At the end of Term 2, the 5/6 syndicate went to the Ferrymead 100 year ago place. We had to dress up like maids and slaves-  Room 23 totally looked old fashioned. Some of us were nervous for the school house rotation because when we arrived at the set, we heard whips/canes banging down on the desks. We learnt about Land Girls and Manpower, but you'll have to read our Information Report for more details. Room 23 visited the housework rotation next. She was a nice lady. She said, "Have you guys just been to the school house? You look a bit nervous!" Enjoy!

War Life in New Zealand 100 Years Ago.

It was hard to live 100 years ago when the men were away at war.  People’s lives changed forever.

While the men were away at war the women had to run the homes. One of the daily chores was to wash the clothes in soapy clean water and scrub the clothes against a scrub board and a soap cage. Afterwards, they would wring the water out and put it through the mangle. After that, they would hang the washing on the prop washing  line to dry. When the clothes were dry they needed to be ironed with a hot stone iron that had been sitting on a hot stove for a few hours. The heavy irons were heaved onto the ironing board, and the woman would pull the iron across the clothing  so that all the wrinkles would disappear, and lastly the woman would fold all the washing up and put it away.

There were a lot more chores than just the washing eg:bandage rolling,cooking, making beds, cleaning the fire cooker out, cleaning the top of the stove, vacuuming with an old fashion vacuum, dusting the pictures and sweeping the leaves from the path.

During the war the roles of women changed.  Woman started doing the men's jobs. While all the men were away at war there was nobody to work the land or do the farming so girls were taught new jobs.The girls of the land army looked after animals, ploughed the fields. They dug up potatoes and they dug for 48hrs a week in the winter and dug for 50hrs a week in the summer. In order to grow more food. The government set up the land girls army on June in year 1939. All help was needed on the farms.

   

During the war, a lot of food was sent to the soldiers so in NZ there was limited supplies of lots of things like butter, sugar, eggs, flour, meat, clothing and petrol. The government decided to ration the food so it wouldn’t run out of stock. They would have to have a coupon book and take a coupon to the grocery store and people would only get a certain allocation of food.  If you wanted more you or something else you would have to wait or make it yourself.  You could get coupons from friends, but they would have to go without.  So some people traded coupons.

Life at school was different to the present day. The equipment like pens was different.  They had quill pens and ink and slate boards and chalk.  The male teachers had to go to war so only older men could be teachers and women had to be teachers.  They were in short supply so they had to cram lots of kids into the same classroom.  Children would have half a field for girls and half a field for boys.  They play pretend war games.  The children had to practise air raid drills and dig out trenches.  Some children would copy soldiers and smoke! In classrooms, they had hoses to bite on in case a bomb went off.  This would stop their teeth from breaking.

Life during the war was very difficult and challenging.

By Daniel K, Anneliese, Ryan and Holly

PFP

Today we learnt about how to give feedback to our classmates in a respectful and responsible way. We invented our own name, PFP. This stands for Positive, Feedback, Positive. We always start by telling our classmates something positive about their work. Then we pick one thing that they can work on / improve. We finish with another positive comment. We practised OUR PFP skills during writing today and really enjoyed the experience.

This is one of Madasin's homework. She is very proud of what she has done. Oustanding Madasin!!!


 My red and green thoughts about my holiday !

My red thoughts                      My green thoughts

-not going fishing                                         -getting to see dad

-not going to see the cars                         -getting to make pizzas

-not getting to see my cousin                  -going in the spa

-not seeing my uncle.                                  -going to my brothers       

By Madasin

Lighting Poem!

This is Ellie's Lighting Poem. She found it really challenging to come up with some really powerful verbs and adjectives. Ellie is very proud of what her poem turned out like.
I hope you enjoy it! 

LIGHTING

             

            I can see your flashing light     

            hit the ground so hard

            I can hear your electric roar

          

         I can smell your burning flash  

       

            I can taste your cold, cold rain

            hit my tongue with  a splash

             

         When you hit the ground so hard,

            you make me feel shocked!!!!!!!!!!!

War Time Story

For literacy this week, we had to write an information report about how hard it was in war time at home. This is Charlotte  ( Me ) and Ruby's report. We really enjoyed doing this, because we could bounce ideas off to each other and make sure words sounded right. We are very proud of what we have done. Hope you enjoy! :)

War Time Information Report!

By Jaffa123 & blubear456!

Life was hard in war time in New Zealand. There were two World Wars, the first World War sprung to life in late July 1914 and lasted until early November 1918. The last World War kicked off in 1939 and finally finished in 1945. A lot of men gloomily died in both wars. Woman had to take charge with regular chores and jobs. These required time and were challenging.

