Samoan Independence Day

Since Samoan Independence Day is on its way in honor of this special day our Samoan class was given an assessment to write a Newspaper article about Samoan Independence day. To make this article newspaper realistic I added a few advertisements and small games.

       

AGGS TIMES

AFIO MAI

Samoan  Independence Day

              SAMOA MO SAMOA     

(Samoans For Samoa)   

Samoan independence day celebrates the day Samoa became an independent state. Samoa has become an independent state for almost 54 years. Even though Samoa became independent on the 1st of January, Independence day is modernly celebrated on the 1st of June. Where families come together, spend time with each other,  share food, and celebrate the independence of Samoa. This special day is also recognised by the samoan society in New Zealand and many other countries with the samoan community.

Continue to read as we have written interesting stories behind the samoan independence day and cover up how Samoa became an independent state.

Pg 1 - Influenza (Spanish Flu

Pg 2-The Mau Movement

Pg 3- Tupua Tamasese Lealofi iii

Pg 4- Samoan Independence Events

Samoa, arise and raise your banner that is your crown!

Oh! see and behold the stars on the waving banner!

They are a sign that Samoa is able to lead.

Oh! Samoa, hold fast

Your freedom for ever!

Do not be afraid; as you are founded on God;

Our treasured precious liberty.

Samoa, arise and wave

Your banner that is your crown!

(Samoan National Anthem Translation)

In 1914 New Zealand took control of  Western Samoa. But it wasn’t pretty. The people of Western Samoa were treated badly. As they would act very childish towards Samoa. And when I say  New Zealand took manage, I mean they really took manage! They controlled who married who, even the power of the traditions in Samoa such as the power of the Matai. Following that in 1918 an ugly deadly virus/disease also known as the spanish flu was spreaded in New Zealand, which then came to Samoa, killing thousands and thousands of the people in Samoa as well as the Western Samoa Population.

The Nz Colonial Masters did not care about it at all. It was forbidden that the people of Samoa receive treatment. And from that, many of the people died and were all buried in one grave.

Samoa was very sick of this non-sense and that’s when the Mau A Pule ( Mau Movement ) formed.

Mau movement in Samoan means opinion, unwavering or to be decided etc. The mau movement is a group of Samoans fighting for the the freedom and independence of samoa. Following their motto, Samoa for Samoans ( Samoa mo Samoa) as Samoa was then owned by New Zealand. The Mau Movement established in the early 1900s in Samoa, in the land of Sava’ii separate from Upolu. The Mau Movement included both Women and Men including their Leader Tupua Tamasese.

Black Saturday

The Mau Movement reached a climax on the 28th of December 1929 in the capital town of Apia. The streets of Apia were bombarded with bullet shots as the mau were trying to prevent the arrest of one of their member which the Nz Police arrested. This day became known as Black Saturday. During the war between Nz Police and Samoa, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi iii rushed in front of the violent crowd and urged both sides to make peace otherwise in Samoan language, Tamasese shouted “Filemu”.

Tupua Tamasese

Tupua Tamasese was born on May 1901 and was also known as joint head of state along with Malietoa Tanumafili ii. On the death of Tupua Tamasese some of Mau Movement Memeber were injured or shot trying to help him. As Tamasese layed down slowly dying, he said his last wish for Samoa.

“My blood has been split for Samoa. I am proud to give it, Do not dream of avenging it, as it was split in peace. If I die peace must maintained at any price”

INDEPENDENCE STRUCK

After all the efforts by the Mau Movement to gain independence the Nz Western Samoa act 1961 of 24 November finally gave independence to Samoa on the 1st of January 1962. Which followed along Samoa signing a kind relationship treaty with New Zealand. From that, Samoa is one of the first Small Pacific Islands to receive Independence. And that’s when Tupua Tamasese’s plead was fulfilled.

“Even though Samoa and Nz have an outrageous past. It is still very good to learn about as many of us young children need to know our roots and know what they did to protect all of us”

“Samoan independence day is still celebrated in most countries around the world with the Samoan community as we celebrate the independence of our country which was founded on god”

SPECIAL EVENTS

June 3rd:  schools celebrate.

