Waka Ama Wednesday!! That’s how Saint Patrick’s Yr 7 & 8’s rolled this week at the Manukau Outrigger Canoe Club. We all learnt paddling skills on-land before heading out on to the water. Fair to say we all had a wonderful and can’t wait to test our skills out again in May!
\
Our class, Room 8 is reading Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French. One of the activities we did was that we had to choose a critical moment from the book and sculpt it using clay.
My group chose a scene of a dog being euthanised because the owners had to save their rations for themselves.
My group’s rationale for this scene is that we have to sometimes let go of the people or things we love to take care of ourselves first.
It was a critical moment in the story because Georg wanted a dog but they saw that there were some consequences of owning it. For example, with food rationed it is hard to have food and water for both animals and people.
The delicious smell of baked bread is emanating throughout the classroom making stomachs growl!
Good work Year 8’s… you have made me feel hungry!
Students experienced working with yeast, kneading, waiting patiently for the bread to rise and then baking it to finish off the chemical process, while creating a delicious morsel to eat!
Congratulations to Jamie for her wonderful journey over summer traversing the Summer Learning Journey! Not only did she complete all the tasks to a high standard but she also wrote supportive comments on other tamariki’s Blogs!
Well done Jamie… we hope you enjoy all the wonderful prizes you received for all your effort!
A new year and a new-ish class! We started the term off on a slippery slope with torrential rain and flooding but we managed to start Week 2 with everyone here! This week we have been building Room 8 as a team…even in reading! As a result we are designing our own Pointillism piece of art but have added inspiration from the story ‘The Dot’ and “Ish” by Peter Reynolds. This means that our art can be our own creation BUT …ISH!! The pressure has been taken off!
Today we started the piece… we started by putting ONE line on a piece of paper and then swapping it with our friend. We have to design our art around the line we have been given! At the end we BOTH must sign the art work!
Farewell to our beautiful Yr 8’s! I can’t believe how fast the year has gone! We are going to miss your laughter, craziness but most of all your place in our class as role models. Take all the values you have learnt at St Patrick’s and spread your love, kindness and Grace through every pathway you encounter. Take care, keep in touch and make sure you come and visit! God Bless you all!
Another collaborative poem from Room 8. As a follow on from ‘Arlo and the Orca’ we looked at the word happiness and what it looked like, felt like, sounded like, smelt like and tasted like. It was created as a write and roll handed around the class.
Happiness
Sounds like laughing
Feels like fun
Like a pure and happy life
Refreshing, clear, sweet
Cheerful laughter on a sunny day
Doing things you like
Smells like a strong sweet flower
Like, YAY, WOOHOO!
Joy in your heart
A Large grin
Birthday cakes
Laughter
Like summer
Happiness is about being who you are and having fun with friends and family
And our poem for Sadness…. once again from the feeling Arlo had when Mum wouldn’t share her pain…
Sadness
Crying
Cold tears dripping on your face
Water and cold air
Crying
Tears running down your face
Like a cold gust of wind
You’re no one
Tears dropping out of your eyes
Into the ocean
Salty tears
Hu hu hu hu hu hu
You’ve had enough
Crying salty tears and sweat
Bitter feeling of guilt, depression and regret
Sadness is blue, a rainy day
Is it a Solid, Liquid or Gas?…. How does Shaving Foam fit into this? Maybe we can figure it out if we apply it to our faces?
As a follow up Room 8 wrote a letter ‘in-role’ as Arlo, to his trusted friend. The letters were folded and put into a bundle. I handed the letters out randomly with the recipient having to respond to the letter ‘in role,’ as the trusted friend. The level of engagement was high and the responses filled with emotion.
Saint Patrick’s has had the pleasure of having Monique Walker share her beautiful taonga with us! Supported by the John Walker Foundation and Healing through Arts we have been able to experience Arlo and the Orca through dance and process drama. Jesse and Catherine brought the emotions of the an orca and the ocean to life for us through dance. Monique and Stacey delivered a powerful session where we heard the story and explored the highs and lows of life through the lens of waves and sunny versus moody skies. We all leant that it’s ok to talk about how we feel, to seek help and also, importantly, to cry. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity Monique and we look forward to your next story!
An example of an ‘Insta-card’ where we had to portray people in the lives of Arlo who could support him when he needed help. In these examples we had family members, police, friends, therapists, priests, nuns and even God!!