Stuff

Dear Georjia,
When you arrived at this school we were all so excited to have a new year 7 to welcome to compete with and to show the ways around our school. As soon as you started you made our school that whole lot better. We enjoyed having you represent our school in Oroua events. We enjoyed giving you new opportunity's to excel. Since being here we have watched you learn and improve in your singing. It was especially great having another keen musician. It has been a privilage having you at our school and it is such a shame to see you go, but we all know that whatever you do and wherever you go you will do very well.
It is so sad to see you go and we wish you the best of luck for your new school.

From Hannah
On Behalf of everyone at Apiti School

GRIP leadership day

We arrived at the GRIP leadership day which was at the Convention centre in Palmerston North.
The room was filled with about 250 other young leaders. The programme and format of the day seemed really well planned out. I couldn't wait to get started and learn new skills. When the presenter came out and started talking to us, one thing stuck in my mind the whole time that he had said at the beginning. " Everyone can be a leader" and it made me think that really ANYONE can be a leader as long has they have the determination to achieve for themselves and others. When we had the Loud noise section everyone was so excited. All the activities that we did were ones that helped us meet people from other schools and socialize. I found it very fun and easy to talk to others. We were all keen to meet new people and have a great time so it was easy to talk to others from different schools.
I learnt what the leadership meaning of Paper Scissors Rock is,
PAPER- Plan   SCISSORS- Take action    ROCK- stay strong.

Balloon, Festival, Sharply, Hairspray, Egg story using these words

Bert the balloon was floating around the festival. He peered in all the stalls when Suddenly an egg popped out of nowhere. Bert floated as fast as his helium would take him. Bert had a chubby blue face with skinny string legs. He carried on back his way and kept looking in the stalls. Bert felt a sudden jolt in his head. He felt static. His hair was spiking up. Bert was determined to fix this problem, so he went looking for hairspray.. He weaved his way through knives and cactus's and many sharp objects. He saw a glow at the end of the path. Bert sprayed the spray all over. It made his face all shiny and squeaky. Bert sharply flicked his hair and sassily walked home.

Skiing 2015

My eyes flinch open to the sound of my alarm. Birds arn’t chirping yet and it's still pitch black outside. I drag my body out of my bed grab my blanket and walk out to the dining room like a zombie. My eyes feel heavy and drowsy I am NOT a morning person. After I shower and get dressed I start to feel a bit more awake. Everything gets shoved in my bag and away we go, as we get closer to the mountain it gets lighter and lighter outside. The car pulls up outside the big carrot in Ohakune, Brooke Johnny and I heave ourselves out of the nice warm car and gear up before we reach the mountain.

After everyone had slapped on some sunscreen put more layers on and aten some snacks we all raced up to the mountain.

The roads gets narrower and windier. Mrs Fielder's car creaks up the hill. I'm starting to feel really excited now, we wander over to the gear rental place. My first thought as we walk through the doors is “ wow I wonder how many peoples sweaty feet have been in here”

