Aww, we had a draw in basketball against Point England Black!

On the 12th of August 2015, we had a basket tournament.

After school we had to be at the Tamaki Recreation centre straight after school because we had training for the years 5, 6, 7 and 8 with Panmure Bridge.

The first drill that we did was that we had to defend the ball. I was practising with Shannon, she was also my classmate. Then a women called us back in and this time we practised our shooting. A lot of basketballs went into the hoop at the same time so only a few people managed to get their shot in. Then we lined up and had to go one-by one. A lot of us managed to get shots into the hoop.

Soon after that, we got called back in again because our game was about to start. Glen, Shannon and I were the substitutes for the first quarters. Siu, Dhon, Rosary, R.J and Rhonda whom are also my classmates were on the court first. The game started off with a jump off. It was Dhon and a girl from the other team that jumped for the ball. Dhon won the ball. Siu ran and ran but this other buy stole the ball and then Dhon stole it back and ran faster to our goal and he took a shot and it went in.

Halfway through the game, we swapped some of our players. Shannon and I replaced Rosary and Rhonda. After a while we had many goals but the other team caught up to us. The alarm started ring on and our goals were 18 to 18. We had a draw.

It was fun playing against Point England Black in Basketball. We will have to train harder so that we can get more shots than the other teams

WALT understand and use descriptive language in my recount.

I know this when I use appropriate verbs to describe what had happened in our basketball game.

Hey, where are my lollies?

On Sunday my uncle had come from Dunedin to visit my family and I because he had been gone for a long time. He was in jail and now he's out.

My family and I cleaned up our house and my two auntie cleaned up the kitchen. The living room had to be spotless. A while later, we saw a blue, big van in front of our drive way and it was my uncle with my grandpa. I felt really excited about meeting him because I'm not sure he remembers me or not. He walked inside smiling and he went to my nana to say "Hello!" Then he came over and kissed my families and I on the cheek.

We chatted and chatted and my mum asked my uncle "Who do you work for?" My uncle said that he works with children and that he also gets paid. My mum asked my uncle again, "Do you have to pay for your food, clothes and shoes?" and he said that the people he works with pays for those essentials.

Then uncle came towards my mum with a bag. She opened that bag and it was...... lollies. My mum told my two aunty to come and take a hand full of lollies and my mum filled her picnic bag with the lollies and gave my uncle back his bag.

I was so happy to meet my uncle because I haven't seen my uncle since I was four or five years old.


We are learning to: understand and use descriptive language.
Success Criteria: I know this when I use appropriate verbs to make my writing interesting. 

Let's go to the arcade!

On Saturday 15th of August 2015, we went to the arcade in Panmure to celebrate my birthday. I turned 11 years old.


Folau, Soane, Sione and Patrick are my siblings. Akesa my cousin and I had to wait for my eldest brother Taniela  and my auntie Ana to come back from Taniela's game in Howick. We waited and waited until they came back from the game so we could go arcade at the bowling ally. It was 12:59 when they came back home. We finally arcade.

Once we got there, we went to the machine where we went to go and change our money into tokens that we needed for the games. I changed my $5.00 into five tokens. My brothers, cousin and my auntie did the same. We saved 15 dollars and wasn't allowed to use it until our five tokens our used up. The first machine that I went to was called the basketball shooter. After my last three shots, my total of my shots into the hoop was 39. I received plenty of tickets from that game. The next game that I went to was called 'hit the target.' I had to roll the eight balls in the holes. There are different numbers on the targets and if I hit the target, I get to have more tickets. I played and played but I didn't hit the target. The next machine was the same as 'hit the target' but I had to try to aim it in 5,000 hole so I can get 100 tickets. I played it until I had one shot left. I shot it and it went in the 5,000 hole and the alarm went on and it said, 'WINNER!' I was scared because I thought that I was in trouble nut my auntie said that I wasn't and that I won 100 tickets. I had to wait until I had my 100 tickets to come out from the machine. The boys looked at how many tickets I had. The next machine that I went to was the first car racing game that I started with. I picked a green and yellow car. I played it. I came second in the race.

