Recount: Year 8 Retreat Visit!

On Thursday morning the Year 8’s gathered into the hall. There was instantly a happy and exciting buzz going around. We were all excited because we were going to a Leadership Retreat for 2 days and 1 night. It was at St Francis Retreat Centre. Mrs Tui and Mr Coakley were coming with us.  I hoped that we will learn to be better leaders just like Jesus.

Parents were helping us with the transport to the Retreat Centre.  I was with Rosrine and Richie’s mum.  During the ride we wondered what the retreat held for us. When we arrived surprisingly the building looked exactly as I had imagined! It was quite a wide and tall building, with windows next to each other. After 10 minutes everyone walked in holding there breath and waiting for there new adventure to begin! Throughout the day we met Brother Philip, we got to see our new rooms and we got to do some amazing activities! We did about 3 activities which was a Treasure Hunt, Making an Ark and doing Skits.

My highlight was the Treasure Hunt for sure. Patrick, Pate and JT were in my group and we got given our first clue. At the end when we find all the clues it will lead to a big envelope that will give us the next activity. It was pretty difficult because everyone in the group had to hold onto a piece of fragile paper and if it ripped then we were disqualified. I say that this was my highlight because it was extremely fun whenever we found a new clue because it made us really excited.

If I had another chance to go back to the Retreat Centre with the Yr 8’s then I would, I wouldn’t of wanted to go there with any other people!

Descriptive: The Powhiri Ceremony

A Powhiri is a traditional Maori welcoming that is very sacred. You can not entire a Marae without being welcomed.

The Powhiri stars from the entrance of the Marae, all the way up to the Wharenui. There was a red archer on the top and a beautiful wooden floor with seats on either side. There was a big door behind the wooden floor, leading into the Wharenui and white step at the bottom. There was a concrete path leading up to the steps and on the sides two small fields of grass. Also on the left was a tall red statue, which I think represented Tu the god of war. As soon as I walked in I felt very sacred and peaceful. I also felt as if this wasn’t a place to mess around. I looked around and saw that everybody else was looking down, looking very peaceful.

At the beginning of the Powhiri the woman called to us first. She sounded very elegant and graceful. Then Ana-Lei called back, the woman responded. They both sounded like they were singing to each other. It was almost as if I was in a trance where I couldn’t get out from. We quietly walked into the Wharenui. The Wharenui was a rectangular squared room. The ceiling was painted light blue, with lights at the top and the carpet was soft. There were 3 rows of chairs all facing the front. But the girls were seated on the floor beside the chairs.

There were also 2 other women and men there, they sat at the front. They looked like they were very important people within the Marae. The 2 men spoke speeches to us in Maori. They almost sounded like they were singing, because of how natural it sounded. We sang 2 songs which were He Honore and E Toru Nga Mea.

Recount: My Highlight From The Marae

My highlight from our trip to the Marae was when we were making a flower out of flax. We were going to weave it together with our Soul Friend. We all got a flax each and had to follow the Whaea in charge. It was quite difficult to follow. Our Whaea gave us a lot of instructions and always went around helping the other students. Even the teachers were getting a chance to experience it.

We had to do different things like twist, fold or even flatten. It was very hard and I always got lost. But lucky enough my friends helped me, as well as the Whaea. After the Whaea told me what to do, I finally saw how easy it was. It was basically just a pattern, where I had to fold it in a specific way. So I did this for the next 2 minutes and ended up with my weaved flower! At the end I was so impressed and happy with myself. This was my highlight because it was the most difficult thing that I had done during the trip.

Holy Spirit Strand: How Has The Holy Spirit Strand?

Today in Religious Education we looked at the different ways that the Holy Spirit has helped up. In this poster I wrote about how the Holy Spirit has worked in me, how it has worked in other people and also my prayer to the Holy Spirit.

My Maori Pepeha

My Maori Pepeha
This is a link to my Maori Pepeha. A Pepeha is an introduction to yourself. I found that a Pepeha is different from a Mihimihi.

Holy Spirit Strand: Week 6 - Luke 4: 1 - 15

Scripture: Luke 4: 1 - 15

I am learning to... to find out from the scripture how the Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit

1. How was Jesus prepared for his ministry?

Jesus was prepared for his ministry because he was filled with the holy spirit and he was sent by the holy spirit to go the wilderness.

2. How was Jesus empowered by the spirit?

When Jesus left Jordan he was filled with the holy spirit, the Holy spirit lead him into the wilderness.

3. What happened?

Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. But while he was there the devil tried to tempt Jesus by telling him to turn the rocks into bread and to jump off the highest point of Jerusalem, but Jesus refused.

4. Who was there?

Jesus, God and the Devil were mentioned in the story.

5. What did Jesus or any other people do?

In the story Jesus tried to go without food or water for 40 days and 40 nights. The devil also tried to tempt Jesus.

Marae

This is my presentation about a Marae. In this presentation I explain what a Marae is, the different parts of a Marae and the Protocols of a Marae.

Daily Prototec Results #1

This is my prototec results from this week. Next time I hope to get the Factors right.

Results:
	I got 38 right and 2 wrong. 38/40 and I got it in 49 seconds.

Recount: A Samoan Afternoon!

During lunch time Room 7 got to eat Samoan food! This was because it was Samoan Language Week. Thankfully Malia’s Mum and Dad cooked us some Chop Suey, Rice, Luae, Corn Beef and Taro. It was like being at a birthday celebration. But before we got to eat all this delicious food Room 7 dressed up in different lava lava's and practised our Samoan dance one more time.

We were then finally ready to eat. I ate all I could consume for at least 10 minutes. I was full to top of my stomach! I basically ate everything except for the Luae. After we cleaned up the classroom we moved to the hall to perform our dance to Room 4. During the dance I realised to myself that this was one of the happiest times that I had ever had! After our awesome performance Room 4 stood up and told us different facts about Samoa.

5 minutes later Room 7 was in the courts playing dodgeball. I was having the time of my life! For one of the first times I was actually enjoying dodgeball. I was laughing and smiling so much. But sadly we had to pack up everything and go back to the class. Even though I didn’t want the good times to end I was really exhausted so I went back to the class grabbed my netbook and my bag and went back home. Where I got to right all about my amazing experience!