All Black's Haka

This is a animation that I have drawn by the All Blacks Ka Mate Haka.

New Zealand - There's More Than Just a Cup!

New Zealand is a beautiful country, and a must do for travel holidays. There are multi cultural populations which have unique cultures. Also there are sophisticated restaurants in our vibrant cities.

New Zealand has a spectacular and diverse landscape, and a temperate climate.A lot of our lush rain forest,is conservation land, and protects our many native species. People in New Zealand are surrounded by oceans, because New Zealand is made up of islands.

Starford

Rugby World Cup

I believe that the R.W.C in New Zealand would be great for NZ economically and socially because some of the money would go to help build up Christchurch and it would help our community of Pt England get better.

So keep your eye on the ball NZ.

Starford

A Christmas Carol

I have been reading a book called a Christmas Coral written by Charles Dickens. And this is a great book to read. It will be podcasted on KPE soon.

Maths Strategy - Compensation

This is a poster about the maths strategy compensation.

Amazing Stickers - Story Web

My reading group has read a journal story called Amazing Stickers, written by Alan Bagnall. It is a little creepy and really interesting to read.

Swimming Time

Mr Marks led us to the YMCA Lagoonfor our swimming lessons, as I got more excited, I was definitely hoping that I was in the large pools. Sure enough, I was. I went zooming past as Mr Marks said “go Starford”

It was my turn to get in. My teeth were chattering as I slid into the chlorinated pool, and cold water stung me all over, I was FREEZING!

As I pushed of the wall I went glidding through the water, looking stragiht up at the roof. I golped some water and I started to cough. Finally I reached the end and me and my friends were glad we made it.

“Yay” I said to my friends, we moved on to freetime and we started playing some wrestling im the pool. Mr Marks told us It was time to get out and get changed

Vote For The Best Introduction

Starford has written three introductions. The first 2 introductions try to hook you in with some action, the last one is tries to get the audience interested by saying what he was thinking or feeling. Please vote for which introduction paragraph hooks you in the most by commenting below.

Have you seen Fast and Furious 5? Well myfamily and I went to the Hoyt's Cinemas in Sylvia Park for the Easter holidays,and it was AMAZING!!!!
As the movie started (Fast And Furious 5) I was nervously waiting for my Dad and my brothers to hurry up and bring the pop corn, ice cream and drinks, because I was really hungry! And guess what we were in the X-TREME screen at Sylvia park.

I never imagined that Fast And Furious 5 (the movie), was going to be better the part 1,2,3,4 but unexpectedly it was awesome. One of the best movie I have ever seen! It was definitely a highlight of my Easter Holiday.

Around The Bays

Yesterday there was a marathon around the the bays in Mission Bay , Around the bays is when people run 8ks for fitness. Abundance of people were there and I didn’t know anyone apart from Lorenzo! I looked at the clock and we had ten minutes left and I was nervous.
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, BOOM!!! The cannon shot out gun powder and off we went. We ran with excitement in us! Suddenly I stumbled over the rocks on the ground and I got back up and kept running. Me and Lorenzo looked straight ahead and saw the first water station “Yaaaaay” We had a couple of drinks.
We’re over the bridge and finished our drinks, me and Lorenzo hit halfway and we started to fell tired and we really wanted some water. So I sped up to see if I could see some water and I did. “Lorenzo I found some water!” I shouted out, But it was cold juice even better!! After that We got to Mission Bay and we went though a shortcut in the sand.... “I'll run in the water” I said,so I ran through and my shoes were soaking.
Finally me and Lorenzo were close. We were really puffed out! Some kids tried to bet me but I just gassed it at the end and they got beaten and my time was 47 minutes.

WaterSafe Pools2Schools Programme

On Sunday December 19th 2010, there I was in the Sunday Star Times - along with Chris and Kids from Pt England School. Check out the article here:

WATER-WISE: Starford Toa in the portable pool at Auckland's Pt England School, where pupils are getting water education.

If schools can't get their students to a pool, why not bring the pool to the school?

It sounds far-fetched, but that's exactly what WaterSafe Pools2Schools programme is doing in Auckland.

Chief executive Sandy Harrop says schools face a lot of barriers when it comes to giving their students an aquatic education.

"These barriers are identified by schools as support for teachers and the cost of pool entry, tuition, transport [and] time out of school," she says.

Pools2Schools breaks down all those barriers by bringing the pool – and all that goes with it – to the school.

The programme was trialled at Papakura's Red Hill Primary school last year using a 10m by 5m vinyl portable pool borrowed from Premier Exhibitions.

Deputy principal Charlotte Castle said that when the school started working with WaterSafe, it realised a lot of its students didn't even know how to float. Now, thanks to $95,000 of KiwiSport funding, Pools2Schools has its own portable pool, water filter system, heat pump, scaffolding, marquee, security fencing and trailer.

It also comes with WaterSafe Auckland's aquatic education facilitator Chris Burton, who teaches the students and the teachers. Burton says Pools2Schools is not just about teaching kids how to swim 200m – a goal set out in the national curriculum.

"That's not necessarily going to help you in a rip," he says. "It's about building a knowledge base and decision making."

Decisions such as when to signal for help, how to fit a life jacket and how to duck-dive under big waves.

For the past seven weeks the covered pool has been at east Auckland's Pt England School. When the Sunday Star-Times visited, Year 5 students were learning how to use their hands like ice-cream scoops and how to stay warm and float in the water.

"I feel like a safer swimmer," 10-year-old Crusader Faletagoai says. "I didn't know how to do it properly before." Classmate Prince Scanlan says he's going to show his three and six-year-old sisters what he's learnt in the pool this term. Teacher Helen Squires says the students have also enjoyed lunchtime classes in the pool with Water Polo NZ, Surf Lifesaving and Olympic swimmer Hayley Palmer. Fellow teacher Jody Wild says her Year 1 students have "come along in leaps and bounds".

Celebrating Childrens' Days

As part of our unit study on how people celebrate different events, we have learn about Tango no sekku and Hinamatsuri

Starford Korero

Every friday P.T England school has koreros, our principal Mr Burt comes up with an idea to keep the children safe and healthy.  He thinks of korero like where's your adult (sometimes the year six kids help him with it) I am going to show my movie about stop think and do, I hope you like it! 

Everybody's Makin' It Big But Me

We had been reading lots of stories about the Big Bad Wolf. But was he really that big or bad?
He always got caught or beaten in the end. In fact we felt a bit sorry for him.
Room 12 wrote these lyrics and made this film from the wolf's point of view.
It was shown in the Manaikalani Film Festival to day.
Actors:
Wolf - Ahsin
Little Red -Shoal
Rapunzel - Makalita
Prince 1 - Kobe
Prince 2 - Starford
Woodcutter - Crusader
Jack - Gabriel
Pigs - Kingston, Dante and James
Granny - Rita
Singers - led by Rita

Little Red Riding Hood - Starford's new ending

Starford has rewritten the ending (resolution) to this traditional fairy tale.
Click on the image to read it more clearly, but be warned... it is a gruesome ending.
If you want to see the beginning of this story look at the top of the sidebar for our trailer.