ADVERTORIAL
By Moanataiari School students Ben Ashby and Jacob Kidd
September 10-13 was our senior room 6 and 9 camp. We were overjoyed to leave on our journey through Auckland to Willow Park Christian Camp.
As we left school, you could almost hear the enthusiasm of children excited about four days off school. We arrived at camp and started exploring the immensity and grandeur of the property, which covers a whopping 7500m².
This immaculate camp had a gym called the recreation centre, a full kitchen with the best cooks, and a mini golf course. We discovered the recreation centre but couldn’t enter without an adult.
On the first night, we had an extraordinary stroganoff with pasta and vegetables for dinner.
This was one of my favourite dishes in my entire time there.
The activities we participated in were bowling, swimming at the beach, and tribe sports.
The wonderful teachers booked us a brilliant trip to Howick Village on the second day.
The aim of this village is to capture us into the world of the 1800s. The Howick Village used to house retired English soldiers, which greatly heightened the population of Auckland.
There were a series of activities for the group to go around. After lunch, we explored the rest of the village, from a tiny preschool to a grand manor in the centre of the town.
The vastness and uniqueness of the village piqued everyone’s interest.
On the third day, we travelled by ferry to downtown Auckland to swim at Tepid Baths and explore Wynyard Quarter.
Ultimately, this was a wonderful camp that catered to everyone’s wants and needs.
We highly recommend it.
Students plant 3000 native plants
By Moanataiari School students Ben Ashby and Jacob Kidd
As students of Moanataiari School, we take immense pride in our involvement in Trees for Survival’s environmental education programme. This valuable initiative equips us with knowledge and skills to care for native plant species from their earliest stages as seedlings. We approach this responsibility with great dedication, tending to these plants and enthusiastically participating in planting days to revive our local ecosystem.
The visible impact of our efforts is evident throughout Moanataiari, where we have strategically planted native plants and trees by the stream next to our school and in various areas across our school grounds.
We have also participated in plantings at Kuranui Bay with Thames-Coromandel District Council.
Interschool speech winners
By Moanataiari School student Katelyn Sem
On August 27, Moanataiari School students competed against each other from their class speech finals and were picked by the judges to attend the interschool speech competition.
These students were Sapphire Tarua-Stoneham, Macy Donaldson, Sartaj Singh, and Katelyn Sem. The inter school competition took place on September 6 at Parawai School. At the end of the competition, Katelyn Sem won the year 7-8 competition and Macy Donaldson won the year 5-6 competition.
We are proud of all those who competed in our school and inter school competitions. Here is a recount of Katelyn’s Sem attendance and ultimate win of this competition:
“I nervously sat in my seat knowing I had to read my speech in front of other competitors that won their school competition.
Every single person’s speech went by fast, and my turn was coming quicker and quicker. The next thing I knew, they called out my name, and it was finally my turn to speak.
I was feeling a mixture of nervousness and gladness; the only thing I could do was get up on stage, talk loudly, and speak clearly.
At last, I got to the final sentence.
I was finally done with my speech.
I walked off stage as the audience applauded for me.
All my nerves were gone now; there were only two speakers left. I was curious about who the winners were, but for now I had to be patient. Finally, everyone was done reading their speech.
It finally got to the point where the judges announced the winners; third place wasn’t me, and second place wasn’t me.
I was starting to lose hope but the next thing I heard was, ‘In first place we have Katelyn’. I was full of excitement and shock.”
Students attend Conservation Week extravaganza
By Moanataiari student Jacob Kidd
Maggie Carter and I attended the Environment Hui at the Kauaeranga Visitor Centre.
In the morning, when all the schools arrived, we presented our accomplishments to everyone. Afterwards, we had morning tea and went to our first rotation round.
We were at the Lizards with Doug and Jane Ashby and we had a great time looking at the geckos.
After that, we went to the Hillary Outdoors activity, grabbed some water from a nearby stream and inspected it for signs of life.
The following event consisted of lunch and the Sanctuary Mountain activity. We investigated the use of ink pads in tracker tunnels.
We looked at the cards and used the key to identify which animals had left their tracks behind. According to research, Sanctuary Mountain is the most oversized land island in New Zealand. This is an area with a pest-proof fence to protect our native species.
We then went to our last activity and explored the width of Tane Mahuta (New Zealand’s largest tree) with a rope.
In addition to this, we learned about kauri dieback and how it can affect native bugs and plants like weta. Overall, this was a great experience and taught us a lot about protecting the kauri from dieback and the species that rely on Kauri trees to survive, like the Duvaucel’s gecko (the largest gecko).
Junior trip to Waitakaruru
By Moanataiari School students Ben Ashby and Jacob Kidd
On September 24, the junior school attended the Waitakaruru School play, Ureia. This taniwha has great cultural significance for Thames and our region. The students were very excited about this trip and enjoyed watching this fabulous production. They learnt a lot about Ureia.
Moanataiari School principal’s message
By David Brock, principal
Moanataiari School offers a vibrant learning experience, fostering academic excellence, environmental stewardship, and cultural understanding.
With standout programmes like Writer’s Toolbox and Pr1me Maths, enriching camps, and public speaking successes, students thrive in an inclusive and dynamic community. We welcome you to visit.