The white snow glistens on my face as I walk over to the Cafe. /

My feet already start to ache in the ski boots as I'm walking. Brooke and I are so excited to get skiing we drop our bags and run to the snow. “ Click Click” the sound of everyone's boots clicking into there ski’s. Brooke and I took of down the slopes to the beginners area so we could find our feet and get used to the ski’s again. As soon as I face down the hill my ski’s follow and before I knew it i was sliding down the hill, Once I had reached the end I came to a halt in the line for the magic carpet. To be Honest it isn't very magic it goes as slow as a Turtle walking the opposite direction on an escalator. Time flew by and already it was time for our lessons, we raced back to the main area and met our instructors. Donna our instructor starts chatting away to us, Before we head up the chairlift she makes sure we are all at the right ability. We simply weave our way down the beginners slope and when we reach the end we hop on the “not” magic carpet again. My gloves keep the warm air trapped inside and my hands feel warm and cosy. After a while my hands get such a tight grip around my poles that they are stuck in that position and I need to thaw them out. In a Group we catch 2 chair lifts up the mountain when we reach movenpick the destination we are skiing at we slide of to the left and listen to Donna who was explaining what we are going to do. My heart starts beating as we finally set eyes on the slope we are going to skid down. Our instructor fly’s down a quarter of the mountain yelling instructions to us, we then follow in a single file line following the steps. My ski’s clash together as we S trail down the mountain. After a while we start getting sweaty as the sun rays beam onto us. It was hard to realise but while we were skiing down we were all learning how to parallel ski. Donna explained a game we had to keep our ankles together to not drop the sponge. I practiced gliding down going slowly keeping my ski’s parallel. As soon as the lesson had finished Brooke and I took of down parklane. My ski’s sway left then right, straight away I had got back into the groove of it. Brooke was trailing behind me but when I had reached the end of the track Brooke was nowhere to be seen. Turns out she bailed halfway down. The end of the park lane track was icy I turned down the track and the fluffy snow turned to Thick ice and I slid down to the bottom. Brooke and I clunk our way down to the Cafe to Reaply sunscreen. By the time we head back up the mountain the sun is EVEN brighter now that only means one thing ..... More Sunscreen!!!

As we head to the chairlift line Tyler catches us and we head up to the giant. The chairlift swings gently as it carries us up the mountain. My legs start to ache and my ankles are starting to feel the pressure of the ski’s dangling in the sky. When our ski’s finally reach the ground a rush of relief and feeling came back to my legs. Side by Side we race to the top where we drop down and slide carefully across the track. Before we even knew it we had reached movenpick and were on the home straight back to the bottom. I made a promise to Tyler that I would let him take my down from the Top, I had to keep my promise so as soon as we reached the bottom we headed straight back up the chairlift to High Noon express.The higher up we traveled the more breeze there was. The movenpick chairlift is hard a solid as soon as we hop on the chairlift to the top we had 1st class there were  leather seats and bars to rest our ski’s on.          

              

   

Where was I ? What was I doing?

My toes chatter in the cold breeze. Its a cold and warm kind of day.  My dad sits on the rocks watching as he is to chicken to do what we are doing. Sarah and I brace ourselves for a cold rush that is about to spiral through our bodies. 3 2 1 we dove in...
The cliff crumbles right before our eyes, little stones crumble down. The bushes hangs limply on the side of the bank.
The place that we are at has widened a lot since we were last here.
The swift current sweeps past me, bubbles of frof pop up to the surface. It isn't very warm weather so if we stay to long we could get Hypothermia. Where are we ? What are we doing?

Yaju's visit

Yaju Cheng has been at our school for the past week. Yaju is from Beijing. In China she is a secondary school teacher. She teaches English and in China English is taught as a foreign language. We have learnt some Chinese and things about the Chinese culture. I learnt how to count to 10 in Chinese.
It has been one of the best experiences ever to learn Chinese from a Chinese person.
The other day we made dumplings and the whole school got the opportunity to make them. Even our 5 year olds made some.
While Yaju has been here we are teaching her English. We have to speak extra slow so she can understand and sometimes we teach her new words.
We have been doing Chinese finger painting with her.
 I have really enjoyed spending the week and learning about a new culture and language. Yaju is a very nice person and I hope she will visit again. Thank you Yaju for coming. I hope you enjoyed learning from us and we REALLY enjoyed learning from you.

Staff Sergent Kelly Carter visit

Staff Sergeant Kelly Carter visits Apiti School
Kelly Carter. Peter Blake Dream Team Leader, visited Apiti School on the 22nd of July to talk to students about leadership and to share some of her achievements.
Her goal was to convince us kids that we could do anything we wanted to. Kelly is a very successful sportswoman who has represented NZ for triathlon and plays hockey. She also achieved one of her greatest goals, the Ironman. Kelly also is a Staff Sergeant in the New Zealand army and has spent time training for Australian and New Zealand soldiers. She works with helping soldiers with rehabilitation.
I learnt from Kelly that we don't just have to be one thing but that we can do one thing and then try something else.
During her presentation she awarded me with a Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Award. I got a package with a whole lot of items related to leadership, a medal and Sir Peter Blake's book . She awarded me with the award because my teachers had nominated me for it.
My goals for the future are to achieve in everything I want to. Whatever I do I want to be successful.