Since men were at war, the woman had to step up and manage the work in their household and hometown. Woman were put in jobs that were traditionally carried out by men. These jobs included; engineering, mental hospitals, food canneries, fire duties, milking cows, ploughing\ farming, gathering crops and digging ditches. Lots of woman volunteered to work in these previously listed jobs, but some didn’t initially. These women were called Landgirls. Land girls earned $2.37 for a minimum of 50 hours of work a week. Now that’s hard work!

During World War, schooling was different in many ways. The teachers were harsh and used a cane to control and punish children. Back in the old days, children used feathers as pens, which they dipped into an ink pot to be able to write. The rules were very cruel and restrictive. For example; Face the front, no talking, no team building, as well as no working with mixed genders. You would have to practice marching every morning, and there was no play equipment. A phrase they used was “Children should be seen not heard”, as they could not talk

unless asked by an adult. We would find this very frustrating.

While both World Wars were taking place, there were shortages, so things had to be rationed. To be able to access these things, you would have a rationing ticket book, you got stamps as well. 8,000 rationing books were issued to meet the restrictions. War ration book five was finished but never issued. The date the rationing books started was September 1939- The second World War. There were no supermarkets, so you went to different shops for different items. For fruit and vegetables , you would go to the veggie shop. For meat you would visit the butcher, for fish you would check in to the fisherman or catch your own fish. If you were wanting a yum treat like bread and cakes you would pop on down to the local baker. For groceries such as jam, tea, biscuits etc. you went to the grocery shop. These sorts of goods were rationed; typewriters, fuel, bikes, shoes, silk, nylon, oil, meat, cheese, butter, coal, fruit and many more.

Could you handle that? We don’t think we would!

What we have learnt, is that life when men were fighting for our country was not a piece of cake!

Class Contract

Blog Authors / Class Agreement
·      Class members are to send their work for the blog to their allocated author. ·      Class members will edit Blog posts before they are sent to the authors. ·      Authors will also proof read the posts before posting online. ·      Authors are to follow the Cyber Safety guidelines at all times, ensuring the content they are posting is appropriate. ·      All posts will be about our learning. ·      Send no more than 2 posts to your author each week (we will review this later in the term). ·      Only first names will be used. Do not include any personal details like your address/phone numbers on work/posts. ·      When commenting on other people’s work YOU MUST  Say something positive and specific that they have done. Give some feedback about how the work can be improved / changed / next steps. Always end with another positive comment.
Charli	Tash	Ruby	Sean	Holly	Sam	Dan	Mrs W Charli, Tash Ruby, Sean, Holly Sam, Dan
Madasin Jacarta Chris R	Abigail Anneliese Zak	Maia Ellie Dan V	Calyb Bree	Ryan Thomas Josh	Amaan Geordie James	Lucas Alessandro Keira

Art day!

These are some of Room 23 students that have done an amazing sketch based on a Wellington Harbor pictures! We had an artist visit school and run workshops.  We learnt how to show perspective and show shadows and reflections.  Way to go guys!

RAWHITI SPORT

Each Friday the Year 5-8 children at Queenspark School get to go to Rawhiti Domain to do winter sports. Here are the sports we had to trial for earlier this year.

Hockey

Hockey is a ball and stick game. It's very easy to learn and fun to play. The positions are mid's - left side -right side(2), forwards -left side -right side (2),  backs 1 at goal -1 near goal, but a bit in front, then the goalie.

Table Tennis

Table tennis is a very easy game once you pick it up. You use a ping-pong bat and ball, and a table with a small net in the middle.       

Netball

Netball is fun to play and involves running around and calling for the ball. At Rawhiti they don't have wings so the positions are GD GA GS GK 2x.   

Rugby

This game involves heaps of running and tackling. Rugby needs sprig boots and a mouth guard. In scrums, there are 3 forwards in the front. One is the hooker with a prop on each side. The locks are locked into the hooker and 2 props. There are also backs. There is a fullback, first five, centre and I can't think of the rest.

TABLE TENNIS AND GARDENING ARE THE EXTRA CHOICES.

Metaphors and Similes

Room 23 has been learning about different types of figurative language.  Soon they will be embarking on writing their own songs and poems to practise their new writing skills.  The goal is that Room 23 children will include figurative language in their personal writing!  Below is a clip of a clever song aimed to inspire!

SNOW POEM

     SNOW

I can see you swirling through the icy air as you bed the ground.

I smell your damp icicles as bits of snow flow up my nose, making me shiver.               

I can hear  your wind whirling around the icy ground.

The feel of your icy flakes melting through my skin causing shivers around my body.

I taste pure, fresh water as the snow dissolves on my tongue.

