New Zealand Elections 2014

For the last study for the term the children looked at the New Zealand election system and the make up of our national parliamentary system.

The teachers question, “Who is the Prime Minister of New Zealand?”  resulted in some interesting responses from Mr Obama, Helen Clarke and Winston Peters.
It was time to do some meaningful discussion with the children.

The second question asked was, “What does MMP mean in our New Zealand election system?” There were many answers around this, ranging from Members of Parliament, Paid Ministers to Many Members in Parliament. The answer is Mixed Member Proportional.

It works this way.        

         New Zealand's overall system of government

New Zealand is a democratic country in which the members of parliament (MPs) are chosen in free and fair elections.  Citizens and permanent residents who are aged 18 years and over are required to enrol to vote.  Voting is not compulsory, but turnout is high by international standards (although trending lower).  

New Zealand has a single chamber of parliament which consists of the House of Representatives, which generally has 120 MPs, and the Governor-General (who does not personally attend the house).  The house is elected for a maximum three-year term using the mixed member proportional (MMP) system.  Every New Zealand citizen who is enrolled as an elector is eligible to be a candidate for election as an MP.

The government is accountable to parliament for its actions and policies. So ministers are answerable to parliament for their own actions and policies and for the actions and policies of the departments and state agencies for which they are responsible.  Most ministers are members of cabinet, which is the main decision-making body of the government. 

New Zealand has an unwritten constitution and is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State. The Queen's representative in this country is the Governor-General who has all the powers of the Queen in relation to New Zealand. The Governor-General  plays an important constitutional role in the calling of elections, the life of Parliament, and the formation of a government. 

 The NEW ZEALAND MMP Voting System
Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

Skip to content topThis is the system we currently use to elect our Parliament.
There are 120 Members of Parliament (MPs). There are 70 electorates, including the Maori electorates. Each elects one MP, called an Electorate MP. The other 50 MPs are elected from political party lists and are called List MPs.
Each voter gets two votes.
The first vote is for the political party the voter chooses. This is called the party vote and largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets in Parliament.
The second vote is to choose the MP the voter wants to represent the electorate they live in. This is called the electorate vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.

Under current MMP rules, a political party that wins at least one electorate seat OR 5% of the party vote gets a share of the seats in Parliament that is about the same as its share of the party vote. For example, if a party gets 30% of the party vote it will get roughly 36 MPs in Parliament (being 30% of 120 seats). So if that party wins 20 electorate seats it will have 16 List MPs in addition to its 20 Electorate MPs.

Coalitions or agreements between political parties are usually needed before Governments can be formed.

Children were coming to school saying they had impressed their parents as to what they knew about our parliamentary system. One pupil went so far as to suggest who their parent should vote for.

Here are some stories written in the classroom.

                Why Women Vote

On the 19^th of September 1893, something big happened. Something so big that in the elections woman were to be allowed to vote! Yep, you guessed right, the day woman got voted to vote.

On that day, the Governor signed the Electoral Bill  giving woman the right to vote in the elections. And they were happy about it.
Then in 1919, they let woman stand for parliament.  In 1933 Elizabeth McCombs knocked men off the perch for the first time by being the first woman elected into our House of Representatives.
New Zealand celebrated the centenary of  woman’s suffrage by planting a “Kate Sheppard” white camellia in Parliament grounds.
I told you they were happy about it. 
Lochie Moriarity     

                                                                                                                                                    

Women and voting

 Okay lets go back in time to the time of the Wild West ,Wait, what, no. Let’s go to the day women were allowed to vote in New Zealand.

On the 19^th of September 1893 {my birthday but not the year} led by Kate Sheppard, a group of people called the New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union{NZWCTU} support that women should be allowed to vote.

It all started when a bill was introduced to Parliament in 1891 and 1892 but still women were not allowed to vote.

