Armistice Day

CLICK THE LINK!!!

https://sites.google.com/paroagrey.school.nz/dance-ersize/home

Click the link above and check out the website I made for my genius hour with Pippa!

My Asstle writing test!

Imagine your dog being stolen to be used as bait, to be killed in a ring being peered at by horrible people betting money. That’s dogfighting in a nutshell. I strongly believe that dogfighting is a horrible, cruel thing to do and should be illegal all over the world. Although it is thought as disgusting by most people, believe it or not, that in many parts of Asia, Russia, Mexico and many more countries it is still legal. Even in places where dogfighting is prohibited, there have been reports on gangs organising a fight. I think that dogfighting is a horrible sport and those who encourage it should be punished.

Firstly, one of the many reasons I believe it should be illegal is because if it were humans the police would be called immediately. If it were you being kidnapped and put in a ring how would you feel? Dogs aren’t toys and they shouldn’t be abused or treated like they are.

Secondly, dogfighting is a form of animal abuse and should be illegal all over the world because animals have feelings too. Dogs are very intelligent mammals and they are among the group that can feel emotions. Did you know dogs are one of the only animals in the world that care more for there owner than themselves? What would a poor dog be thinking as it is thrown in front of a crowd of people cheering for it to be killed? 

Thirdly, dogfighting is that popular that in some places people breed and sell special “Dogfighting dogs”. Not only that but to train the dogs to fight, the owners usually beats and abuses the dog so it becomes that scared and that angry that it then uses all of that power against the poor bait that has probably been stolen from a loving home.

But what are people doing about this? Surely other people think this is wrong? In 2013, New Zealand singer and activist Tiki Tanne made a song about dogfighting and how it is wrong. I remember it was on the news and there was a whole segment on dogfighting to raise awareness about it. And it got a lot of people talking about it at school. 

Dogs should not be treated as toys or something you can just beat and bet money on. Dogs should be loved and treated like they are apart of the family! I think dogfighting is disgusting and should be illegal everywhere, not just the place where I live. Thankfully many countries have made dogfighting illegal and are persuading others to do so, but wouldn’t it be great if dogfighting and animal abuse wasn’t a thing anymore? Wouldn’t it be great if people treated dogs like they should? 

Where am I?

Where am I?

Summertime is here. The cicadas are chirping and I can hear the Grey River flowing behind me. My brothers whining about not catching any eels, but their voices are drowned out by the sound of my dog barking at some sheep in a neighboring paddock. The lush, green grass below me cushions me as I doze off. The Paparoa mountains look awesome in the sparkling sun rays. It’s perfect.

The cold winter air chills me to the bone accompanied by the harsh West Coast winds. The once spongy, green grass is now rock, hard dirt. The digger struggles to start up and the engine makes a funny spluttering sound. The gravel feels like ice and the cold Barber devours me. I wrap my jacket around me tighter and tighter. The digger starts up and a loud rumble takes over the yard.

By Sammi

Year 8

Social Studies Slam 2018 #1

Social studies slam // Mining on conservation land should be baned.

#1 By Sammi

Mining on conservation land SHOULD be banned. Why?

1. It’s not their land to mine.
2. If they lose their jobs they can get new ones.
3. They can kill native flora and fauna

Miners disagree because they could lose their jobs, but if they keep mining we could lose something more precious, our native flora and fauna. Not all miners will lose their jobs only the ones that are mining on conservation land.

If you are feeling sorry for all the miners losing their jobs, DON’T!!! Feel sorry for the birds and native wildlife. We already are losing animals due to global warming and 1080, and when you add mining into the mix.

So in conclusion mining SHOULD be banned!

This is not my real opinion, I actually want mining to stay.

Are we drinking OUR CLOTHES?

Are we drinking OUR CLOTHES?

While reading an article on stuff earlier this week about plastic microfibers in bottled water, I wondered; Are we drinking our clothes?

US studies reveal that bottled water, although labelled pure and natural still contains plastic microfibres from synthetic clothing. 20 brands of bottled water were tested and 19 of them came back positive, that’s UNBELIEVABLE, 19 out of 20 bottles of water containing plastic.

