My Place.

The students in Amua hub have been writing about "My Place."

Here is an example of what we have been writing -

Everyday.

Everyday I go to school to achieve my goals and to be as successful as I can possibly be.

When I think about the best place in the world I would say it is up north where we call home.

We have a beautiful beach, amazing mountains and very exciting sites to see.  Ask me where it is and I will tell you it is Te Kao.

Te Kao is a very small town about 50km from Cape Reinga at the very top of the North Island. Some say it is a sleepy and lonely town but it is where I call home.

My Grandpa is from Te Kao and we go up there to remember my Grandma.

At Christmas time our entire extended family come together in Te Kao to celebrate the Summer holiday’s together. We go to Te Awapoka Bay to have a big shared kai and we all just love food. When I think about Te Kao I think about food, glorious food. I love that.

After lunch we sit together and Grandpa tells us tales of the good old days in Te Kao - every year he tells us the same stories and every year we listen as if it was the first time we have heard it. He is a really good story teller.

He tells us about how he grew up and how hard it was for his family. They didn’t have a lot of money and had to work for everything that they were given. He tells us how lucky we are to have everything that we now have and to value it all and appreciate it too.

He tells us about this beautiful place that we call home. A place to come to when you are feeling sad. A place to come to when you want to celebrate. A place to come to to feel safe and protected. A place where our ancestors lie.

That's why there is no place like home.

Lyric.

Rehu Tai 2016

This year we had 3 students represent Red Hill School at the Rehu Tai Festival of Oral Language. The students took part with pride and enthusiasm and we are all very proud of their efforts. They shared their thinking about "My Place" in rap, poem and speech.

Although everyone who performed were excellent, Sonny from our school was the winner of the rap competition. We are very proud of him too.

Below are the links to each students piece of work. 

Marena https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1xK5olTnPpECbhoK2vqk3h0BKHvSofCiMTYA5Vxbfe-I/edit

Lyric - 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PWCFPXh5pPrJOoqqyp1thNK79EjfJewrKZfczMTWYt8/edit

Sonny - 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mOGlCHej2sFAy8-k9GyJDz_9TdkgFNLJKpmKzuwF6CE/edit 

Red Hill Boys Go for Broze at the Rosehill Intermediate Chess Competition.

Today our fabulous chess team went to Rosehill Intermediate School for a Chess Competition. The boys all played very well with all players winning some of their games. There was one player who won all of his games and was placed 3rd overall. We are proud of all of the work that they have put in to be able to compete at competition level. Well done to all of the boys who took part.

Remember: perseverance is important!

Red Hill Year 8 Boys and the Mathex Experience.

Last night two teams of Year 8 Boys took part in the Papakura Schools Mathex Competition. It was a fun filled night with many problem solving questions to ponder. The boys took part with a positive attitude and tried their very best. We are proud of their efforts and encourage them to continue to take part in competitions like this.

Keep it up boys!

The North Counties Mini Basketball Competition.

The Year 8 Boys and Girls Basketball Teams took part in the Interschool Basketball Competition. The students took part with enthusiasm and pride. They were a pleasure to have out of the school.

The Wolf is he a Criminal or a Victim?

In Amua Hub we have been learning about persuasive writing and how to write a piece of writing with impact. Our latest moot has been "Is the Wolf a Criminal or a Victim" in the Three Little Pigs. Below are some thoughts from a group of students.

The Three Little Pigs Are The Victims.

I completely believe the 3 pigs are the victims and I have countless reasons that will satisfy you to know the truth.

Obviously pigs will be frightened when a carnivore shows up at their doorstep. I believe the pigs were trying to defend themselves from death. Wouldn't you?

Expert vegetarians tell us pigs shouldn't be murdered and used for food. Especially for cuts of pork chops, ham steaks, crispy bacon and packed luncheon.  Would you like it if you were eaten in that many ways by carnivorous beasts like the wolf?.

Why hurt such innocent pigs? They are just living their lives who are smart and are clever carpenters knowing how to build a house and survive the harshness of life.

Remember when the wolf specifically said,

“What juicy tender meat you will make?” He definitely does not mean ‘making it by hand’. Its obvious that he wasn't trying to be nice at all!

Surely you can sympathise with me and notice how the 3 sweet juicy piggies are the victims. The wolf is a predator who is only thinking of his stomach and how delicious the 3 pigs would taste. He hunts for prey and he will do it for any price, even innocent lives!

SO BEWARE OF THE BIG BAD WOLF!!

Sweet Innocent Pigs

The wolf is the real victim? Are you mad? How on earth can anyone feel sorry for this sharp tooth, saliva dripping, evil grinning hairy murderer?

I disagree.

How could Three Little Pigs ever hope to survive when their mean old neighbour, Mr Wolf continues to blow their house’s down? I strongly believe that they have every right to be terrified with this vicious vandal at their doorstep.

These sweet little pigs are so frightened! All they want to do all day is dance and play around. They should be allowed to live how they want to. They are hard workers! They have built 3 houses in one day. Then suddenly without any warning, just a knock at the door and not a please or thank you, the wolf just feels like blowing down a house.

