Mask on - mask off!

What might I enquire into to achieve the goals I've set myself and my learners for a mask-off world. What about parts of the future that might be mask off? How can I use one of the curriculum areas or two to achieve the goals I've posted below 'Mask on'? Looking forward to sharing my inquiry findings.

2021 - one lockdown, one prize giving, one Year 8 Graduation later...

Hoorays and Halleluah's on the highest! What a way to end 2021. A few weeks with local schools being closed for a bit due to covid, uncertainty grew! We are so thankful that we have made it this far, got through a prize giving - 'Awards Assembly', Year 8 Graduation 'Year 8 Farewell Assembly'. Our thanks can be heard in this himene that we learned this year during our leadership camp earlier in the year. When one of our students fell ill, it was what we sang daily along with our student led karakia. Thanks to ALL who have supported the Team 5 whanau this year. We sing this with you all in mind. Fa'afetai Iesu, Fa'afetai!

A lockdown in the life of Team 5 (14th Manaiakalani Film Festival)

 

A lockdown in the life of Team 5! Nau mai haere mai! Here's a quick capture of our fantastic team of learners and teachers. Lockdown saw our teachers and students travel through different themes and language weeks to enhance our learning online. A big big KIA ORA to Team 5 for showing 'Karawhiua' everyday! Turning up and DOING the mahi - Karawhiua! We know that this lockdown has brought us many fun days of learning together online. We look forward to the days ahead where we will be able to sit together, reflect and share of all the good!

Wonderful Wednesday PES@Bubble School Home Learning

 Malo e lelei it's Tongan Language week.  Uike fakalea Tonga. 

This week our very own students have created resources to share and teach about Tongan Culture.   Today's episode of PENN showcases our beautiful Lesieli, year 7 student from Room 2.

She teachers the basics of the Tongan dance for girls.   She is followed by other items that have been sent in by our wonderful parents showcasing the learning PES kids are up to everyday!

Malo aupito to everyone for sharing the OFA - love!  Saipe Malo!

Tongan Elective

Today Team 5 moved into the electives again! We had so much fun the week before we've decided to keep going with it. Today's Tongan elective had a special guest. Lesieli's beautiful Nana. We planned to learn some dancing. This was due to Lesieli creating a fabulous movie with her Nana earlier this week to celebrate the Tongan Language week. Lesieli with the support of Nana shared about the dance costume and dance actions for a taualunga. Our school audience really enjoyed this piece. In this movie you will see our very own Miss Shaniah hosting our elective. She interviews Nana about the values of the Tongan community that are held closely to Tongan people and their families. Watch and respond with your thoughts in the comments below. Malo aupito Fae - Nana! Malo Lesieli!

School continues! Lockdown don't keep us down

 

Lockdown level 4 means...we keep going. Here's our PENN - Pt England News Network presented by our devoted students! Staying connected, staying home, staying safe. Let's do this!

Blog post of the week! Falefitu Laulu visits Pt England School

 

Falefitu Laulu Surprise Visit !

Today we got surprised by Falefitu Tony Laulu, an author who writes relatable and more real books about our islander culture. He came to deliver us some books that our teacher ordered. He showed us his amazing books about Pasifika culture in particular Samoan. It shows what it really is like in the world now. His amazing books included the English and Samoan versions. The book that I like the most is ' O au o le Samoa ' which is about this boy who thinks he doesn't know much about his culture. The story goes on to expalin that culture is not just about the way you speak - the language, it's the way you represent yourself to others.

He chose the characters to be his own sons which is neat! He thinks that most books now aren’t  about Pasifika Culture and so he wants to show what it's really like for some of us. He had this incredible idea to add in his own family and friends to the story. Some in the names, labels on t-shirts, signs on buildings etc. He also shared what his point of view about what ‘ REPRESENTING ‘ is.

We would like to say a big thank you to Falefitu for coming out all the way to drop of your amazing books that tell some of our Pasifika culture. Pt England School can't wait to read heaps of your books, and we’re all going to enjoy it. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Malo aupito!

Go here to see his books!

Go here to read more from Hannah.

Healthy Me Healthy You! Term 3 2021

 

Term 3 has arrived! As usual our amazing teacher's provided us with an immersion assembly. Our PES way of capturing, hooking us into learning for the term. The Olympics always creates a positive energy, match this with our fun items today - we are soooooo ready to dig deep and wide to learn! Here we go PES, healthy me healthy you! Time to GO FOR GOLD!!

