Visit by Major Cooper from NZDF

 In week one of this term, we did a lot of learning about ANZAC Day and World War One. This week we were fortunate to have Major Cooper and Scott Earley from the New Zealand Defence Force come in and talk to us.

Major Cooper told us what it is like to be in the army today. He explained a little of how he has spent the last 30 years in the army, rising from the rank of Private to Major. When he first joined the army he was a truck driver. He has travelled extensively with the army, within New Zealand and overseas, including to East Timor, Bamyan in Afghanistan, Australia and the Sinai Desert in Egypt.

We also talked about what ANZAC Day means to those in the armed forces, a day for remembering those who have been prepared to protect their country and possibly die for it. We learnt how the Victory Cross is awarded very rarely and that Willie Apiata was the last New Zealander to receive it since the Second World War.

We had a fun quiz to see what we remembered from the talk and what we knew about ANZAC. Thanks for coming to visit us, we'll remember this.

A day in the city

The Big trip

We got to the film archives and went into the cinema. We learnt about film (That is what  they used before they got TV ). Then we saw some videos from 90 years ago when the film was still in black and white. At the end of our time there we watched a weird and funny advert for Wellington. Then we left to go to Te papa.

We went to the refugee exhibition at Te Papa and we had to write about someone that left their country and family members.  (That are having bad lives in their home country) The way we wrote about the people was we need to write their name, where they are from and the reason that they left.  We also needed to write a poem that one of the refugees wrote.

 

We get into the Gallipoli and see all the realistic sculptures. The second room had a story about the guy whose statue was in the first room. After that there was a room with another statue which was an old army soldier kneeling next to a dead soldier whose face and chest were covered with a cloth and the dead soldier had a really really bad wound on his left knee. As we headed to the cave  you could feel the ground shaking as you walked. On the side of the wall you could see videos playing of the war. You could actually see the bombs, bullets and inside the guns were freaky.

The reason we did this trip is because of our school focus. It is “who is in the community?” The film archives and Te Papa is part of our community and both tell us about the past and stories about people.

By Manaia and Hanne  


Finding out people's stories from Matariki on Vimeo.

A day in the city from Matariki on Vimeo.

Gallipoli exhibition from Matariki on Vimeo.

Te Papa & Film Archive Trip, Friday

On Friday the 14th Mahutonga and Matariki went on an Inquiry trip to Te Papa and Film Archive.

First, we went to the Film Archive and the owner of the Film Archive talked to us about old Films and Discs. He showed us the bigger version of a CD and the timeline of how long it has been in between each time that stuff got created.

We also went to Te Papa and saw the Gallipoli Exhibition, and The Immigration/ Refugee area. At the Gallipoli Exhibition were looking at what it would of been like in war and how people have come from a long way away just to help the country and community. At the Immigration, Refugee area we were looking at the life that other people have had lives that we think are terrible. We were also finding their stories and their perspective of their life.

By Gretel and Eloise