Category: Ako | Learn

Tu’u Malohi 2024

On Tuesday the 26th of March , some of us year 10 students participated in the Tu’u Malohi programme. Some of us did this last year as a year 9 so I was grateful for this opportunity to be a part of it again.

Our main focus for today’s activity was about the Dawn Raids. Dawn Raids was a sad racist attack that occurred in New Zealand during the 1970s. Many of our people from the Pacific had no choice but to come to New Zealand. They were immigrants and that’s how most of us migrated from the islands to New Zealand. They needed to work and sacrifice themselves to help support their families back in the islands. The police would come on the crack of the dawn and raid, evict , and arrest anyone who was overstaying. I believe that our people did nothing wrong. This was completely targeted to the brown people which was racist.

Our task was to draw or write something that relates to the Dawn Raids. We have to explain and show how we felt towards that. My drawing is down below. The water and mountain resemble the land. The pattern at the top of the drawing is a Tongan pattern called ‘Manulua’. The meaning behind the image is to allow us to stay and live here in New Zealand. The police didn’t have the right to kick us out. I’m not trying to say we own the land but we should be allowed and deserve to stay here.

 

Music – My Pepeha

For our new rotation (which is Music) our first task was to write and learn our pepeha.  A pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Maori. It tells us your name, your village, you mountain, and more. You can read my pepeha which is below. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave positive comments on my blog.

Tēna koutou katoa (greetings to you all)

Ko Tongiaki tōku waka (canoe)

Ko Kao tōku maunga (mountain)

Ko Navutoka Tonga tōku iwi (tribe, viliage)

Nō New Zealand ahau (where from)

Ko Tamaki College tōku kura (school now)

Ko Faleta tōku whānau (family)

Ko Heikoti tōku matua (father)

Ko Meleane tōku whāea (mother)

Ko Finau tōku ingoa (my name)

Nōreira, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēnā tātou katoa (Therefore greetings to you, greetings to you, greetings to us all)

Social Studies – Made in Taiwan: Blog Letter

Recently in social studies we have been learning about the film ‘Made in Taiwan’. There were two guys named Oscar and Nathan who were discovering and learning more about their family history. They took DNA tests and used them for navigation (to go back and look for their origins). It was very beautiful, interesting, and educational to watch. At the very end of the activity we had to write a blog letter about this whole journey.

 

Blog letter: I have learnt a lot from Nathan and Oscar’s journey. It seemed like they had a precious and beautiful experience. They met new people, new friends, and especially new family relatives. I have learnt that you don’t really need DNA to prove that you have family or certain relatives, you can just tell by the love and connections they/you (Nathan & Oscar) share with your families. I wonder how long in general this journey of Nathan and Oscar was? I wonder where my ancestors are from? I sort of have an idea since I do family history. Thank you Nathan and Oscar for sharing your experience with us! You have inspired many of us to try and look for our family origins.

(photo attribution)

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment.

PE – Y9 ABL Booklet: Reflection 3

Yesterday on Friday we had our PE class. But for this class we had to fill in our ABL booklet. We had a class discussion about what are five aspects in the class (and outside of class) should be. We then completed our reflection 3 about what encouragement is. We had many activities we played so we chose one of them to talk about, link it to encouragement. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment.

Class Discussion

Activity: Pipeline

What does encouragement look like: 

The activity I participated in was pipe line which required us to hold a pipe/gutter each. Somebody at the start of the line holds the small ball and everyone else has to connect their pipes together. Once the ball rolled past your pipe you had to go down the line and carry on connecting pipes.

Some members of our group smiled and cheered others in our own group. Even though we failed many times I continued to encourage my group and encourage to carry on and keep on going. 

At some point of the game I was a little bit disappointed with the way my group acted (opposite of encouragement) but I tried to remind them in the nicest way possible to calm down.

 

What does encouragement sound like:

Like how I stated we cheered and spoke kindly to others. The more we cheered the more happier and hype everyone felt. At one point we got a little too excited we lost focus and dropped the ball. Yes of course we had a laugh but just carried on. 

We had many of us cheering each other or even to the opposing teams, we had team members laughing with each other, and also speaking kindly and helping them improve in their skills. 