According to research by Orb Media at the State University of New York, people who drink a litre of bottled water a day might be ingesting tens of thousands of pieces of microplastic each year.The fibres come in a range of sizes and materials, studies have found all sorts of materials in water (not a good thing) such as nylon, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

Where is all this plastic coming from and how is it polluting our water?

Microfibres are released into the ocean through your washing machine. When you put clothes made from synthetic materials in a washing machine the microfibers released from your clothing then travel to your local wastewater treatment plant, where up to 40% of them enter rivers, lakes and oceans.

Other sources of microplastics and microfibers are common things used in your daily routine i.e. some toothpaste and face washes contain little microplastic beads to help cleanse your skin and teeth. Which when washed down the sink go to the same place and the microfibres from your washing machine.

But it's not only bottled water that contains microfibres, some tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analysed by scientists for another investigation by Orb Media, who shared the findings with the Guardian newspaper. Overall, 83% of the samples were polluted with plastic fibres.

What’s the solution?

I think the best way to decrease microplastic production is to buy clothes made from natural fibres such as cotton, linen, and wool. Natural fibres will eventually break down in the environment. Plastic fibres will never go away. Other simple solutions include fill up your washing machine. Washing a full load results in less friction between the clothes and fewer fibres released.

Would you want to eat plastic? I’m guessing no! By consuming this water we let microplastics into our body, imagine what it’s doing to us! Do something before it’s too late!

The referee is never right...

The Referee is always right, aren’t they? They have to be, right? Referees are not always correct, why… Because we are humans and humans make mistakes, I know you and I have. When the ref makes a wrong call against your team you feel pretty ripped off, but what would you feel like if you were the ref and people were giving you a hard time about it?

I have refereed a heap of mini ball games, Miniball is basketball but downsized, more mini courts, more mini balls and more mini people- only year 3 and 4’s play it. If I had called all the mistakes I had seen, the kids would have only played 2 minutes or so of actual mini ball. So I kind of had to let a few little things slip, but when I do all the other kids start saying “WHAT! He (or she) Travelled, OUR BALL, OUR BALL!!!” Refereeing is a hard job, and it is even harder when people pressure you about it!

This year I played rippa rugby and to be honest our team was really good, but we got totally ripped off in the semi-final! Paroa and Karoro were tied and we had to go into after time, both teams scored 1 try each and karoro had the ball, One boy who had the ball had his shirt over his belt, a rule in rippa rugby was that you have to have your shirt tucked into your belt so the opposition could get to your tags, anyway he had the ball but we couldn’t rip off his tags because his shirt was covering them. He went for the try, HE SCORED! “What!” We said to the ref “How does that count his shirt was over is belt” But no matter how much we argued the referee still counted the try, Karoro School had won and now they're in the finals! In this instance the ref was wrong and he should have been our ball! But remember referees can never be right 100% of the time!

Another time the ref was totally wrong was in 1966 when the referee was refereeing a world cup match, England vs Germany, Germany was up 2-0. Then moments later Frank Lampard of England sent a shot soaring through the air it hit the crossbar and then clearly bouncing over the line before bouncing back out! GGGOOOAAALLL! Or so they thought… The ref did not realise the ball had gone over the line from the angle he saw it,  and in those days referees did not rely on cameras to help make the decision although they did have the technology! So to everyone's surprise the referee called play on! The protest from the crowd carried on for the rest of the game! Germany ended up winning 4-1, but who knows what would have happened if the goal had counted? After that match the referee was sacked from the rest of the tournament, although something good did come out of this, this mistake led to goal-line technology and TMOs to help the referees with their calls!

Although Referees cannot always be correct all of the time you have to respect them. When I ref Miniball people come up to me at the end of the game and then thank me, which I really appreciate. Without Referees who knows what could happen at sports matches, fights, no rules, cheating, which would lead to more fights.etc. They may not be right 100% of the time but they are right about 75% of the time. When you play a game always thank the ref for giving up their time to make sure you and your teammates can play a game and have fun!

