Myths and Legends

We wrote our own Myths and Legends and then designed book covers for them.

The rest of our great banners...

Olympic banners

(Top) Winner of the year 10 Olympic banner competition - Brandon and Krishna
(Bottom) Winner of the yer 9 banner competition - Mandeep and Raena

Tylah's Myth

How Te Whakaraueka Found Communication

Many, many years ago a boy called Te Whakaraueka wondered how the Gods knew something was going to happen without talking face to face to people. So he asked the people around him, they whispered “I have no idea, go ask Tanewharaheka, the god of the trees and birds. He knows everything that happens, he will ask the ancestors if he doesn’t.  You will find him in his tree hole,  he doesn’t ever leave it so call to him when you find the biggest tree in the forest”.  So Te Whakaraueka wondered off into the forest excitedly.

 He ran into the forest and saw heaps of birds flying in the blue sky, they looked like little stars floating across the sky. Te Whakaraueka got distracted looking at the little birds and ran straight into a huge tree. It was the biggest tree in the forest and when he looked up he saw the tree hole that Tanewharaheka lived in and he thought to himself ‘Am I here?’.  He called out “TANEWHARAHEKA, the God of the trees and birds, are you there?” he waited and waited then all of a sudden he heard the birds chirping loudly and going from tree to tree until all of a sudden they came to this tree and instantly it went as quiet as a library. Soon he heard “WHO DARE COMES TO MY TREE?” Te Whakaraueka yelled “ITS ME, TE WHAKARAUEKA!! I need to ask you something”. He went up and saw Tanewharaheka, he popped his head out of the hole and he asked “How do you communicate between all of the Gods without coming out of your home or sending notes?” Tanewharaheka whispered “We talk with birds, I yell out or think something and the birds pass it on to each other until it gets to the God I want it to go to, we can all communicate this way. You  just think something and it will be taken to the God you want it to go to”  Te Whakaraueka was happy with this and thanked him and went back to his village to share with his people.

He went running in the forest and got caught in a net and wondered what he was going to do. He tried cutting the rope but realised that the rope was too thick, it was as strong as concrete. He thought to himself ‘should I scream…no because then people may come and eat me’ so he thought again  ‘ I wonder if the chant works and he said it in his head, KARANGA MAI RA KARANAGA MAI RA, send me help; birds, trees, animals, any creatures God, please help!’ Within two minutes there were birds chirping and soon the solid rope came apart, after 15 minutes he was free, “Thank you Tanewharaheka, if you didn’t show me how to communicate without words, I would still be caught in that rope and I would have died.”          

Raena's Myth

Battle for Love

Many years ago in a small village there lived a beautiful goddess named Mahenirangi, she was the daughter of one of the powerful gods.  His name was Tu, the god of war. She was the most gorgeous girl out of her whole village.  Her eyes were as colorful as the sunset, her smile was as bright as the moonlight, her hair was as wavy as the sea.  Every single boy that Mahenirangi had dated her father wouldn’t approve of.

 So one night, when her father had fallen to sleep Mahenirangi went for a walk underneath the gloomy stars to look for someone that her father would approve of to marry her,  his beautiful daughter.  Mahenirangi came towards a pathway leading to the sea so she found the path and heard noises coming closer toward her.  Mahenirangi thought it was just animals playing in the sea, but it wasn’t it was a boy swimming in the sea with dolphins.  Mahenirangi quickly ran behind a bush, so that he wouldn’t see her watching him swim with the dolphins.  When he turned around he knew someone was watching him, so he came out of the sea.  He started walking towards the forest, Mahenirangi didn’t know where he was going until he stopped to help a baby kiwi look for his family.  The kiwi kept calling out to his family until they stopped by a cave. They heard the mother kiwi crying so he let the baby kiwi go and it walked in.  Mahenirangi quickly ran behind the tree because he turned around. He then quickly climbed the tree so couldn’t find him.  Mahenirangi turned around and didn’t see him so she walked back.  Mahenirangi didn’t know what way she came, so he came down and helped her find the way to the sea.  Mahenirangi was so happy to find her way back, but she still didn’t know his name.  When they stopped by the sea Mahenirangi asked him for his name.  Mahenirangi asked him for his name.  He said “Maui the son of Tangoroa, the God of the sea”.  Mahenirangi knew that her father wouldn’t approve of them dating so she walked away.  Maui didn’t want Mahenirangi to go so he ran after her.  Mahenirangi didn’t know what to say to Maui but bye.  The sun started to rise.  Mahenirangi turned around to take one more look at Maui but he had disappeared into thin air like magic. 

