Excellence Blog Post #5 Home Learning Challenges

The Home learning challenge that I chose was: Design Your Own Challenge

For this Design Your Own Challenge, I have decided to write a procedure that I follow every time or most of the time when I start a new piece of art, so you can see the steps of what I do to create the best masterpiece that I can.

1. Firstly I go onto the internet to find some inspiration of what I want to do.

2. I then prepare all my paintbrushes and tools that I will be using.

3. I have pre set my paint from my last piece and because its oil paint, it will dry after use and to fix that you simply put a bit of food oil onto the paint and start mixing it with an oil art knife. 

4. I make sure all my paints are ready to use before I start and that my paintbrushes are in good condition.

5. Then, I start making a sketch of roughly how I want it to look like, making sure its not too much in detail.

6. I always start with the sky as I work from top to bottom. I put a white base coat on first, so the main color would pop in the background. 

7. Before starting at the bottom, I put on a base coat for the ground and using colors like brown or golden brown to outline the structure of trees and/or bushes. 

8. One very important thing I look at is perspective. This makes that painting more alive and it gives more of the feeling of being in that picture just by looking at it. 

Excellence Blog Post #4 Home Learning Challenges

The Home learning challenge that I chose was: Design Your Own Challenge

I chose this challenge because I have quite a passion for art and I love to do stuff art based.

For this home learning challenge I decided to paint this piece of art based on snow and kind of like a winter wonderland. What motivated me to paint this was because the season is winter right now and I love the snow so I decided to paint this to make it winter themed. I liked the way how this turned out because it looks exactly how I wanted it to look and I think I did a great job on the mountain and making it look realistic. When I look at this, it makes me feel relaxed and it reminds of the great things during the winter season such as snow.

Something I would improve in this landscape to make it better would be to maybe paint a few more things on the left side of the canvas because there's not much really to look at and maybe some things on that side would make this painting look better.

The CARE Values that I showed while painting this are Active Thinking and Community.
I showed Active Thinking by thinking creatively and having a bit of motivation to help me decide what to paint. I showed Community by keeping my space clean so its easy to manage and to keep a nice and tidy environment.

I demonstrated Leadership by showing Motivation because I had something on my mind that motivated my to paint this.

Excellence Blog Post #10 Leadership Around The School ( Getting Involved )

              Netball At Morning Tea

Today at morning tea, my friends and I were playing a game of Netball. At first we were deciding between Basketball or Netball. We included others to play in our game and we got them to vote as well. There were quite a few votes for Basketball, but the majority was Netball. So then, the next thing we did was to form 2 teams. We made it easy and said boys verse girls. Obviously I was in the girls team. 

We then started playing the game and I got the first few goals. The girls were thrashing the boys. It was Alex, Jacinta and I verses three other boys. It was a very intense game of Netball, but I enjoyed it a lot. I was exhausted at the end, but that just means I got involved positively. Something I noticed while playing was spectacular teamwork throughout this whole game, from both teams. We all had great sportsmanship and really enjoyed our time out there. It was awesome!

The CARE values that I showed were, Excellence and Community.

I showed Excellence by having fun with the game even though I wasn't a netball-er I still tried my best.

I showed Community by making sure everyone in my team had a fair go with having the ball and sharing it around.

I demonstrated leadership by showing integrity by playing fairly by the rules and being honest.

Excellence Blog Post #9 Leadership Around The School ( Design And Textiles )

On Thursday, the year 7/8's went to Lincoln Technology. I was in the Design and Textiles group. Firstly we filled in two sheets called Sheet A and Sheet B. Those were our planning sheets for our projects that we were going to make. I had three different designs to do with sports. The first design was a Mini Basketball Catapult Game made out of cardboard, rubber bands, Popsicle sticks, glue and paper. I really like this design project because I love basketball and this would be perfect for me when I'm bored. My second idea for my project is a Air- Hockey Mini game. I chose this idea because I thought it would be a cool thing to make with a bit of 3D printing in it as well. My last idea for my project  is a multipurpose sports field, that can be for football, baseball, rugby, hockey etc. I had this idea because I love sports and this represents me well.

