Kamusta everyone. This was from August 1.

At the beginning of August we all went swimming and do you know I didn’t want to miss one lesson. The best part was on the bus singing with one another. Once we got there were  using three lanes. And I wanted to start at intermediate level. My instructor was Izzy. I thought that it was easy but it became kind of hard. I have had lessons for like 1 year but I sometimes thought it was difficult.

When the girls were here we jumped from the wall and I did a roll jump. The next day and lesson we did two types of swimming – one was free style and the other one was backstroke. The best part was the games we played on the last day. I had to race against Patrick. Once the instructor threw the sinker I swam faster than ever I could. Patrick  lost but its ok because I was faster. My next opponent was big Jacob. He swam faster than me. My favourite part was the free style and back stroke.

Matariki is a public holiday in New Zealand because it is the new year for the Maori people. It happens in mid winter and this year it was on July 14 2023. The name of Matariki means the eyes of the god.

Maori celebrate new year by spending time together as a family. They also pray for others who have died. They have special food there, and they tell stories about Matariki and look forward to the future.

Matariki stars can be seen early in the morning before the sun comes up. I don’t get up that early to get to see the Matariki stars. We made Matariki stars and we had so much fun. It took us at least 3 or 4 days to try and make them. My star is above and these are our Matariki stars altogether.

I am a gentle boy who everyone calls Storm Boy. I am a storm boy who is unafraid and brave. I’m always calm even though I am a child who has never been at school.

I enjoy being in nature even though wild animals like snakes are all around.

I am never lonely because the beach, the sea, the fish, birds are all my friends. I am……………….Storm Boy

Yesterday we played Kia O rahi from after morning tea to lunch and we had to wear PE gear to not get our uniform dirty. The teams are rimu, rata, kauri, totara. I loved playing my game and I was very fast. The winning house  is……………………………………….. Kauri!!! Sadly we lost but that’s OK. At least we had fun

Today I did this screencast of my learning about Pelicans.

Last week in Room 6, we ate ANZAC BISCUITS. Mrs. Agnew bought them for us. At first, they were not eating because they were for ANZAC day. Finally,  ANZAC day came and it’s time to eat the biscuits. When I ate one, it made me think that I was eating sugary donuts in Jeddah. I really missed it and now I can’t eat it any more because they have shut down the store in Jeddah. 

The biscuits were round like the tyres of a car. It felt crumbly and bumpy in my mouth. Did you know? In 1915 The women used to bake these cookies to send to the soldiers during World War One.`

Today we celebrated the 175th Jubilee and I had to leave early because my Mom had work. On Friday we played sports with different teachers. My favourite part was the time we dug up the time capsule. We took the old items from 25 years ago.

On Sunday my family and I came back for mass. There where many people there and even three priests. I saw a little girl  sitting on the platform and four men were carrying the little girl. She gave the bible to the priest. After mass we went to the hall and we sang three songs. All the parents were clapping and having fun. We did not have lunch there. I enjoyed the celebration of our school’s 175 year history.