Follow Brendan's expert advice regarding cyber safety to keep safe on the internet! Highly recommended reading for all classrooms!!!

Cyber Safety

Some fear internet  and others are at ease in its presence. Neither side is correct or incorrect on the topic, but to successfully use the internet securely a balance of security measurements  is needed. In this brief exposition I will be explaining how to stay safe from the internet’s dangers, so you don't have to fear the World Wide Web, but you will be able to embrace it.

A main threat to all people on the internet is their information not being secure. A main example is Facebook, when it changes your privacy settings. If not checked, a door to your social life and your everyday life could be open. But don't worry there is  a way to prevent this. Use these suggestions to keep you safe:

• Check your privacy settings.
• Don’t share personal information (age, name, passwords).
• Don't take pictures of yourself in a uniform or anything that can show your location.
• Use a username instead of your real name.

Secondly, cyber-bullying is a major struggle we can face on social media. It is usually caused by a person who has ill intent to another person. It is mainly fueled by anger, frustration or a personal grievance. Though cyber-bullying poses a threat, you can stop it by reporting this comment and taking a screenshot. Put this screenshot into a folder as evidence. You should also block that person. This rules works for all social media and games.

Thirdly, when people post inappropriate messages on social media, it can be used against you in the future. Use these three rules to help you not post anything inappropriate:

• Ask if someone respectable and responsible would be happy with your post.
• Think before you type.
• Only type when you are calm otherwise you could write something that will cause you anguish.

Finally, spending too much time on the internet that we forget about important tasks or events. It is recommended that you take 10-20 minutes breaks on the internet after working for 30 minutes. This will enable you to have fun on the internet, while getting that important task done or being on time for that important event.

So in conclusion remember always to have a balance of security when on the internet,

As it will help you stay safe.

By Brendan Clarke

Room 26

Vinny from room 23 will take you on a mind blowing underwater adventure ... Enjoy!

Underwater City

I could see the dazzling bubbles fluttering to the surface, as I heard my steady breathing and could see the glass of my shiny helmet fogging up. I could feel my heart fluttering against my chest. Then a rusty submarine went as fast as lightning past me, while I descended down due to my steel helmet.

I fearfully looked at two giant rock walls. On the top of one of them there was a rusty metal city. As mossy rocks cast off the underwater walls crashed down to the depths of the sea, I sank down gracefully to the underwater city.

I finally reached the seaweed waving at me. As my feet in my special underwater suit made contact with the smooth rocks, I turned my head and I could see thousands of gold and pink coral all encased by a metal fence. Then I looked to the left and I saw a massive steel tower with a gleaming blue beacon, so I slowly leapt across the sharp coral and stepped inside…..

By Vinny Caminos

Schalk from year 2 created an epic dragon in the ESOL room .... - Meet Steve!

Hiccup looked at the dragon. It was a tiny dragon. It looked nice and it was green and if you look at it you can see the moon.

Hiccup was very brave and asked the dragon, "What is you name? You look epic, Mr Dragon."

The dragon answered, "My name is Steve and my last name is ... - Wait, I have 100 names."

The little Viking replied, "Oh, that is so cool, but if you have 100 names, can you teleport?"

Story time - enjoy the year 5/6 ESOL students' amazing narratives!

The Lighthouse Keeper

The lighthouse keeper was a serious, hard working man. He didn't enjoy the idle conversations and felt uncomfortable in the company of the cheerful, boisterous villagers. The loud roars of laughter that came out of the village inn and drifted all the way to his old gray lighthouse that stood next to the sharp jagged rocks that waves would crash onto them.

“I hate these people!”  He said displeased.

He shut his window and tried to concentrate on forgetting them.  But as he was about to try and write something his window sprang open.

He was about to close it as he heard a loud band that startled him. He jumped up as fast as he could to see what was broken “oh no…” he thought as he saw the broken light of the lighthouse.

Next he heard a “TOO TOO!” he glanced out to see a ship coming toward the sharp jagged rocks! His heart beated faster, his hands were shaking then he started to panic.

The lighthouse keeper grabbed the light, but then he tripped over his bag “!CRASH!” The light fell and broke into a thousand pieces.

“what am I supposed to do now?!”  he cried.

“And all of this is going to happen because of me!”

He looked out of the window  and thought all about the people's lives.

He ran downstairs opened the door and what he saw saved his life. he felt relieved. what he saw through the door were all the people that cheered and annoyed him.  They came into the lighthouse and lightened it up with their lamps.

 

As the ship saw the lamps it immediately turned away from the land.

