Graduation Mass

Yesterday we had our Graduation Mass. It was a bitter sweet occasion because I was graduating. All of the year sixes presented a leadership candle to the year fives. After that Frankie had a speech. Once she had finished we got into our positions for our dance. We did our dance to the song Time Of Our Lives by Tyrone Wells. We had spent a lot of time practicing it and it paid off. Then the chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Then she and Miss Gleeson presented each of the year sixes with a present. Then we walked out of the church doors for the last time.

Sherbet

Today in science we made sherbet. We used four different ingredients. Icing sugar to make it sweet. Baking soda to make it fizz in your mouth. Citric acid to make it tangy. Tartaric acid to make it sour or tart. Before we started Mrs Drummond made us taste the ingredients individually. Lots of people ran out to get a drink. Then we started to mix. First we did a spoon of icing sugar, a spoon of baking soda, a spoon of citric acid and a spoon of tartaric acid. We tried it and thought it was a bit to sour so in the next batch we added a spoon more of icing sugar but didn't change anything else. When we tried the next batch I thought it was the perfect recipe. The other people in my group didn't agree so we tried another recipe. This time the rest of my group thought this was the perfect recipe. I had to agree it was pretty good but it wasn't my favourite. It was a really fun activity.

Six60 Tour and Top Hits

In topic we are learning about New Zealand bands and artists. We have a passport which has lots of different activities that we have to do to earn 200 points. There are six different ways to think. All of the activities are worth different points. One of the activities was planning a two week tour for a New Zealand band. I chose to do Six60. I made a poster that advertised when the concerts were and the dates. I also made a calendar and planned out when they would travel, when they would travel and where they would stay. It was a really fun activity and it got me to 200 points.
Another one of the activities I did was listing ten NZ artists and their top hits. I found it fun to see which of their songs was the most well known.  I did a variety of artists like Dave Dobbyn, Lorde, and Gin Wigmore. It was a fun activity and got me finished. Here are some photos of my work.

Persuasive Writig

This term we have been learning how to write a persuasive piece of writing . This is my persuasive about why children shouldn't have homework.

Every night all across the world children sit down at a table or desk and work through their homework. Trying to get it all done so they can watch tv or read a book. Barely able to concentrate because they can hear the sounds of the tv or their siblings playing outside while they’re stuck inside doing work. So today I’m going to tell you why we should ban the most dreaded torture for children. Homework.

Firstly, children work hard at school so why should they have to come home and do more work. They should have time to relax and do what they want. Whether that is reading a book or climbing a tree. Kids should have freedom after school. Some kids like homework so it should be available to them. Whereas other hate it with a passion.

Secondly, many children have after school activities like sport.This means they don’t have much time to do their homework. Kids that have lots on stress about if they’ll get it done. If homework was banned it kids that are busy wouldn’t worry about homework.

Thirdly, homework is soooooooo boring. It’s usually just the same thing you’re learning at school. So you’re just doing the same thing over and over. Your homework is probably what you did at school that day. You would want a break from that work and also let the information sink in.

As well as this, homework can keep you up late. This is really bad as you need at least ten hours of sleep a night. So if you’re up late doing homework it is bad for you. The next day you’ll probably be cranky which will annoy your parents. This can lead to upsetting your whole family.

Lastly, homework can make you antisocial. After school kids should be able to spend time with their families. But instead they have to do homework. If it's a nice day they should be able to go outside and play with their siblings or parents outside. Or if its a rainy day they should be able to snuggle up in front of the tv with a cup of hot chocolate.

Some schools have banned homework for their younger students. This is a step towards banning homework for good. The school that first banned it said they wanted kids to go home, play outside, eat dinner with their families and go to bed early. This proves that there are some teachers out there that think homework is bad for kids and that we need to ban it.

As you’re a probably a kid that reading this you’re more than likely nodding your head in agreement. Is this because you’re really busy or because you hate homework. But you could be one of the kids that likes homework. Whoever you are remember you should have freedom after school, the right to push yourself to play sport, spend time with your family and generally have fun.

World War One Study

This week in class we did a World War One study. We got replica items of things in the first world war, Maggie and I got a map and a diary. Here is the information we gathered about each of them.

The Sons of Moray Place

In Dunedin there is a street called Moray Place. During World War l many families sent their sons off to join the war effort. Twenty three of the families that lived on Moray Place sent their sons off to war. Of the twenty three sons that were sent to the war one returned home without any visible scars. He however had many emotional scars that wouldn’t fade over time. Others did return home to Moray Place but they were either sick or injured. Twelve died in action and the other eleven became sick or injured. All of the families were heartbroken.

Perpetual Crackle of Fire

A Diary 

This is Hami Grace’s diary. In the war they were not allowed to write very detailed letters home because if they got trapped with the enemies they won’t give away important information. But they were allowed to write a diary and that they could write anything in. Many soldiers had diaries and Hami was one of them. In his diary he wrote about Gallipoli and how horrible it was. At Wellington college he was known for being good at sports and especially at cricket and shooting. This turned out to be helpful in the war. Hami had very good aim which meant he could shoot easily. He also used his good bowling aim to throw grenades very accurately into the Turkish trenches.

The two items we got were a map of Dunedin streets. The story behind that was the story of The Sons of Moray Place. The other item we got was a diary. It was the diary of Hami Grace a Maori soldier. The story behind it was the story of Perpetual Crackle of Fire.

St Peters Orchestra Visit

Today the St Peters Orchestra visited our school. They started off with the string instruments who played two pieces. Then it was time for the brass. After they played a couple of pieces together the different parts of the brass played different songs. My favourite was the Pink Panther Theme Tune played on the saxophone. It was an amazing performance and I can't wait to play an instrument next year at St Mary's. 

Beak experiment

Today in class we did a science experiment. We used six different tweezers to act as different bird beaks. First we had to list our equipment (which was the tweezers or forceps), cut up gummy worms, skittles and ripped up paper. Then we had to make our predictions. After we had made our prediction we were ready to go. The first thing we tried our beaks on was the gummy worms. Then we did skittles. Last we did paper. All the different things were standing in for something. The gummy worms were standing in for real worms. The skittles were standing in for berries and the paper was standing in for leaves . It was a very fun experiment and I can't wait for our next one.

Here is a picture of my group experimenting.