Kia mau te tumanako - Film Festival 2020

 

 

Bubble life brought about a lot of learning for us! We learned how much fun it is to be with our families. Some days it was super, others we simply needed a bit of quiet and distance. That's normal! We hope you will enjoy our short film that has us reflecting on Bubble Life. A big shout out to our whanau members who took charge and ensured we stayed safe and well this year! Thanks for encouraging to hold on to hope. Kia mau te tumanako - never lose hope! Please feel welcome to comment below about the members in your whanau you would like to acknowledge too!

Back to school. After the FIRST lockdown

 Talofa to our friends and families!  Lockdown a second time around has had us reflecting on our Bubble life yet again. 

This is a movie Room 3 captured to share their reflections of our first lockdown.  What has changed for you this time around?  What has again become very clear about the importance of our whanau?

Winter Learning Journey star! Hannah of Room 3

Winter Learning Journey: Poster

Week 1, Activity 5

Kia ora, Malo e lelei, Talofa Lava, Greetings to all and Welcome back to my blog. Today I'll be blogging to you, the last activity of my Winter learning Journey for WEEK 1. There will be more winter learning journey blog posts next week for WEEK 2, now back to my last WLJ activity for week 1. 

Task: Create a poster that shows 3 key quotes you have heard your parents/whanau say since your return to school in level 2. They must be quotes/sayings that you find helpful from your whanau. After that post on your blog with a written explanation for each quote.

Explanation

"Make sure to wash your hands before eating dinner!" by Mum - My mum always uses this quote to me and my siblings before we start eating our dinner because it's helpful for us to remember to stay clean by washing our hands just in case we have any germs and that we don't spread it to others.

"If you feel sick, stay home and don't go to school!" by Nana- 
My Nana always uses this quote to my little sister and cousin because they always got the flu or cold some days during school at level 2. So whenever she sees them cough a lot of have a really runny nose, she gives them this ginger medicine drink, puts them back into bed and tells them to stay home. She also does this with me and my other siblings sometimes.

"Sleep early for school!" - Nana and Mum
Both my Nana and Mum tells us these 4 words whenever it's a school night, they don't like us staying up long when it's a school night because they both know that when we sleep late, we won't get enough sleep and that would lead up to us  waking up very late and getting all cranky and tired for school the next day. If they catch us on our electronic devices they usually take it off us and give them back to us the next day.

Go here to see more from Hannah, one of our stars of the Winter Learning Journey.

Cape Reinga - top of Aotearoa with my whanau. Jezakaia Room 3

Jezekaia travelled up north for a tangi.  It was a sad occasion but also one where whanau got to show off special parts of Aotearoa.  Go here to read more from Jezakaia.

The Cape

On 26th of June me and my family travelled to the far north for a tangi in Ngataki .Waking up at our Marae was something else!   There were no trees in the way and all there were was a stunner sun and white clouds!  

In our spare time we made a Road trip to the top of our country to visit Cape Reinga, it was about a 40 minute drive away from our destination. It was a beautiful experience to be out in the country area - not many people are able to travel to the top of our country but we did!

It was also good to hang out with my beautiful family. We passed some avocado farms, sand dunes and heaps of beautiful beaches on the way. It was nice being at the cape indulging the ocean view and soaking up the fresh air. I can't wait to visit again in summer with my Family.

The lucky Diamond, by Paige of Room 3

Narrative- The Lucky Diamond.  Blog post of the week!

Task Description: For this weeks writing task we have done another narrative and this time it had to a free image with a tree inside. We had to use the T.O.P.S structure and this stands for title, orientation, problem, and solution.

The Lucky Diamond

Names:Bryant, James

It was a lovely morning and Bryant woke up, he  grabbed his favourite thing in the world, Bryant loves adventures and he always likes to explore places. There was a little shiny diamond on his desk and he loved it. He thought it was real. He went down stairs and heard a doorbell, it was his friend James, 

“What should we do today?” said Bryant with excitement.

“I saw a allway near my house, and I think it’s a new one,” he said.

They were thinking of having an adventure and so they packed up and went off with no explanation.  When they got there they walked through the alleyway and spotted a lot of green trees,

“It’s a forest!” said Bryant

“WOW!” said James with his eyes wide.

As they walked they saw a path and so they followed, on the way they stopped for a snack and water. It was day time and so they thought they had to be back by afternoon. 

As they continued with their adventure Bryant slipped his hand in his pocket for his diamond, but then suddenly it was gone.

“Oh no where's my diamond!” said Bryant as he screamed.

“What! Oh no!” said James with a fright.