My final design that I chose to make as my project, is the Mini Basketball Catapult game because I have experiences of making catapults and it would be a cool game to play with someone when i'm bored. I then started gathering materials for my prototype and making a simple mini size of the game so I know what it needs and I can be prepared for next time. 
At the end, we had a big pack up and the teachers had to choose three students each that were doing the best pack up in our space. I got chosen as one of the six students and we all got prizes and it was sour candy ( which I love ).

The CARE Values that I showed were Community and Active Thinking.
I showed Community by helping a lot with the pack up around the classroom.
I showed Active Thinking by being proactive and asking for help when i'm stuck.

I demonstrated Leadership by being an Active Thinker by getting started with lots of different ideas and being proactive.

Excellence Blog Post #3 Home Learning Challenges

The challenge that I chose was: Design My Own Challenge.

For this, I did another Oil Art Painting. The main theme I focused on for this is Snow. As always, I start sketching the landscape out and marking spots for each thing. Firstly, I had to find the middle of the canvas and start sketching out the stuff around it. I really like the way how the trees and the snow came out because it looks just like how I wanted and the snow looked pretty good like it was realistic.

This painting is one of my favorite paintings that I've done because I really liked the way this whole thing is put together and how all of this contrasts. Something I would like to improve in this piece of art is probably the color of the sea because I think it might have looked a bit better if I added other shades of color to it to make it more alive and more realistic to real seas.

The CARE VAlues that I showed during this were Excellence and Community.
I showed Excellence by trying my hardest to make this the best I can. I showed Community by packing up everything I used and cleaning any mess that was left behind.

I demonstrated leadership by showing resilience by trying again if something doesn't look right.

Excellence Blog Post #8 Leadership Around The School ( Tech )

On a Thursday morning, the year 7/8s travel on bus to Lincoln Technology. I started on a new Pentad which was Design. This week, Group C which was our group went into the sewing textiles area. We then talked and learned about the basics of safety and did a mini scavenger hunt around the room so we know where everything is. After that, we learned how to thread the sewing machines and what they call "fishing" after we had thread the machine. Something that I found interesting is the way that the sewing machines work. Mrs Madden, our sewing teacher, told us a story about safety around needles and pins. The two main rules we have in the sewing area is to have fun and safety. She said to us "if we don't have fun or if we don't find it easy, she is not teaching us the way we need to learn."
I enjoyed our time in the sewing/ textiles compartment because our teacher Mrs Madden made it a very fun and enjoyable time in that area. I didn't really like sewing but she changed my mind and I made the most of it.

After Morning Tea, we had to go to our mandarin lesson. We had a quick review of what we learnt last week; which was our hobbies and what we like doing. She asked some people to say in mandarin, what their hobbies are and what we like. "wo xihuan wán yóuxì " means I like to play games. And "Wǒ de àihào shì da Lánqiú" means my hobby is to play basketball.

The CARE Values that I showed were Excellence and Active Thinking.
I showed Excellence  by trying my hardest and making the most of it in sewing.
I showed Active Thinking by problem solving and asking for help when something is not right.

I demonstrated Leadership by showing Goal Focused by focusing on what I'm doing and trying to make it my best work.

Excellence Blog Post #7 Leadership Around The School ( Tech )

On Thursday in the mornings, we traveled on bus to Lincoln Technology. When we got there, we went into the wood works station and carried on what we were making. Our wood works teacher told the people who have finished their speakers to create coasters or poker burn. After about 30 mins, it was time for us to go to our mandarin lesson. In our lesson for this week, we had a revision of some stuff we learnt last week based on sports. We then started on a new topic on Hobbies and Activities and sentences on how to say my hobbie(s) is/are. We had a game at the end of the lesson called BANG.