29th of may - 4th of  June: Samoan Language week

Many more to look forward to

• Article of Malietoa Tanumafili ii
• Article of Tupua Tamasese’s Life
• Article of Schools In Samoa

I do not own any of these photos. Photo credits go to rightful owners.

Samoa - Research About Samoa

As most of you might have not noticed I now attend Auckland Girls' Grammar which does have some similarities to Point England School. This term I was able to learn some new subjects Science, Art, Samoan and more exciting ones too. In our Samoan class we were given a task to present a powerpoint, or something handmade to the class which gives a definition of Samoa. Here is the presentation that I presented on Friday.

2015 Reflection

This year has been a huge 'way to go' and this has been made possible because of our AWESOME teachers. Parakai, year 8 leadership camp, rainbows' end and even visits from Andrew Patterson.  This year couldn't get any better! Unfortunately this is my last year at Point England school and I wished all these events had happened sooner. All though, most of these events have a purpose to it. Such as our Year 8 camp earlier, the purpose of this was to learn, practice and take action in our leadership roles as we continue in the 2015 year. Here are a few reflections/flashbacks of my year at Point England School 2015.

Year 8/ Leadership Camp/ Term 1 
Year 8 means to show what awesome looks like, be a good role model and care for our school. Earlier in  term 1, team 5 had set up some cake stalls and our school had also set up a garage sale to be able to fund raise enough money for this camp (and we thank you for that!) This camp was very fun, amazing and inspiring too. We were all able to pick up on a few lessons and tips on our activities. Such as the water slide activity. Sure it looked like we were there just for the 'fun'. But we were able to co-operate and share our ideas openly and also be able to find new ways of formatting ourselves in lines to go down the slippery slide!

Garage Sale @ Pt England School 2015 from SchoolTV on Vimeo.



Year 8 Leadership Camp: Step up Marsden Camp from SchoolTV on Vimeo.



Tamaki College Talk Back For College / Term 2 
In order to prep ourselves for college, a few students from Tamaki College surprised us with a talk about things that happen in college. We were also very lucky to be given Tamaki College enrollment forms. You can read about how I found this talk, and into more what they were talking about by reading a blog post I posted just half an hour after the talk! Shows how much I was very excited for college. http://pesjosephinef.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/tamaki-college-talk-back.html


Term 3/ Cindy In Da House 
Every two or three years, Mr Jacobson and some other few teachers organize and set up a production for our school and community to see. This year, our school were able to perform an eye opening act called Cindy In Da House. Unluckily, I wasn't apart of it. But I was able to be a supporter and enjoy the amazing show!




Reflection: 
So far this year, I was able to find myself as an independent person and be able to take huge responsibilities as a prefect. I have gained more knowledge in my leadership through out the year and I am very proud of myself.  Next year I hope my teachers would be able to pick up on how a confident speaker I am. As I go off to college I hope to take these teachings , learn from my mistakes and be able to be  a better person next year :)



Come aboard - we're expecting you! from SchoolTV on Vimeo.

Extension Reflection

Bioengineering, Tiritiri Matangi, Treaty Of Waitangi.. What else could there be!? It's been a really cool journey in extension and there's been some really cool stuff we've learnt this year as well. I would definitely miss extension as I head off to college next year.


Treaty Of Waitangi

To start off our year @ extension, we kicked off with learning about the treaty of waitangi.  Our task was to all make a document in groups and start researching about the history behind the treaty and why we have it. Once we had all the information, we had to gather it all together in a movie. Ana, Jordenne and I made a movie based on our knowledge of the treaty of waitangi. My highlight for this task was being able to co-operate with my group in making this movie such as sharing different ideas and even working with our new extension teacher, Mrs Lagitupu.



TOW JJA from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.


Tiritiri Matangi / Department Of Conservation 

Are you interested in birds? or even bizarre ones? Luck for us, because the extension also had the chance of learning about tiritiri matangi and the department of conservation. Unfortunately, during the process of research we found out that some of the species there are endangered. Our task was to create a home, or a model to help those endangered species so that they will no longer be endangered.
Josephine Biodiversity from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.