Hope You Enjoyed My Poem About Snow ;)

Q Competencies

Here are our 5 people that got our Q Competencies at today's assembly. The categories for the awards are; Participating, Communicating, Relating to Others, Thinking and Self-managing. The people who show these things get recognised at assembly. Well done everyone.

Natasha's Camp Poem

Whizzing down, splashing people as I fly past

As I beat Mr Gordon on the slide he said, "I wasn't trying!" 

Talking to Keria while zooming down 

Everyone sticks their hand out for a high-five

Racing down  at 100km an hour!

Slipping sideways, struggling with my balance

Lying on my back, looking up at the sky above

I put my hands out to stop but the pressure keeps pushing me 

Diving face first

Everyone qued up fighting for the next go!

Earlier this year  the Year 5/6 classes went to Woodend Christian Camp. There were so many amazing confidence building activities that when we were driven back to school, we had to write all about our experiences at camp. Everyone put a lot of effort into writing something that they could look back on in years to come!  HAPPY READING.

                              INTRODUCTION

On Monday, the 4th of May, we had our school camp. It’s over now, but I wish we had a time machine to go back to Woodend. 

It started when I bolted out of bed screaming with joy, “Its CAMP!!!”.  Zipping down the hallway, I collided into my brother. I quickly made myself some cereal, scoffed it down, and then nagged Dad to get me to school pronto!

Room 23 and 24  were all packed, waiting outside Room 22, 18 and 17.  We were all excitedly talking. The Year 5’s had never been on camp, so were busy thinking about how it would be a time to enjoy ourselves. I was predicting what camp at Woodend would look like. I bumped into my friend  Ems #emily. My other friend Nekera had come to school with me and helped me carry my stuff.  She was in Room 15 so she would be going to camp  on Wednesday. Nekera also gave me a hand with packing.

We were all nervously waiting- until… Mr Gordon stepped up on the rail and spoke, “Hello I know you are all really excited for camp! But now we are going to send you to the toilet, then ask you to bring your luggage out to the front court”. Mrs Willis added “Try to convince your parents to take your gear”. I bolted down the alley like electricity getting to the front court as fast as I could. We all sat down and then the teachers told us the rules.

We all packed onto the bus for a long 25 minute trip to the campsite. I gave Anneliese a big squeeze in excitement, she gave me one back. When we arrived, Cody, one of the staff, lead us into the main hall, to read over the “Yes areas” and the “NO & Wait areas”.  We had to respect the rules because you nobody wanted to get lost, scared or hurt. 10 minutes later we got sent to our bunk rooms - to check it out - and make our beds.

After that, we went to do our first 2 activities.  This was so exciting because we were on a huge zip line flying fox.  Lots of people were running in mid air.

Our next activity was Aero-jump. Aero-jump is exactly like the bungy jumps you in find in the malls. Everyone was stepping up and giving flips a go. The people who were skilled tried to do a front flip, only a few accomplished them.

After the  activities, Mr Gordon rang the bell to get our attention to come back to main hall for afternoon tea. In groups, he called us up to snacks. I have to admit that the snacks were scrumptious.

At dinner the caregivers and teachers took a table up to choose their foods. The first night we had nachos. It was a funny sight to see because the parents looked like those dinner/lunch ladies in the American high school  television shows.

After dinner we played a game called Spotlight. This game needs to be played at night when its pitch black with some torches. There needs to be at least 8 people to play. We had 60 something so it was a big and really fun game. There was about 8-10 spotters while everyone else went and hid in the forest - behind logs, in thorn bushes - ouch! That was me! Luckily we didn’t get found under the water slides.

After Spotlight we had some hot chocolate and then got told to go to bed. It was very hard to get to sleep because we all were so grateful to be at the camp. The first night I was on the top bunk. The next morning I woke up early - as usual  - and had to wait 30 minutes to have a shower.

After my shower, the people from my bunk room all headed to the main hall for breakfast. At breakfast the people who I was sitting with said, “Wow this is luxury”.  I agreed.

We then gathered onto the main hall's front court for our first group activity. I was in the cool group of Sean, Ruby, Alessandro, Daniel B, Lucas and Amaan. We had a variety of activities throughout the camp, including archery, air rifles, orienteering, rock climbing, go karts and initiatives.

In archery, I was the only one who got the arrow on the board. With the air rifles, I had so much fun, but didn’t get hit one apart from one of those flower targets.

On rock climbing I got up to stage 4, having to trust my arm which is quite challenging when you think about it. On the last day we had to clean our rooms spotless. I told my buddies from my bunk room that I was  gonna miss the place. 

Before we knew it, we were  all on the bus going back home- and that’s how Woodend camp rolled!!!!!!! Awesome!!!