They looked everywhere and suddenly saw in front of them a cottage, they walked towards it and didn’t know what to do, but knocked. There was an old lady that opened the door and said 

“What are you doing here at this time of day?” she said with a growly voice.

James answered

“Sorry to bother you, but we're just trying to look for my friend's diamond”  with a scared voice.

The lady looked with great relief and she thought in her head if she could help the little boys and see if she can find them around the forest with some help.

When they got to the end of the path of the old lady's house they went up and down the path heaps of times. It was getting too late and the afternoon was passing by, but suddenly a man was walking past and peeked down below all the way at the front of the path. He saw something shiny and he could see a shiny flicker from all they where they were and so they ran up to the man, and the man turned around and said

“Is this your little boy” 

“Yes, thankyou sir for this,” Bryant said with relief.

The looked closely and thought that it might be actually real, so he told Bryant this

“Little boy I think this is most certainly real” said the man with a smiley face.

They all went to a store to check out if the diamond was real and so it was. Bryant and James' faces were with a huge smile on their face and they were filled with happiness and couldn't wait to tell their parents. 

It was a brand new day and they decided to use their money that they got from the man yesterday to go on a family vacation, along with James' family too.

They had so much and were happy of how that man was so kind and honest.

End

Please go here to read more from Paige!

Matariki Celebrations by Hannah of Room 3

Matariki Day Recap

Matariki Day!!!

Kia Ora blog readers and welcome back to my blog, today I will be recapping to you what we did at our Whole School's Matariki Day Celebration we do every year at Pt England School, first let me tell you what Matariki Day is all about.
Matariki celebrates and signals the beginning of Maori New Year, on that day seven stars appear in the sky, these stars are called the seven sisters.Their real names are called: Tupu-a-nuku, Tupu-a-rangi, Waiti, Waita, Waipunarangi, Ururangi and Matariki. Matariki is a big celebration of people, culture, language, spirituality and history, this celebration brings many family and friends together as one.

At our Matariki celebration at Pt England School we all were splitted into different groups, and they were Cooking, Arts and Craft, Sports and lastly Movie making (Entertainment). We were splitted into these 4 groups not only to have fun but learn the different ways we can express Matariki based on the activities we had. The group I was put into was Arts and Crafts which was actually cool because I like being creative in many ways. My highlight of Matariki was when we were drawing the patterns on our 7 stars and my table of friends I sat with were laughing and giggling when we got marker on our faces and our designs were very funny. My second highlight is learning more stuff about what Matariki is really about, I now have more knowledge of what it is.

In my opinion I think that NZ must celebrate this because if you are new to Matariki, you will learn what it is actually about and the interesting story behind it and this festive celebration will bring everyone together and celebrate Maori New 
Year. Have you celebrated MATARIKI DAY yet?

Go here to read more from Hannah of Room 3

Matariki Manaakitanga - it's a new year celebration!

This post is shared with by Zoe. She shares about our school celebration of Matariki. Our school mixed across levels to have a whole day to celebrate this important time of the year. Go here to read more from Zoe.

Last week on Friday we had a Matariki celebration. Matariki presents the 7 sisters or the 7 stars. In Matariki you will be able to see the 7 stars. They are so special. Matariki is all about spending time with your Whanau ( family ). It is important because it's the time of celebrating Maori new year.

The Maori legend talks about 7 starts that needed a role. A job, here are the 7 stars names
1. Matariki
2. Waitī
3. Waitā
4. Waipuna-ā-rangi
5. Tupu-ā-nuku
6.Tupu-ā-rangi
7. Ururangi,

My highlight from Friday was when Leylani and I baked the cupcakes and we learnt it so fast and made a lot of cupcakes. My other highlight was when we had to make the stars with the paper to decorate our tables. It was confusing at first and then I made more and I even made some during lunch on Friday. My biggest highlight was the whole day it was so fun, we had a lot of fun making the food and it was just a great time on Friday.

Should New Zealand celebrate this? Why?For me I think New Zealand should celebrate this because its a special thing to Maoris and even if we aren't Maoris we should celebrate it with them to get to know Maori culture more, as New Zealanders we should celebrate this it's about our land and people!

Little message to Mrs Tele'a: First I will like to thank Mrs Tele'a for preparing this for us we had a great time with you and I will also like to thank you for teaching me and Leylani to bake the cupcakes. Without your great idea we wouldn't had have the great time on Friday and I thank you for everything you did for us on Friday.

5 awesome things about my Bubble!

This was a collection of data across our class.  The data shows what things we spent time on during lockdown in level 4.  We used a tally chart we created on our whiteboard to then create this pie graph.