(I also really want to use a thesaurus and fix a bit more words) kind regards noa to miss goodall)

Boom!  “Huh, what is that sound and why has the light stopped working?’’ said the lighthouse keeper.  “I better check it out. It is dangerous if a boat comes.”

 So he jogged up the stairs and then saw that he had to do something quick because he just heard a big horn of the ship, and it was even worse, that the ship was coming for the rocks.

He grabbed his toolbox and then he brought it up. He opened the lid and then grabbed the light and tried to put it on the ground. But he failed because he was shivering. His heart was beating fast therefore he was confused what to do first.  So tripped over and then smashed the light into little smithereens.

 There was no time to lose because the ship was getting closer. But suddenly when he went outside he saw hundreds of people holding lanterns. They where there to help protect the boat from crashing. So people spread themselves around the lighthouse and the boat was saved.

“Thank you all for helping me” said the lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse keeper was very thankful.

By Rumi Khan

Boom! ”What was that sound” He ran up the stairs and he saw the light was out. So he thought, “Why did the light go out.” He looked to the left and saw a ship coming towards the jagged rocks and he started panicking. He took the light out, just at that moment he stumbled back and fell over his toolbox,to his dismay he broke the light.

He looked sadly at the villagers and went down to light all the candles. He went down the steep steps and opened the door. He saw all the villagers coming to help him.

Finally the boat turned. Now all of those lives were saved on board of the boat. The lighthouse keeper was really thankful.

By Jaydon Benadie

It was a dark night, the sky covered the ocean and the land with impenetrable darkness. But the huge, old lighthouse gave the sailors light and kept them away from the sharp, jagged rocks.

The lighthouse keeper shut the window. But then all of a sudden all the lights in the light house went out and a gust of wind opened the window again. all the villagers were quiet now.

The lighthouse keeper ran up the stairs to fix the light. Everything inside of it was really dark. And then he saw a ship coming towards the rocks. He thought that he could fix it. CRASH!!! he tripped over and broke the light. He thought, "Oh, my god! all these people are going to be dead because of me!"
But then all the villagers came with the lights in their hands. They helped the lighthouse keeper and replaced the light. Finally the ship was saved. The lighthouse keeper was glad that the villagers came.

By Sergei Kalugin

It was a dark night, you couldn't see an inch far. But the old grey light house made of big stone bricks lit up the night.

Suddenly the light went out and the people stopped cheering.Then he tried to fix the light but he dropped it and it broke.

Fortunately the people helped with lanterns and lit up the land. He was relieved.

”I’m so glad they came to help!”They are really nice people. “

By Migael De Wet

Maria from room 18 tasted sweet success on the soccer field - three goals!

The Day We Played Soccer

It was a beautiful weekend, when the sun was shining as bright as a kowhai tree.

That morning me and my friend Isabell went to the big field to play a magnificent

game of soccer. We walked there because the field was only across the road from us.

Me and my friend Isabell were getting ready to play soccer. Then we went to go and invited some friends over to play soccer with us. There were about seven of us and Isabell and I were on the same team. The game began. We kept dribbling the ball to each other and we got three goals. After half an hour we took a break because we were sweating rivers.

At the end my mum called out for dinner so we went home. This was the most exciting afternoon because when I got three goals I felt so hyper, I didn’t even want to go to bed that night.

By Maria Whatarau

Enjoy the detailed reports of room 24 about their camp experience at Camp Bentzon

Camp Bentzon

Ninety nine children, 120 people from Gulf Harbour School including adults and teachers went to Camp Bentzon. Camp Bentzon is a camp on Kawau Island out from Sandspit. It’s about a 25-30 minute boat ride.

Abseiling is not sailing it is walking down a wall attached to a rope. Redwood Track did archery which is using a bow to shoot arrows and trying to get bullseyes. Lots of people were really scared of it but they still faced their fears and did it.

Archery is using a bow to shoot arrows at a target. If you got an arrow in the middle it’s called a bullseye. Lots of kids got bullseyes.

Gulf Harbour School had to do a lot of walks at camp. On the first day of camp Gulf Harbour School did a long walk. They walked across the whole island which took three and half hours! When GHS had finished the walk they were at a beautiful white sandy beach.

Raft building is where you have some equipment and you have to build a raft. A raft is a small boat. It’s made out of barrels, rope and branches from trees. Redwood tracks raft broke. The barrels popped out, then it sank.

In the Survival activity Redwood Track learnt how to survive if you were injured in the bush or other places. Redwood Track also learnt what you should take if you’re going on a walk in the bush depending on what the weather was.

Orienteering is finding letters with compasses and clues. When you find the letter someone writes it down and at the end you try to guess what the letters spell.