Boomwriter chapter two

BOOMWRITER CHAPTER 2 ( MY DOODLE LIVES)

I bound out of the bathroom and around the corner, concerned what the doodle will do next.

Hold on where did he go, all I know is that he was going to find Carter Johnson. Him and his gang hang out underneath the bleachers. I am making my way down to the sports field, I hear two more voices scream and screech at me from inside my bag.

“Help, Help”

“Get us out”

“Oh no Not more” I say.

Suddenly my bag bursts open, I slowly reach inside grabbing my doodle book and open it exposing three more doodles.

“Oy, dummy” wailed one of the doodles

“why did you leave us in there so long” complained the other one.

“Oh I’m sorry” I say in a sarcastic voice. The doodles peel of the page. There was a police officer, a ballerina, wait hold on a ballerina when did I draw her.

“ you drew me in first grade, remember to impress that little girl, ummm, rosy, yeah that was her name.”

“Whatever” I reply

RING! RING! The bell rings so I start pacing back to class. The doodles following behind me. Finally I am back in class, uh oh, Carter and his mates are in there. Carter walks over to me his fist clenched and his teeth bared like a wild dog! “Why don’t pick on someone your own size! So what if I’m fat, wear glasses and a nerd It does not mean I’m weak!” I say with an attitude “ OOOOOOH! Rager!”Carter taunts. I suddenly throw a punch Carter, He falls over and hits his noggin on the desk!

“ Brayden, what the heck are you doing!” The teacher bellowed

“How dare you be so rude and why would you hurt poor Carter, To the principal's office NOW!”

I slowly walk off the classroom, making my way to Mrs Graylings office. Out of the corner of my eye I see a black and white figure emerge from a locker and jump on Carter's shoulder.

“Ahhhhhhh” Carter screamed. I turned around to see my doodle spanking Carter Johnson with his skateboard. “Wait” I thought to myself “I can make drawings come to life, hey this could be handy!”

“Brayden, Brayden BRAYDEN!” Mrs Grayling bellowed.

I forgot that I was standing in the middle of the Principal's office

“Oh sorry Miss”

“I hear you have been starting fights in class”

“But, I…”  But Mrs Grayling interrupted.

“ Between you and me” She started whispering

“ I don’t like that Carter guy either”

She got louder “ You are free to go”

She ended the conversation with a cheeky wink.

“Bye” I muttered back.

THE DEVILISH ANGEL! BY SAMMI AND MIA!

THE DEVILISH ANGEL

The last thing I saw was my alarm clock flashing 12:07 before she pushed her long rotting nails through my chest, her other hand muffling my screams. I sat bolt upright, relieved it was only a dream, but as I saw my alarm clock it read 12:06 and I heard my closet door creak open. Soon enough the clock struck 12:07 and the door opened almost completely and standing there was a shadowy figure almost like an angel but with a devilish and heartless smile. She glared at me with cold, snake-like eyes. As she limped into my room she dragged a dead body. I screamed in horror as I realized who it was, My brother was staring back blankly at me with blood streaming out of his eyes and mouth. The intimidating figure stood over me glaring at me with the devilish smile whispering “ Goodnight, Lochie, or should I say GOOD BYE!” I live alone so I reached for my phone to ring my girlfriend Ashley but the witch-like creature grabbed my hand with her long bony fingers and she heaved my arm away from the phone and she let out an ear-piercing scream. She leaned closer and I could feel her cold breath on my face so I run downstairs straight to my basement to escape through my underground tunnels “Oh wait I forgot to dig them!” I rush back up the stairs but blocking them is the creature again staring at me with those cold white snake like eyes. There are windows on the wall by the stairs I try and open it and it works and surprisingly the creature abandoned trying to stop me so I quickly jumped out and made my way to Ashley's place which is only a few blocks away.  As I run down the street I didn’t look behind me, which was a mistake. The witch was right behind me the whole time following my every move.

