Ki-o-Rahi

Ki - O - Rahi

A Maori man named Maihi came to Room 13 to teach us a really fun game.  The game is called

 Ki-o-Rahi. He told us that everyone would enjoy it, and he didn't tell a lie. 

The game focusses on two things: attacking and defending.  The game is played on a field that looks like a donut with a little segment cut out of it, in the middle of the donut is a big barrel. Scattered around that donut, are seven poles. There are two teams in play; Taniwha and Ki-oma. The Taniwha start of in the donut boundaries. They can not leave the boundaries. Ki-oma must have three guardians in the hole of the donut guarding the barrel. The rest of the Ki-oma must scatter around the donut, preparing to catch the ball. The Taniwha  need to try and hit the barrel with the ball. If the guardians get/catch the ball, they can throw it over the donut to the other Ki-oma. The Ki-oma then needs to run around touching as many poles as they can, but the twist is that the Taniwha can then chase them. If the Ki-oma is tagged, they must throw the ball to their team mates. The team mates then have to try and hit the other poles. You can not hit a pole twice. To bank your points you need to run through the donut and into the guarding zone. Those are the basics of the game.

We all loved the game,  and we were very thankful that Maihi taught us this game.

I love Ki-o-Rahi and I hope it catches on!

The Mapua School Swimming Sports

"Step up, take your marks, BANG!"

It was the day of the Swimming Sports. Year five to eight students headed off to Riwaka School for the annual event on Friday 21 February.  The swimmers sat in their age groups under shelters, protecting them from the drizzles of misty rain.

There was tension in the air as the first gunshot fired, and then the supporters' voices escaped their mouths. They were cheering so hard and so loud that some of them went a little bit deaf! (Not really.)

As the day grew old the cheering died down and almost everyone had raced.
It was then teachers turn.

One teacher from each house:
Yellow: Miss McKenzie; Green: Mr. Clearwater; Blue: Mr. Taylor; Red: Sharon.
They had to fit into inflatable black rings, and had to be pushed by four selected students to the other end of the pool. Everyone was so excited and cheering so hard showing that it was one of the best bits of the day! The tyre pushers and teachers were frantically kicking and swimming through the water to get to the end first. Yellow won! (YES!)

Everyone dived into the pool at free time.  The pool was crowded with laughing, excited and energetic students.

No one want ed to get out of the pool to go back to school.

Everyone ended the day thinking that they had done their best and swam as hard as they could. I certainly felt good about my races!

Congratulations to all those who swam.

What a day!

By Max