Shakespear Volunteer the Second Time!

Would you believe it after the first time volunteering I couldn't bare not to go back! It was a tremendous experience and the sad thing was that we (my sister and I) were the only kids there. I personally think that more kids my age should get out there and help! 

This time was a whole different story, we herded and counted sheep, there was 360 ewes and one lamb from last year! We also cut back some flax at the duck pond at Waterfalls Gully!(One of my favourite places in the park). My favourite part of this day was counting and herding the sheep with the Park Ranger Bruce. I will definitely come back again when I have time to spare!

By Brooke

Look at my secetair skills!

Beautiful Waterfalls Gully!

Me with the sheep counter!

 The lamb from last year!

 We counted sheep but didn't fall asleep!

The sheep we herded!



Shakespear Regional Park

Shakespear Regional Park

For my inquiry I have chosen to help volunteer at Shakespear Regional Park in the Whangapaora Peninsula.

This park is no ordinary park it is a wildlife reserve full of native birds and plants! I have done some research and found out that they will release brown kiwi into the tracks!

Shakespear is a great place for camping at the camp site, going for bush walks, and having a swim! It's not just for natives; down by the beach there's lots of peacocks, also in the tracks are hundreds of sheep! There isn't just one track there's around 30 tracks and long ones but you don't have to  do all of them or the whole thing!
The photos below are just a few pictures from what I did volunteering at shakespear regional park!
Here is me volunteering!
By Brooke
                                                                            

 

The rangers truck I rode in!

Help save the Kiwis!

 Help save the Kiwis!

In class we had to do an action, but before that we had to do an inquiry on birds. We chose to research about Kiwis. We then developed an interest in Kiwis. So for our action we grouped up together to help save Kiwis.

We had to book an appointment with our principal, Ms Neal. In the appointment we asked if we could fundraise for Kiwis. We told Ms Neal some of our ideas and she said yes about having a Mufti Day, "Yay". 

We booked our Mufti Day on the 17th of April, and our goal is to raise over $250 but on the last Mufti Day our school raised over $500 so we're very excited about it.  Our families are also donating to us, so that means even more money. All the money raised is going to the Department of Conservation.

To tell people in our school that we were having a Mufti Day, we wrote an article to go in the newsletter and we put posters around the school. We also announced it in our school assembly which we have every Friday.     

We hope that we raise as much money as we can to save Kiwis. We know that Kiwis are endangered and we'd hate to see them go.

By Holly,Kirsty and Izzy!

England

Have you ever craved pork with gravy and Yorkshire pudding ? Have you ever wanted to ride in a double decker bus? Well so do we and we're here to tell you some traditional foods and icons that are in England.

Here are some traditional foods: lamb,pork,beef,chicken and fish served with potatoes and other vegetables. Now here's some mouth watering desserts: trifle,apple crumble,jelly and ice cream,biscuits and tea and cakes. Common foods are: pies and bubble and squeak.

And now for icons...

Big Ben: Big Ben is the bell not the clock (mostly people think its the clock) and it is in London. Big Ben looks like a humongous, tall, big,brown building with a clock at the top and a bell behind it. Big Ben is the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament.

Double decker buses: In the olden days double decker buses had poles at the back of them so if you were late you would hop on the pole. Double decker buses look different to other buses as they are red and look like two buses stacked on top of each other.

The London Eye: The London Eye is a ferris wheel and is 135m tall! It is located in London. It's obviously a Ferris wheel but bigger, and in the winter the inside sparks up with a glowing green light. The London Eye was built to mark the millennium and was built in 1998.

The Queen's Guard: The Queen's Guard are responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace and St. James's palace. People say that if you try to make them flinch they will do nothing. The Queen's Guards look like men in red suits with a big bushy afros and a gun their hand. The Queen's Guards are chosen by joining the army. The Queen's Guards change at St James' palace at 11:00am.

Well those are only some foods and and icons but unfortunately we can't tell you them all you'll just have to discover the rest for yourselves.