Surely you have heard that wolves are carnivores. The pigs could not defend themselves to this vicious wolf. This wolf will do whatever it takes to get an easy meal.

It is a fact that wolves eat pigs, it is a fact that pigs are on the food chain for any predators such as wolves. It was just luck that these three little pigs got out of this situation alive.

Equity - Sharing with our Community.

One of the key learning areas we have been working on is developing a sense of community. The Highwire Year 7 Leadership Group has been looking at Equality. They spent the day with a group of adults who were able to share their life experiences with them and they took part in some activities together.

The Cross Fit Session

The Highwire Group took part in a crossfit session with a focus on determination. They all persevered and worked through each of the activities. We tried our best and that was the most important lesson.

Our Reflective Statements about the North Counties Cross Country.

Wednesday 24th August 2016.

Out of School Cross Country.

My highlight was to watch the Redhill boys and one of our girls push their way through the course. Some of them came last and one pulled out of the race. My thoughts were, at least they gave it their best shot. Toward the end of the race it was cool to watch them all finish. Plus I was helping Koa out when he was very ill and cold. He looked very red in the face when I caught up with him. He was coughing so much he could hardly breathe properly.

My low light was when I had this feeling that Koa had to stop running the race because it took him forever to come around the corner. Once Steven finished I turned around and saw Koa bending over and coughing. It looked like he was cold and sick. So I decided to take my kathmandu jacket off and put it around him so it could keep warm. I took him upstairs and sat him a on a chair to have a rest.

Isitolo.

Cross Country

Today, we went to Strathallan to take part in the Cross Country. At Strathallan there were heaps of schools we had to race.

They were hard to race. When we were pushing through the course I was trying my best to pass a boy who came from St Mary's. He kept on running past me. It was quite annoying to see. I waited till he began walking then I took the moment to sprint past him!

At the end I felt so proud of the Year 8 boys from my school.

So my next step is to make sure I get fitter. My highlight for the day was when we were trying our best to get to the top ten runners. My lowlight was we never quite make it to the top ten.  

Regan. 

The North Counties Year 7 and 8 Cross Country.

Today a group of students attended the North Counties Cross Country. The event was very successful with our students putting in their very best effort.

We were very proud of their hard work.

The Red Hill School Cross Country Event 2016

The Students, Staff and Community had a fabulous time at the school Cross Country this year. We all took part with a positive, fair play attitude and pride in our House teams. We are proud of the effort put in by everyone. Come and look at our awesome athletes young and older.

The Highwire Leadership Year 7 Group - Session Four.

The Highwire Leadership Team took part in a tramp and bush survival programme this week. The focus was on Success and we were all very successful in the achievements for this session. We are all looking forward to next week.

Our Highwire Leadership Experience - Session Three

There are currently seven Year 7 students who are continuing to work with the Highwire team to develop further their leadership qualities.

This week the focus was on Encouragement. The group took part in a series of High Ropes Experiences to assist in understanding the concept of encouragement.

They did fabulously!

The South Auckland Chess Competition - Our Super Star Team.

Today the Year 8 boys team went to Everglade School in Manukau with Gran to take part in the South Auckland Chess Competition and came 5th. This is an excellent result for our team given that it is the first competition that we have ever taken part in.

Now that we have had this experience we are feeling better prepared for the next competition in a fortnights time.

Persuasive Writing - Bending the Truth!

---

Bending the Truth!

Is it ok to bend the truth? I think it is, because imagine what it would be like if you told the truth to someone close to you and it hurt their feelings and made them mad or dislike you.

Everyone knows that if you are to bend the truth you can sometimes save yourself from seeming like a bad person, like this scenario for instance: I took some money from your wallet because I wanted to do this. You could say I borrowed some money for that school trip I wanted to go on. I am sure you would have wanted me to have the experience.

It is a well known fact that if you bend the truth and feel bad about how that person reacted just remember, don’t let it get out of hand so try to gently bring them down instead of ripping them out.

You tell your friend that they were good at stunting and end up trying to do an impossible stunt off a tall platform in front of a lot of people, he ends up failing, humiliating and hurting himself then ends up being a joke at school. You could’ve stopped him before he started. So in the end just let them know how good they are gently instead of lying to their face.

I strongly believe that if you manage to get into a tricky situation try not to lie your way out either prove it wasn’t you if it was then just take it. E.g: Your brother ate the last cake that was for your dad and he blames it on you so you say that you don’t, the look mum gives you shows she doesn’t believe you so you find ways you prove it was him. You start by saying you had a small piece and say your brother had the rest. After hearing this mum questions your brother and he cracks and says he had all of it and you had none. So see how bending the truth to shows that if you look into it you might just be able to save yourself from taking a hit from someone who pins the blame on you.

       

Surely you know that in telling the direct truth you can hurt a lot of people but when you bend the truth or fib as it’s more commonly known you’ll tell the truth but in a nicer way. Take this for example: You don’t enjoy the cakes your dad bakes you and don’t want him to be upset about it so instead of saying they are terrible you tell him they are ok but they need some more work.

So after hearing all of this and seeing the facts do you still think it is a bad thing to bend the truth?. If still then I guess you have to stay with you beliefs but if I managed to change your mind about this, then my job here is done.

By Matthew.

---