Bioengineering 
Our last project of the year happened to be very fun and cool to learn about. Why? Because through all our research we found out some very interesting facts about the things that happen, can happen, or will happen to your body. Thats right! We learn about bioengineering. Bioengineering, is another word for biological engineering. This can help you through severe injuries. Our task was to partner up, and create a presentation with all the evidence of our learning from our research. We even had a few discussion about the ethical and non ethical use of bioengineering.

Josephine and Jordenne from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

Extension this year has been a huge journey for me here at Point England School. I've been in extension for about 4 years now and I have very much enjoyed all the different things we've learnt about. Extension places a huge part in my years at Point England school and I hope it does place a part in my years next year.

Also a huge thank you to my teachers who made it possible for me. Mrs Lagitupu and Mrs Tele'a xx Faafetai Lava

Yanomami

 This term, as part of our topic "Survivors" as a home class ( class 3 ) we have been focusing on some really bizarre countries. One of those countries happen to be the Yanomami people. Here is a presentation we did as group (Hannah, Angelina and Myself) to show you our understanding of the Yanomami people. 

Bioengineering (Term 4 Extension Task)

 This term , the extension group have been focusing on Bioengineering as part of our school topic 'Survivors'. We have learnt a whole lot from it and even had some discussions about the ethical and untethical uses of Bioengineering. Here is a presentation about Bioengineering followed by a movie at the end to guide you on what we have been doing and learning as part of this task,

Google Expedition

Dubai, Washington, England and even Space! Any place you could think of i’m sure we went there yesterday. What? Did you actually go there? Yes we did, with our eyes and mind. It may sound weird, but I tell you it was something realistic and so amazing! All the different places we went to and explored is something everyone would've definitely want to try again and again!

Tuesday afternoon, after a hot interval of playing in the sun, I knew it was time to get my mind back on track. Earlier that morning, all the year 7 and 8 students were announced that there was going to be a google expedition held in the morning for the year 7’s and after morning tea for the year 8’s. I was so thrilled, I couldn't even bother going to tech.

11:30 the bell struck loudly. I paused my play, and sprinted my way to back class. All though, I was getting a bit impatient and I couldn't hold all that excitement myself, so I shared some with my friends by basically doing what normal girls do, laugh and laugh and laugh. “Mrs Tele'a's coming!” I heard a small shout from the side of my shoulder, and I immediately got into position.

Mrs Tele’a then lead us inside the classroom and all the year 8s’ gathered together in the street for a few notices before trying the “Google Expedition.” Unfortunately, we had to do this event in our te reo groups ‘tahi, rua and toru’.  Rua was the first group to try it out and so tahi and toru had to go to into their maths classes and wait for their turn. I happened to be in toru, and it wasn’t really the outcome I expected.

“Woooww!” “Coool!” “Can I see yours?” All this excitement from the other group has really got me even more impatient. They looked so amazed, happy and looked like they were having a lot of fun. It felt like torture seeing them having fun.

12:06. I sat impatiently in maths class waiting for our turn. “Can they hurry up already?” “This is taking too long.” I complained in my head, as well as trying to stay on task with my maths work. “Toru, in the street now.” As soon as I heard that I raised my head and made my way into the street in quick movement. As we all sat together, Mrs Tele’a had told us our instructions before actually doing the real thing.

Google Expedition happens to be the name of the event that was happening. What we were using is something called a google cardboard. It looked very similar to binoculars, but with a smartphone inside. A way to hold it, well the only way to hold it, is if you’re holding a burger or sandwich, except it’s for your eyes not your mouth.

As I held it up to my eyes, I could see the different countries I could explore even the different few places. I even got to see David Attenborough (famous discovery narrator) in one of the places.

The coolest thing about the Google Cardboard is that we could zoom in and zoom out and even spot different insects and animals. I had a lot of fun visiting, different cities and countries.

The google cardboard is something that kids in the future could use as a part of their learning. This could also save a lot of money from going to trips and events. Hopefully there would be a way that you could make your own google cardboard! This is definitely an experience i’d try again in college and share with my friends.