I saw my brothers shooting in the hoop and my cousin and my auntie played like professional basketball shooters. A while later, we have all used up our five tokens and we didn't wan't to use our 15 dollars. We went to the ticket counter to count all our tickets. My brother Folau had no tickets, Soane had none either, Sione my litter brother had 100 tickets, Akesa had 447 and I had 340 tickets.

After getting our prizes, we were walking out the door, when we saw this machine with plenty of tickets. We ran again to change our $5.00 into five tokens. We had to press the green botton so the hook can stop on the bonus which would give us plenty of tickets. We played it until we ran out of tokens and money.

 I really enjoyed playing at the arcade and trying to stop the hook on the 'bonus' word. Next time I will try my best to collect even more tickets to win a flying plane for my little brother.

We are learning to understand and use descriptive language.
I know this when I use appropriate verbs to make my writing more interesting. 

I'm a girl, I'm not suppose to mow the lawn!

One bright and sunny morning my dad wanted my brothers and I to help him mow the lawn for Saint Patrick's Church.

Once we got to Saint Patrick's church my brothers and I didn't want to help my dad to mow the lawn because it was a tiring and boring job. We had no choice but to do it because dad already had the mower going for us. I had to use all my strength to push the mowing machine up the grass and down. I had to help my brother mow farther's backyard to because the grass was already very long.

After a while my dad wanted my brother Folau and I to push the wheel barrows and put the cut grass into it then into farther's bin. Another exhausting job for me! Once my brother and I finished we put back the wheel barrows in the garage and my dad did the same thing with the lawn mower.

I felt really tired at the end doing all those tiring and annoying jobs. I am just so glad that we had finished mowing the lawn. I will never mow the lawn again.

WALT retell what has happened in the past.

I know this when I describe detail that has happened in the past in my own words.

Now, where's my food?

Cousin's Birthday!

On Saturday morning my brothers, cousin, auntie and I went outside to the back of my house to set up the decorations for my cousin's birthday party. We blew up pink, white and red balloons that had Happy Birthday written on it.

Later on, my cousin Akesa changed into her princess dress because it was her birthday. She was turning nine years old. She wore white princess gloves and a princess crown. When she walked out her room, I was like 'WOW! you look gorgeous.

A while later, my auntie and my other cousin arrived so I quickly grabbed a shower. Then after my   shower, I got changed into my black dress. Then I asked my aunty to plait my hair. After she did my hair, I went outside and I saw most of my family at the back of my house.

Then the birthday celebration began, my nana said a prayer, blessed the food and the birthday girl. When the prayer ended the kids were to go and fill their plates first. After I got my food, I went to sat down next to my cousins. 

After my cousins, my brothers, and I had changed out of our dresses and our suits, we changed into our regular pants and T-shirts so we could play Touch for about 20 minutes. Then my cousins, aunties, uncles and nana left our house to go back home. 

I felt happy because my cousins had come over to celebrate Akesa's birthday with us so that she had a lot of family to celebrate her special day with her.

We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in a recount.
I know this when I use appropriate verbs and adverbs to describe my writing.

Don't scratch it or you might get a boil!

Have you ever had chicken pox in Australia before?

[In Australia/Sydney in Black Town] My cousin in Sydney, Australia had chicken pox at that time when he was 8 years old. After a few weeks of him having it I started having an itchy back. 

The day that my 10 cousins and my brother Folau was sitting in the living room talking. Told my older cousin who was 17 years old that my back had been itchy for a week and she said to me to get up so she could check my back. She told my brother, my cousins and I that I was at the start beginning stage of having chicken pox.

Once it was dark I had to go and have  shower, it was annoying and scary because I had to shower with the chicken pox shampoo. It was scary because there was a huge, big mirror and the left side of the bathroom. After I had my shower, my cousin called me over to her so she could put white, watery medicine all over my body, she had to put some more medicine over the chicken pox between my mouth and nose.

When I sniffed the medicine, I felt dizzy and started to vomit into my bowl that my cousin had given me.Weeks later, all of my chicken pox disappeared from my body.

I felt really proud because of my body having had chicken pox at the age of 10. I'm glad that I have had chicken pox because that means I'm not likely to have it again.

WALT retell what happened in the past.