When Mahenirangi got back to her village all she could think about was Maui.  When her father woke up he knew she was hiding something from him and when the sun had set and it was all dark he followed Mahenirangi and knew that she found the pathway to the sea, but when they got there Maui never showed.

Two days later Mahenirangi had given up on trying to see Maui again.  Mahenirangi heard her father talking to Tane, the God of the forest about Maui’s father Tangaroa.  Mahenirangi heard her father say that he was going to get pay back for what he did to the village and for killing his wife.  Tane told him that Mahenirangi was listening so he told his guards to take her away so that she would not run away and tell Maui about the war that they were going to start.  Mahenirangi used her strength to get away and quickly ran to the sea and called Tangaroa and when he showed up she told him all about the war that was going to happen in the morning that her father had planned.  Tangaroa got all of the men from another village and told them to say good bye to their families because they were going to war with Tane.  Tanagroa asked his brother Tawhiri for help to make it rain so his waves could be more powerful than ever.  Mahenirangi knew that she was going to die, so she called Maui to day goodbye.  Maui showed up and didn’t know what to say, but I love you.  Mahenirangi started crying because she knew that she wouldn’t survive the war.  Maui and Mahenirangi held each other for the very last time. 

The sun rose and the war started.  Tangaroa created a huge tidal wave and killed everyone that lived on land.  Maui couldn’t take it, so he killed himself in order to stay with Mahenirangi.  All she could think about when she died was Maui and how they were going to stay together forever up in heaven.  The war continued until there was nothing left on earth.

 

Mark's Legend

How Maui taught his brother about Mana

A long time ago the people weren’t proud of their culture and where they came from and they weren’t happy with their whakapapa.

There was a young boy called Maui that lived in the village. He was proud of his ancestors and he was as strong as a warrior. Maui prized his past. He sang songs and dedicated his Haka to his ancestors. His Haka was as intimidating as Maori warriors at war.

One of his brothers was jealous because Maui was proud of his ancestors and he wasn’t, he tried to kill Maui’s ancestors by killing the things they had created. He started chaos between Maui’s family and his ancestors. Maui was so mad because his brother had messed up their rituals and tradition’s, he had thrown all the hangi rocks away so they couldn’t cook their food in the traditional way.

 Slowly Maui felt all that his culture stood for was dying and Maui knew he had to try and keep his culture alive so his ancestors could live on in him. Maui shouted at his brother and told him it was all about Mana.

Maui’s brother felt bad after that because he realised that Maui was right so he made peace with Maui and together they fixed all the things that their ancestors had given them that Maui’s brother had destroyed and all the evil spirits left Maui’s brother because he had found his Mana again.

The end is near.....

