Argument writing by Davarni about the teacher strike which is causing a lot of debate in the media and communities.

Do Teachers Really Need to Strike?

The last recent teachers strike was held on the 12th of November. Teachers argued about the workload, salary, and unnecessary tasks they’ve been given. Addition to that, teachers don’t get paid to do extra work. But do they really need to go on strike?         

As a student, I thought that teachers only needed to teach students about maths, reading and writing. But, I was wrong, teachers have additional jobs like: caring for the students' feelings, making sure everything is alright at home, and maintaining their behaviour.

Teachers are what structure our future for the next generation, by that I mean, they educate the youth for the sake of their lives and future. Without teachers, us children wouldn’t be getting the learning needs they demand. So, in order to keep our teachers ‘safe’, they need some consideration from the government, education minister, and prime minister.

It’s not just money teachers need, they also need resources such as, books and sports gear; Of course this is for the students, to help them learn. These resources are very useful to those who need them.

To finish off, I personally think teachers have every right to protest. Keep in mind that they’re doing this for themselves, their students, and their families.

Inquiries into types of plants.

Telesia and Newsam have been learning about what Vascular plants are. They have read a lot of information about what they are and created this slide show to share their new learning.  Their next activity is to use this information to create a quiz for their peers to answer after reading their presentation.

Royals up in here

This year the media have been reporting about teachers and their campaign for better work conditions and better pay. We have seen many news reports about their on going campaign. We have also experienced one strike. Our movie is about showing our support not only for our school teachers, but all the teachers in Aotearoa who work hard to help us achieve our goals. Thank you teachers for all you do. Kua tae te wa!

A motivational experience being on board the HMNZS Canterbury.

The year eight students were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the HMNZS Canterbury. A wonderful opportunity provided by Tamaki College. Mr Dunn and Staff Clarins kindly came to take the students to go on board the biggest Navy vessel New Zealand has. It was a fun and exciting experience for us all. We would like to thank Mr Dunn and Staff Clarins for the wonderful opportunity.

Flower power and plants.

This term our unit is called Flower power. We are focussing on the importance of plants in the environment and our communities. Room 7 have started off with learning about the different types of plants we have. Loto's research is about moss. Here is a slideshow he created to share his findings.

Kickstarting Term 4 with learning about being Sunsmart.

Telesia's exciting recount about her holiday.

Introduction

School finished not too long ago and it was time for our two week holiday. I had already known that it would be the same routine. Eat, sleep, work and more sleep. As boring as it seems, the two weeks holiday were hectic. This is how my holiday went.

Working

During the two week holiday, my sister and I joined my parents in a cleaning job. This meant waking up every morning at around 3:00 am and coming back around 4:30 am. It was very hard to prioritize our sleeping hours as we came back from day activities at around 10 or 9. The cleaning job was a restaurant named Mission Bay Pavillion. We mopped the floor, cleaned the windows, cleaned the toilets and mopped some more. Talk about Cinderella alright!

Cleaning was alright, but the best part was getting to walk along the beach and watching the sunrise after everything was all done. Sometimes we even got to dip our feet in the cold sea. It was so beautiful, the sunrise I mean, not our feet. Unfortunately we didn’t receive any money ourselves, but we were happy that the money that we earned was used to provide food that was very much needed for our family.

Church

After working in the early morning, the majority of the day was spent at church. Our family rode back and forth from St Bernadette Mt Wellington Catholic Church which was crazy due to the amount of family members we have, and the addition of our cousins who tagged along. At church, with our Tongan community, we practised a maulululu for a special performance coming up. Our practises were super fun and exhilarating. Other than that, we had a normal mass on Sundays and Saturdays.

Family Time

During our break we took the opportunity to spend time with family. We played outside in the cool breeze, played card games and watched movies at night. My little siblings always roamed around our backyard singing songs which always entertained us.  Usually after spending time outside we played card games such as 500 and drum. At our house, card games were intense and competitive, so winning was such a big deal. It felt as though my sister was always a hostile competitor which was so intimidating. But at the end of the day, my sister and I walked out of the lounge being the kings of 500 and drum.

Conclusion

I had a thrilling two week holiday and am looking forward for the next one.