We had a wonderful start to Term 2, with our tamariki joining students from Balfour, Lumsden, and Northern Southland College for a fantastic Strike Percussion performance in Lumsden on Tuesday morning. We are committed to providing diverse experiences for our students, and this was a great example of that commitment in action. Huge thanks to Mrs Hamilton for bravely stepping up for the "teacher off" against Mrs Thompson from Lumsden Primary, and for delivering a truly fabulous solo! We are excited to share some writing about the performance from our Kikorangi tamariki below.

Crack! Bang! Woosh! Wam! The drums went as I was watching in amazement. My eyes wide, mouth dropped and I was shocked at how quick witted and backbreaking it looked. They called it the Tropical Storm. The tom toms banging so loud I thought nothing could be more deafening and powerful than this! Finally the banging chaos stopped as everyone sighed in relief and we clapped and cheered for them as they proudly bowed. They finally grasped their hand back on the sticks and played them again BANG BOOM WAM PLING!!!! The cacophony of tom toms banging as we fought the sound trying not to cover our ears.                                                                                      The end. From Luke Thomas Hamilton

The amazing Strike Percussion performance 

Boom! Ching! Poww! The cacophony of sounds hit me like a whirlwind of intense air. Murray (Muzza), Katie and Jake played heaps of amazing ear piercing sounds. They played with a lot of endurance despite their sore looking arms. The drums went Boom! Ching! The marimba went ding! ping! As well as all of the other amazing instruments. I liked the way the violin bow glided so gracefully on the violin strings. Also like the fire that went Phish! Ssssss! Gliding so peacefully through the sky.

By Indie Woodford