Production about me

I am Hannah. I am 12 Years old! I really enjoy music-singing, dancing and sports.
My first show was our Apiti school Production in 2007 which was Footrot Flats!!
I was a sheep and that was where it all started !!
My favourite Apiti School Production was Grease because we got to do lots of dancing and singing. In Grease I was a cheerleader and I was also Cha Cha! I got to push my sister over. She was Sandy. That was probably my favourite bit!
I then went onto a show in Town called ‘Little Tommy Tucker’ That’s when I knew that I really loved acting. I was a twin! It was such a good experience because I learnt a lot about being on stage the whole time and keeping my character.  The hardest part was probably using my facial expressions to react to everything they were saying! It was challenging to perform at my best every single night for 2 weeks! I was very tired and so was the whole cast.
This years Footrot Flats is going to be very enjoyable for me because I have more lines then BAA!  I think Cheeky will be a great character for me because she is pretty much the complete opposite to me so it will be fun to act.
Performing is definitely something that I am going to carry on doing when I am at high school!

Production writing about my character cheeky hobson

Cheeky Hobson!

She has blonde curly hair that looks like a bird’s nest!!

She has lips as red as an apple!

Her high heels she wears make her as tall as a skyscraper!!

Cheeky is a lady that always has to look very nice and makes sure everyone thinks she looks good! But when she goes to the farm she see’s everyone else wearing these GUMBOOT things? And she isn't very keen to wear them at first ... but more and more she warms up to them!   

She has a bit of Sas and she likes it when things go her way.

She loves Wal very much ... in fact she is obsessed with him. Cheeky always asks Wal if he has ever stayed in town! As you probably will notice its her way of telling him he should come stay with her in town.

She takes any opportunity to get close to Wal! Although Dolly and Dog don't really like Cheeky she still always goes to the farm for dinner, just to see Wal.

She is a very bubbly person who is keen to try new things ... EVEN living on the farm! A good example of this is when she says to Wal she will try it on the farm BUT she is also still trying to get Wal to come to town. So they make a deal ... If she goes and stays on the farm he needs to stay with her in town.

But sometimes things are to hard for Cheeky!

Cheeky will always try to get her way so don't be surprised if you see her throughout the whole production still aiming for the same thing! For Wal to come to town.  

Holiday description - ice skating

The sounds of the Palmerston north square came to life.The dew drops glimmer in the morning sunlight. Sarah and I made our way down the streets of Palmy to the ice skating ring. A couple people were wandering around on the ice. My heart started pounding as we came closer I was quiet nervous because this was only the 2nd time i had been ice skating. I took one breath as we walked in and all I could smell was toe jam because so many people had been in the tent taking off and on shoes, I grab my skates the tight buckles quickly slam down onto my feet. Sarah glided her way onto the ring and I shuffled not far behind her. The ice sparkled bright it looked like smashed glass. My feet skidded along the ice, I grabbed a firm grip on the side of the wall. My ankles twisted and turned as the bright orange skates slide on the ice. I slowly let go of the wall and get my balance, I swung myself into the middle of the ring. But after about 5 minutes I was struggling to stay up and before I knew it I was collapsed on the ground soaking in the wet ice. Meanwhile Sarah was skating around like a swan gracefully. It looked easier then what it was, but really all it took was balance. More and More people started arriving which meant more risk of crashing into someone. There were so many people you could just about feel everyone else warm breath on your neck. Sarah grabbed the wall and pushed me of the side into the middle. Suddenly out of knowhere a boy came and smashed into me, he was going so fast that he didn't even stop he just kept going and feel into the wall. The force of how fast he was going just made me fall over and my legs went straight out and I did the splits. The sun finally came out and the ice started to turn to slush. I started to get the hang of the skates and started skating around but kept resnobaly close to the sides. We wandered back over to the tent and took our skates off. My socks stuck to the inside of the boots.As the boots finally slide of a big feeling of relief rushes through my body. The ice skating boots resemble to skiing boots and they feel great when you take them off. Sarah and I strolled back out of the tent and took the stench of the boots with us!  

