Auroa School is located in the North Island in South Taranaki, New Zealand. Mount Taranaki is directly north of Auroa. We also have the Pacific Ocean directly South of us.
Mount Taranaki is 2518m high. It is an active stratovolcano, which means it is shaped like a cone because of the eruptions in the past. It is one of the most symmetrical volcanoes in the world.A long time ago a man called Auroa came to the Whanganui River area and met a girl called Hinengakau. They had twins called Hgati Haua Piko and Ngati Haua Roa. Ngati Haua Piko was given land from the mountain to the sea, and was named Auroa in remembrance of the ancestors Auroa. When the school opened in 1891 many decendants of Auroa from the hapu of Ngati Haua Piko attended this school.
The Auroa community is mostly made up of dairy farmers and their families. Auroa is a country school and has 186 students. We have students from Year 1 through to Year 8. Most children go on the bus to school. I come to school in a taxi because I have a disability. We are lucky to have a huge school. We have a senior and junior playground and a new swing area. Our field has a cricket pitch and plenty of room for rugby and soccer. We have a tennis court area where we play basketball, netball and tennis. We have a community swimming pool and hall that we use for concerts. We also have a dell area which we can play in. It is a nice place where we can talk to our friends. There is also a stage where we can perform plays. We have lots of fun days - like athletic sports, swimming sports, trolley derby, triathlon, sausage sizzle, dress up days and many more. We have an amazing library where we can hang out to read books!
It sounds like your school is amazing! My school is similar in several ways. We are very rural too. Our main industry is chicken processing plants which is also agriculture based. We also have most of our kids bussed in.
ReplyDeleteWe are also very different. We don't have as good of school facilities as you. Our students don't play many of the games you play (except basketball). We are a 3-8 school with a little over 400 students.
I would love to come visit someday!
Mr. C
NoelTigers.com
Mr C
DeleteThank you for your comment, if you do find yourself in rural New Zealand then please come and visit us. Chicken processing plants is that meat or eggs?
Mr Webb
I love the way you have described your school. It is similar to the school I teach at, but also different.
ReplyDeleteMy school is in California and it is considered a rural school too. We are about 50 miles from a "big" city. It is an agricultural town and most of my students speak Spanish as well as English. California has volcanoes too! We are on the same "ring of fire" that you are on.
There is an extinct volcano right near our school. It is now a fun place to hike around as well as climb on. l'll have my students visit your blog and they can tell you more. They are 11 or 12 years old.
Have fun learning in such a beautiful place!
Mr. Miller
Chalone Peaks Middle School
Mr Miller
DeleteWe'd love to hear from your students and we'd enjoy having them visit. Being in California as you are would be exciting for some of our students because we do get a lot of culture from your country and area in terms of music and movies and television. We wouldn't really know that much about going to school and working so it would be a great collaboration.
Dear Mr Webb and Students,
ReplyDeleteThat is one beautiful view you have from your classroom! We think we are lucky with our beautiful open panorama across our dale, and a view of our town's castle from the back, but I would never tire of your view either. I wonder if it is possible to hike up the mountain? I have climbed Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and it was fascinating being on a volcano cone. Have any of you climbed it? Our nearest hill is called Pen Hill, and lots of us climbed it one evening last last summer, but it is nothing like the size of that!
Your school looks beautiful. I love what you have in your playground, ours is rather bare and we would love some equipment like that! We are always envious when we see other school's playgrounds!
Looking forward to seeing what you all get up to this year,
Mrs Monaghan
A Room with a View, UK
Your school sounds amazing and in many ways like the one I knew when I was at school. We didn’t have a beautiful mountain like Taranaki though! Can’t beat that.
ReplyDeleteKia Ora Room One,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about your school. It sounds like that there is a lot going on at your school.
I am looking forward to sharing your blog to my students as well as following your learning throughout the school year!
Have a great week!
Miss. Lologa
North Carolina, USA
Hi Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteOur class really enjoyed reading your article and we used it as a model for a good piece of informative writing. One thing we read took our interest and were wondering is the pacific ocean was directly south of Taranaki? or is it the Tasman sea? Any help with this would be appreciated.
Alyssa Room 1 Auroa School, South Taranaki. Thank you Mr Spice. After looking in the Atlas I discovered that the Tasman Sea is south of Taranaki. We got our original information from a website that said that New Zealand is in the Pacific Ocean. We have fixed the mistake.
ReplyDeleteYour school sounds like so much fun, yet a great place for learning! You've described it so well and know so much of Auroa's history! Our school isn't rural, but its also quite big and has lots of good facilities too! I wish I could come and visit it!
ReplyDeleteFrom Kaea, Room 3, Balmacewen.