By James and Tim

Irish culture by Kirsty

                                                                         Ireland

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                     Myths                                   Celebrations                                   Interesting facts                  
    -----------         ---------                    --------     --------                 --------               --------
   changlings       bashee                        may day    halloween                 Emerald Island      castles
           -----------                              --------             ------                 
            children of lir                         christmas              funerals              


Changlings are female fairies                 May day is a celebration of          Ireland has a nickname, the
they give birth to problem                   for the workers. They celebrate    nickname is Emerald Island.
children, then they go into the mortal          it on the 1st of may.                     
world and swap their child for a                                                                      Ireland has many castles
normal child.                                    On halloween they serve a dish           like Blarney, Bunratty,and doe
                                                        with a ring, coin, and 2 pins in it.        castle. Blarney castle you have to
Banshee is a old women dressed in    The ring means you have to get married    walk up to the top and
rags, sometimes people see her as       withn a year. The coin smybolizes wealth.   lean over backwards
 a beatuiful young girl and sometimes   The two pins mean you are not aloud to marry.   over a 10 story
 people see her washing clothes that                                                                             drop to kiss the
are covered in blood. Her scream         They celebrate christmas just like us with        stone of Blarney.
 kills anyone who's heard it.                 presents and a christmas tree.:)

The children on lir. Lir was the lord of the        For funerals the whole family
sea, his wife had 4 children. When his wife     comes and dines, they also share
died he married his old wife's sister, Aoife,       funny memories about the person
Aoife was jealous of the children so she took   who'd died.
them swimming in a lake and turned them into
swans.
 By Kirsty :)

Interview with Ruby the Kakariki

                                             

listen to ‘Interview with Ruby the Kakariki’ on Audioboo

   Interview with Ruby the Kakariki (Transcript)

Bella: "Hello and welcome to the NZ New Zealand talkshow! Today I'm going to be interviewing the kakariki a.k.a red crowned parakeet. Say hello to the cheeky, mischievous, Ruby the kakariki!"

Ruby: "At last some adoring fans!"

Bella: "Ruby, tell me a bit about yourself."

Ruby: "Well, all I can say is that firstly kakariki aren't very well known, even though we are almost threatened and our population is always getting smaller. Furthermore, seeing as I'm a young female I'm only twenty-three centimetres tall (even though the average height for females is twenty-three to twenty-seven centimetres). Also, kakariki are protected species, which I think rocks!"

Bella: "Who or what are your predators?"

Ruby: "Cats. Especially Smokey, the cat next door to my nest. Everytime I go near him, he swipes his claws at me. I've lost a feather or two but I've lived to tell the tale! Since I'm a pet I'm not vulnerable to rats, stoats and weasels because they don't usually live in  a house."

Bella: "Do you know how humans save NZ birds from predators?"

Ruby: "Most of the time humans capture birds and bring them to a safer place where there are no predators. Sometimes humans just kill the predators to save the birds. Of course, that isn't the case with cats. Cats are loved heaps and heaps by their owners (but not by me). So if cats are the predators then humans usually go with option one."

Bella: "How would you describe yourself and how would other people describe you?"

Ruby: "I describe myself as cheeky but kind and caring. So-called "friendly neighbours" call me a pest, a nuisance because I'm always stealing fruit from their orchard. They can never catch me, thank goodness, because protected or not, that man has a rifle and he would quite happily shoot me down!"

Bella: "Any other facts you want to share?"

Ruby: "Well let's see. I also eat seeds and leaves. We are energetic birds and need space. Also, kakariki are rare in forests but common on islands."

Bella: "I've heard kakariki lay many eggs. Is that true?"

Ruby: "Actually, we don't lay too many eggs. Only four to nine. But I've got to find a mate first. Ooh, I'm hoping he'll be around twenty-seven to thirty centimetres tall. Well, he would be 'cause that' the average height for males."

Bella: "Thanks for coming Ruby! That's all for now but be sure to tune back in soon for the NZ New Zealand Talkshow!"

By Isabella

Why children should have ipads / ipods at school.

