Over the last 5 weeks the children from Year 4-8 have been working hard on researching, writing and preparing and presenting for our "Take the Floor" presentations. We were very impressed with the variety of topics shared during the in class competitions and in the end it was very close with only a point or two in it when it came to selecting the finalists for our in school competition. Well done to Ella who came 1st , Olivia who came 2nd and Emma K who came 3rd in our Year 5 finals and to Ricco who came 3rd in our Year 6 finals. It is not easy to get up in front of an audience and I am very proud of how everyone tried their very best.
The first and second place getters at each year level went on to compete in the quad school's competition today and here are the results:
Take the Floor Speech Competition Quad School Results 2016
Year 4 Maisie 1st, Maddie Coster 2nd
Year 5 Ella Isherwood 1st, Olivia Tallentire 2nd
Year 6 Myjr Coster 1st
Year 8 Millie 2nd
Well done Ashley School!
The Wilson Sisters by Emma K
Do I have something to tell you…... yes!!?? I do in fact, it's about the Wilson sisters. Have you heard of them? They are 3 sisters who love horses. They train them, they ride them, they compete at shows with them and there names are Vicki, Kelly and Amanda.
Vicki started by riding a sheep. She got head-butted a few times before getting her first pony. She was two years old when this Shetland pony arrived and it came with the name Samson. Samson was 10 years old and his colour was bay (which most of us call brown and black)
Born in Whangamata, Kelly Wilson relocated to the North Island with her family at the young age of five. Having grown up around horses, she competed in show jumping to Pony Grand Prix level, before focusing on her creative talents. She won a scholarship to Auckland University of Technology and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Graphic Design, with a minor in photography.
Finally Amanda. Amanda Wilson’s partnership with her famed Pinto’s has positioned her as one of New Zealand's most promising show jumping riders. Showtym Viking first brought Amanda into the public eye by winning the 2010 Show Jumping Pony of the Year, before going on to win Young Rider of the Year and Grand Prix classes. 1.50m was the height of the jumps.
Now to talk about their work with the wild horses. Vicki,Kelly and Amanda saved 11 horses. Vicki, Kelly and Amanda wanted to save some horses from slaughter but not just that they also wanted to rehome them and give them a second chance in life.
Kelly and Amanda had the most trouble with their horses. Vicki kind of got a head start with her horse Argo because he was 2 and just turned 3 in time for Equidays. So it was much easier to teach him tricks.
Kelly and Amanda’s horses were pretty old and hated life and had no trust in humans apart from Kelly and Amanda. But by the time Equidays were here these horses were great. There horse's names were Anzac and Hoof.I decided to do these talented young girls because I like horses and I think they are very inspiring.
Gymnastics by Megan
I believe gymnastics is the hardest sport to learn and perform because it takes a lot of time to master the skills needed to perform at the highest level!
You may be sitting there thinking what is this pers talking about. In gymnastics if you make one mistake it could change your life forever! You could end up in a wheelchair, break your arm or leg (for example who saw the guy at the olympics… ouch!!!) Lots can go wrong in gymnastics.
You have to believe you can do anything!!... BACK FLIPS, REVERSE SOMERSAULTS, AERIALS... OH NOT MENTION THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE ON A BEAM WHICH HAS THE WIDTH OF YOUR HAND… You've got to be brave and stay strong no matter what! All I’m saying is, there is a lot at risk but it is a lot of fun and a lot of hard work 7 days a week. Monday - Friday 3:00 - 8:00... Saturday - Sunday 8:00am - 3:30 that time all adds up… HAVE YOU GOT IT WHAT IT TAKES!! Good luck!
Who is Simone Biles you may ask ? Well she is the best gymnast in the world.
Simone Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Ohio, USA. She is 19 years old Simone currently at the Olympics for gymnastics. Simone Biles has emerged as a champion in her sport.
She and her sister, Adria, were raised by their grandfather Ron and grandmother Nellie, after their mother’s struggle with drug abuse problems. Ron and Nellie eventually adopted the two girls.
Simone Biles began competing as a level 8 gymnast in 2007, and by 2011 she had cemented her standing at the junior elite level .
In July 2016, Biles wowed gymnastics fans with an impressive performance, winning the all-around title and first in the floor exercise and vault. She earned a spot on the 2016 Olympic team along with fellow gymnasts Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian they are going to the Olympics for the United States of America.
My other favorite gymnast is Gabby Douglas. Gabby started gymnastics when she was 6 years old and her birthday is December 31, 1995 she is only 20 years old. She is also currently at the Olympics in Rio. If you were following their event you would no … they won gold. To finish my presentation I would like to show a clip of Simone Biles on vault at the At&a American Cup
Fishing by Rydge
Do you have something you love doing? Something that makes you feel fantastic. You may lose track of time while you are doing it. Well I do. That is fishing. I love going fishing with my family. I’m going to share with you some of what I know about fishing and how to maybe catch your own fish.Ytxm
My favourite place for fishing is in Marlborough Sounds. The best place I have fished is at Spencer bay. It is close to our bach and there is always lots of fish to catch.
The first thing you need for fishing is of course a fishing rod or line and you need a good strong hand so you can pull a big fish up. To catch an extremely big fish you need to go quite far out on a boat. Make sure you always have a life jacket on, because safety comes first. Have drinking water with you because even though there is water all around you, you can't drink it.
Next you need some bait, a bit smelly to us but the fish think it is delicious! We get our bait at a gas station in Picton. One of the best baits I have used is squid bait. I always catch lots when I use this, because the scent of squid is so delicious to other fish, especially Blue Cod.
The fish I catch are usually around 46cm long, that is about the same size as a skateboard. That’s about enough for 2 meals for my family! Did you know that fishing is a sport and the largest fish caught in fishing sport is 300cm long and 125 cm fat. That is incredibly big nearly the same size a basketball post!
In conclusion , I hope you now have three or four ideas about what you need to do and I hope that you will try it soon and enjoy it as much as I do. Thank you.
We have been super busy this term already.. a magnificent Ratbags production to start the term, closely followed by a wonderful day at Loburn domain for the Athletics sports. We have have been starting some or our projects for our inquiry and over the next few weeks we will be working in earnest to prepare for a market day at the end of the term. We hope to have lots of games , food, crafts and second hand items available. It will be a lot of fun!
