Today some very excited Year 7&8 students arrived at school. Phil was coming and they couldn't wait. Finally he was here - you could hear the noise from the end of the field. Everyone rushed to the Wharenui and the fun began.
We started with a couple of games. The first was that we had to sum out our holiday in 3 words. Some people found that hard! The second game we had to stand along the wall and step forward if the statement was true.
Phil told us a story about how he felt like he never fitted in during intermediate age. He talked about being Māori in Darfield (super white farming community) and then he’d visit his North Island family and he wouldn’t feel right there either. He segued into how our brains give us choices i.e. choices of where to sit, choices to believe negative thinking. He talked about how he started to listen to the negative thoughts he was happening. He told a friend and his friend told him that he “didn’t know why he was listening to the negative because people liked to hang out with him”.
Genes Choices Environment - These things make us who we are
A game was played: boys vs girls. Phil said a word and the groups had to decide whether they are genes, choices or environment. The girls won by A LOT! (And they had the weirdest buzzer noises and team names, make sure you ask them about it).
Phil told a story of when he was in Year 10 and he threw bags filled with water over a roof and hit an elderly teacher. Funny but not OK! And an example of bad choices that sometimes get made.
We then talked about how we can be good friends - because friendly people make friends. 6 friendship tips to help you be a better friend.
Point 1 - Be friendly
Point 2 - Remember names!
Point 3 - Remember special events
We played a game of ‘Culturally Inclusive Whispers’. Each group’s leader got given the same sentence to share with the person in the group. The sentence got passed up the group, but sadly each group failed.
And that was Point 4 - being a good listener.
Point 5 - Be Positive!! Give them a compliments about themselves. Not ‘like your shoes’ but ones that are aimed at who they are and how they make you feel. For example ‘I find it easy to be myself around you’.
The final point was that being yourself around others and Phil felt that we were pretty good at that as a group. All a little bit crazy and weird!
Here are a few photos from the morning, before Mrs Spragg's phone died.