As we the end of term 4 is coming to an end I can say the students in C16 have worked hard over the latter part of the year and a summer holiday is well deserved.  In term 3 we looked at the Olympics amd Paralympics. We celebrated the success of ourNZ Olympic team by writing congratulatory letters to our Olympians, making sure we used the correct letter format, and we also did a variety of other writing and reading activites.  We ended term 3 with a banner competition. Students worked in pairs to create a banner that showed our pride in our NZ Olympians, they had a range of success criteria that they had to meet and they all did a great job and let their creativity flow to create some fantastic banners.  There was also a prize for the best banners in each year group and in yr 9 Mandeep and Raena cleaned up with their fantastic hand drawn banner and in yr 10 Brandon and Krishna won, they integrated some London landmarks in amongst the Kiwiana theme and did an awsome job.  The competition was fierce though and the 3 judges had their work cut out for them!   This term we have been looking at Myths and Legends, we asked the big question 'What is the purpose of Myths and Legends and how important are they to cultural groups?'. The yr 9's focus was creativity myths and the yr 10's was Maori and Aborigine myths and legends.  We also looked at story elements and the students had a turn at writing their own myths and legends and then creatiing a book cover.  These were then shared among staff who read and evualted them, I was impressed with the creativity that students displayed and loved reading these.
Huge thanks to Mrs Luxford and Mrs Karl who work alongside us in C16 for all the support and care you have shown myself and the students of 9TG and 10TG. 
Overall we have had a busy two terms and students have had success whether it be in writiing, reading or creating static images and book covers, students have been given every opportuntiy to be successful and they all have been in some way.  Well done 9TG and 10TG, I am proud of you all, keep safe in the holidays and find a minute to read....it really won't hurt you :o)

Powhiri to welcome Mr English to FVHS

On Monday 16 July 2012 at 9:15am a note went around to every class saying all Kapa Haka kids had to go to the auditorium. We all reported to the auditorium to set out all the chairs for a special assembly, to welcome the new deputy principal. When they all finished that, we all went to Mr Mihaere’s class to practise the Moteatea. When the bell rung and we finished practising, we all headed over to the auditorium for a special assembly, and waited for Papatoetoe high school to arrive so we could begin the powhiri.

Once we heard the karanga the Poly group (Polinetia fa’atasi) began the welcoming song to welcome in the Papatoetoe High School into the auditorium. With beautiful singing and committed students it was very lovely to see everyone singing together.

We all sat down and listened to Kau Matua Robert to recite his mihi. As he finished that, the Kapa Haka group stood as I started off the moteatea. I was feeling like I was going to muck up, and that I was going to start laughing. We sang loud and proud to welcome the new Deputy Principal, Mr English.

Once we had finished our song, the Kau Matua from Papatoetoe High School stood up and started off his mihi our song. Nearly everyone was falling asleep. To wake them up, Papatoetoe high came back with an amazing moteatea with strong vibes and open heart, bringing tears to their former Deputy Principal eyes.

Papatoetoe brought out the best Haka they could do, strongest hand movements with hard core loud vocals, bringing tears to the Papatoetoe High School student and teachers eyes. First farewells then came welcoming’s to the new deputy principal of forest view high school, Mr English.

We all learnt something that day, it’s never easy to say goodbye to someone you know that has been there for you, but to try and welcome someone new is a new adventure.

Written by Tara Kemp.

          

 

Report comments - Students were given the opportunity to write their own report comments and this is what they had to say!

Cameryn

9IST

Comment: I have shown I can work in groups and am really kind to others.  I need to work on bringing my gear and taking responsibility for my actions.

Melissa

9IST

Comment: Melissa is a bright student, she gets on task but she struggles to stay on task.  She gets distracted very easily.  Melissa needs to improve on staying on task more and needs to use more appropriate language in class.

Rae

9IST

Comment: I have shown that I can work really well with some of my classmates. I need to do my work most of the time rather than talking to my friends.

Matangirau

9IST

Comment: I try hard to manage myself but sometimes I do not.  Some people in this class I can relate to.

Mandeep

9IST

Comment: I think I do manage myself by bringing my gear, being on time and doing my homework and taking my work home to finish.  I think I need to work on my English, so I can describe in my stories better.

Landles

10 IST

Comment: I think I am very friendly because I do not put down anyone in our class and I always finish my work for the teacher.  I need to work on managing myself because whenever I receive homework I always forget it when I am at home.

Ryan

10 IST

Comment: I am persistent because in class I don’t give up. I need to do a bit more work in class and will do this by not talking to others.

Marcus

10 IST

Comment:  I think I am well behaved.  I need to improve on being ready and by that I mean doing my work.  I need to work on my own more.

Jessica

11 SPEC - Literacy for Life

Comment: I think I can do much better and improve my attitude towards my learning and sometimes do things myself and not depend on the teachers to motivate me.

