Wednesday 23 November 2011
Comic Life Visual Art
Monday 21 November 2011
Central Counties Athletics Day
On the 21st of November some of the year 7 & 8 students went to Central Counties Athletics Day. The events that were held on the day were Discus, Shot-put, Long Jump, High Jump and the running events were 1500 m, 800 m, 400 m, 200 m and 100 m.
Thursday 10 November 2011
Novel Studies
Week 3 Sausage Sizzle
Tuesday 8 November 2011
But Not For Love; Chapter 1; By Olivia
I awoke to the familiar screams of my family members on that bright Tuesday morning in early February. Outside of my window the weather was perfect (not too hot, not too cold, kinda low sixties), and it was altogether great. But inside of the window… well, that was a different story.
I pulled my pillow over my head, wishing I could drown out the argument coming from down the hall. From what it sounded like, my older brother, Carter, and my mother were arguing. Again.
After listening to this everyday for seventeen, almost eighteen years of my life, I probably should be used to awaking to the sounds of arguments and fights. Falling asleep to them too.
My mother, Amanda McLaughlin, was an alcoholic. I was used to getting calls from my mother at weekends, asking me to come pick her up from some random bar, or sometimes some of her alleged friend’s houses. You know how it is supposed to be a mother looking after her children? That’s not what it’s like in my home. Not at all.
My father wasn’t much of a parent either. He wasn’t an alcoholic like my Mother; rather he was a workaholic with a terrible temper. To be honest, I was glad when he was rarely home. He had never actually hit me, but he had come close to it a few times. When he was home, I lived in fear of doing something wrong to upset him. I was scared of his shouting when he was unhappy, but I shudder to think about what he would have done to us physically.
So, on to Carter, my brother. He was a troublemaker- always has been, always will be. He was just that kinda guy. He spent most of his school years in in-school-suspension, detention, and was occasionally caught by the cops. It was never surprising to hear he had punched someone in the jaw over something stupid, or to get a call asking for his bail. He was a bum. He was always drunk or high and ran with the wrong crowd.
With all this mess in my family, it was definitely surprising I wasn’t totally screwed up like the rest of them. I had learnt at a young age to stay away from everybody at home and try not to provoke them. At home, I was nobody. I was only good for cooking or cleaning or bailing somebody out. Thankfully, my life at school was different. I was popular, but not the mean-girl type. I was more known as the girl who was everybody’s friend and was always be there for them.
If only they knew…
Back to that Tuesday morning. Hearing those screams, I wasn’t sure I could handle it anymore. They were driving me crazy. I was almost at breaking point. I jumped out of bed, ready to tell mum and carter to shut it. But as I stepped into the kitchen, as usual I lost all my courage. Instead I just put some bread in the toaster and got ready for school.
*~*
I drive my Honda to school, thinking about how annoyed I was my family. Are you wondering how I manage to drive a decent car? Well, I worked every day for two summers just before I got my license. I bought the car on my own. I needed something to ground me, and that I could call my own.
I pulled into a car parking and grabbed my bag, hearing the last bell ring. I dashed through the doors, hurrying to class. I didn’t want to be late. I dropped into my desk just before the final bell rang, breathless.
“Hey Katy” My friend Alexis nudged me.
“Morning Lexi” I replied “How you doing today?”
She turned around in her desk to face me, and I knew I was about to hear her latest sob story- probably about a guy who had broken her heart recently. “Well…”
Our teacher, \Miss Simms, stood up from her desk.
“Alright class, let’s get started. Today we will be assigning partners for your Author Project” she grabbed a sheet of paper from her desk.
“First up, Alexis Green and Michelle Forest” The pair seemed happy at this- they were best friends.
“Next, Katy McLaughlin and Jamie Hall”. She continued on, reading the list, pairing up everyone.
“Now I will give the rest of this period for you and your partner to go to the library and pick your author. The first draft of your statement will be due Thursday.”
I found Jamie, a nice, but shy girl with thin brown hair which hung to her shoulders, and we started walking to the dusty old library.
“Sooo” she started “How do you want to do this? Do you just want to work on it at my house this afternoon?”
“Sure” I said it quickly so there wouldn’t be a chance of us working together at MY house. I didn’t want her around my family.
We chatted about which author to pick on the short walk over. We decided to do our Author Project on Louisa May Alcott, who wrote ‘Little Women’, one of my all time favorite classics. At the library we picked some books on her and split it between our two bags. Before the bell went, we decided to meet at the front gates after school and I would follow her home in my car.
I never really hung out with Jamie before. All I knew is that she lived in a nice neighborhood, her dad owned a large landscaping business, which meant they were well off, and she had an older brother. But, I had learnt to be friends with everybody, and since Jamie seemed sweet, I thought we would work together and get along fine.
*~*
The rest of the school day flew by, as usual, uneventfully. When the final bell rang at 3pm, I stuffed all my books in my backpack, and went to meet Jamie at the front doors. I found her waiting outside, trying to avoid be trampled by the mass of students rushing to their cars.
