Two weeks ago the whole of St Patrick’s School went swimming. The boys got to go first because there were more boys than girls, so we waited for 15 minutes before going with Room 7 and 8 girls on the bus. When we got to the pool we saw some of the boys diving and making big splashes.  Afterwards it was the girls turn and we had three lanes. I was in lane 3 and our instructor taught us about breaststroke, freestyle and backstroke.

The last day was Monday I was in a hurry to get to school and I forgot to pack my togs. I didn’t notice until I got to school. When I told Mrs Agnew she asked Mrs Thompson to call my mom and luckily she was able to go home and drop them off for me. We did a lot of hard stuff and we had to swim a  whole lane and the hardest one I found was breaststroke but on your back. I really enjoyed being able to go to the pools with my class.

On Friday, July 14th, New Zealand celebrated it’s first public holiday for Matariki. We were still on holiday but when we came back last Monday we did some learning about Matariki. One thing we did which I enjoyed was making Matariki stars. It was hard at first but I had help from Mrs Agnew. She helped me with the spokes and the wool. In the end I was able to do it by myself and I changed to a second colour and added more pointy spokes to the star to make it colourful.

I learned that Matariki is Maori New Year and a time when families come together to think about those people who have died and also to plan  for the year ahead.

I am an archaic man, and I love  Storm Boy as my own son. I have a jolly black face, screwed up and wrinkled like an old boot. I taught Storm Boy everything he understands about our place. I love to investigate nature. I am mostly blind. I know how to understand any writing the sea creatures leave behind on the smooth beach. I am a wiry   ………………………………………Fingerbone Bill

Yesterday we had a ki o rahi tournament. The houses are Rimu, Kauri, Totara and Rata. Coach Trey said the first teams to play were  Rata and Kauri. Rata  was the first to start the game but at the end of the game Kauri won. When I got my next turn I saw Spencer only had one turn so I let him play another game. After that I asked Spencer how was your extra game and he said, “it was good thank you.” Then I said to him, “you’re welcome.” Everyone had such a good time enjoying themselves exercising in the warm winter sun. Thank you, Mr Bell.

Last Thursday we were discussing ANZAC cookies. In World War 1 in 1915, women baked a recipe for delicious biscuits that could be stored for a long time, while they went to the soldiers far far away. The ingredients are butter,  flour, baking soda, golden syrup and coconut. When I picked up my ANZAC cookie and looked at it, it looked like a round banana cake and flat and round like a pancake. Then I went to smell it. It smelled like sweet chocolate chip cookies. Then I felt it. It felt rough and crispy. Then I finally tasted it and it tasted as crunchy as a sweet chip.