HLC #5 A5. Design and create an artwork for the classroom.

A5. Design and create an artwork for the classroom.

Today I am designing an artwork for the year 7/8 hub. It probably won't go up on the wall or anything because I have made it at the END of the year so yeah. 

My design will say in the middle "Year 7/8 Hub" and it will have a pretty boarder and I will make it on paper.

HLC #4 C7. Start a new hobby, research it and make something to give to someone as a gift.

 C7. Start a new hobby, research it and make something to give to someone as a gift.

Today I chose to take up a new hobby for knitting!

 I have already created a scarf from scratch and I will give it to my sister for Christmas. I will also write a card regarding I made it myself and that it was for a home learning challenge to help get it for my distinction badge.

Student Leader Chorus box meeting #10

      Student Leader Chorus box meeting #10 

Today we had a short meeting; one, about if we got our excellence badges and who hasn't got them, and two, the chorus box ideas. Four people each day are going out to the chorus box on Ensign street to paint the first two coats on. Then i'm going out (maybe with a couple of others) to draw the design on the box. This was just a short meeting and that's what we've got so far.

The care values I showed in this meeting were: Community, Active Thinking, Excellence and Respect.

Wellington trip #9 Part 4

Wellington trip #9                             28/11/2017

                                                                  Day 4 (final day)

Today is the final day, so before starting breakfast we had to gather our things in our bunk room together and move out. Today we are one group so we get to go around Wellington with Tracy (finally).

Our activities we are doing are: The national library of New Zealand... 

The botanic gardens, and the cable cars, and flying back on the plane to Christchurch.

Starting with the cable cars, they were really fun to ride and some people had to stand up because we had to share with the public but me, Alex and Tracy got seats facing each other so it was all okay for getting up there, then we walked, once we got to the top, to a playground that we stayed at for around 40 minutes while everyone hung around and played at the playground in the botanic gardens, then finally we caught a bus and went to the airport and while we waited for our flight we took pictures with the dragon from lord of the rings, Smaug:

Then we had our flight and we travlled back safely and now i'm writing to thank everyone for this awesome trip and I had so much fun so thank you!!

Wellington trip #7 Part 3

Wellington trip #7                          21/11/2017

This is the third blog post on our trip to Wellington so if you have not already seen the one before this you can use this link to get it.

                                             Day 3

Today was the third day so we are doing what the other group did yesterday, so today they are doing we did yesterday in return. What they did which we are doing is; Going to parliament for the normal tour, seeing Te Papa floors 1-3, and going to Capital E.

We are really excited for capital E because group 2 said it was awesome!

Starting with parliament, we met Ruth Dyson and she told us about the tunnel under ground that goes from Bowen House to the Beehive so the prime minister and other ministers don't get swarmed by news reporters on their travels...
We actually got to go in there too so we experienced what most other schools don't get to see when they go there. 

In Te Papa (the national museum of New Zealand) we saw amazing things and sculptures about World War 1 in the exhibition that was on at the time. In Capital E we did some really cool stuff and I was the vision mixer so I did the transitions and got the cue from the director to change screens for different parts (e.g weather news etc...) of the live production going on.

Part 2 of 4

Our trip to wellington.

Wellington trip #6 Part 2

Wellington Trip #6                             20/11/2017

                                Day 2

Carrying on from the blog I did before this about our Wellington Trip... The next day we split off into two group, unfortunately Tracy got split into the other group with Mr. Brown and Mr. Muller; and me and Alex went into Mr. Lad

|brooks group. But that was all fine, today we were going to Parliament to do a role-play of how it works and we also got fish and chi[s afterwards that you can see in the photo here:


we also went to the reserve bank which was actually across the road.There we talked about different banks and what the reserve bank does and every question he'd ask that we were to get correct, we get a lollipop. So that was nice.
We ended the day with Going along the waterfront to the building Capital E was in and instead of doing it the first day we did something which was called the Media Lab and we did 3D computer games which was good too.