Cross Country

My nerves finally start to kick in as we wander over to the start line. My age group of girls slide over to the start line we all do a warm up together, I can tell that all of us are feeling so nervous. We all watched as the boys sprinted of. “ Clap” as the wood blocks smash together the sound echos through my head. Before I knew it i was running side by side with Rupene. I had my own goal set in my head all I had to do was keep a positive attitude and have lots of stamina. I had pulled out a bit of a lead and was now starting to get tired. As I came to the first fence I knew I couldn't waste any time dawdling over it so I made a great leap over all the wires. I had no time to slow down running down the hills into the creeks. As soon as my frozen feet hit the cold hard rocks it sends a rush of numbness to my feet. So i'm not even half way through yet and I can't feel my feet! The Rain starts to come down and it gently falls on my wet muddy body. I had finally caught up to Logan who was coming 2nd for the boys. Soon I had come to the junction where we needed to turn to go up the hill! My stomach tensed as I knew what was about to come. My mind drifted of but while it was I was thinking of a plan, it was as fast to walk and take really long strides then to run! So using my technique I flew up the hill. As I was struggling to catch my breath I knew I had to keep going. I took one moment to peer down the hill and then suddenly I rocketed down the hill and my legs couldn't keep up with my body and I fell to the ground. From that moment I had a brilliant idea that I should probably just roll down! When I had finally reached the bottom I picked myself up and kept running. I was exhausted I was trying very hard to catch my breath. My legs were almost about to collapse. I felt like a battery that was slowly losing all its power. I had the finish line in my sights all I had to do was keep myself together! My legs sunk down into the bog it felt as though I had a animal or something on my leg that wouldn't let go! Suddenly my eyes spotted the rocks I was determined to finish with a bang, So as soon as my feet touched the rocks although my feet were numb and Freezing I was just about finished. As soon as I came around the corner My legs bursted into a sprint! When I ran over the finish line I let out a great sigh of relief ! I stood on the bails and received my certificate for 1st! I was very proud of myself and I know that all you need to do well is be positive in your mind!         

Fungi report

The Hypholoma acutum are normally found growing in small or large clusters on dead wood in mixed forests and gardens in NZ. They are yellowy brown with a small peak in the centre. They go a blackish brown as they get older. The Hypholoma acutum has black spores. The spores come out the gills when the cap spreads and opens wide like a pancake. These mushrooms only occur from April-May.

Fungi description

My writing was inspired by the picture at 1:37 seconds on the video bellow.

A cold night breeze travels throughout the forest. A dark brown Toadstool sits quietly in the forest. A Beetle climbs up the toadstool and munches on the soft top of the fungus. The white stalk glows as bright as the sun. The Toadstool has a dark brown underside with what looks like pink frills and a light brown top with little holes that were scattered all over the top from where the bugs had been munching on the fungus.

Conspiracy 365 : January summary

A young boy called Callum Ormand lived a strange life. 
He had a sister called Gabby and lived with his mum. His dad came down with a serious virus and it killed him. When we passed away Callum got sent lots of things from where his dad was in Ireland. Before he had died he had given Callum drawings of things like Ormand angels and other things that all related o each other. His uncle called Rafe was his dads identical twin brother. There was a time when Callum was very mad at his uncle and a few days later when he got home from school his uncle had been shot in the leg and his sister was in a critical state which was a coma! That is how it all started because then his uncle blamed it on Callum and that was his uncles plan all along. From then on Callum lived on the run with the cops always on his tail. 

Bantam summary

We are learning to summarize text

The bantam and the soldier summary

Young Bantam getting picked on by the other Bantams and its war time.

When war came to the village he took the good animals with him and he left the bantams to fend for themselves.

The little bantam slept away from the others.

There was an explosion the bantams got blown up except for the little one he stayed in the bush and he was the only one that survived.

