New Term, New Class

Hi everyone -

Term Two has started and we are a new look class, as Year 7 & Year 8 have been combined for the remainder of this year. We had a number of pupils leave our School because of the earthquake, and were left with numbers less than fifteen in both classes.

You can check out our new Senior School website at  

https://sites.google.com/site/smaaseniorschool/

It has lots of reminders, info and links for the happenings in the senior end of school.

You can catch some very good pieces of narrative writing on this blog page in the coming weeks.

Also watch out for reports from the Prefects on their experiences at the Young Leaders' 

Day.

Regards,

Tony Kendrew

The 2010 Victorian Soiree

Wow! What a night the Year 7 and 8 Soiree was. The Soiree began with the Grand Promenade which was followed by God Save the Queen. There was dancing and music.......and more dancing. Since we don't have that many girls in the Senior Syndicate, we had to gather 'reinforcements' as you might call them. A massive thank you to all the Year 7 and 8 mothers that danced in place of the girls we didn't have. Back to the evening itself, we all looked AMAZING, even the boys, I'll admit it. The girls all looked beautiful in their frilly dresses and the boys did look sharp in their tuxes as well. The dances worked out well as well, even if we did have a limited amount of space. I personally think that the Pattycake Polka and the Circle Waltz turned out the best. Priyanka Nathu, our Orchestra leader, provided a delightful musical interlude on the piano. The evening concluded with supper. The Soiree was a wonderful night that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Megan Lord.

Year 8's Busy Term

This term, Year 8 has been a very busy class. Last week we had our Years 4 to 8 Cross Country at Hagley Park which proved to be a real challenge for all of the classes. This year, the 8, 9 and 10 year old girls and boys had to run 2 Km and the 11 and 12 year old girls and boys had to run 3 Km. It may not sound like a lot but add the distance of the run to the temperature of the warm afternoon and you get a tough day at the office. The main focus in the Senior Syndicate this term is our study of early Victorian Christchurch and we have been preparing for our Victorian Soiree at the end of week 9. We have been learning many dances and the race is on between our parents and the students to see who can learn the dances first. On top of the cross country we have been going to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics every Thursday to improve our skills. All of us are exploring our options and making decisions about which high schools we will go to next year.

Year 8 Gets Underway.

Even though we have only been back at school for six weeks, Year 8 have already been extremely busy with all our new responsibilities. A couple of weeks ago, we had our annual Swimming Sports held at Christ College's swimming pool. It was a fun filled event for the Year 4-8 classes. In that same week we had an art workshop with Wendy Duggan and we learnt how to draw portraits. We have also completed a topic study about Being A Great Leader and are now onto an English topic looking at Sophisticated Picture Books. As for the rest of the term, we have a visit Rehua Marae, Independent Swimming Sports and a visit from Miles Kaukau to learn about Maori art and carving.

a prayer for Christmas

A prayer for Christmas

I dream that there could be fewer people sleeping on the streets on Christmas Eve.
When for once the ice would stop melting ,just for one day.
That every dollar could be equally shared around the world.
Maybe for one minute we were all the same; that there were no mirrors, no eyes.
That animal shelters weren't so overflowing after Christmas.
That perhaps just each minute a piece of litter could be picked up from the ground.
That everytime we had a piece of chocolate or drank our morning coffee that we would care where it came from.
That just for one moment we could put down our spears and guns, look up at the sky and smile.
If only.

By Raphaela

my christmas prayer

This Christmas, I want an i pod. Or a plasma T.V. would be nice.
Actually something much better to watch would be to see the ignorant become educated,
to notice, care about and change the unfair and sad lives of the starving and enslaved.
A beautiful Christmas image would be that it is a time that everyone comes together from opposite ends of society, to give gifts and respect and help each other.
Imagine a world of blind people - if friendships were easy, not at all shallow.
If they were easy and kind, if all the unnecessary factors of a relationship that are unfairly judge mental, age, beauty, race were eliminated.
How much stronger and wider our friend circles would be if everyone just stopped judging.
My last Christmas wish is that no one is alone.
That everyone invites someone, so no one is left out.

By Georgia Rouch

My Christmas Prayer

This Christmas I pray,
that every empty child,
will be full of not only sweets and Christmas ham,
but joy, laughter and love.
I pray that Santa will visit them all,
and that they'll find homes,
and people who will be there to catch them if they fall.
I pray that others will understand how life is,

for the poor, unhealthy, and uncared for.

I pray that these people will do what they can,
to restore the kindness and love that was taken away from others.
Overall, this Christmas I pray,
that all the world will have a very merry Christmas!

Amen.

By Rebecca Tang