News

Year 7 and 8 Cross the Tongariro Challenge

Rafting

I am changing into my togs and Blue Mountain Adventure Centre’s wetsuit, thermal, spray-proof jacket, helmet and water-proof shoes preparing for rafting in the Whanganui River.  I looked like a penguin as I waddled into the 11-seater van.  Twenty long minutes later and we arrived.

I stood on the edge of the river, hearing the clear water rushing past me.  I jumped the small gap into our inflatable raft, grasped a paddle and, on go, started paddling.  Thankfully, I soon got the hang of it, as I still had one and a half hours to go!

My favourite part was definitely the rapids!  But the fastest one was absolutely terrifying!  There were two large, slimy rocks, parallel to each other with a round a one and a half metre gap between, and water poured through them like a small waterfall.  As we shot down, I nearly fell off!  The force of the water caused a wave to surge over the side of our raft.

Once the river calmed down, I decided to dangle my feet over the side as we waited for everyone to catch up, and the person sitting behind me used the opportunity to use her paddle to push me off!  The temperature sent a shock through  me;  it was freezing!

I was miserable as we reached our final destination, because my first time rafting had been a great experience and I want to do it again sometime!
By Erin Shailer, Year 7

Extraordinary ANZAC

A Story of an ANZAC

All of my great grandfathers were ordinary men, and yet each did something extraordinary.  They went off and fought in wars that weren’t of their making.  Three of them fought in World War One and the other in World War Two.  This story is about my Gran’s Dad whose name was William Joseph Collins. His friends called him Bill.

When World War One began in August 1914, Bill was 27 years old and had only lived in New Zealand for a few years.  He joined the Canterbury Infantry Regiment on the 20^th of October 1914 and after completing basic training Private 6/1266 Collins set sail for Europe in December. The trip was by ship and slow taking 45 days!  Eventually they arrived in Egypt in late January 1915.

The first action Bill was involved in was the Gallipoli campaign which took place in Turkey.  It is because of this battle and the terrible time the Australian and New Zealand soldiers had there, that we have the memorial, Anzac Day. The 25^th of April 1915 was a bright sunny day and men from both Australia and New Zealand were sent to land on a beach in the Dardanelles.  But in a piece of very poor luck, an error was made, and the soldiers landed about a mile north of where they were supposed to be.  They managed to get ashore without too many casualties but found themselves on a very narrow beach (now called Anzac Cove) at the bottom of steep hills.

Bill was lucky.  He got ashore without being hurt and like the other men in his company started to climb the hilly ridges.  I find it difficult to imagine what it must have been like. Before long machine guns were roaring, bullets flying, comrades falling and men screaming.  Men were getting injured and dying, and weapons were dropped as men struggled to get themselves out of the line of fire from Turkish snipers.

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Perfect Score!

Congratulations to Grace Leney for achieving a perfect score on the Progressive Achievement Tests Reading Vocabulary.
This is Grace's first PAT as a Year 4 and her achievement is extraordinary.  

Crowds Clamour for Carncot Performers

Rotary Youth Music Festival The Rotary Youth Music Festival featured performers from 12 schools who played everything from classical to rock at 16 venues around the city.  Our choir and instrumentalists entertained shoppers in The Plaza and received many comments from impressed cafe patrons, shoppers and passers-by. The Festival was an outstanding success and there are plans to hold this event again next year.

Carncot Gets Dux in a Row

School prize givings at the end of 2011 saw a familiar pattern with former Carncot students sweeping many top academic High School awards. 

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