, we went through the forest. We also saw people in the forest. My family and I walked for a few minutes and finally found a restaurant.

They had some nice food on the menu. Later we ate and we went back down the forest and to the bus stop. Next stop we went to the beach. After the beach we went back to the ferry. Soon after a few minutes, we went back home.

What a fun and exhausting trip.

Lava Lamp Science Experiment by Jack Daniel

On Wednesday we did a science experiment making a Lava Lamp. We had split up into groups and tried to figure out ways to make a lava lamp. We typed down our aim, hypothesis, ingredients and results. For some of the groups it worked out but unfortunately for the other groups, it didn't work out. 

Fruit Kebab Movie by Anavea

Two weeks ago we were put into two teams to make a movie about Healthy Foods.

We had to make a movie that was about two minutes long. Before we could make it we had to plan out what we were going to be doing. It took us about three days to plan it. When that was done we had to practice our lines. All of us had about three days to practice our lines, before we could start making our movie.

Heilala and I brought in some fruits to use for our kebabs.Once the movie was made we were able to add music to the storyboard. We had about five days to do this. Once that was done we had to publish it. Well done!

Going To Tech by Jack Daniel

Every Wednesday for the last two weeks, the Year sevens and Year eights have been going to Tech. Tech is when we go to Tamaki College to learn about new things and create some drawings, cooking, modelling etc. 

When I had hopped off the bus I saw a lot of people who used to come to Ruapotaka School. I was in the Graphics Class and my teacher was Mr Pineda. My favourite activity was drawing diagonal lines in boxes and it looked like a flower. In my group are, Mika, Timote, James, Athens, Lupe, Meana,  Azahar and Me.