I was in Ashley’s bed- room discussing what had happened. Half way through the story I glanced out the window and what I saw was terrifying, the witch-like creature was pacing along Ashley's front yard I tried to warn Ashley what was happening, but she didn’t seem interested and just wanted to get back to bed. Suddenly the creature disappeared from the yard, unaware that the creature was standing directly behind us. I turned around to warn Ashley but I turned around just in time to see the devilish creature suck herself into Ashley. I tried to run away but Ashley grabbed me round the neck stopping me from going but also stopping me from breathing. And at that moment Ashley pulled out a  steak knife and slit my neck. Deeper and deeper the knife went until it was too late… Lochie was gone. Still to this day police still don't know who or what had killed Lochie and Ashley and what still scares them is that the devilish Angel is still out there. An evil cackle filled the house that night. Still to this day police and detectives don’t know who or what killed those two innocent people and what still worries them is that the DEVILISH ANGEL is still out there and may be planning her next murder…

To be continued

SLIGHTLY RANDOM!

I woke up, but I wasn't in my bedroom. I don't even think I was on earth. The sky was pink with a huge purple ball of light in the middle of it and the ground blue with flower type plant sticking out of the ground with huge, sharp teeth clamping up and down. A big sign that seemed to be floating read in bold, wonky letters that read ' WeLCoME tO SnAZtOpIA!'. Behind me, narwhals swam, plunged and dived into a small ocean of glistening green water trickled down from a small waterfall, The narwhals were singing a strange repetitive song that sounded like 'NARWALS WE ARE NARWALS, NARWALS SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN CAUSING A COMMOTION CAUSE WE ARE SO AWESOME!' Slightly random I thought to myself. Then suddenly I hear a barking noise, well, not really a bark, more like a bork. I turned around to see green chickens borking and purple giraffes that are chirping and little birds growling like a lion. "this is a very peculiar place" I think silently to myself. "and what in the name of places has green water, pink skys, and yellow coloured zebras, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." The yellow zebra just fired a bomb at me and I exploded. THE END

DOG FIGHTING

DOG FIGHTING

Dog fighting is wrong. Dogs are forced to rip each other apart and fight to the death just for human entertainment. I think animal abuse is a serious crime and couldn’t imagine why anyone would like watching a dog fighting!

When people leave their dogs outside kidnappers ( Well, dognappers I suppose) steal the dogs for the fighting dogs to practise on and to build their confidence up. These practise dogs are usually starved and mouth taped shut to stop them harming the fight dog. Just imagine the devastated faces of the family's after their dog has been stolen and ripped to pieces just for human entertainment! Some people even bet on the dogs and how long the fight will last.

Recently investigators have found a dog fighting ring, in an old shearing shed with a blood-soaked dog in it with life threatening injuries. They also discovered that they had just been throwing the dead dog bodies in an old shearing pen, discarding them and just letting them rot. Apparently, after a fight, they organiser washed the blood away by squirting it away with a hose not even caring that the dogs have been killed!  

Dogs should be taken care of and loved instead of being trained to be aggressive and forced to rip each other apart. Dog fighting and animal abuse is a terrible thing and personally, I think the horrible people participated in it should be arrested for it. I hope now that you have read this you will think more about dog fighting and animal abuse!

Swimming!

Swimming

Swimming is not only just a sport it is also a skill as well. There are four main strokes; butterfly, backstroke, freestyle and breaststroke and lots of distances the shortest is 25m and the furthest is usually 400m but can go up to 600m or more. Swimming can be done anywhere in the world but some places not as warm as others. Here are some reasons why swimming is fun and I think you should do it.

Swimming can save your life, also earn you thousand of dollars and also is a very source of fitness.There are different distinct pools .eg. 25m and 50m. Not only is swimming fun there are many championships that people, including kids can go to. Swimming in the ocean can sometimes be dangerous and in strong currents even some of the world's best swimmers could not swim against them.

Local swimming pools usually hold lessons and some have competitive clubs but all cost money. My both my brothers do swimming lessons weekly and so do a lot of other families on the coast. I recommend lessons because they help you with not only learning to swim but your technique and show you effective drills and help you swim quicker.