In Team Building, you had to build a bridge out of lego, straws, paper and tape. The tricky part is you are split into two teams and there is a table in the way so you can’t see what the other team is doing.

Lots of people loved camp. Some people thought it was the best week ever. But some people didn’t really like camp.

By Samuel Creagh

Camp Bentzon Report

 

On the 15th of May the Gulf Harbour School Year Five and Sixes travelled to Camp Bentzon, Kawau Island, Auckland, New Zealand. They say it was almost impossible to bring 99 children with only 21 parents and teachers, altogether 120 people. How did they do it?

It took a one hour journey to get from Gulf Harbour to Sandspit and then a 30 minute trip on the ferry. It took them eight minutes and 4 seconds to deliver all of the heavy, heavy gear last year but this year they broke the school record and delivered it in 7 minutes and 50 seconds.

One of the school’s teachers, Rachel Lamason did some team building with the Year Fives. The task was to build a bridge out of lego, straws and tape. The team was split into two teams.

The man who ran the abseiling reports, “Well, first of all abseiling is not sailing.” “The children faced their fears of falling and I’m just really proud of them.” Well that is just amazing to hear.

Gulf Harbour School thoroughly recommends Camp Bentzon. With all of those amazing activities they say that it’s a must do for all schools.

Written by Sophia Crosbie

Camp Bentzon Report

 

Camp Bentzon is a wonderful place on Kawau Island.

Monday 15th of May, 2017. This was a journey of a lifetime for these Year Five and Sixes from Gulf Harbour School. Adventuring from home to Camp Bentzon for a week without seeing parents.

Everyone screamed in excitement as the boat stopped. They had to beat the clock only having about seven minutes, if wanting to beat the record and they did! With having more luggage and more students.

After bringing all the luggage up to the rooms. And also finding out who is in the cabins. Everyone went for a long steep walk. It was very muddy from all the rain, but it wasn’t enough to stop these Year Five and Six students. But after all those hills they made it to their destination, but it was down a cliff. They all made it down on to the beach. The trickiest part was getting back up. No one fell in the end and everyone made it back to camp alive.

Throughout the week they went for another hike, did activities like archery, rafting, sailing, kayaking and abseiling. They all made it through and thought it was fun. Making it back to school, alive and healthy.

Written by Paige Palmer

Camp Bentzon

 

Gulf Harbour School attended Camp Bentzon, Kawau Island, 15th of May to 19th of May. They departed the boat that leaves to camp for Year Fives and Sixes. There were ninetynine kids and one hundred and twenty people. Camp Bentzon was donated by Mr Bentzon in 1906. It took the children twenty minutes from Sandspit to arrive at Camp Bentzon.

Abseiling is not sailing, it’s rock climbing. Miners Track climbed up up and up and came gliding down.

Bullseye. Archery is a bow and arrow game. Copppermine Track’s team, Riley shot a bullseye.

Rafting is when you make your own boat with huge sticks and barrels. Well Momona Track’s floate. It was insane. It was probably scary for them, the water was rough but finally their boat fell apart. Everyone found that funny.

Now as a team, everyone chose a tagger. They held hands and wandered off into the woods. The parents then had to scare them. It’s called a Burma Trail.

The next day, they did a photo hunt with one of the teachers, Mrs Lamason. They got a note that all the things they needed for this she gave them an Ipad.

Written by Ritisha Rautella

The Sinking Raft

One hundred and twenty people from Gulf Harbour school went to Camp Bentzon on Kawau Island. It was very cold, between 4 and 6 degrees and very rainy.

The group Miners Track built a raft from sticks, rope and barrels but the knots were poorly tied. Spectator Robert Milne described the kids falling apart. They had gone thirteen metres before the barrels floated away. Two made it to the pontoon. But the race was restricted in chasing the barrels.

Written by Migael De Wet

 Camp Bentzon HQ

 

Gulf Harbour Year Five and Six people went to Camp Bentzon when the children got there the first thing the children need to know is how to get to their cabins.

When it was time to go to bed there was a group that was dehydrated it was very sad for them.

A group of Year Fives did the raft building. They made a raft from scratch and it worked.

There was a group named Coppermine. There was someone named Riley Furmage and he was very funny. If you are wondering why he came to Kawau Camp, he did it. Kawau Island is very fun, it is 30 minutes from Sandspit.

Written By Riley Furmage

Room 24 reporter, Lucia Preece, has her finger on the pulse of our school - keep safe by following the school rules, guys!

The Injury

 

On Wednesday 17th of May at the library in Gulf Harbour School, Whangaparaoa, Auckland there was a terrible accident. It happened when K. W. (GHS student, name known to the publishers) was jumping from one planter box to another when… his knee came into contact with the corner of the planter box and it slit open right down to the bone. From what we have heard he had to go straight to the hospital from school.

