Last week our Year 8 students enjoyed a week of adventures in Wellington. This is a trip to say farewell to the senior students in our school, provide some educational experiences and thank them for their contribution as leaders in our school. Here's what they said:

We did a whole lot of activities and it was a great trip.  One of the most memorable things I did was an unplanned activity. When we went to the movies on Thursday and there was a  Virtual Reality trail so after the movie Kahu, Jule, Max Townley and I had a go on it. We chose to do a zombie shooter game mode and it was horrifying!! The zombies running at you, giant robots shooting you but in the end it was amazing. The last group to do the VR were  Sofia, Max Mateer, Brendan and I. We were the first to beat the game mode and it felt great to see the giant robot fall to the ground .      Caleb 

Last week the Year 8s went for a trip to Wellington and  it was a great experience. We went to Parliament which was one of my favourite parts of Wellington because I learnt so much.  We went to question time and it was really funny. The whole experience was great because I got to hang out with all the year 8s.   Max Townley

We went to the movies and saw the Grinch. It was a pretty good movie. It was funny. We went to Karori Pools which was fun. Also there was a really cool hydroslide. We went to Te Papa and looked around for a bit and it was really cool. Capital E it was really cool because it was a legitimate news station with all the real equipment. Weta Workshops was really cool to see all the stuff they make there.  Kahu & Cameron

On the first day in Wellington we went to a place called Capital E. We got to make our own news script and everyone got their own jobs, most people got two because there is only 16 of us. There is front desk, weather, reporters, interviewees, stock market, camera operator, sound operators, director, floor manager, wardrobe and makeup. We had 45 minutes to run through scripts and put on costumes, then we filmed a dress rehearsal\bloopers. We read our scripts from a teleprompter, a teleprompter is a screen next to the camera that has the script rolling you read from. After we had filmed the practice run, we all came back together and watched it so we could see what we need to improve on or any changes we need to make. And then we filmed it again for the last time. We only got one shot at doing the real one so everyone was under a lot of pressure. It was also stressful because our show was really quick and short so we always had to know what was going on and what to do, especially the people that had more than one job. Overall it was really fun and a good experience and we got an idea about how it works to make the news and tv shows and movies. Laila 

Wellington was really fun the best bit was going to Courtney Place Mall and watching the Grinch. It was about a grinch who hated Christmas and did everything he could to stop it. So one year he went to all of the houses in Whoville and took all of the decorations, Christmas trees and presents from all of them. He then realised that it was not Christmas he hated but being alone. In the end he got invited to a Christmas dinner. Rachel gave us $10 to spend at the food court for dinner. I chose nachos and Miranda chose a chicken and noodle salad. Vanessa

Last week the yr8´s went to wellington for 4 days as a camp. We did lots of activities including bowling, Parliament and movies. While waiting for the movie we found a VR stand (virtual reality) and played in it. We also did a bunch of other things like going to the zoo. It was fun to see all the different animals. My favourite was the otters, a orange monkey with a mane and the lions. But I really liked the tarantulas. I found them fascinating when most people found them scary. Apart from all the activities and the delicious meals it was nice to just sit around in the YHA (the place we were staying) and socialise with all the other Year 8´s before the end of the year. Overall my favourite part was VR because it was fun to play it with my friends.   Sofia

We stayed at the YHA, it was a great experience in itself. It had a great communal vibe and everyone was really friendly and helpful. We had a really fun time in the joint rooms downstairs and made a lot of memories together as a group. In my room along with the other Year 8 girls we all have a lot of memories that we can look back on. A saying from one of the teachers- “no matter how much the planner plans it's always what happens in the rooms that makes the cut for the memories.” We had a lot of jam packed, creative and amazing activities that filled every day and they never failed to disappoint. All in all it was a truly amazing experience and I feel like everyone is very grateful for the trip, this ended the year on a good note.  Aarliah

Harbour News   Click on this link to see Year 8s Harbour News