After mandarin, we headed back to the workshop. We carried on what we were doing, I started making my coasters because I have finished my speaker. I made a coaster for all of my friends: Jacinta, Alex, Warisha, Katie and Hailey. I also did some poker burning as well. I made these things with quotes on them then painted it with pastel colors because pastel gives good moods and feelings. This week was kind of just a freestyle week for the people who have finished their project which is the speakers. This week I enjoyed making the coasters and poker burning because there was no limit into the things you could make. At the end we had a big pack up to make sure things are back in their places and ready for the next group to come in positively.

The CARE Values that I showed were Active Thinking and Community.
I showed Active Thinking by thinking outside the box for some ideas on the coasters and making my work very creative.
I showed Community by helping with the pack up and cleaning up the spaces were I worked in; I helped others pack their stuff up as well and lining up waiting for the teacher to tell us the riddle for the week.

I demonstrated Leadership by showing Motivational.
I showed Motivation by getting myself motivated and in the mood for mandarin and looking to the bright side.

Blog Post #2 Home Learning Challenge

Home Learning Challenge: Design Your Own Challenge ( E10 )

For this design your own challenge, I decided to create a landscape artwork using oil paints. The first

step I did was to sketch out ( in pencil ) what is going to be in it. The sketches doesn't have to look exactly like what you're going to do, its just there so you know where everything is. The next step I did was to cover the top half of the painting in light blue for the base color. After the base color of the sky, we went on and started to add some shades of pink to it and different types of colors to form a pastel looking area. The hardest part that I found while doing this is probably getting the colors to contrast each other because the colors are quite complicated to make. The easiest part of this was the mountain because I have done a lot of mountains before and I find that quite easy to do. Something I would do differently or improve it would be to make it more of my own and contrast the colors more.

The CARE Values that I showed were Excellence and Active Thinking.
I showed Excellence by making this look the best as I can make it.
I showed Active Thinking by problem solving if something didnt work or looked how I wanted it to look.

I demonstrated Leadership by showing Resilience because I found some of this hard but I kept on going and used my initiative by asking for help.

Excellence Blog Post #6 Leadership Around The School ( Student Leaders CBD Trip )

On Monday at 8:30, all the Student Leaders went on a trip to the CBD. We traveled by bus and we got to bring our devices with us to take photos. When we got there, we took a walk to the Council Office Area and met an instructor called Celia. First thing we did was, we went inside the building and went into the Function Room. We learnt about all the different things that the Councillors do and the different areas they have. We got into groups of 3 and met with an expertise to tell us what their part of the council is. We were with Kelly and her part of the council is working with Park Management; and preparing Sports fields/parks for everyone to enjoy. One of the hardest parts of her job is making decisions about the sports fields and the cost of money to repair grass and adding new fields to share with everyone.

Something I learnt during the session with Kelly was that the popularity of Rugby is going down because of bad injuries such as head injuries. She told us that nowadays, there are more elderly s than young kids like us and Biking and Walking are now getting more popular than Rugby. The most interesting thing about her job is that she has to make good decisions with sports teams and clubs. Its not always easy managing parks and making everyone happy. We also visited the Chamber and where the decisions are made. I got to sit in Pauline Cotter's chair, and we all got to use the microphones that was on our desks. My favorite part of the trip was the lunch that we had because I tried something that I've never tried before and it was delicious.

The CARE Values that I showed during this trip was Respect and Active Thinking.
I showed Respect by listening to the instructor and not talking when she was and showing respect throughout the whole trip.
I showed Active Thinking by contributing to the lessons and giving good ideas to my group.

I demonstrated Leadership by using my manners when i'm outside of school and representing Oaklands positively.

Excellence Blog Post #5 Key Leadership ( Bake Sale )

On Tuesday, the year 8s bought in food to for the bake sale to fundraise for our Wellington Trip in Term 4. Half way through our dance lesson, the House Captains got called over to set up the tables before morning tea. There were three stations to put our food on. 1. By the Basketball Court. 2. Near the Chess area. 3. On the juniors deck outside the old music room. Alex, Jacinta and I were running the station by the Basketball Court. At first there wasn't many people coming over; after awhile it felt like we were celebrities signing autographs for other people. The food was going away really fast, we made a heap of money from our station, which was really good.