Success Criteria: I know this when I describe my chicken pox experience.

We miss our uncle!

Have you ever visited your uncle in prison?

During the school holidays, I went to Spring Hills prison to visit my uncle with my auntie, cousin, young uncle and my brother, Taniela. We went on Saturday the 11th of April. 

It was a long ride to get to Springs Hills prison. My auntie told us that we are going out of Auckland. While we were in the car we played some music so we didn't feel bored and fall asleep. We were 20 miles away from my house. I was hot so my uncle wind down the windows so I could get some fresh air.

After a while we have travelled far along the road. I felt lost. My auntie told us that we were out of Auckland and nearly at Springs Hills prison. My uncle showed us the way there. Once we got there we had to park in front of a sign that said, "Stop!" We all took off our seat belt and jumped off like kangaroos. The securities checked the car to see if we had any weapons. Then a man called over our driver who was my auntie to check if she has a clear record. Then the two securities told us to park the car because we were cleared.

We parked the car and went into the reception to sign in. They handed over a sticker to my auntie to put it on and she received a key for the locker. She put the car key in the locker because we weren't  allowed to take anything inside except for the locker key and an I.D card for my cousin so   she could prove herself to the securities guard that she's already 16 years old. We sat down near the door towards the other block. The reception lady told us to wait until its 2:40pm. We sat and sat and sat until more and more people arrived when we checked the time it was 2:30 o' clock so we had to wait for ten more minutes. 

After a while, the lady said, "You guys can now go in." We were the first family to walk to the other block. Once we got to block two, we sat down on a chair. Then my auntie told my brother and my uncle to stand close to the scanning machine. My family was the first family to line up to walk through scanning machine. I was the first one to walk through and the lights was green, then my uncle walked through and the lights was green. Followed by my auntie who was green. However  when Taniela walked through, the lights went red and the security man told my brother to take off his hat and put it in the locker. My auntie told him to just put in on the chair. Then he walked through the machine again and he was given the green lights.

Once we got to block three, I saw some of the prisoners playing rugby and their uniforms were white and grey. I walked with excitement down. My auntie told us to wait on the side so we sat down. After a while, my auntie sat down and she told my uncle and my brother to stand near the door so we could be the first family to go inside to get a seat.When the door opened my auntie told the man that we have 1 adult and four children. He told us to go to number 25 and there was 2 chairs placed in there. The blue chair was for visitors and the grey chairs was for the prisoners to sit on. There were security guards around us. My cousin, brother, uncle and I had to sit on the floor because we wanted my auntie to sit down. Then a man opened up the doors so the prisoners could come out to see their family. I saw them walking in a line and they were all wearing orange clothing. I saw my uncle walking out. I was amazed to see him. After a while, the security guard came and gave us a chairs to sit on. We were talking to my uncle and he told us about how he celebrated his birthday. He baked his own and lit a candle on top of the cake. Then he said, he hi fived the wall because there was no one else with him so he celebrated his birthday with the wall. We laughed because we thought it was really funny.

He also told us that every morning, he eats wheat bix or  sometimes toast and a cup of tea. After that, he said that he eats chicken and a tiny pieces of cooked fish at night. We only had one hour with him and so did the other families. I told him that every time a car comes past our house, Patrick calls out his name, "Uta!" 

He told us that he might come out in 2017 our come out this November. Then we heard the security guards telling us that we only have 5 more minutes left. I felt sad leaving him. After a while our time was up. My brother, uncle, cousin, auntie and I stood up to hug and kiss my uncle goodbye. When we walked out the door, my other uncle, cousin  and my brother Taniela stood at the window waving goodbye. When we were walking back to our car, my cousin was crying because she misses him badly.

I felt glad because I got to see him and I felt sad because he was left behind and didn't feel the same way as before.

WALT use descriptive language in my writing.
I know this when I verbs in my writing to make it interesting.   

Why do I have to go mum?

My weekend recount!

Do you know how boring watching your brother’s Poly fest practise is?

On Saturday 21th of February 2015, it was a beautiful sunny day and it was really hot. We went inside the hall and there were lots of boys sitting down ready for practise. They were practising for Poly fest.