Part 2 of 4

Our trip to wellington.

Next blog post coming soon.

Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical inquiry cycle

Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical inquiry cycle.                      21/11/2017

Screenshots for IXL tasks:

Links to activities:

1. Coming up with a Question
2. Planning a fair investigation
3. Gathering Data from the investigation
4. Analyzing the data
5. Presenting the data


Modelling Book: Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical inquiry cycle

Scales, timetables and Charts

Scales, timetables and Charts

In Maths we have been learning to interpret and use scales, Timetables and charts.

Here is a link to our online modelling book.

These are the activities that I have completed as part of this learning.

• Working with Data
• Home Run
• The heat is on!
• Scale of events.
• Gigantic Jumbo.

• When and weather - the evidence of this is in my book.
• Roundabout Rugby - the evidence of this is in my book.

My next Step is to apply the new knowledge that I have gained to real life situations eg using airport/bus timetables.

Wellington Trip #5 Part 1

Wellington Trip #5                            20/11/2017

                                        Day 1

We went to wellington on the 13th of November 2017.

We journeyed on a plane to the north island where we came in to land at the capital of New Zealand; Wellington Airport.

The first day we stayed in one group and went to the national war memorial:

There we learn't about World War one (WW1) and how 
Will (a person that was in world war one wrote the story about how they survived out there and where they went and how they fought which was cool to learn about.

Next we came back to the YHA and had dinner (which was subway) and then had a long walk around the city center and learned about places we would be going the next day (like parliament) and then we had supper afterwards which was hot chocolate and biscuits and it was delicious!!

Part 1 of 4

Our trip to wellington.

Next blog post coming soon.

NZ Identity: The Treaty of Waitangi

Playing Tag #4 (Other)

                                  Playing Tag #4                               1/11/2017

Today Tracy, Alex and I found someone on the field and we asked her what was wrong. She said that had no one to play with so we let her play in our tag game (Empathy) we were playing with most of the year 7's. We had an awesome time and I'm sure the person did too (collaborating and connecting. She wants to hang out with us more so we will let her play with us in future when she wants too.

Chorus Box Meeting #8

Chorus Box Meeting #3                       31/10/2017

Today all the student leaders met with Valerie from the City council, we talked about the final preparations for the chorus box design. The happily chose my sketch as what should go on the box so I am especially excited!
She brought in paints and other materials like chalk, brushes, cloths/rags and more to paint with. 
After our awesome trip to Wellington we shall do more around the chorus box painting.

The care values I showed in this meeting were: (collaborate + connect) Community, (ask questions) Active thinking, respect and (self aware + resilient) excellence!

NZ Identity: Parliament

NZ Identity: Parliament.

As part of our New Zealand Identity unit we have been learning all about New Zealand Parliament.

Here is a link to the online modelling book for this unit if learning.

We have learned all about the different roles that people have in parliament.

Key roles in Parliament Activity: Key Roles In Parliament

Some things that I have found interesting are:

• How to vote when your 18 year old.
• What the government and opposition actually do in parliament.
• Who the speaker is, and how he/she does there work.

My next step is to see parliament in reality this/ next year on my Wellington trip.

NZ Identity: World War One

              NZ Identity: World War One

Athletics #3 (Other)

                                      ATHLETICS 2017

Athletics is coming up on the 24th of October 2017 (on Tuesday).
On The first day (Monday) back from school, we did sprints then the next day, discus and shot put, then the next, High jump, then after that, long Jump and more sprints, and finally today (Friday) we aren't doing anything today.
I am excited and nervous about athletics, Excited because I love doing high jump and long jump. But I don't think I'm very good at running fast so I'm nervous that people notice and laugh at me :(


I have now done athletics and.. I'm going to SW Zones! (Yay)
I'm going for High Jump, Long Jump, and short sprints. I probably got this far because there aren't many 13yrs in my year group and I didn't have much competition. I sort of don't actually want to go to zones because none of my friends aren't going and It might just be boring not fun. :/

Part Two: " At Zones" ... Coming Soon!

