Merit Evidence: Librarian

On Thursday I had my Librarian duty. I'm the ICT guru so I help Mrs Ward with things like designing the new Library site. When I got there I asked Mrs Ward if my friend could help me out because she wanted to help me set up the website. We brang a computer with us.

First I logged into my account and asked Mrs Ward what the link to Library site was. I had to copy the link from another computer so it we could find it. (it took a long time) Once I was on it Mrs Ward suggested I bookmark the site so I can get back to it easily. 

My friend and I were assigned the task of inserting an image onto the site, so I had the idea of using a URL because whenever we chose a file it didn't work. So we went internet surfing for the photos we wanted, once we found what we wanted I copied the URL and went back on the Library site to see if it worked. It did! Mrs Ward was really impressed, so we explained to her that we were doing it the wrong way round.

After that my friend and I added a couple of more images and then since the bell rang we went back to class.

The learner quality I showed was communication because I communicated with my friend to put in an image on the Library site.

Merit Evidence: Librarian

On Wednesday I had my Librarian duty. I'm the ICT guru so I help Mrs Ward with things like designing the new website. When I got there I asked Mrs Ward if there was anything specific that she wanted me to do. She said that I could help her with the new Library website. 

First she got out her laptop and gave it to me to plug in and turn on. I plugged it into the charger and pressed the power button, I waited, and waited, and waited, then something popped up on the screen, then I waited, and waited some more. Then it finally worked, Mrs Ward and I went onto the Library website and she logged into the account where we could edit it.

 Then she asked if anything should be on there that she has missed. I said the library form. So she showed me the way to edit it so I could add the link in, then I put it in. After that I asked if I could put a picture in but soon realised that I wasn't sure how to take a screenshot on her computer. 

So I she said I could go because it was only five minutes to the bell, so I went outside to play for the rest of lunch.  

The learner quality I showed was communication because I communicated with Mrs Ward to set up part of the library site. 

Merit Evidence: Run Bike Run

Last Monday we had Run Bike Run. We left at ten-thirty so we could do Whanau Hui and get ready for the event. I'm in Rata house so I dressed up in a red/orange sports t-shirt. Then we walked to Halswell Domain because that was where Run Bike Run was held. Once we got there everybody sat down and had something to eat.

Then they started doing races, while each year group was running another year group was playing a game with the house captains. The year seven and eights played a game while the year sixes ran.

After our game of dodgeball it was our time to run. I was in a group with one other person, she did the biking part while I did the running ones. I was really nervous but once I'd started I pushed myself to the end. Then she did her biking part and then I was running again, once I'd finished I think we came about tenth place, which I thought was pretty good considering last year it was about 20th. 

After our race we did the award ceremony then walked back to school, where we still had about an hour to go before we went home. 

The learner quality I used was resilience because when I was nervous and tired I didn't give up because I knew my teammate was counting on me. 

Merit Evidence: Technology

On Tuesday we had Technology. On the bus I sat near the back with my friend. We made sure that we weren't talking louder than a whisper because we didn't want the bus to get too noisy.

When we arrived at Lincoln Primary, I walked to Food Tech with my friends and we lined up (with the resources we needed) next to the door. Then we went inside. We sat down at the table and then got told that we were making cheese scrolls and piklets. But first we had to stick in photos from our final product into our book. We got the photos and we had to glue in the picture from each step into the steps in our book. After we had finished that we got to start our cheese rolls.  

We got a piece of bread and some margarine, then a choice between tomato paste, cheese, pineapple and marmite; you could choose up too three fillings. We cut the bottom crust off our piece of bread then spread butter on one side then put our fillings on the other, then we rolled it up and put it on the baking tray to put in the oven for about ten minutes on grill. 

Then we made piklets, we needed flour, whole meal flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, and an egg. We mixed all of the ingredients together then poured it into the pan to cook, we made three each. We also got to eat them with cream and jam, they were delicious. 

The learner quality I showed was collaborate because I collaborated with my group while making the food. 