Before the practise was about to start , we hurried to get some chairs for us to sit on.

I was really shy because my brother told me to come over. I said “No” because in the Tongan culture the girls are not allowed to hang around the boys. So my mum told me to sit down with her.

A few minute later, the Sacred Heart boys including my brother had a 10 minute break so my mum, auntie, cousins, and I had to prepare the food. The boys were lucky because they had ice cream, pancakes and some fizzy drinks. After their 10 minutes break, they practised for their performance.

Then there was a loud drum that came out of nowhere. I had to block my ears in front of everyone. After that, was the practise almost finished so I went outside with Akesa and some of my friends. I was  happy when the practise ended.

I had a boring time because I had nothing to do, it would be awesome if the Tongan boys had more interesting dance moves so that we can make the other schools jealous. 

WALT use the correct structure for a recount. 

Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I write the introduction, followed by the events and then the conclusion.

Do you want to explore Sydney?

My Holiday!

In the holiday my family and I decided to take the ferry because it only costs us $2.50 per person. We hopped onto the ferry and some water splashed on us. I got really scared because I thought we were going to sink but we were hanging onto a big strong brick. We stopped at an island called Cockatoo Island. It was a small island.It was really scary because the ferry was moving from side to side so I thought that the ferry was going to sink.

We were in the ferry for 2 hours but it was fun. We saw lots and lots of ferry going past and we started to wave to them. My family and I took pictures but it was really hard because of the water and the wind. We finally made it to the city and my brother and I were very excited because we wanted to see what was like in Sydney.

We went to go and visit the Opera house but we only stayed there for 5 minutes. Then we decided to go to Manly, so we went on a different ferry. It was huge so I felt scared having to go on it. When I hopped on board, I prayed to God to keep us safe while we were on the ferry. When we arrived at Manly, we had tickets to that we can go through. We had to wait in line for a minute, our legs were hurting so we sat down. Finally the line began to move so we got up and put our ticket through machine. Once we got through we went out of the mall and my nana, auntie and uncle discussed what we should do next. We said”Lets go back” and my auntie decided that was a good idea. So we went to purchase a ticket to head back.

When we were still getting on the ferry, my uncle took my cousin and Folau to the speed boat. My cousin and Folau had fun because they did a 60 spin but, it wasn't fun for my cousins and I because we missed out. When we hopped off the ferry, we climbed up the harbour bridge I still felt scared. My cousins and even though I had a rope attached to me. I still felt scared. My cousins and I were too scared to jump off the Harbour Bridge I just hope that I can get back home in one piece. I jumped down with my cousins and I was screaming  loudly and only the tip of my hair touched the water.

I realised the next day that I had lost my voice. I had so much fun in Sydney and I can’t wait to go again. Maybe I'll be brave enough to jump off the bridge next time.    

WALT use the correct structure for a recount.
I know I can do this when I write the orientation, followed by the body and then the conclusion.

Did you know that Maui was a trickster?

WALT understand a Maori creation story.

Success Criteria I know I can do this when I retell the story of 'Maui and the Goddess of fire in my own words.

One day there was a man who loved to trick people so people called him ’The Trickster’ but his real name was Maui. One day Maui wondered if there is goddess of fire so he washed out all of the fire in the pa and so people were cold that night.

Maui finally stood up for himself and said “I did it. I was the one that put out the fire in the pa”. The people were furious and they wanted to put Maui in prison for 50 years. But then something happened, the leader of the pa said to Maui “You may think prison” Then there came a big BOOM  like thunder. And the voice continued “But there is only one thing to do”. Maui asked,

“What a great leader you are. What can I do?”

The leader told Maui “You can go and see your ancestor, the goddess of fire”. Maui was looking for the cave where his ancestor lived. The cave  was brown and covered with flames. The goddess of fire was really proud of Maui, but Maui tricked her. He said, “Someone has put out the fires in the pa. May I have some of your fiery fingers?”

She replied, “Oh, of course you can Maui.”

However, Maui tricked her and stomped out the fire finger and threw it in the water. Maui kept tricking her until she only had one fire finger left. She was really CROSS, so cross that she threw her fiery finger at him. He quickly turned into a bird and dodged the flames.