Millions of people do it around the world and lots of people have been very successful and earned millions of dollars doing it. A good example of this is Joseph Schooling, from Singapore  who left Rio, this year as a world champion and  proudly getting 1m dollar prize. Roughly 50% of people do swimming (51.973%). The person who has the most Olympic medals of all time is USA swimmer Michael Phelps, with 28 gold. As I said before swimming can get you a long way if you really try.

Swimming is a fantastic skill to have and I hope this encourages you to go swimming, but why are you still here when you could be swimming!

By Sammi

Yr 5

ARTHUR'S PASS CAMP!!!

Arthur's pass camp!

YAHOO! School camp! This year we went to Arthur’s pass. Everyone was excitedly chatting  in the classroom waiting to go on the bus. When we finally got on the bus I sat next to Pippa right at the front. Once we got there we met Logan our guide. We settled in and got told what bunk rooms we were in. I was in a room with Sahara, Indy, Rhea, Bridget, Dayna and Karolyn.

Our first activity was orientering which is when you get a map and some clues to help you find the answers for a quiz, and in this case they were little white posts with metal plates on them. My group was with Matthew, Boyd, Declyn, Brock, Julie, Caitlin and Indy (Group 2). We raced out the door as soon as Logan said go. First we had to go and find number 9 which was up by the old school. We found all the others around Arthur’s pass in a jiffy. Group 2 was the first group back to the lodge. Orientering was really fun.

After that we had a little break we went to the devil's punchbowl. Logan showed us some orange algae on the rocks. He said that was what the oompa loompas used as their face paint most of us then put it on our face, but mine showed the best and people said I looked like a traffic light. The walk to devil's punchbowl was a long walk with lots of stairs in it but finally we reached the top. And it was worth it! The roar of the waterfall was so loud it sounded like an earthquake. On the way back Logan taught  us a game called the running screamer and it was so awesome. We had to run down a trail sprinting screaming at the top of our lungs, trying to go as far as we can without taking a breathe, Pippa was first running into the distance with a high pitched scream that could crack windows, then it was my go. I ran as far as I could,I just got past Pippa . I got quite far but Boyd Matthews dad got the farthest.  

Once we got back into the lodge my group started cooking tea. We had nachos and chocolate pudding and the were yummy. After tea we played soccer… In the DARK. I got kicked in the shins a few times and probably kicked a few people as well. But then before we knew it it was time for bed but we did get 50 minutes to hang in our bunk rooms. Sahara told an epic scary story involving drip drop and a creepy puppet. Then finally it was lights out!

The next day when we all woke up most of the kids, including me, played spotlight. It was 5.30 am so it was still dark. Finally it was time for breakfast but as we walked out there was a crowd around the window. Then I realised why they were there. IT WAS SNOWING! I had never seen snow before. It looked like everything was painted white overnight. It looked so amazing and after breakfast we got to play in it. At first we had a snowball fight but then it turned into a war between girls vs boys (the girls were much better though). After the fight we had a snowman competition. I was with Brock, Declyn, Matthew, Indy and some of the Parents. We made a snowman and the judges said it looked like a penguin. But we still won.

Later that day it was time for dinner and then the camp concert. For the camp concert I was doing a ridiculous dance with Pippa and Caitlin to the song “Can’t stop the felling” Me and Mia was doing the same song just a different dance. After all the acts the were finished the judges ( Nat- Caitlin's Mum and Dayna- Rhea’s Mum) announced the winners “ In 3rd place” announced Nat “ are Rhea and Indy doing their play!” “And in 2nd place doing a dance” Said Dayna “ Is Mia” “And in 1st place is Sammi, Pippa and Caitlin” Said Nat. We were all shocked that we won we were only expecting even 3rd place, definitely not 1st.

School camp was awesome and I hope that it's that fun next year!

Hunting is good!

Hunting.

Most people think hunting is bad but it gets you meat and if hunters are trained and do it in a good way it won't hurt the environment.  Most people don’t like the idea of killing animals but still eat meat although if hunting was banned then wouldn’t have that meat.    