At the end when it was the House Captains turn of getting something, all the good food was gone, we didn't have much choices left but the good thing was that all the prices got lower.
Our first Bake Sale was a success overall. We made around $900 all together and we got a lot of people coming to buy the food.

The CARE Values that I showed during this Bake Sale were Excellence and Community.
I showed Excellence by being flexible when people took forever to choose what they wanted.
I showed Community by cleaning up at the end and helping put the tables back.

Excellence Blog Post #5 Leadership Around The School ( Dance )

On Wednesday at 10:20, the year 7/8s had their 3rd to last dance practice. We are learning two different routines and we are going to perform them both on Friday. Our first routine that we learnt was a Hip Hop routine; we did it to the song Uptown Funk. At first, I thought it was going to be hard because ive never done hip hop before. Lucky for us the instructor ( Dean ) make it simpler and more easy for beginners. I really like the routine because I have learnt some new moves and the routine involves lots of energy which I think is good. We have finished our routine for the hip hop dance, but also working on making it look nicer and tidier and keeping in time. My favorite bit about this dance is the energy and a lot of moving around.

Our other routine that we are doing is call the Jive. It involves working in partners and the steps need to be precise. The jive is also energetic and has a bit more difficult moves than the hip hop. This dance is really challenging for me because I forget the moves sometimes and it happens really fast. I also really enjoy learning this one because I like to try new things that ive never done before. Something that I like about this dance is that it is very different to the other styles dance I have done but I like learning new styles.

The CARE Values that I showed were Respect and Excellence.
I showed Respect by listening to the instructor so I know what to do.
I showed Excellence by trying my hardest even if I got stuck in the middle of the dance.

I demonstrated Leadership by not mucking around when the instructor was giving instructions.

Excellence Blog Post #4 Leadership Around The School (Tech)

On Thursday, the yr 7/8s went to Technology at Lincoln. When we got there we went straight into our classes/groups. I was in group C and we were doing Wood Work. In Wood Work, we are making speakers. The first step we did was to plan a few different designs for our speaker. We then chose our favorite design and make a bigger copy of it with all the exact measurements. After that we had to get all of our pieces of wood and start putting it together using PVA glue. That step was the hardest because the glue wasn't that strong when it was wet so we had to ask other people to help us hold it in place.

The next step we did, after our basic structure has dried, we had to start sanding the edges to made it smooth so the speaker doesn't have have rough edges. We were also told that we could use the Sanding Machine to sand our edge s and I found that so much easier because it gets the job done faster instead of using your hands to sand. Then the next week we started painting our speaker boxes and designing them however we want.

The CARE Values that I showed were Community and Active Thinking.
I showed Community by helping others if they needed help.
I showed Active Thinking by using good techniques with sanding and painting so I can get the most out of it.

I demonstrated Leadership by helping others and sowing all the CARE Values outside of school kind of.

Excellence Blog Post #4 Key Leadership

On Tuesday, at Morning Tea, the Student Leaders had a leadership meeting about our trip to the City Council in a few weeks time. We also discussed at the start about how we are going with our leadership responsibilities and what is something that we get frustrated about our leadership position. A lot of the same things were said such as to do with flags and bins. But the main thing about that meeting was about our trip to the city council. All the leaders got sent a google form and we had to fill it out. It was about the food choices on the trip and what we would like to eat for lunch on that day.

The CARE Values that I showed during this meeting were Respect and Excellence.
I showed Respect by listening to the person that was speaking.
I showed Excellence by completing the task that was set to us on time.

I demonstrate d Leadership attending the meeting and turning up on time so I don't miss any important information.

Excellence Post #3 Leadership Around The School (Getting Involved)

On Wednesday, at Morning Tea, I played a great game of Basketball. It was 4 against 5 because we didn't have enough people to play a proper game. I quite enjoyed the game because I like basketball anytime. We firstly decided the teams with Noah as the captain of one team and Wariesha for the other teams captain.