“Hey Jamie” I said with a smile.
“Hello again” she said smiling shyly back at me. “Are you ok with doing it at my house? Because if it’s not, it’s totally fine. No problem whatever”
“No, it’s fine with me!” To be completely honest , I wasn’t really ready to go home, and since I wasn’t working, going to Jamie’s place was a good excuse.
“Ok, well you can follow me home or whatever you want to do”
“Sounds great!” I replied. We walked to the car park together. She had parked two spaces down from me, so it was easy to follow her out.
*~*
We drove about twenty minutes to the nicer side of town, into a nice subdivision known as “Oak-ridge”. I knew a few people from this area, but I didn’t know the Halls lived here. I followed Jamie up the driveway that led up to a large brick house that had to be at least 3 times bigger than mine. I parked my car behind her silver Mazda, and got out. She motioned me to follow her, and I did. Jamie walked through the front door, and the first thing I noticed was the wide staircase in the foyer. It looked like it should be in Gone with the Wind or something like that.
“Wow, you have a really nice home!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’s ok. Just a second”
“She turned her head away from me and yelled “Jordan! I’m home!”
I heard a male voice coming from somewhere in the house. “Ok, whatever!”
“I have a friend home!” she yelled. Then she turned to me. “Come and meet Jordan” Jamie walked down the hall to the left, so I followed her. She went through a doorway, and we were standing in a office or study or something. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Whatever.
I could see the back of a guy’s head, and assumed it was Jordan. Over his chair, I could see his sandy blonde hair. From what I could tell, he was working on a Pages document filled with squiggles.
“Jordan” Jamie said. The guy spun around.
I was speechless. The guy was beyond gorgeous. I felt like he should be stepping out of a photo shoot instead of turning around to meet me. I self-consciously smoothed my top, and wondered what my hair was like. Oh well, I couldn’t do anything now.
“Hey,” the hot guy said. “I’m Jordan.” He stood up and held his hand out to shake mine. I pushed past my uncommon nervousness and spoke;
‘Hey, I’m Katy” I stuttered slightly.
“Jordan Hall. Nice to meet you” was his reply. He was dressed in jeans and a blue polo which bore the name of his family landscaping company, Hall Lawn and Landscapers. Looking closely, I noticed he had bright green eyes, which lit up when he smiled.
“Katy and I are working on a English project together” Jamie butted in. Jordan’s eyes flashed from her to me.
“That’s cool,” he said. “Hey, you look familiar. Do you have an older sister or brother who might have graduated with me, like almost four year ago? What’s your last name?”
Oh My Gosh. Now I’m going to need to own up about being related to Carter. AHH!
“Actually,” I began “My brother, Carter McLaughlin, must have been a year or two behind you or something. Maybe you knew each other”
“Carter McLaughlin,” he said, seeming to search his mind of a connection. “Oh wait, I remember him. Yeah. Him”
Apparently Jordan hall and my brother had not been the best friends when they went to high school together. No surprise there of course. Carter always ran with the wrong crowd… Jordan didn’t really seem like that type. But then again, you can never judge a book by its colour.
“Yeah. Him” a hint of bitterness crept into my tone. Hey, don’t judge me. It’s not easy making a good reputation for myself being Carter’s little sister. It had been more than difficult. I hope Jordan didn’t notice it. I didn’t want him thinking badly of me.
Why do I care? I just met the dude, for heaven sake! Im losing my mind!
“Well, It was nice to meet you, see you around” I was awarded with the smile briefly.
“You too” I replied, and followed Jamie out of the door.
Sunday 6 November 2011
Kids for Kids Chior 2011
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Monday 31 October 2011
CupCake Sale
On Octoer the 4th we ran a cupcake sale stand. All the money raised will be a donation to schools in Christchurch. We asked them what they wanted most, that was money so they could buy them the resources they needed. The amount we raised was a significant amount, $ 451.20 dollars.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Technology with Miss Harland
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Athlectics Training [Shotput, longjump]
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Synonyms
Lately in Room 2 we have been learning about Synonyms. A synonym is a word with the same or similar meaning. Each student got a word each and had to find synonyms that relate to the word. We then had to come up with a design with the word we got given and make that word bold (so it is the main word) and present the synonyms with it. We then got to colour in our design. The idea is to help us to develop our vocabulary for writing.
Monday 24 October 2011
Novel Study
Sunday 21 August 2011
Week 3 Term 3 Technology
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Olivia, Chloe and Melissa - Water Cycle Song
Water Cycle (Olivia, Melissa and Chloe)
Wake up in the morning seeing condensation
Grab some toast walk out the door there’s some precipitation
What I see is the steam rising from the concrete
OMG it’s really cold on our toes and our feet.
We’re talking about first there’s accumulation
then there’s evaporation
then there’s condensation (Din din din)
The the the clouds get really full (x2)
To stay out your a fool (x2)
But I’m on my way to school...
