The Rippa Rugby World Cup Competition

Article by reporter Libby Nolan
On the 4th of June 2010 the Year three and four rugby players went to the Rippa Rugby World Cup Competition. There were ten players that went. They were Kiahi, William, Andrew, Jamie, Sophie, Alice, Nicolas, Daniel, Adam and Oliver. There were sixty six schools that entered in to the Rippa Rugby Competition in all of the Bay of Plenty area. The games started at 9.00am and they finished at 2.00pm. The team got given a shirt from organizers to wear and they chose our team to be Italy. At the end of nine games Italy won a second place medal. At the final presentation they heard that the team got into the Bay Wide Championship. They were all really excited.
So now The St Thomas More team will go to the Bay Wide Championship. The rules are a little different because you must have thirteen people in your group and you must have three girls in your team. Here are some comments from the Italian team.
Sophie Sandford said “It was a very complicated game. I had fun. She scored ten tries during the whole thing. I was very happy when we came second over all out of the sixty six schools.”
Kiahi said “Most of the teams we versed cheated. He scored twenty six tries in the whole thing. St Mary’s and Pillions Point were probably the hardest teams. We were under feated except for the last match.’’
William told me “In the final was our hardest game when we versed Fairhaven. There were a lot of teams that cheated. The tournament was really fun. ’’
Alice said “We competed at Blake Park. We played six games plus three games because we got in to the quarter finals plus the semi finals. I was really excited when we got in to the finals.’’
Jamie told me “He scored two tries but I was the first one to score a try. The hardest team was Pillions Point. The easiest team was Samoa. We are in the top four. ’’
Andrew said “He scored three tries the hardest team was St Mary’s. The easiest team was Samoa. It was really fun. I am really proud of what we did. Maybe next time we would win. ’’
Oliver said “He scored seven tries. I think the hardest team was Pillions Point. The easiest team was Samoa. It was a fun day.’’
Daniel said “He scored twenty two tries. The hardest team was Pillions Point. The easiest team was Samoa. It was a fun day. I think we need to do some practice on putting the ball down.”
Adam said “The hardest team was Pillions Point. The easiest team was Samoa. It was a fun day. My favorite thing was beating Samoa because they were supposed to be the hardest team.’’
Nicolas said “The hardest team was Pillions Point. The easiest team was Russia. It was really fun. I would do it all again.

The Fancy Dress Day by Libby Nolan

On the 16th of June our whole school had to dress up for the Book Fair. We had to dress up as a book character or a blizzard which means we had to dress up into something wintery. Everyone looked so awesome. At different times our classes went to the Book Fair in the music room. There were some really interesting books and some really cool books. Some people wanted heaps of them. We all got a wish list to write our books we had wished for. Everyone was so excited. In our class there was a Mad Hatter, Where’s Wally, Harry Potter, Dragons, Unicorns, Willy Wonka, Tin Tin, Dorothy and some All White players. There were heaps of other different characters. We all did Jump Jam in our costumes. Some of their parents were there watching us. Some of us got really hot in our costumes. Mr Webster had dressed up in his snow gear and he must have been really hot. Mrs Dustin was Scooby Doo, Mrs Milne was a Musketeer, Catherine was Cat in the Hat and Mr Mills was Mr Twit. Catherine and Debbie had set up the book fair. They did a really good job.

The Year 3 and 4 Kiwi Tag Team by Andrew McCracken

On the 30thof March the year 3 and 4 Kiwi tag team had their last mach. We all arrived at 4.00pm. We all started playing around with a tennis ball after Mr. Webster came we formed a semi circle around him. He told us to go in a diagonal line behind Kiahi and he started passing the ball down the line. Jamie was at the end and when Jamie got the ball we all dropped back and he started passing the ball back down.
Then the whistle blew and Mr. Webster told us to get into our positions. Then the honker went and we all started playing. Five minutes into the game Kiahi scored a try that put us one step ahead. Then Kiahi took the kick and the ball went under the opposition’s legs and went dead. I got the ball and ran and got tagged so I rolled the ball underneath my legs and Kiahi got the ball, passed it to Daniel and he ran fast and got a try. Then I took the kick off and it went to the left side and the other team caught it but we defended well and tagged them three times. They carried on scored a try. The then the honker went for half time.
Mr. Webster called us over we all went over and he told us what to do we got into our places then the honker went the other team kicked off. Daniel got the ball, ran and got tagged. Kiahi got the ball and passed it to me and I got a second try. This carried on in the second half until we had scored six tries and Te Akau Ki had scored only two. So we won the trophy and it is in the school trophy cabinet now.

The Year 3 and 4 Flippa Ball Team by Noah Van Oudenaaren.

Every Sunday from the 28th of February 2010 forward to March 28th we played in the Year 3 and 4 Flippa Ball competition. Our team was called the Typhoons and the team members were me, Joel, Max, Ella, Nicholas, Conner, Grace, Daniel, Carlos, Madison and also William as he was a replacement since not enough people were there for the last game. When we played on the last day we had 2 games and we tied the first game 5-5 and lost the other 9-7. I was on attack/centre the first game and defense in the second game. We won 1st place out of all the year 3 and year 4 teams in Tauranga. So we lost and tied but we still got to be the top Year 3 and 4 team in the Tauranga area. We only lost about 3 games in the first season of 2010.