Student Leader Meeting #2

Student Leaders #10                              20/10/2017
The student Leaders and I chose the painting idea for the chorus box today. The drawing I did was this one:


And that will go on the chorus box when we meet with Val once more to get the paint brushes and the final 'Yes' to do it.
(sorry the picture is on its side, I tried)

How I thought of this picture was they wanted something to do with trees and we also have the care values, so I put those two together and came out with this idea for the chorus box!


The care values I showed Today were: Community collaborating, respecting others, active thinking questioning, and excellence self aware.

Assembly #1 (Other)

Assembly #1

I helped Mr. Muller set up the chairs for assembly today. Me and my friends had nothing to do at lunch so we helped out with assembly and worked as a team to get it done.

The care values I showed today were: Community, active thinking, respect, and excellence.

HLC #4 Design and create chorus box ideas.

HLC #4 Design and create chorus box ideas.

For this home learning challenge I had to create a design for the chorus box that is near our school. We went to the city council and decided to help our community we would stop graffiti by putting a mural on the chorus box. 
Mr. Ladbrook chose me to design that mural because everyone liked the idea I did with the tree.

I created 10 designs over the holidays so people could choose they're favourite and the one with the most people liking it will be painted on the box.  :)
The final thing I have to do today is show everyone my ideas and we will have decided the mural for the chorus box.


The care values I have showed are: Community, active thinking, excellence and respect.

Student Leaders #10

Student Leaders #9                              17/8/2017

Today is the day I show the other student leaders my ideas for the chorus box. I hope they'll like them but if not I can do more.
My favourite one I've drawn goes with the tree idea I have drawn that everyone liked and it says oaklands school in leaves, as if the leaves were on the ground and it says oaklands school out of them.

Turns out I have to do it all tomorrow because not all the student Leaders are here today :/

The care values I have showed are: Community, respect, active thinking, and excellence.

Student Leaders #9

Student Leaders #8                              14/8/2017

Today I have finished my idea for the chorus box, it is currently 10pm on a Sunday just before school starts for term 4 again.
I had to stay up really late because I have been travelling around for the school holidays and forgot about what I had to do.
I have created 10 pretty good rough sketches of ideas about what it could look like. Every one of them has been hand drawn and I am going to put them together to make one big drawing. 
Some of them have the school houses (Rata, Rimu, Miro and Kowhai) in them and some have the oaklands school logo.

I have finally completely the home learning challenge of creating this and will blog about that soon.


The care values i showed were all of them.

Student Leaders #8

Student Leaders #7                               14/10/2017

Today (last day of school holidays) they told me to create an idea for the chorus box by myself over the holidays because everyone voted for my first idea to be on the chorus bx itself.
So now I have to design the whole thing! 
My plan is to create lots of different ones so people can choose what kind of thing they'd like on the chorus box.


The care values i showed were all of them.

My Election Writing!

My Election Writing!                          27/9/2017

WALT: Write an effective argument for our chosen political party.

Is National the best party to vote for?

Personally, I think we should all vote green.

I believe Green has some awesome ideas for a healthier lifestyle for us all and here are a few policies that are going to change your thoughts about who to vote for. For instance, they want to make it safer for children to walk and cycle to school.

Making it safer for children to walk and cycle to school.

They will make it safer for children in schools by reducing the speed limit around schools, and fund walking/cycling infrastructure and a fund of $50 million would be established to fund infrastructure around schools to separate walkers and cyclists from road traffic. Which will result in happier cyclists and pedestrians because they don’t have to share the road. This is a very important policy because children will become more fit and energized when they get to school to start the school day. Another important reason why it’s important is that there will be less of a traffic jam of parents trying to drop their kids off to school because more will be coming by themselves on their bikes and scooters. Another VERY important policy from the green party is… to aim to have 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

Aim for 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

For example they plan to replace the normal way to make power with renewable options like wind, solar and geothermal power. Why this is important is because we will be less power lines everywhere because people will have solar panels on their roofs. Another reason why this is an important policy is that it will be safer to have in homes. Another very important policy to have in New Zealand is to create a whale sanctuary in Taranaki.