The next day he was still waiting for a place to open in the surgery room because there were more serious injuries that had taken place. The next morning K. had surgery because he cut his peradomic tendon, which is the tendon that joins your kneecap to your leg bone. It was a hard process but they did it. The next day he went home to a warm welcome.

Written By Lucia Preece

Ava from room 18 dreamed up a wonderful story. Let her take you along with her choice of imagery!

My special place.               Wednesday 29th march

One bright summer morning, I was awoken by a beam of light that flashed on my morning face. I opened my azure curtains and watched the sun hitting the horizon, nobody was up yet. I had had the weirdest dream about a sheepdog from the book I was reading at school the previous day. It was about a boy named Matt who was exploring his new setting with his sheepdog Lassie.

Should I tell you more? Matt and Lassie entered a nearby meadow, and watched the grass change shadows because of the trees towering over them. The bird's song was like my mum at karaoke night: a bit off key but it makes you feel safe. Matt spotted a twisted rope dangling from a thick trunk. A river bank was desperate for someone to jump in, Matt looked at Lassie with bait of excitement in his eyes.

He swung from the rope, he noticed in about two seconds that the rope looked as mossy as an old church and then he plunged into the river.

When Matt let go of the rope, he drifted into a cave beneath the mountains that he hadn’t noticed before. He thought he was in a storm with big waves like in the Caribbean, with water as clear as glass, and glow worms in every crack in the ceiling. It was truly magical to experience.

When he reached sand, he immediately made a fire just like his grandpa Len had showed him. The blazing torch lit the whole cave in an instant. The beam of light hit my face and I awoke, I could have had that dream forever.

By Ava Barnard

This is an awesome story by room 24! I am glad we don't have Mrs Brittlebrush on the teaching staff ......!!!

Splitting Apart

Written by Room 24, Gulf Harbour School

Today is going to be terrible, we have Mrs Brittlebrush. She is exactly like her name as brittle as a dry up paint brush with paint still on it. Mrs Brittlebrush is terribly boring so it’s going to be a long day.

I’m Jackson and my best friends are Lily and Cody, we all love soccer. My legs work like a machine, I’m the fastest out of everyone. Cody is my best bud, he has ears like elves. The colour of his eyes is a light turquoise which can be pretty creepy running across a soccer field. Last but not least Lily! With only a little bit of temper, her eyes in soccer are red from running, like the devil. We wouldn’t tell her that though.

Anyway, we are just walking in from a game. Mrs Brittlebrush has just turned into an overheated steam train, giving us the biggest growl for being late. To make things worse Lily and Cody were scraping gum from under the benches by the field just for forgetting their PE gear.

I have it worse though, I have to handle the steam train, Mrs Brittlebrush. A person so lazy, she makes everyone do laps of the field. Here I am, running around the dusty track. I’m starting to wish I was scraping gum instead. Suddenly, my leg slips down a hole in the track. My arms smacking the air madly, grasping for grip to save myself. My body drops to the ground, legs and arms colliding in the other direction. All I hear is POP!

I can’t stop tears dripping down my face, landing on the ground in a puddle. Mrs Brittlebrush was waddling over, “Jackson, are you ok?”

Everyone crowded around. The lights flashing as they roll me into the ambulance. I can hear Lily and Cody trying to reach me. All I could think of is, would I be able to play soccer again?

The next thing I see are people circling around me with the beeping sounds of the hospital. My leg is broken, wrapped tightly in a moonboot.

One long week later I am ready to go back to school and hang out with Lily and Cody. But I can’t run. So no soccer for me. No fun at all. I don’t know what to do. Lily and Cody would hang out with me but they were off playing soccer again. My shoulders drop and I hobble away slowly.

I look up, Tiffany and Charlie are in front of me, I haven’t hung out with them before. Will they want to play with me? Lily and Cody don’t so why would they? “Hey do you want to play hide and seek with us Jackson?” Said Charlie.

It would have been easy for me to say no. To give up and stay upset with Lily and Cody. But with Tiffany and Charlie there I felt like I actually wanted to play with them. The next thing I know Lily and Cody strolled over to me, “Hey Lily and Cody, want to play with us?” invited Tiffany.
“Sure, we wanted to come over and see Jackson. We’re sorry that we haven’t been playing with you. Is there anything we can do to help you? We had no idea we were leaving you out.” Said Lily sadly.
“It’s ok, now that you’ve told me the truth. I’m just glad we can all be friends again, and now Tiffany and Charlie can play with us too.” I replied.

Now that we’re back together I don’t feel like splitting apart anytime soon.