Back before we could buy meat people had to hunt to survive. If they didn’t people would die because they didn’t have many other food sources. Years after years people still hunted to survive but then people also started selling meat so hunting wasn’t just for survival also for money. Now days people can make thousands of dollars selling meat. So hunting was for survival and money and it was the way of life.

Hunting encourages people to get there own meat. Some supermarkets get their meat from big companies that kill there meat in horrible ways. As a result of the animals being killed like that they release stress hormones ,which are bad for you, however if the animal doesn’t see you they have a slightly less chance of releases those hormones.  People think hunting is bad but the meat you buy from the supermarket has been killed much more painfully than hunters do.

Hunting keeps the populations of lots of animals down.  Lots of pest animals breed very quickly and they cause loss to our natural environment this will affect our native wildlife and their habitats. Some of NZ's most endangered species like Kiwi are hunted by possums and stoats. Stoats also eat lots of birds eggs and our national birds food. Goats are also pests,  although you may not think that they are but they can stomp on native plants and also eat them too this is a problem because NZ might lose the plants. So hunters aren’t as bad as you might think because they keep the population down of pests.                                                           

Hunting for meat may be good and helpful trophy hunting is bad. An example of trophy hunting is when the White Rhino was almost hunted to extinction and now only three left which are all too old to breed. Also lots of inexperienced hunters shoot animals mistaken for other animals for example  in New Zealand is when a hunter shot a Takahe, which are endangered being mistaken for a pukeko that are very large in population. Hunting for meat may be good and helpful trophy hunting is bad.

So hunting isn’t actually as bad as you may think it can help keep populations down, allows you to get healthier food and still much more things. So if you didn’t like hunting then hopefully this article changed your mind.

HIDE AND SEEK

Hide And Seek

A musty smell wafts up my nostrils

Footsteps are coming towards me crunching on the grass

The shed door opens with a loud creak

Light rushes into the room blinding me

I shuffle backwards until I hit the wall

Whispers flood the room echoing off the walls

I know they’re close

I know they're gonna find me

Splinters attack my arm and knees

My legs are stiff like wood

My arms are frozen like ice

More whispers flood the room

My hands are trembling like a dog shaking off water

They finally spot me looking me right in the eye

That's it game over.

By Sammi

A typical Monday

A Typical Monday Morning

I can hear footsteps coming up the hall. It’s mum, coming to wake me up, and I just remembered it’s school (uh oh). Mum yanks the blanket off me and pulls the curtain which floods the sunlight into my room blinding me, it may be sunny but it’s definitely not warm. “ Get out of bed, squidgy” I hear mum say as she leaves the room.

I slowing doze back off to sleep but it doesn’t last long as I hear my little brother stomping up the hall like an elephant even though he’s three, to “annoy” me out of bed. And it works. I walk out to the lounge with my blankets still dragging behind me, shoulders slumped and still half asleep. I ignore my brother Mack yelling at me because I slept in and now we're going to be late. “What do want for breaky hon” Mum asks as I lay down on the couch turning the tv but all I can think of is my warm, comfy bed.

Finally I drag myself off the couch and up to my room. I literally pull my duchess apart searching for my uniform “ Mum where’s my shirt” “ Mum where’s my skorts”  “ Mum where’s my jersey” “Mum where are my shoes” I yell in demanding tone at mum who seems to know where everything is. “Your shirt is on the chair”  “Your skorts are on the couch”  “You Jersey is  in your room”  “And your shoes are drying by the fire” “OK” I scream back at mum as I start to trudge around the house collecting my uniform.

I put my clothes on, brush my hair and wrestle it into a ponytail,  I brush my teeth the usual morning routine. I grab my bag which is always sitting on the table waiting for me packed and ready (thanks to Mum).

Finally I am in the car ready, but wait I forgot my chromebook, typical Sammi. I rush back inside and grab it and rush back to the car. And waiting there are Mum, Mack and Jake (Mack and Jake are fighting, Like always). We finally get to school just in time 1 minute till the bell rings. I kiss Mum goodbye and watch her drive away.

A typical Monday Morning.

By Sammi

Year 5 Student