How can parents and teachers live their life knowing they are keeping children from using ipads / ipods at school? I don't know but I am starting to think they don't WANT us to have them. I think that we should have them and here are some reasons why:

They take up less space than laptops and computers, they are portable where as computers are not, the battery charge lasts for a long time and MANY other reasons.

They also have educational games and apps that can help with spelling and math. The speakers and camera allow kids to record / make videos of thier learning. You can get an internet app so that kids can reaserch information they need for certain subjects. Some even have wi-fi.

Have you ever wanted something that was small, portable, has internet, long lasting battery and doesn't need cables? That's precisley why I think kids should have ipads / ipods at school.

By : GrT

Why children should have ipad/ipod at school

I think chirdren should have their own ipad or ipod at school because when they need to research something they have to ask the teacher.But you know sometimes the teacher says no.Isn't that so uncool.So I think children should have their own ipad or ipod at school.do you know why.Because teachers can also download helpful school apps for children to help them with there own learning to get better.While different teachers can show kids videos about what they or we are learning about.The most important thing to the kids are still having a blast ( a wonderful time inside ) when it is a rainy day.So I think that children should have their own ipod or ipad at school because they don't need to go to the computers to use up energy and use money to pay for the internet or network.Last of all we can use some of the school money for more other stuff for our own school.

By Giane

Children Should have iPods, iPads and iPhones At School

Parents say "No you'll lose it at school" tired of your parents saying that. Well give this to your parents, teachers and even your principal and see their reaction, I’m sure you will be able to take the device to school.

Your children’s interest in learning can increase big-time. Instead of book, pen/cil and other stationery, you only need your finger. This device can last your child’s learning yeas from primary to high school, and it can cost less than stationery. It is boring working from a sheet, the iPods and iPads/ iPhone learning games are interactive. If you get it wrong it will give you a strategy to help you, so you will get it right and understand it better.

If children aren’t aware of the future technology then when they grow up they will not know how to use the device. If they want to become something good (I mean in a job) let them have any device. They will know and get more chances of getting into a good job. If they don’t know devices they won’t communicate, play, and work in the new version and will get stuck in the old fashioned way.


Teachers can give kids homework, check it and talk through it. With Facetime, teachers can tutor or help kids with their school homework.
There are new & improved, school & homework games for teachers, parents & students, so that means better, exciting and interactive learning games. These learning games also can help disabled people to recover and learn.

Concentration is a very important thing, bringing this device can increase your or your child’s concentration. The games and learning games are interactive, exciting, funny, creative and child safe. How can your concentration increase you say? Well the game focuses you on one subject/topic and you are actually concentrating. Book and pen/cil is not such a well focusing tool (I say) you get easily distracted.


So it can be good, I think iPods and iPads and iPhones should be allowed at schools for learning, concentration, improved learning games and future tech.     





    



    

Children Should have iPads and iPods at School

Hi, I am Ellie and today I am going to convince you that iPads and iPods are allowed at school. Although that doesn't sound very school like and educational I am going to convince you!

Firstly iPod touches and iPads can be very educational because you can download educational games. There are a variety of learning games in the app store. Many are free. Kids enjoy iPods and iPads so kids would love it. iPods have educational songs so you can learn lots.

iPods and iPads can be very handy because if the teacher needs the children to do something on the mat the children could do it on their iPad. iPads are very useful and popular so we kids would enjoy it.

Having iPods and iPads at school is wonderful because children like me, can learn more about technology. iPods and iPads can be spontaneously fun, funnily enough. Kids love swiping and touching iPads so kids can be extra nice to the teachers if the teachers say that if you are naughty you can't go on your iPod/iPad. Teaching can be very easy.

On a wet day iPods/iPads can be breathtakingly fun.On a wet day you can't go outside so iPods/iPads are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! Great entertaainment!

Why sit and play a boardgame when you could be playing the latest game on your iPad? Why listen to someone reading when you could be listening to a famous actor reading it? Why take technology lessons when you could be playing a game? We are modern now, so act modern?

By Ellie