The time I felt the most courage was from my own health and PE teacher. I walked in from a small break and she told me to hurry in and help my group. She cheered loudly and supported my culture. We both chuckled and carried on. 

 

What does encouragement feel like: 

You just have a sense of feeling to continue to keep on playing. If the mood and attitude is right then of course you will feel it. The more my group was cheering and smiling at each other the more encouragement we felt and wanted to keep going.

“It’s alright, just keep on going” and “algoods, try again” were the main phrases I heard throughout the game. Once everyone on the team heard this we kept on trying and trying again and didn’t really care if it took too long.

 

Explain how encouragement influenced you during your activity:

Encouragement is what my team really needed.

At times we would be frustrated or annoyed with each other. I had to stop and tell members of my team to please calm down and be patient. They thought about it and then started to encourage others.

Whenever somebody would get mad with someone they would stop immediately and try to encourage them.

I know that I actually remained calm and cheered my team on. Even though that one person made a mistake I told them not to worry and to please carry on. It definitely makes you feel down when you get yelled at or feel discouraged. That’s why have been inviting my team to participate and to encourage others. 

SLJ – Kick Start: Smart Chips

One of the tasks I chose from this week was called Smart Chips. In this task we had to fill in the blanks/choose the correct word for the song Pukeko in a Ponga Tree (aka) 12 Days of Christmas. This seemed like a literacy and musical activity. I found this pretty chill and fun. Please leave a positive comment on my blog

SLJ – Kick Start: My Summer Tiki Tour

This is one of the tasks for the SLJ last week. It was fun and probably my favourite one from last week. In this task we had to write different places we would like to visit or do visit during the holidays. My family and I don’t travel out of Auckland that much (only Hamilton) but it’s still very nice. I worked on this task with my younger sister Catherine. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment on my blog.

SLJ – Kick Start: Arts for Arts Sake

Today I chose the Arts for Arts Sake task from the Summer Learning Journey week two. I thought this would be very fun and interesting, indeed it was. For this task we had to create a silhouette with our family on it. Since I’ve made a silhouette it was pretty easy. This photo was from a couple of years ago. It was my family and I at the Hamilton Temple museum. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment on my blog.

(artwork)

(original photo)

Term 4 Highlights!

Term 4 is officially over. It was quite a big shock to everyone because of the short term. We all tried to make the best of it and enjoyed it. We had many events that happened which I’m very grateful for and enjoyed. Thank you to everyone who helped out this term to make it another great success.

At the start of the term we had our Immersion Assembly where the teachers had to perform or share a movie. We had our second KPMG trip which is quite rare and we were super stoked about it. We loved the food, the lessons we learnt, and the activities we played. Our School Athletics day was very fun. I enjoyed spending time with all the year 8 girls (team challenges were so funny).  Later in the term we had our school Prizegivings and Year 8 Graduation. It was a joyful time where most of us received awards, I did which I was proud about. And all year eights dressed up beautifully and had our pictures taken.

I absolutely loved this term. It is so sad and fortunate that I’m leaving. Thanks again to everyone! I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment on my blog.

Year 8 Graduation 2022

Last week Monday we had our year 8 graduation for 2022. I was super excited and happy. When I arrived with my parents I greeted my friends and teachers. We next took photos infront of the photo place. Then we had a light supper and got started.

The prefects shared their speeches which was lovely. One or two students had to introduce their teacher. I did it with my classmate Aaron. My class was second to last. It was nice hearing speeches from students and teachers. It was also very, very, very nice seeing many year 8s dressed up nice and semi-formal. I loved that day so much and enjoyed it.

Thank you to parents, families, supporters, teachers, and year 8 students for attending and making it a wonderful night. I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Prizegiving 2022!

Today we had our school Prizegivings. I really enjoyed and loved my last senior prizegiving (which was in the afternoon). Many deserved people received great awards such as, class awards, PENN awards, sport awards, scholarships, and much more.

I received many awards but one of them was the ‘Takoha Pay It Forward’ award.  I was so very happy and super proud of myself. I wasn’t expecting to get it but I did. Thank you to those who have helped me this year!

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a positive comment on my blog.