We Need More Of This

Are you a good citizen? Have you helped out a neighbour or anyone in your community lately? Well if you have, good job and keep it up. If you haven't, well continue reading and you will become a great citizen.

To be a good citizen it requires you to follow all laws, help out, be friendly and positive, honest and most importantly do the right thing no matter what  the circumstances are. Being a good citizen is great and you can follow your aspirations. Along your journey you may have children or young adults who will see you as a role model and maybe want to be you one day.

Citizenship also includes belonging to your country permanently. When you are a citizen you are able to get a licence of your country and get a job. Also if you are born in another country and your  parents are New Zealand citizens you may still be a New Zealand citizen. Make the wrong moves such as breaking the law you could lose citizenship. These are just some responsibilities and privileges of being a New Zealand citizen.

Sweat, Joy, Blood and Team Work

Schools all ready, referees steady, the whistles blow like a confetti. We versed heaps of schools. We won all our games but unfortunately we lost in the finals against Sylvia Park School. Even though we didn’t come first we were all overjoyed. We came second. Yay!   At the end of the day we did our school proud.

An Inspirational Lesson

Madd Messenger came to our school to advise us to make the right choices in school and to follow our ambitions. These are a few of their inspirational words “Work hard in school and your dreams will come true”. We also had multiple conversations about some of the things that distract us from our school work such as social media and friends. They taught me a long life lesson to work to my full potential and one day in future I will have made my dreams true. Petia finished the session of with his own interpretation of the beautiful Wonder Women.

What do these Logo's Represent?

What do these symbols tell you about the company which might be using them as their logo? Last week we were asked to write down our ideas about what we thought these companies sold or made by looking at their logo's. Here are my ideas.

Hospital, doctor, heart monitor,	parcel, delivery company, packaging
Thistle, Scotland's national symbol, Glasgow’s mascot “Clyde”	Canada’s flag, maple leaves
apple, apple plantations, apple company	Chef, restaurant, Italian

AGRRHH! Whats Wrong With My Eye?

Ever woken up in the morning, looked in the mirror and seen a horrifying sight? Well, conjunctivitis has struck once again. Conjunctivitis. The inflammation of the conjunctiva eye.

    Have you or your daughter shared make up lately? Be prepared to wake up with a monster looking eye. Conjunctivitis can appear if there has been any injury to the eye. Sharing make up, bacteria around your eye and something in your eye can lead to Conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis also goes by the name of  Pink Eye.  Conjunctivitis takes 24-74 hours to be noticed. It can last up to a whopping 2-3 weeks.

    These are some symptoms that may occur.

• Irritation to the eye
• Redness around the eye
• Blocked tear duct
• Sticky Eyes
• Infection or allergies
• Swelling

    To treat your child's Conjunctivitis, use some of these remedies to help treat the  conjunctiva eye.

• Clean the eye with a cotton ball BUT only wipe in one direction throwing them away once they’re used
• A clean cold cloth can help soothe irritation and bring swelling down
• Wash your hands thoroughly after treating the conjunctiva eye

If these don't work go to your doctor and get prescribed eye droplets and other antibiotics.

    

    If your child's eye is irritated take them to your local doctor. Don't ignore it and say “We’ll see if it's okay tomorrow”. Prevent it before it gets worse.

My Home Is Where My Heart Is

From a visitors point of view my homeland appears to be a wreck but to me it's still home. Pipiwai. I was raised there and I have many childhood memories with many family members and enjoyable experiences with animals.

Firstly the landscape is astonishing. From the rivers to the towering country hills and mountains in the far distance. The fragrance of the countryside is fresh  with a hint of farm manure and the smell of pine in the breeze. Everywhere you sight is lush green grassy paddocks with multi coloured cows, bulls, sheep, horses and free range chickens.

Out of many various stories my nana has told me this would be my favourite. Te Heke a courageous Ngapuhi chief discovered a fantasizing big rock in a plot of a Pakehas’ land. In the rock are four holes and water squirts out of them. Pipiwai inherited its name from this rock. Pipi means to squirt and wai means water. This rock is located in a paddock on Moores Road.

While I'm there, I like to indulge in the luxurious clear waters. If you're trying to get privacy this is almost impossible because all the locals gather to enjoy time with their whanau and friends or to cool off in the summer heat. There are many streams, rivers and lakes you can soak in, in the peace and quiet.

Going on nature walks is something I really love. Just walking through forests and coming across interesting objects you wouldn't have expected to sight like unusual bird feathers, animal tracks and sap from kauri and gum trees. Collecting and admiring new things you're unfamiliar with is amazing. Seeing all of the land around me shift a bit every time I'm there, so there are always new adventures to take on daily.

Te Horo is the only primary school in Pipiwai. Every Wednesday it used to hold a Twilight family night to fundraise money for new construction to take place around the school or just to gather and enjoy time with the whanau. Adults and children were able to participate in activities that involve netball, volleyball and touch. The best thing was the hearty Maori food such as Maori burgers, hangi, fried bread and kids treats.

If you need milk, petroleum or meat, farmers are willing to barter. They are so generous they even give kids good paying jobs in the holidays if you’re alright with getting down and dirty with the animals: waking at early hours in the morning while the dew sets on the grass and condensation forms on the windows. Would you consider being a part time farmer?

Eels are a delicacy in the Maori culture. There are many streams located around Pipiwai some may even be just a paddock away. The key to catching eels is to be quiet and stationary. Ripples on the surface of the water are a great sign, the more ripples the more eels. Eels are nocturnal so it's best to go eeling at sundown.

Unfortunately some households can’t access water to flush their toilets so there’s a long drop. There aren’t any lights and you have to set off in the dark alone or alongside a parent. But on the bright side it’s more efficient and you’re using less water. When it comes to that time of the year  you have to make a new plot for your long drop, you get yourself stuck in quite a smelly situation.

I gotta say “There's no place like home.”

Glossary

whanau - family

marae - Maori meeting house

ataahua - beautiful

       

Slipping and Slidin

Drip drop, Drip drop, I turned off the shower head and opened the shower curtain I stepped out of the shower steadying myself from slipping over.

I changed into my clothes quickly as the wet water froze my feet. I picked my dirty clothes up off the floor carefully and dropped them into the washing machine carelessly. I ran back into the bathroom hastily to get my earrings and not noticing that I forgot to wipe the wet floor I slipped. BANG! CRASH! My mum ran to my aid immediately and asked “Are you alright?”

“Yes” I replied honestly  with hurt in my voice.

Minutes later a bump formed on the back of my head. I kept pressing on it testing how sore it felt, screwing my face every time. Now I know to always wipe the floor before leaving the shower to prevent myself and other people in my household from slipping and getting injured.    

Water Needs

For Writing we compared the different ways  Plants and Humans use water in a days life. To do this we made a Venn diagram to show the differences and similarities between both the two.

Keep Our Country Clean