Merit Evidence: Deputy Head Girl

Today we had a leadership meeting.  This time Miss O'Connor joined us for it. First of all Mr Ladbrook talked to us about the Run, Bike, Run event that is going to be held next week. Then Miss O'Connor wanted to speak with the house captains so the heads, deputys, house point co-ordinators, cultural ambassadors and the sports co-ordinators all went into the other room to work on the thing that they were organising. The heads and deputys work together on the poster competition. Dylan and I (the deputy head boy) worked on the 'Poster Competition Guidlines' while the heads worked on something else. After that it was time to pack up before the bell. Once we had finished packing up we went outside to line up with the rest of the class.

The learner quality I showed was Listen because I listened to Dylan while we were discussing ideas about the poster competition. 

Merit Evidence: Librarian

The other day I turned up to my Librarian duty. I needed a Librarian badge that shows that I'm a Librarian, so when I got there I asked for one. Mrs Ward luckily had one in the drawer so she gave me that one. After that I asked her if she needed me to do anything, she said that she was busy so we couldn't start doing the Library site yet and if I had any responses to the google form that I sent out, I told her that there were no responses yet and that I would tell her if there was any. She told me that I could go and play and come back whenever I want.

The learner quality I showed was Listen because I listened respectfully to Mrs Ward while she was talking and showed eye contact. 

Merit Evidence: Technology

On Tuesday we had tech. On the bus I sat near the back with my friend. We made sure that we were not talking too loud because we did not want the bus to get too noisy.

When we arrived at Lincoln Primary, I walked to Food Tech with my friends and we lined up ( with the resources we needed ) by the door. Then we went inside. We sat down at the table and we got told that we were making our final product. My group's final product was pinwheel scones with spaghetti, bacon and cheese. The requirements for the final product were:

- It had to reflect NZ heritage 

- It needed to have no sugar

- It needed to have three of the four food groups 

- It needed to be one of the five options that were on the board

In case you were wondering the food groups are meat, milk and milk products, fruit and vege and cereal and grain. The options were pizza potatoes, pinwheel scones, scones, a hangi or kumara and bacon muffins.

After that we made our final product, before we rolled it up we had an idea to not roll it up, pull the edges up a bit and then put it in the oven. So we made a spaghetti, bacon and cheese pizza, it was delicious!

The learner quality I showed was collaborate because I collaborated with my group about how we would complete the task.

Merit Evidence: Deputy Head Girl

On Monday we had a Leadership meeting. It was at Morning Tea and a few of the boys weren't there because they had another meeting. We started off with Mr Ladbrook talking to us about Integrity, how all good leaders have Integrity and that you always have to tell the truth, no matter what, and that you need to be fair and stand up for what is right. 

Then we watched a video about Integrity, it was from GRIP Leadership, it had two tips to help you show Integrity in it:

- Listen to your conscience 

- Always tell the truth

After that we talked about them a bit more and then went outside to play.

The learner quality I showed was Communicate because a contributed to the discussion we had about Integrity. 

Merit Evidence: Librarian

Today I went to Librarian, I took a laptop with me. I walked through the door and greeted Mrs Ward. I sat down with the laptop opened up the "Library Suggestion Box," then I looked through it a few times to make sure it was right. After that I checked with Mrs Ward to make sure it was good, then I sent it out. After I was finished I asked Mrs Ward if she needed any help with anything else, she didn't. So I sat down and did some reading until the bell, then I went back to class.

The learner quality I showed was resilience because kept checking to form to make sure it was correct.

Merit Evidence: Deputy Head Girl

On Monday we had a leadership meeting. The first thing that we did was talk about the book that we were going to read. Then we read we read the first chapter, the chapter was about how nobody likes a goody two shoes. It also talked about how you've got to be equally fun and responsible. If you have more responsibility than fun you're most likely to come across as a goody two shoes. But if you are equally fun and equally responsible then you are less likely to be a goody two shoes or be labeled as a goody two shoes. Then we all split off into our groups I'm working with the Heads and Deputy's group. 

We then talked about what we needed to do to finish off our preparation for our poster competition idea.

The learner quality I used was collaborate because I was taking part in the conversation and I was also putting forward ideas.