Accumulation is when all the water gathers in
Steam rises from the ground that when evaporation’s found
Condensation is here when there’s moisture in the air
Oh Oh Oh Oh (x2)
Repeat
Olivia's writing - Signed Susanne
I don’t like my family. I’m the youngest of five, and don’t believe what they say about the youngest always getting their own way. I was ‘The Accident’. You see, my parents always wanted four kids, two girls, two boys. Crazily enough, that’s what they had. Suddenly, Mother realised she was pregnant with me. It was too late; she had to go through with it. Father was gutted.
Sometimes I wonder why I was born. I have dyslexia, my oldest brother Daniel is the most gifted writer I know. I struggle with maths, and get 1’s and 7’s, and 8’s and 9’s mixed up. Valerie, she’s on an Honours Maths programme. And so on and so forth. (Picked that up from Henry). It’s like all the good traits have already been handed out and when I was born I was left with nothing.
So you’re probably wondering what a good for nothing, dyslexic kids doing writing a diary. Well, you see, I want to be remembered after I die. So other kids, girls and boys alike will see their not the only ones. Because I will most definitely die. I have Cardiac Sarcoma, or as you might know it, Heart Cancer.
It’s rare and advanced. There is a 99% chance I will die next week, in my operation. The doctor said hold onto that 1% hope, but I won’t. Mother and Father are gonna shove me away out the back of a cupboard. They call it cremating, but I think they couldn’t be bothered wasting their time and money sorting out a funeral. They have taken down the few photos of me, leaving white squares on the walls. Already, they have already repainted my small room cream, and sold or chucked away my stuff. I think they really want me to die. I do too. I will be out the way then.
Later:
So, I walked into the hospital, and asked if there was anywhere I could park my bike. The desk lady looked puzzled and asked if I was here for a cancer operation. I simply replied yes. She asked where my parents are. I had mumbled that they had been busy and couldn’t come. She looked astonished and said she would get the caretaker to lock it in the shed for me.
“Ok honey, just close your eyes and count to ten”. The doctor’s words ran around my head again. No one has ever called me that again, or spoken in a tone so gentle. So, goodbye cruel, cruel world, I thought. One, Two, Three, Fouuur, Fiveeee....
Blearily, I opened my eyes and stared at the light above me. I sat up. This doesn’t look like heaven. It looks like a hospital... Randomly, a man in a long white coat came in and congratulated me and informed me I am one very lucky girl, while a kindly but vigorous lady plumed one of the many duck- down pillows behind me.
It hit me. I’m alive. This can’t be happening. I am meant to be dead. Gone. Lifeless. Deceased. Expired. Departed. Pushing up the daises. That is why, $2 shop notepad, I am going to run. I am going to run and run and run, away from here. I can’t deal with this life, my life anymore. I feel like ripping my body from limb to limb. I feel like I need to feel something, even if it is pain. I am going to die, even if I cause it. Goodbye, reader.
Signed, Susanne
Author’s Note:
We don’t know what happened to this child. She simply disappeared. One of the nurses found this slipped under the mattress of her deserted hospital bed. Suzanne’s parents never enquired for her. Child Physiatrists show that Susanne had a serious case of depression. Police are searching lakes and woods. R.I.P Susanne, wherever you may be.
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Water Cycle Song
Friday the 13th Writing
Friday the 13th
“Mum can we go get a parrot today”? Jim asks.
“Sure we can son. I’ll just take you down to the pet
shop mum replies.
“Mum look at this one he is so cute”. Can we get this one?”.
Sure we can! Mum said enthusiastically.
When they took the parrot home they fed it some bird seeds
but they fed it too much.
The next morning the family went to visit New Zealand for a holiday but they couldn’t afford to take the parrot.When the parrot realised it wasn’t going. It’s eyes turned red with anger and it started to grow bigger and bigger. Suddenly it smashed it’s cage and it smashed the house into tiny chunks. But the owners had already left on their holiday.
Suddenly the mutant Parrot lets out a enormous screech. It was so loud the next two houses windows got smashed as well. Everyone on the street came out to find a fifty feet tall evil parrot going on a rampage through the middle of town. It was destroying everything in it’s path.Now since the parrot has destroyed all the food stores it starts to charge at the people of the town and the parrot looks very hungry. The police have called in the attack helicopter to try take down the humongous bird. The helicopter fired three missiles but that only stunned the bird for a short while.Then the army brought their tank in. It shot the bird five times. Finally the huge bird was down and out. After that they got four big cranes to take the bird and put it on to a carrier ship to take the bird and dump it in the middle of the ocean.
The week after that the family to find their house and town was gone. They stood there silently then the little boy said sadly “Maybe its really Friday the thirteenth!!!!”
Monday 16 May 2011
Auckland Champs - Orienteering
Wow, what an amazing day we had at the Auckland Orienteering Champs. We did so well to have 30 students qualify. This is our best sporting result yet!!! This is Connor and Katie coming up to the finish. They did amazingly. For all the students that went to orienteering, tell us how you felt when you heard everyone cheering and when you could see the finish line.