Talia

11 SPEC - Literacy for Life

Comment: I will help other students in my class if they need help.  I need to finish my work on time and listen to the teacher.

Breydon

11 SPEC - Literacy for Life

Comment: One thing I do well is I am always on time to class.  I need to improve on my work ethic because my standards are very low.

Diary Entry (Rabbit Proof Fence) by Tequila

Today I was at the depot with my family getting our rations of food.  Nana yelled to me, Gracie and Daisy to run.  We tried to run becasue we were so scared becasue we knew we were going to get taken away from our family forever.  We weren't fast enough.  The man threw us in his car.  I felt really furious at him.  I was unhappy and frustrated, we tried to escape out of the car, but we couldn't.  I looked at my family they were crying, I felt sad and worried.  The man told us that we were going to a Mission or Native Camp.  I fell asleep.  I woke up becasue I heard a strange noise.  I knew we were on a train, we were in a cage and I saw a man making him a cup of tea.  I was so tired I fell back to sleep.  We were put onto a truck and driven to the Mission.  When we got there I was scared, there were lots of buildings.  I had never seen so many buildings together before I had only ever seen buildings by themselves at the depot and the train station.  A white lady came out to see us she was nice and friendly.  She took us inside one of the buildings, it was night time so we had to go to bed.  The building was full of beds and it smelt becasue the girls had a bucket by the door to use as a toilet.  There were heaps of other half caste girls in the beds.  the lady told me to go to sleep but I didn't want to becasue I was scared.  I started to talk to the girls in our langugae and got in trouble.  We got told we had to speak Enlgish from now on.  I feel angry and tomorrow I will start to plan  how we can get back home to our family.

Diary Entry for Molly (Rabbit Proof Fence) by Tylah

Yesterday was the worst day of my life.  I was taken from my family and taken to a camp with some other girls that are just like me, half caste Aborigine.  We have to get up early to sing for Mr Neville.  We sing in English, we only know a little bit of their language.  I miss my mum and so does Dasiy and Gracie, we want to go home but we can't.  One day me and the girls are going to run away and go back home.  I don't know where home is, all I know is it is far away but I don't care I really want to go home to see our mum again.  I remember my mum crying and trying to open the door to get us back.  I remember our family crying and banging on the car windows, this makes me feel so sad and I was shocked that they would do this to us.  I've been planning how to get out of this camp since I got here last night.  When I look around all I can see is girls just like me, scared and lonely.  We are all wearing white and look like ghosts.  Me, daisy and Gracie were just huddled together keeping warm last night on a little camping bed.  The girls were so petrified, I was trying to talk to them to keep them calm.  Me and Gracie were talking our language this morning eating breakfast and we got a big growling.  They only want us to speak English.

Yr 10 IST have been studying the film 'Rabbit Proof Fence', we are starting on our wall display and have started writing diary entries for characters from the film. 

Thanks Carter Holt Harvey Pulp and Paper for the donation of our new dictionaries.

Yr 9 and 10 Static Images...

Yr 11 SPEC bookcovers...

Over the last two terms yr 9 and 10 IST students and year 11 SPEC stuents have been busy.  In yr 9 and 10 we looked at Human Rights and the responsibilities that go with those rights.  The yr 9's looked at the schools RAP values also especially Respecful Relationships.  The yr 10s looked at childrens rights and particularly how some children around the world are not given these rights.  Most of the SPEC students have managed to earn themselves five NCEA credits.  Pics of their hard work to follow, enjoy :o)

2012 :o)

Welcome back to 2012, especially to those new students and their families. We have another busy fun year planned in C16.  This year I have a year 9 class and year 10 class who both will be learning about habits of mind and using these good habits to help set them in good stead this year and hodefully in life!!  My year 11 class is a SPEC class, but we are working  We are also working on SPEC http://www.spec.org.nz/ and I will send more information out about this in a newsletter.  We are always busy and working hard in C16 so check our blog out often to see the hardwork displayed right here. My year 11 class are a SPEC class and we will be using SPEC as our learning tool to gain our 10 Literacy credits.....so like I said a busy year in C16!