You will notice that the most popular activity for our class was spending time with our family.  They were all times and activities that strengthened our family relationships.
The second most popular activity was learning to cook or bake.   We also agreed that there was a lot of time spent tasting dishes our families made!
The third most popular was sleep!  That's right many of us had more time to rest, some going to sleep late, some waking up late.  All in all we loved our time within our bubble!

Post for week 10! Paige

On Fridays we Point England School always has an assembly and today was a bit different.

As we started off with our normal schedule for assembly something changed and it was a special guest and his name was Joseph Parker, also his sister Elizabeth Parker. Joseph is a New Zealand professional boxer of Samoan Heritage, his sister Elizabeth is like a boss for him because she helps him train and do more things to be the boxer that he is.

Joseph's speech was about two important things that he has used to be a boxer throughout his whole career:

Believe in yourself: This is important because sometimes you need to focus on believing and not listening to what other people say about you.

Nothing beats hard work: This means always having hard work before everything you do and because without it somethings can be possible but sometimes you can achieve in whatever you do.

My question if I was to ask Joseph Parker is,
What was the best thing about being a professional boxer?.

My Message of thanks to Joseph Parker:
Thank you Joseph for coming to our school and to the teachers who has made it possible, you're two special things you’ve said that you used throughout your career was very cool and inspiring because all the negativity out there is wrong and you have said to always Believe In Yourself and that’s a very important thing to remember. The other one you have said was Nothing Beats Hard Work, everything that we do in life to try and achieve is to always do hard work and without it something may not be possible in life, so a very big thanks and God bless.

Go here to see more from Paige!  Well done Paige!

Enjoy being your age! A message from Arthur in Year 8!

Enjoy Being Your Age

                                𝔼ℕ𝕁𝕆𝕐 𝔹𝔼𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕐𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝔸𝔾𝔼

Enjoy being your age' this is one of team 5 korero 

Za'ravo! I am 12 years old
There are many things I enjoy being this age

• I enjoy playing sports.
• I enjoy being with the same students everyday.
• I enjoy getting to know my teacher well.
• I enjoy getting to learn about our changing bodies.
• I enjoy trialing to rep sports teams.
• I enjoy dreaming about what college we'll go to. 
• I enjoy getting ready for collage.
• I enjoy being with my good set of mates.
• I enjoy being with my teacher everyday.
• I enjoy sitting in my own desk at school.
• I enjoy being with my family everyday.

There is no rush of being older, that day will come when you become an adult. Just enjoy being your age.

Go here to see more from Arthur.  Malo Arthur!

Taha wairua - why do we?? A message from Kohatu, Arthur and Jezakaia

Why do we do Mihi, Karakia and Himene

Today Mrs Tele's challenged us as to why we have to d oout mihi, karakia and himene.

We pray because we always have to praise the lord for giving us another chance.

We do our mihi because it makes us think about our ancestors and family and its wakes our body and brain.

We do a Himene because it helps us to not sing to our toes it helps us to sing up and not be shy to sing and to stand up in front of lots of people.

These are a list of some of my class answered to Mrs Tele's challenge

*Connect to god, greater power ssource

*Connect- remember our ancestors, whanau

*kwon where we are from

*Build confidence to speak and represent ourselves and whanau

*To be ready for our day / future of learning

Vaiaso o le gagana Samoa. Pese ma viiga!

"Tapena sou ōso mo lau malaga" - Prepare yourself a gift for your travels. 

It is tradition for Samoan people when travelling to have organised a gift to take to families who await them.  If travelling from Samoa a boxed umu was a typical 'oso' to bring.  When travelling from New Zealand to Samoa, money, canned food, clothing and any household items are greatly appreciated by those awaiting your arrival.   Don't be surprised that when you return to NZ with only a umu box and an empty suitcase.  Samoan people are very resourceful and will make good use of practically everything you arrive with!

The gift we have today for you is that of our children singing two hymns they requested to learn and share this week.   Our guitarist John is of Tongan descent who started this whole process of learning, practising and today sharing these hymns.   What a gift to share John!

This gift will be used during the  year as our students lead karakia, mihi and himene to start each school day.

Malo lava to all students, faamalo atu foi'i iā  Mr Wright (guitar and singing coach), John lead guitarist, Kitione, John L, Valeli, Pisirina and Lepisi.  Malo lava le faasoa, malo lava le taumafai ina ia iloa e isi o le fanau ia pese tāua o le tatou atunuu.

"Tapena sou ōso mo lau malaga" - Prepare yourself a gift for your travels.