We had 4 people in our team but we managed to win the first game. Noah got the first goal, then I got the next few goals. Before half time the score was 4-2. I think our team did really well because we worked together to get across the court. I was playing attack with someone else and the rest was on defense. We carried on our game after half time. The second half was so intense, but I loved it. We also played Basketball at Lunch as well. The teams kinda changed at lunch. Firstly it was 2 v 2. then after a while it became 2 v 3 because we had another friend join our game.

The game we played at lunch was also really good but we lost 3-? Alot. Equally they were both fun games and I would definitely play again another day.

The CARE Values that I showed during this Basketball Game were Excellence and Active Thinking.
I showed Excellence by having fun and trying my best because I love what I do.
I showed Active Thinking by making sure at the start of the games that everyone is clear of the teams and rules.
I demonstrated Leadership by getting involved positively and playing fairly.

Excellence Blog Post #3 Key Leadership

On Tuesday, at Morning Tea, all the student leaders gathered up and had a quick and brief meeting with Mr Ladbrook to clear up all our duties and discuss about term 2. Firstly we talked about our trip to the council in Week 5 or 6. Everyone got really excited after this had been announced. The trip was only towards us as student leaders during school time. After taking about the trip we talked about our badges and how we had to get to a certain point with our excellence. There will be consequences if we do not complete our tasks.

Speaking of tasks, we were all assigned to do a task in our own time. What we have to do is to give the council all the knowledge that we know about the council so they can see what we know already and what they can teach us. This meeting was just to catch up again from the holidays and maybe a few reminders about our goals.

The CARE Values that I showed were Respect and Active Thinking.
I showed Respect by listening carefully to the teacher and respecting the person who was talking.
I showed Active Thinking by reminding others who forgot that they had a meeting on at Morning Tea.

I demonstrated Leadership by making sure I was on time for the meeting and putting myself in a positive mood.

Excellence Blog Post #2 Key Leadership

On Wednesday afternoon, all the student leaders gathered up to have a catch up meeting since we haven't had one in a long time. We discussed with Mr Ladbrook about how we were going with our duties and if we are consistently doing them. Part of being a student leader is we have to be able to get our Merit Badges by the end of Term 1. We had consequences for those who hadn't got theirs in time. We also talked about the bins and flags that we had to do every morning.

There are usually groups that do them at different times. The morning flags and the afternoon flags.
After the catch up meeting, the teachers decided to give us a reward for the people who are consistently doing their duties. We had a great afternoon game of Medic Dodge-ball, one of my very favorite games. We played it in the hall since it was too wet outside on the grass and courts. For our first medic, we had Lindsay and for our second medic, we had Wariesha. At the end of the two rounds we had a 2v2 round of just the medics that got chosen. It was Lindsay and Wariesha vs Solani and Brayden. Our team won at the end. After that fantastic game of Medic Dodge-Ball, Mr Muller handed us some lollies for the last bit of the reward.

The CARE Values that I showed were Excellence and Respect.
I showed Excellence by trying my best in the game and enjoying it as much as I could.
I showed Respect by doing my duties consistently and meeting the expectations of being a student leader.

I demonstrated Leadership by doing what I was supposed to do and role modeling to others to be a great leader.

Excellence Blog Post #2 Leadership Around The School (Tech)

For our last session of Food Tech, we made our own Savory Bread Cups. The first thing we had to do was to prepare our ingredients to go into the bread cups. Secondly we had to spread butter or margarine onto our bread and place it into our silicone muffin trays with the buttered side down. After that, we set the bread into the oven to crisp it up before we place in our main ingredients.
While the bread was in the oven, we got to choose our ingredients to go in. Some stuff I chose were Onions and Cheese.
After the bread had been crisped, we placed our ingredients that we chose into the crisped bread and set it again in the oven until cooked. Then when its done, we got to eat it and it tasted pretty good.

The teacher decided that since we had a heap more time, she said we could make our own batches of Cinnamon Pinwheels. The recipe for that is a bit more complicated than the first one that we made. I made a batch of 5 pinwheels. They were so delicious in the end. It was really fun to make two recipes at once because we do do this very often and we managed to get it done still.