The soldiers headed into the village one was Arthur and he got picked on like the bantams by the other soldiers.

The farmer heard movement in the bushes and it was the bantam.

Arthur freed the bantam and put it in his coat pocket.

The soldiers tease Arthur about having the bantam.

The soldiers started to like the bantam.

They collected bugs for her and she rewarded them with a egg.

Bertha kept hope in the soldiers.

The battle moved past them.

They weren't allowed to take Bertha with them.

They took Bertha back to the farmer and said goodbye.

Arthur returned home and was friends with his fellow soldiers.

He said to his niece i want to tell you a story and told her about the bantam called Bertha.

Moral and message of the story:

• if you're nice to people you get good things back
• if you stay strong in your mind about something to achieve your goals.
• the chicken brought hope to the soldiers
• if you are really positive about something and others aren't stay strong about it and eventually they will come around to it.

WW1 Mascots ( Animals at war) Summary!

Animals went to war as well as humans. They all had a purpose and  a job to do. Also other animals went as mascots.

Mascots were used to represent a team. They also kept hope in the soldiers and helped them achieve success.

They had mascots because they kept the soldiers positive. Also they were a companion to have whilst living in terrible conditions in the war.

The soldiers were on their way to the ships. They were really happy as they were singing and marching along with their mascots.

The soldiers had a donkey as their mascot and they traveled with her so they even paid her fair to go with them.

Mascots weren't only in the war they were also in the navy. Their dog was named after a dolphin the followed the boat.

When the dog died in an accident they replaced him with a second dog and named it the same.
Nearly ten thousand men died but the dog survived.

Not all of the mascots survived though, one of the mascots even has his own grave stone in England. The soldiers couldn't leave their animal friends behind.

Camp inquiry fur seal

Holidays short story!

My eyes slowly start to adjust to the dark cold breeze of the night sky. As my feet slightly step into the murky brown water it sends a rush of shivers down my spine. I switch the button on my torch and hold it down in the cold water. I follow the bright light as it guides me through the low tide ocean. Little fish are zipping around my feet. They swarm around the light and they look like stunned possum's. The torch lights up my path all the way around the muddy lagoon whilst I look for flounder!

ANZAC day article for newspaper !

Apiti Village Comes Alive! 

The whole Apiti community and people from far and wide came together in the village to celebrate ANZAC day on the 25th of April!
Bagpipes start playing and everyone gathers for the march. The Apiti R.S.A lead the march with the soldiers close behind. Everyone closes in together to form a box shape. The sky starts to brighten up and we all wait patiently for the flyover to come.
It now was the time to lay the wreaths. Everyone was silent as they walk up, lay the wreath and we all pause to remember all our fallen soldiers that fought for our country.
Everyone then gathered inside the hall for the service. Apiti has so many people at the service, that we have to set up a speaker outside so that the people that can't squeeze into the hall can stand outside and still hear the whole service.
Apiti and Kimbolton have a ukulele group and they played 'In Flanders Fields' on the ukulele and I sang with a microphone.Then shortly after the whole of Apiti School sang three ANZAC songs. They were Daisy Daisy, Pack up your troubles and Maori Battalion. Then finally the Apiti School band performed. We played the drums, piano, guitar and we sang to 'It's a long way to Tipperary'.
After that we has a few speeches and that concluded the Apiti ANZAC service.
But that wasn't all as the Army let all the kids ride on the army vehicles. It was very interesting to see what the vehicles were like in the Army.      

Camp writing - day 4

Shoving our way through the swarms of people we all started to get just that tiny bit more excited. It was the same as the trip there as we were fighting our way aboard the huge vessel. As soon as we had all made ourselves comfy the only thing we had left to do was wait for another 30 minutes so all the other passengers could get onto the boat.
Suddenly the ocean came to life as if we were riding on a giant robot's back. The side of the boat collided with the hard brick docking wharf. As we pushed away from the side, the inside of the boat started to creak. It sounded like a group of people murmuring to each other. I glared out the window and gazed at the dark crystal blue ocean.
Eventually the boat had glided down into the Cook Straight. The boat rises up and lowers back down as if we were riding on a whale ... Except when we slowly lowered down to the ground it was like we had hit a ginormous earth quake. I stumbled my way down the hall way to the bathroom, On my way I clenched a tight grip around any object that was close by to help with my balance. I pretty much scooted my way on the ground to the bathroom. My stomach felt like it just got hit by a wrecking ball as the waves hit the boat.