To create a whale sanctuary in Taranaki.

The Green Party would create a marine mammal sanctuary in New Zealand off the South Coast of Taranaki, called the South Taranaki Whale Sanctuary. The sanctuary will be the biggest in New Zealand (30,000 square kilometres). We should have a whale sanctuary in Taranaki because people overseas and in nz are hunting whales and they are slowly dieing out of existence because of this. If we have a whale sanctuary then we could save a few whale species that are going to go extinct. But, in other parties they have policies that are not as good as green’s, for example, increasing funding for maths in primary schools.

Increase funding for maths in primary schools

If national increases funding for maths in schools we will have lots of unhappy children!

If they increase the funding in maths, what’s in it for the other subjects? And…

The only reason they probably want to fund it more is because people aren’t learning it in schools as well and they want to help those people out more. But! Think about the people who have worked hard with everything they are already doing, they’ll have to do more! Let’s go over all of the positive points about voting for green again!

That about wraps it up for the reasons why the green party is the best to vote for. This is why we should all vote green. If Green takes leadership we can have children going to school safe, renewable electricity by 2030 and make sure whales don’t go extinct in New Zealand. We will live healthier, hopefully eat healthier, and stay healthier. So, are you still voting for national? Or have you changed your mind?

My next step is: To put more emotive language in my paragraphs.

Student Leaders #7

Student Leaders #7                             22/9/2017

Today Tracy and I created drawings for the chorus box idea.

She doodled a drawing about a tree and I did the Oaklands symbol.

It was a great out come yet she still didn't like it; so she's working on another one right now. 

I decided to make the design on the whiteboard, then transfer it to paper. I am preparing to show it at the next meeting.    :)

The care values i showed today were Community, Active Thinking, Respect, and Excellence!

Koru Games Reflection

Koru Games Reflection

In the Koru Games the sport I competed in was Volleyball.

Our team won 5 out of 8 games against the other schools from around the south island and overall we came 8th out of 24 teams competing overall.

I found the experience to be really fun because it's awesome competing and just playing volleyball with the other schools and it was amazing to win most games and come 8th which was awesome!

In terms of working with Individuals and Groups; my solo level is Extended Abstract because I always make sure to do my best whether in a group of by myself.

For Teamwork; my solo level is also Extended Abstract because I always do my best in all activities, sports, games, if I'm in a team.

Individuals and groups	I need help to work in a group (with teachers or other students	I can work in a group with my friends.	I can work in a group with anyone in my  year level or team	I can respond positively to the needs of others	I can reflect on how well I work with the group and seek feedback on how I can improve
Teamwork	I need help to interact with others. I need help to participate in a team.	I can interact with others one to one. I can participate in a team.	I can interact with others in a small group. I can participate and take responsibility in a team.	I can participate and take responsibility in a team and explain my choices in terms of team outcomes.	I can participate in creating healthy teams by taking responsibility and critical action.

Solve simple linear equations

Solve simple linear equations.               25/11/2016

Modelling book: Solve simple linear equations


My next step is to: Solve problems including more complicated one and two step equations.

Student Leaders #6

Student Leaders #6                             12/9/2017

Today I got an email from Val asking if we had finished our sketches for the chorus box. I showed Mr. Ladbrook and he said we will have a meeting later in the week to figure this out.

The care values I showed today were:

Community: Collaborate, connect.

Active Thinking: Seek help and act, ask questions.

Respect: Communicate.

Excellence: Be self aware, be resilient.

Student Leaders #5

Student Leaders #5                                11/9/2017

Today I put out a few flags as part of my job and noticed the annoying incident of 'other' people (not house captians) putting out the flags instead of us is better and we still have jobs to do in the morning/afternoon. We've decided that after the Quiz Night for adults and parents, we will plan for what to do next on the chorus box and go on from there. 