The CARE Values that I showed were Community and Active Thinking.
I showed Community by helping others when they needed help and helping cleaning up the area I was working in.
I showed Active Thinking by seeking feedback and taking it on board.

I demonstrated leadership by trying my hardest and getting the most out of it since it was the last session for this subject.

Excellence Blog Post #1 Home Learning Challenge

Home Learning Challenge:  Research food from another culture. Prepare a dish from this culture and serve it to your family.

For this Home Learning Challenge, I decided to research about Japan and Sushi.
Firstly I researched about Japan and what their national foods are and I thought sushi would be fun to make with some twists to it. I also love sushi so this would be perfect to make. It was pretty easy to

make as well. Firstly, we got out the giant packet of seaweed.

Secondly, we placed the seaweed onto the roller thing, and then the rice, then the cucumber etc.

I have never made sushi before but it was fun and easy. Some things I added into it was cucumber, carrots, pineapple and chicken. Next time, I would add avocado and cream to it so I can try different tastes.
The twist that we made, was to add a panda into it to make it more unique and different. It turned out pretty good for the first time and I was really pleased.

The CARE Values that I showed in this were, Excellence and Active Thinking.

I showed Excellence by trying new things that were different.

I showed Active Thinking by creating new ideas and extend them to add into this challenge.

I demonstrated Leadership by enjoying what I was doing and being positive as well.

Excellence Blog Post #1 Leadership Around The School (Tech)

On Thursday, the Year 7/8's traveled on bus to Lincoln Technology. My group, which was Group C started Tech with Mandarin that went for 30 mins. It was the second to last session of Food Tech for us and we made delicious cupcakes. The good thing about it was we got to chose to make our own cupcakes with different ingredients than the other groups. I was in a pair with Hailey, and some of the ingredients that we chose were; Coco Powder, Chocolate Chips, Brown Sugar an White Flour.

We were really excited to see how our recipe is going to go with all the different ingredients that we chose. We also had to preheat the oven o 180* Bake before we started. The first step that we had to do was to add all the ingredients into a large bowl. The second step was to mix the ingredients till it is well combined. The last step was to use a spoon or pour the mixture into your muffin tins and set them into the oven for 10-15 mins.

I really enjoyed making the cupcakes because they were easy to make and it was fun as well. We got to name our finished product at the end and we name it Chocolate Delight because everything was basically chocolate and it tasted amazing as well.

The CARE Values that I showed were Community and Respect.
I showed Community by cleaning up our mess after we had finished so our space is clean an tidy for the next group.
I showed Respect by listening carefully to the teacher for the instructions so we don't get it wrong and so we know exactly what to do.

I demonstrated Leadership by having Integrity and letting other people have a go at mixing etc.

Excellence Blog Post #1 Key Leadership

On Tuesday, at the start of Morning Tea, all of the House Captains got together and had a meeting with Mr Ladbrook. Each of the House Captains, with their partners have to decide a game that we're going to run for each house. Me and Natasha, my partner, decided to run a game of Dodge-ball. We chose Dodge-ball because we thought since there is always a game of Capture The Flag, we wante a fresh game that was Dodge-ball.

After deciding which game to do, we had to record our game and equipment onto a doc.
We were aso told to get our CARE Books for some CARE Ticks from the Duathlon Event.
At the Duathlon Event, all the house captains had to run a game for all the year levels from the Kauri Team. Our group was the Year 6's. We played Tricky Tag with them and we thought it went pretty well because they seem to be enjoying themselves. After a few minutes, we decided to change the game for a fresh start to Paper Scissors Rock. All of them enjoyed that gaem and it was pretty fun to watch.

The CARE Values that I showed were Excellence and Active Thinking.
I showed Excellence by trying my best to make the games work especially when the grass was wet and cold.
I showed Active Thinking by changing the games after a few minutes so they wont get bored of the same game.

I demonstrated Leadership by getting the job done and showing a positive attitude to what I was doing.