Impromptu speeches in Kereru

Today Kereru class were practicing speaking in front of a group. Students were given a topic and had a few seconds to think about it before speaking for 30 seconds on the topic. We had speeches about 'chicken lips', ' what sound does a carrot make', 'spinach flavoured icecream' and so many more... Check out a few of the speeches here!

Congratulations Aimee!

A big congratulations to Aimee who has placed 2nd in the NZ Young Writers Competition with her Galipolli story 'The Lark, The Soldier and Death'.
Have a read for yourself. :)

The Lark

My flock and I scattered as large man-made pellets dotted the sky. But I didn’t go far. I did a U-turn, and flew over the long trenches. I spotted a small black dog eating from a pile of rats. Those brave, stupid rats. Why did they not flee? I guess that they were being greedy and staying for the food. Ha! I bet that they never guessed that they would be the food! I was yanked out of my world of thought when a buzzing pellet whizzed past my head. I let out a shrill squark and beat my wings hard to avoid becoming a pile of feathers. Bangs started sounding below. The deafening silence was broken, and the screams of the featherless creatures called Men filled the air. The last of the bright red poppies were blown apart. These creatures took too much pleasure in blowing each other to smithereens.

The smell of smoke and death started to pollute the air. My eyes started watering as dust clouded the battlefield. The now barren ground hosted hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bodies of the dead and wounded. The large craters in the ground stopped many lines of Men from advancing. They would go down into them, expecting it to be a piece of gourmet seed to get out again. Boy were they wrong! All Men that got stuck watched the sky and the edges of the craters with fear, their fire sticks clutched close to their chests, talons shaking. (Well, at least I think thats where their chests are.) More pellets whipped past me. Nothing could hit me! The featherless Men were another story. I watched the Men die. So many Men dying.What is the use of War other than death?

The loud bangs stopped, but the screams and yells of Men still filled the air. I became sick of the screams of the wounded, and the yells and cries of those that just found their friends dead.

I had listened to it for 4 years. I started to sing as loud as I could, trying to drown out all sound. The other larks that didn’t leave joined in. We all knew that the screaming and yelling hadn’t stopped, but we couldn’t hear it so we were content.

The Soldier

My hands quivered. I saw men approaching fast. I fired. But my hands were too shaky. I missed. My horse lay in front of me, guarding me from gunfire. His warm body seeped heat into my own clammy skin. I could feel his breathing, slow but strong. I timed my breathing with his and willed my heart to slow, then took another shot. This time my bullet struck home. I could almost hear the crack of  his bones as my bullet tore through his skull. My eyes blurred. At first I thought that it was smoke, but then I realised that it was tears. I didn’t like killing people. People rarely do. But the world isn’t fair. We just have to learn to get on with it. A German ran past. I grabbed his leg and pulled him down. He shot at me but I killed him with a gun butt in the head. Then I became aware of a searing pain in my chest. The German had shot me after all. A hot liquid dripped down my uniform. I couldn’t breathe. Everytime I tried to take a breath my mouth filled with a hot metallic taste. The loud beating of my heart was filling my ears. I lay my head on the horses chest. A lark flew overhead, singing sadly. I let myself fade into a choking darkness. Now I wish that I was religious.  My once beating heart stilled.

Death

They say war is Deaths best friend. Well it's not. Instead of having a nice, steady flow of people dying, I have to get everyone on the battlefield that die, as well as everyone else! If I don't, they can't move on into the void, and get stuck in their body, usually screaming "I'm here! I'm alive! Look at me!" But no one can see or hear them. And then I see them and say, "Tough luck mate. You're dead. Get used to it." Then they start sobbing. Urgh! I need a vacation. Tahiti’s pretty nice. I think I might go there. Someone else just died. Can't mankind just stop dying for one week!? Apparently it's just too hard.

Mid Winter Chilly Dip

Brrrrrrr! Well done to all those brave students that braved the ice cold water of the school pool!

Opening of the Ashley Smeith Bike Track

We had an awesome afternoon opening the Ashley Smeith Bike Track at Ladbrooks School. Everyone was keen to try out the track!