Kia Ora!

How are you?

Now that the year is coming to an end, Christmas is finally here, and it honestly feels like a good time to slow down and think about everything that’s happened this year. Christmas is about family, being kind, and celebrating the birth of Jesus, but it’s also about spending time with the people around you and appreciating what you have. At New Brighton Catholic School, we’ve had a lot of good moments this year, from school events to everyday time in class, and those are the things that really stand out looking back.

This year especially feels like one to be grateful for. There were lots of fun times with friends, different activities, and moments that I know I’ll remember for a long time. As we head into the holidays and get ready for what’s next, Christmas is a reminder to take a break, enjoy time with family, and just be present. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and gets to spend it with the people who matter most.

Merry Christmas,
Koby.

Kia Ora!

How are you?

After being at New Brighton Catholic School for 8 years, it honestly feels weird knowing I’m leaving. NBC has been a big part of my life for a long time. I joined when I was 5 years old, and it’s hard to put into words how much it has meant to me. From my first years at school to now, I’ve learned way more than just schoolwork. I’ve learned about being kind, respecting others, having faith, to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, and to not give up when things get hard. Those are things I know I’ll take with me wherever I go next.

There are so many memories I’ll never forget, like school events, time in class, and just hanging out with friends during the day. I’ve made friendships that actually mean a lot to me, and I’ve grown more confident because of the experiences I’ve had here. I’m really thankful for all the teachers and staff who helped me along the way and supported me when I needed it. Thank you to everyone at New Brighton Catholic School for making my 8 years there something I’ll always remember.

Marking the end of an era,
Koby.

Kia Ora!
How are you?
Reflecting back to when the Year 8’s went to Wellington for a trip, and back to a recent blog post of mine, a post-task we were required to make was a Wellington PMI. A PMI is a format of feedback, meaning Positive, Minus, and Interesting. I think this activity was very unique, and really liked it. Here is the slideshow.

Have you ever been to wellington? If yes, how was it?

Kia Ora!
How are you?
On the 21st of November, the New Brighton Catholic School Year 8 students fundraised a lot of money to be able to purchase flight and entertainment tickets to Wellington, New Zealand, and the mission was successful. We were able to fly over to wellington successfully with light turbulence, but we still got there.

First stop was to Mount Victoria, where we stopped and exited the bus to take a view of the amazing scenery around us, and take a short hike towards the tip of the mountain. After that, we went to Saint Mary of the Angels church, which is considered New Zealand’s national shrine, where we prayed and had lots of respectful fun and learning.

We also went to the Wellington Cable Cars, where we took a ride up towards the Space Place and the Planetarium, where we watched and learned a lot about space, for example, the James Webb Space Telescope is the size of a tennis court, and made out of various, precious materials to find. After that, we took a ride back down from the Cable Cars and went to the National Library, where we saw a lot of artifacts, such as the Treaty of Waitangi, the Women’s Suffrage Petition, and many more special pieces of art.

After that, we took a short walk to the Beehive and Parliament, and met Reuben Davidson, and got the amazing privilege to watch a new bill about immigrants being made. After that, we went to Te Papa, where we saw World War 2 point of view’s, and amazing sculptures. After that, the first group made their way to the Airport, while the second group who were on a later flight stayed there until it was their time to move towards the airport.

Once we arrived at the airport, we got subway for dinner, finished those, and then headed to our planes, where we flew back over to Christchurch where we arrived at 8:00 PM and onwards. Thank you to everyone who helped us when our flights got complicated, who drove our bus, our learning assistants, and everyone else! Here is a photo of us all.

Have you ever been to wellington? If yes, what was your favourite activity?

Kia Ora!
How are you?
Yesterday, the New Brighton Catholic School Intermediates participated in a form of a Fun Run, but it was instead called the “Loop-A-Thon.” It was held at the Christchurch United Sports Center, with a bunch of other staff and schools, way bigger than our groups.

It was super fun, because there were paint crawls, fence jumping, slip and slides, pools, noodle weaves, and many more activities. I went twice, well… Because I had the opportunity to, and I absolutely did not regret participating one little bit. Here is a photo of us at the starting line!

What was/would be your favourite activity?

Kia Ora!

How are you?

Yesterday, New Brighton Catholic School students morphed into book characters for a day. One person was Toji from Jujustu Kaizen, another was Cat in the hat, then there were people dressed as Willy Wonka, and many more characters! It was mind blowing, everyone looked so good. We also had a demonstration where everyone had the opportunity to walk around the courtyard in their character.

Another super fun thing we did, we got to do a book swap, where we chose a book from the hall and got to take it home. I found lots of different genres of books. Horror, religious, real life mysteries, history, and many more. I chose “The Boy at the Top  of the Mountain” by John Boyne. This day was amazing, and it was super different and unique from other holidays or events we have at NBC, because this whole week was based on books! Here is a photo of me as Saint Paul.

Who is your favourite character from a book?

Kia Ora!

How are you?

Today is New Brighton Catholic Schools Cultural Day! My friend Hugh and I decided to do South Africa, and did the presentation on canva. I think it was really fun because I got to dress up as people from our culture, and I decided to dress up as a Tour Guide. Here is the presentation.

South Africa – Cultural Day by Koby Arnold and Hugh Mclellan

What country do you most identify with?

Where are you from?

Kia Ora!
How are you?
2 days ago, we had our E-AsTTle writing tests, and had 40 minutes to complete them. I wrote 10 paragraphs in that time, and used these tools in the document below to help me. I heavily recommend you try them.

How to start an explanation writing by Koby Arnold

Did you try this?
Do you have any similar tools you use?

Goedendag!
How are you?
On 17th of November, there will be a Cultural Day at New Brighton Catholic! Parents and students will be allowed to wear clothes from their culture, there will be an opening mihi, parade, and more. Come on and join us!

What culture are you from?

Kia Ora!

How are you?

A few days ago, Mr Gray took photos of his farm animals, and we had to caption them for a specific audience, and I chose my classmates. I found this quite tricky, because I decided to change fonts, and it was hard finding them all. There were 3 options of photos that we could choose, and I decided to do this because it looked like it gave me a lot of options of text I could put it. Let me know what you think and how I could change it!

Caption The Crazy by Koby A

What is your favourite farm animal?