Merit Evidence: Food Forest

For the past couple of days the year eights were lucky enough to help Mr McAven in the Food Forest. First we went to the Food Forest and did some weeding we used some secateurs (search it up) and some hedge clippers, we used them to cut the weeds out. The people that didn't have them used their muscles to get the weeds out.

Eventually we cleared it up and it looked BEAUTIFUL.

The next day we went to the maize maze (the corn place) and harvested the corn. Some of us harvested the corn, the people with the hedge clippers cut the (really long) weeds and a few people were on the trailer stomping the weeds down. I swapped round the different jobs. First I got some hedge clippers and cut up all the weeds, then I pulled out some corn and last I stomped on the trailer.

I really enjoyed gardening with Mr McAven.

Merit Evidence: Librarian

Yesterday I had my librarian duty, I turned up and it was my first day. I'm the ICT guru, my first job was to create a online library suggestion box. I created it on google forms, I sat in the library for the whole of lunch and created it. It was really difficult but I experimented with the different tools and figured out how to do it. Mrs Ward was really glad with how it turned out and I will send it to the school next week. My next job is to create a new Library site that people can access from home. 

I really love working in the library.

The learner quality I showed was resilience because I didn't give when I was finding things hard on the computer. 

Merit Evidence: Deputy Head Girl

On Monday I was one of the few people who was lucky enough to run assembly. There were only three of us, the head students and one of us was away. We had a computer each and had the assembly script on our screens and were practicing. We kept practicing until we had to leave so we knew our lines really well. 

At assembly I got to stand up on stage and say my lines, at first I was really nervous but after my first line it felt just like a normal thing to do. After the assembly I was really confident that I could do it again.

The leaner quality I showed was communicate because I communicated with the other head students about the assembly. 

Merit Evidence: Jellie Park

On Friday the whole school went to Jellie Park. When I got to school I was told that the Head Girl was away so I had to do the speech for her, and as smart as I am I forgot the paper with the speech on it. But luckily I had already remembered it off by heart and the Head Boy had it with him so we were prepared. When we arrived at Jellie Park I found out that the student leaders got to sit away from the other students and we got a whole chair to ourselves, which I thought was pretty cool because all of the other students had to bunch up really tight because there wasn't enough room. The two Sports Coodinators did the first speech, then the House Points Coodinators, then us. I was quite nervous but once I started I wasn't too nervous. Then once we'd finished I was really relieved and we could start the races. First was the width races, I wasn't in any of them so just helped sort the kickboards and watched some of the races. Then we played a couple of house games eg. madness. After that we went outside with the Kākano students and had some lunch, I got to see my friend who was helping the Kākano teachers with the event. After lunch we went back inside to do the length races which I was in. I was so nervous I was shaking because I hadn't done swimming in a while. It was finally my race, freestyle. I came third which I was really proud of. Then I did backstroke and I came third again which I was also really proud of. Then we finished up with the relays and Miss O's class won again. Then once everyone was changed back into their clothes we hopped on the buses and left for school. But some of the buses didn't come so we were waiting for ages outside for them. Then they finally came and we got on and headed back to school and by the time we got back it was 4:00. 

The learner quality I showed was resilience because when the buses didn't come I didn't complain I just waited and listened to the teachers.

Merit Evidence: Deputy Head Girl

On Wednesday we had our second leadership meeting of the year, it was held in the hall. We were told to bring a computer and one of us a book. Mr Ladbrook got on the stage and showed us an example of public speaking, here are a few tips.

- Speak slowly

- Look up at the end of a sentence

- You don't have to look at the audience, look at the back of the room so it gives the illusion that you are looking at the audience.

- Learn your speech off by heart just incase you forget the paper version.

- Take your time, it's not a race.

Then we got to have a go, we only had time for a few people and I didn't really feel like doing it but Mr Ladbrook convinced me to get on stage and once I'd done it I felt confident about public speaking. After that we went off in our groups eg. heads and deputys, sports coordinators, rata house captains and cultural ambassadors. I went with my group and we practiced the speech that the heads were going to do on Friday, (Jellie Park) the deputys had to practice as well just in case the heads were away. After that we finished up and went back to class to join back up with the rest of the year 7&8's. 

The learner quality I showed was resilience because I didn't give up even when I was nervous about public speaking.