The Actual Prize Giving

Last night was the actual night of the prize giving and honestly, I don’t remember most of it. All I remember is me having goose bumbs on my arms as I did my dance up on stage. Heaps of awards were given out and everyone finally found out who was chosen to be prefects.

I was excited once we got in the hall but once it all started, I just wanted to go outside. It was so hot and I got really irritated. It was such a long wait for the time for the year 8’s to do their dance and that’s all I really wanted to do, just get it over and done with. I eventually got tired of waiting, like everyone else so I pretty much went to sleep with my eyes open mode.

We saw a lot of performances from the different year groups and saw them get some really good awards for great effort in the arts, sports and academic achievements. I was really happy when my friends Tyla, Gloria, Kaycee and Mele were chosen to be the 2014 prefects. To be honest, I kind of knew that they would be the prefects, don’t know how.

The night was very long but it finally ended and we could all go home to sleep, that’s all I did. I was so exhausted and hot so I was relieved when I could actually walk outside to get some fresh air. Now I am in my class room, thinking about the memories that are left behind from the awesome 2013 Pt England Prize Giving.

Prize Giving Practices

Prize giving is tonight and we have been practicing a lot for our final prize giving as an intermediate student. I am very excited for tonight even though I’m not getting a prize. I would also like to see who gets a prize and see other performances from other year levels.

Like I said, we have been practising a lot and it all started at camp. Ever since then we have been practicing everyday. It kind of sucks but the teachers want it spot on, perfect! We have been very caught up in this that we hardly do anything else. I’m actually glad that the teachers try to make this perfect because I don’t want to look stupid on stage, but then again it is very annoying.

Tonight’s the big night where we show off our dance and singing skills. I will be nervous but excited at the same time. Confused emotions distract me though. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Definately a bad thing for the teachers, I know that much. I can’t wait for tonight now! Feeling: Confused emotions, mainly excited.

Netbook Reflection

Over the past year I have been able to use a netbook to learn and improve certain skills that I may need in the future. Being able to use the internet and a netbook has helped me through projects and research. I can make sure my spelling is correct, look up interesting vocabulary, use cool learning sites such as xtra math, math whizz etc. This all has helped me to progress in my learning.

I have enjoyed using google drive and blogger to publish my writing online for everyone to see and comment on, I especially like reading other stories written by people all over the school. Using netbooks is something that the world should develop because having I.T. skills is very important.

I have learnt independence by checking what I have to do through out the day on the P.E.S school site. My friends can help me aswell by sharing docs and working on them together. My teacher also helps me by using the internet to show me things from other people to learn from.

Having a netbook is also very handy because there is not as much clutter with all the stationary that schools would usually have. I have also leearn things at home such as the bermuda triangle and stuff like that. I love using a netbook and I am happy that I am able to use it next year in college.

#BootCamp

#BootCamp

The day of heading off to camp had finally come and everyone was pretty excited. Once we got on the bus, we stayed up for a little while but then most people fell asleep. I must admit, I did fall asleep but only for a little while.

We spent 5 hours in the bus and once we got off the bus we actually just wanted to go back to sleep. There really should be something called bus lag! We ended up going to our rooms and getting ready for our first activity. To be honest, I expected something fun not a boring, old bush walk. Mr Barks lied by telling everyone that it would be a short bush walk but it turned out to be 3.2 km!

After doing that and killing our legs we went to see a geyser and take a tour around the thermal pools and mud pools. It was pretty cool and really smelly. After about 1-2 hours we went back to camp and had dinner then slept. I had a lot of fun touring around the thermal pools but I was exhausted so I went into my cabin and ended up falling asleep. To be continued …

Children of our Nation Launch

Children of our Nation Launch

Waiting for this event to finally happen is mind-blowing. I can’t wait to see the final product of the movie I helped create. When we arrived in the city right outside the Westpac Building, we immediately saw a red carpet and paparazzi waiting for us to enter and start a new beginning for Intermediate Schools.

We waited for a while outside the building until everything inside was ready for us. Once we did go in we saw two amazing art peices that were in clear view for people to gaze at. We all went up an escalator onto the second floor and then a lift to go all the way up to the ninth floor.

We reached the ninth floor and went inside a confrence room. We sat down and waited for the Governor General of NZ; Jerry Mataparae to arrive so we could finally watch these movies. He came in sat down and a couple of people, plus him said a few words before we could kill the suspense and watch the movies.

The lights dimmed and the movies started to play. I was very excited to see them. The thing I had been waiting for all day was actually happened. The movies aren’t very long so they were over before you knew it. Once the movies had finished, we celebrated by eating lots of nice as food the waited for us outside the conference room. It was really delicious.

The teachers all told us to line up so we could go back to school even though they probably didn’t want to either but they knew we all had to come back. I just want the food back.

3D Printing Machine

3D Printing Machine

The newest edition to our school that Pt Englanders are proud to present, our very own 3D Printing Machine!!! It prints anything we want in a range of sizes and colours. It makes everything 3 dimentional so you can pick up and hold a cube, sphere, animals and many, many more!

I am in a group of about 10 people that learn how to run and operate one of these amazing pieces of machinery. We use a special sort of app to create models of things and send them to the 3D printer! It kind of has a mind of it’s own.

3 of us girls went to see a guy who makes 3D printers. He even uses things that he creates from a 3D printer to make a 3D printer. It is pretty awesome! It is all very complicated yet simple in a way if you get what I mean. Some of us out of the 9-10 girls went to the same guy a few weeks later to make a 3D printer with the help of a few others and brought it back to school for the group to use.

We are now learning to operate the system and keep it working the way it should. We are still learning the basics and how to make models of stuff from thingiverse. We will get the hang of it some day. I guarantee it!

Manaiakalani Film Festival

Manaiakalani Film Festival

On Wednesday the 13th of November the whole school attended a special film festival at Sylvia Park in Mt. Wellington. The school split up into their teams and headed over to Hoyts in a bus.The senior school (which I’m in ofcourse) left just after morning tea eating.

Once we got to Hoyts, we took our seat in the cinema and waited for everything to start. The first movie was room 21’s movie and was presented by Jasmine and Darius. A range of movies was presented by different people from different schools. The movies were about topics that the classes who made them chose. Every movie was cool in a way and had a message. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Unfortunately the movies stopped and we had to come back to school. I wanted to see the rest on the big screen but it’s no big deal. I can’t wait for the next Manaiakalani Film Festival!