He thought he was so good at getting away with it so he shut his eyes. However, he was wrong and the bottom of his wings caught on fire.  Maui flew back to the pa and said “The goddess did not give me her fire but on the way back I learnt how to make fire with sticks”. So he showed them how to make fire. It took some time but the flames slowly came up and this is how the story of making fire with sticks came about.

What do you like to do on a Friday afternoon?

On Friday after school my uncle and my auntie picked my 2 brothers, cousin and I from school. My little brother wanted to go home but my uncle said that there was something that we had to do before going home. My brother cried out loud like a dragon coming down to the ground. So my uncle told him that we could go home and drop him off first.

When we got home, my auntie said to us,“Go and change into your clean clothes”. We got changed and put on our shoes and we all rushed to the car like racing cars. Then we locked the car because we were so excited. My auntie drove the car and we were off to get our surprise.

We went to McDonalds to get some ice cream. My uncle and auntie wanted to sign something so we went. Soane, Akesa and I thought that we were going home but we went to Wendy’s. I told my auntie that I haven’t tried Wendy’s before and my auntie said “It comes with free ice cream”. However, I told my uncle that we already ate ice cream at McDonalds so my uncle asked “What do you want beef or chicken?” Soane wanted to have a beef burger and so did my uncle. Akesa and I wanted to have chicken. Wendy was more organised than McDonald’s because their service was a lot faster.

We went to the park and my uncle said that the surprise was that we were getting rabbits. I asked him if they were wild rabbits with red eyes and he answered ‘Yes’. We were so excited because we wanted to catch those rabbits. Rabbits are so cute. We got to the park and we didn’t see any rabbits because there were a lot of dogs and children. After a minute, the children and the dogs left the park. When they left, the rabbits had disappeared as well.   

I had so much fun, it was like I took my first driving lesson.  

WALT write a recount using dialogue.
Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I use speech marks to start and end speech.

• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.
• use speech marks to start and end speech.

write a recount using write a recount using          

Write a friendly letter to someone now!!

 WALT  write a friendly letter using the correct structure.

  I know this when I write the body and closing for a friendly letter.

Getting a chance on a horse!

On Saturday 2nd of August 2014, I woke up and put on a warm hoody. I rushed out to help a friend (police officer) to feed the horses. Her name is Janet. Their food is made up of coconut, dried hay and other stuff. She asked me if I wanted to ride with her on the horse, and I happily said ‘Yes’.

Janet put a really heavy thing over the horses that we were going to ride to make us comfortable during the horseride. I was excited but, I was praying that I would not fall down because I was scared that I might break my bones if I did.

I went really tall, when I got on the horses back. I looked down their was no way near touching the ground with my foot. She only says Don’t worry because if you think if you think you are going to fall down and hurt yourself it will never come true’ and I replied back ‘Thank you for saying that.’

We walk up and down the road and people was staring at us. And I thought that they think we are crazy riding the horse down the street.  I was really scared because the horse might run off and have a accident while I am on its back.  

The horse ride was fantastic and I had so much fun. I said thank you to Janet for allowing me to ride with her.

WALT write a recount using descriptive language.
I know this when I use adjectives and verbs correctly in my writing.

Spending my time with two silly Pirates!

On Monday 16th of June 2014, Room 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 6 walked up to the hall to see people from Vivo perform at Saint Patrick’s School hall.

Their first song was Beethoven, I really enjoyed it. They were really good at playing their own instruments. They were playing their first song called Romance and it sounded really nice and loud when they put all the instruments together.

After they played the first song, we heard a loud sound coming from the front where the stairs are. We thought that something fell but it wasn't, it was two pirates. We were scared because he had make up on and it made his face look scary like a real pirate. He also picked his nose and nearly put it on someone in Room 2. I liked their songs and they told us to clap and click our hands to the song while they sang and danced.

They were really funny when they told us to show our teeth. They showed their teeth and it looked rotten. It looked like they never brushed their teeth in the mornings.

They told us so many jokes, some of the jokes were funny. We had a really fun time with Vivo!!

WALT to write a recount about the Vivo performance.
I know this when I write about what happened at the Vivo performance.