Camp writing - day 3

As we set off to the jetty we prepare to pack the boat with all of our bags. Many of us stand with our arms stretched out wide. With all our arms we had made a human chain. As excited as we were, we needed to get it all ready before we could set off.
Suddenly the motor starting roaring and the surface filled with white foamy bubbles. Before we knew it the boat was riding on the waves. The deep dark shady blue water splattered up behind the boat.
As soon as the boat started to come to a halt, we all scrambled out the small doors. Everyone sat spread around the front of the boat. The boat sat still in the ocean.
Meanwhile we were all observing what amazing wildlife there was around us. Suddenly dolphins started splashing all around in the water. Birds spying on anything that looked small enough and delicious enough to have a munch on!

Camp writing - day 2

I delicately place my foot in the front of the small sailing boat. The bright pinking glowing boat makes a beautiful reflection on the sparkling ocean. I cautiously sit down onto the lumpy surface of the boat. The wind picks up and suddenly the boat is gliding as fast as the Emirates Team NZ boat. 
We dash as fast as we can to the end of the cliff,
"Turn hard" "Turn hard " Tyler shouts. I pull as hard as I can on the rudder. Suddenly the boat swings around and Tyler and I both lean into the middle. The boat tips and makes it uneven. Tyler's head skims the top of the water. as we glide along. We both take a terrified look at each other as both of us freaked out at our close call to tipping. The tall sail flapped in the wind. Just as we thought we were finished with the strong wind, a huge unexpected gust of wind comes sweeping us away in a completely obscure direction.  But finally after a long exhausting heart wrenching experience we made our way back to the jetty. 
We trample out of the boat and stand on the jetty. 
As relieved to be on land as we were I would still definitely try that again. Except maybe next time I should be more experienced!  
And so I was ... Before I knew it I was taking little kids out for an experience that they would never forget!!!

Camp writing day 1

As I lean over the wooden edge I peer into the crystal clear blue water. My shaking hands carefully reached into the water in attempt to catch a small fish. 
Deep down under all the rocky coral hundreds of mussels sit clutched tight against the edge of the wooden planks that sit silently underneath the jetty. The tiny little fish swim beneath the corral, I dip my hand into the water and try to trap a fish in my hand. I pick a mussel off the wood.Its hard shell sticks like super glue onto the wood. 
As soon as I ripped the mussel off I slowly lowered the mussel down into the water but still keeping a firm grip on the top of the shell.
Suddenly heaps of fish are already swarming around the juicy mussel. I waited patiently until the right moment. Without thinking I drop my hand into the water and try to clench my hand around a tiny slippery scaly fish.
 I shout in frustration as every time I came up empty handed and walk back in disappointment !!
By Hannah

Apiti show poem

Talented in the music and performing area

At the age of 14, she was determined to have a career in music

Yesterday is History ... Tomorrow is a mystery

Looks up to older pop sensations who reached the top (e.g Dolly Parton) and aims to follow in their footsteps

Over the years she has managed to put out four magnificent studio albums!

Real life dreams can come true and if you try your hardest you will reach the top  

She takes every opportunity she gets and uses them well

Writes songs about her life and what it was like growing up and all the tough times she had and the good times she had

Interacts with her fans as much as possible because she loves all her supporters

‘Fearless’ was her second studio album

True idol for music as she is who she is !!!

photo peach

Hannah Apiti show 2015 on PhotoPeach

Poem- About me !

H- huge interest in music and loves playing instruments.
A- awesome is my middle name.
N- never goes a day without singing.
N- needs more self confidence.
A- always tries her hardest.
H- happy all the time! No rain cloud can bring her down!!