The care vales I showed today were:

Respect: Communication and Empathy 

Excellence: Be self aware, Be resilient

Community: Collaborate

Active Thinking: Ask Questions

Letter Writing

Letter Writing

In Writing we have been learning to: Write a formal letter.

We have followed the writing process and have planned and drafted a formal letter.

Here is a link to our online Modelling book.

This shows the process that we have followed.

Here is the letter that I have written My draft letter

Here is my reflection on the letter writing that we have done:

Reflection Writing 

One thing that I found challenging about writing formal letters was making the letter seem very formal because I have never really written a formal letter to someone important before.

My next step is: look for more opportunities to put my letter writing knowledge into practice in the future.

Appropriate Scales, Devices, and Metric Units

Appropriate Scales, Devices, and Metric Units

I can identify which metric unit is used for length, area, volume and capacity, weight (mass), temperature, angle, and time.

Link to Assessment Doc and Assessment Task

My next step is to: Explain the characteristics of scales, timetables and charts.

Student Leaders #4

Student Leaders #4                           29/8/2017

Not much to write about this week but i'll do my best...

Today I looked miraculously at the chorus box ideas that were in the google classroom, and found that most people had done what they were supposed to do, and had a few ideas for what to put on the chorus box. 

This is including:

• Having our names/our signatures on the outer rim of the box.
• Putting flowers/beautiful nature designs because this is New Zealand.
• Making it very colourful.
• and Having the Oaklands logo on top.

These are all very good ideas so I think the chorus box will look smashing! Also, aside from the chorus box, I have been doing the flags and bins most days but other people that aren't house captains have been doing it too! Which sometimes leaves me with nothing to do when I get to school. So I cannot tick off my name saying I did the flags today which I think is just a little problem we might want to look into.

Anyway, the care values I showed today were: Community, collaborate. Active Thinking, Be curious. Respect, Communicate. and Excellence, be resilient.

Thanks for Reading.  :)

HLC #3 Design your own challenge - Create a silent movie production!

HLC #1  Create a silent movie production!                    (Design your own challenge)

Tracy, Alex, Katie and I are going to make a silent movie production! (which is part of what we do every Wednesday for drama) Here is a link to our drafted script: Drama production.

We used nicknames for ourselves because we thought that would bring some fun to the document we made and for the people who read it!

The drama session is done and it went really well! :D

Student Leaders #3

Student Leaders #3                                       21.08.2017

We had a meeting today. It was short but full of details I desperately needed. You see, I was away on holiday (skiing for my birthday) and in some of the most important time at school, I could've got things done in. We talked about the chorus box we were designing in the meeting and I managed to make up a little timetable in my head for when I should do which things.
The chorus box ideas are coming in slowly as we paint a picture in our heads of what it'll look like when its done. The meeting ended with us talking over the broken Community flag and that was it for the meeting today.

The care values I showed were Community (communication), excellence (empathy) Active Thinking and respect.

Student Leaders #2

Student Leaders #2                           15.8.2017

I did the normal stuff I usually do. I would come to school, put out all the flags I need to, come into the classroom put my bag away in a cubbyhole and do my learning in the classroom. Today at morning tea someone fell over and hurt themselves, I made sure they were okay then they went to a duty teacher and after that, the office. I was happy to see them well at lunchtime and carried on playing my basketball game.

The care values I showed today were: Community and Excellence.

Reading - Evaluate Texts

Reading - Evaluate Texts

In reading we have been learning to make decisions about the usefulness of the text for purpose, by using a variety of criteria to evaluate.

Here is a link to our online modelling book

We have been evaluating texts against the following four criteria:

1. Readability
2. Accuracy
3. Relevance
4. Status

These documents show evidence of my learning during this unit:

• Author's Purpose
• Criteria to Evaluate Texts
• Evaluating a Range of Texts
• 
  

My Next Step: Is to continue to apply this new knowledge and evaluate texts as I read them, checking for readability, accuracy, relevance and quality of language/ information.