Pinocchio by Alice Jeffries

On the 9th, 10th and 11th Susanne Hanger School of Dance is doing a production called Pinocchio at Bay court in Tauranga.
There are several hundred kids doing the production. The main parts are, Pinocchio, Jappetto the maker of Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket Pinocchio’s Conscience, Cleo the Goldfish, Figaro (Jappetto Kitten).
The story is about Jappetto who made a puppet name Pinocchio. Once when Jappetto woke up he thought Pinocchio was real. A few days later Jappetto got swallowed by a whale and then amazingly Pinocchio gets swallowed by the same whale! A few hours later they get sneezed out of the whale. Then later in the story Pinocchio dies but a few days later Pinocchio actually comes alive for real! Then everyone goes to Jappetto’s house to see the living boy.
I hope lots of people come and enjoy the show. We have all worked so hard in this production. The teachers are Susanne Hanger who is the main teacher, Hannah Lane who is the competition teacher and several other teachers as well.

The Weet-Bix Triathlon by Jessica Thomas

On the 28th of March 2010 the Weet-Bix Triathlon took place at Memorial Park. Alice , Libby , Sophie , Terri , Conner , Jackson , Adam , Zoe , Taylor and I did the Triathlon .
The group I was in was wearing a yellow hat and so were Alice, Libby and Taylor. When the yellow hat’s race was on it was all already 11: 00am because there were a lot of orange hats so they had to split them all up.
Before we got in the pool we had to sit on the side because we had to wait until the boys had finished. When the boy’s race was over we got in the pool and waited for the whistle to blow. Then we where off! Racing up and down the lane five times and then rushing out and onto our bikes.
When we got to our bikes we put our shoes, top and helmet on. Then we started to push our bikes out of the Transition onto the road and so we could get on our bikes and start racing. At first we had to go up a big hill, and then we went down again. I biked down the hill and a boy came and turned at the same time as me and our wheels jammed together. The next hill was okay and when I was going back up the hill I saw Alice. When I was going downhill I was fine.
I reached the Run Transition, got off my bike, took off my helmet and started to run. When I had run a while I spotted Taylor but I ran right past her. After a while she spotted me and started to sprint but I saw the FINISH line and sprinted too and beat Taylor. At the finish we were all awarded a Weetbix gold medal.

THE ST MARY TRIATHALON by Daniel Sheahan

On the 5th of March 2009 St Thomas More went to the St Mary’s Triathlon. We had lunch their then me and my friends watched the year one boys and girls race then the year twos and one of the year two girls where really fast .Harry drank too much sprite and got a stitch I wanted to find my friends and I knew where Andrew and William were.

Then I found my friends Oliver and Joel then played some cricket with some friends then we went to the park with some other friends then it was the year four girls tern I was really nerves and then it was our go now and she shot the gun and we were away and it wasn’t deep at all I was the 9th person out of the water and then we went onto our bikes and the hills were really step and I carpet my spot and I was 9th on the bike ride

Then we went onto the running and I over took 4 people and it was also really steep as well then I finished and i was placed 5th after the race I had 2 hot dogs and one Juicy and then I went home .

Matamata Catholic Schools Swimming Competition

Matamata Catholic Schools Swimming Competition

On Wednesday the 24th of March 2010 Jessica, Alex, Kiahi, Daisy, Sean, Nicky, Meg, Louis, Leon, McKenzie and Me (Sophie) went to the Waikato Catholic Schools Swimming Competition. The event was organised by St Josephs Catholic School in Matamata. We went in car groups and McKenzie and I went with Jessica. When we got there we set up our school’s shade tent. It didn’t take long to set it up. Then the Principal talked to us about the rules and then we said a prayer.
Later the Principal called up year 4 and 5’s to do their Medley swim, which is breaststroke, backstroke and finally freestyle. The swimmers were Leon, Louis, McKenzie, Nicky and Meg. They all did really well with Leon coming second.
For the all the events the starter blew the whistle and we all stood on our diving boards, then she said ‘Take your marks’ and blew the hooter and everyone dived into the water and swam as hard as they could.
In the 25 meter freestyle I got 3rd and Jessica came 4th. Me (Sophie) got to go in the finals. At the end I found out I did it in 24 seconds and my placing was third. Kiahi Horan was the overall fastest eight year old boy and Leon Castle the second fastest nine year old boy. In the prize giving we were told we placed fourth place out of the eleven schools. I would love to be in that same competition next year but do even better! By Sophie Sandford

Flippaball at Baywave with Kiahi Horan.

On Thursday the 4th of March the two Senior St Thomas More Flippa Ball teams the Buccaneers and the Marlins went to Baywave to train for their game against Arataki Primary on Sunday. First we had to get 10 waterpollo balls out of the storage room before we started the training. Then my Dad/Coach numbered us off, and we started swimming with the ball in our groups. I had a race with Leon Castle and we tried to figure out who was the fastest swimmer. After that we had to get into groups of two and and I chose Leon for my partner and we had to swim up and down the pool passing the ball to each other. After that we had to group up in three's and we started passing the ball around and shooting it in to the goal. Then for a reward we were all able to go on the Hydroslide. I really enjoyed training at Baywave but the best part was going on the Hydroslide.

The Senior School Mount Trip.

On the 10th of of February 2010 our class went to Mount Maunganui in Tauranga to see North Rock because its part of our school logo. The Maori name for it is Tirikawa. We started the walk at Pilot Bay and walked around the Mount and then went back to school for lunch.
By Max McIver.
In the picture above is North Rock. On top is the light beacon. It lights the way for the big ships that go to the wharf.