In 1893 the bill was introduced again and they finally agreed with two majority members of the Upper house to let women vote .So on the 19^th of September 1893 women turned up at the voting booth to cast their votes for men.
 But wait women weren’t allowed to stand for Parliament, so let’s recap, Kate wanted the women to vote, the government let them vote in 1893 and then allowed women to stand for parliament in 1919.
 Oh so that’s when they could stand for parliament..
 In 1919 no women were elected to be an MP but 14 years later the 1^st women to be elected as a MP was a lady called Elizabeth McCombs. The parliament celebrated a centenary on the women’s suffrage in 1993. They had a planting of the Kate Sheppard white camellia shrubs on the ground of the Government House in Wellington. There were various artworks to commemorate the centenary including sculptures of flowers.
 There is now a room dedicated to these women in Parliament.
By Kaiya Read-Butcher

Do you want to have a go at the assessment we did in the classroom to gauge the children’s understanding? Good luck.

                                     Election Assessment 2014

1.    Name the present Prime Minister?_________________________

2.    What party does he/she belong to?_________________________

3.    Name the present leader of the Opposition?____________________

4.    What party does this leader belong to?_______________________

5.    Elections in New Zealand are held every______ years.

6.    The day of the week these elections are mainly held is on a __________.

7.    MP stands for________________________________.

8.    There are a total of_____ MPs seated in the House of Representatives.

9.    To be allowed to vote you must be _____years of age.

10.Voting where nobody can see who you are voting for is called a ____________________

11.For the elections New Zealand is divided into 69 areas called__________.

12.The electoral area our school is situated is called____________.

13.The MP for our electoral area is ____________.

14.A voter has____ votes; a party vote and a vote for an MP in the electoral area.

15.To become the Government a party must have ____seats or over.
16.To qualify as a party in the House of Representatives the party
        (a)must have____percent of the total votes or
        (b) must have won _____ electoral seat.

17.Name a party that did not qualify to get into Parliament__________.

18. Discuss one party_________________________

19.Discuss one candidate __________________________          

Senior Speeches in Term 3

We have always considered speechmaking to be an essential skill in the Senior area of our school.

Every year our Year 4, 5 and 6 children prepare a speech related to a current topic or interest the children may have expressed during the year.

This is a sample of our preparation steps suggested to the children several weeks before they were expected to stand up in front of their peers to present a prepared speech.

                                   HAUMOANA SCHOOL

                   SENIOR SYNDICATE SPEECHES

D                           Term 3 2014
                              SYNDICATE AIM                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           To have every child in Year 4-6 prepare a speech using resources with speech tools of prompt cards to present    
                               an audience for a duration of at least 3 minutes.

A                             ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVE;

                               Using the Curriculum Strand of Speaking, Writing and Presenting, and the Substrand  Purposes and Audiences  
                               students will-
                                        Show a developing understanding of how to shape texts for a variety of purposes and audiences.
                            
                                IND ICATORS (from the Curriculum);
                                Constructs texts that show an audience awareness through careful choice of content, language and form.
                                Conveys and sustains personal voice where appropriate.

     T                                TOPIC CHOICE;
                                                    # How a creature, culture or person can be influenced by its environment.

                                                    # The environment must be emphasized as to how that creature, culture or person     
                                                                               and adapted to be a success.

                                                    # Suggestions on the topics-
                                                        * The creature is shown to adapt, survive, thrive, change, in its environment.
                                                        * A group of people eg. Nomads, Innuit, Aboriginals, Amazonians, live in a
                                                           demanding environment regarding, shelter, food, clothing, weather,and
                                                           can still survive.
                                                        * The person has had an impact on the world due to the influence of his/her
                                                           environment such as parents, home life, schooling, mentors and other ways of  
                                                           shaping their life.

                                                    # There will be a need to highlight selected ‘Habits of Mind’ used by that creature,                                                                       group or person in order to display how they adapted, survived or were successful.  

                                                    # Use of the speechmakers voice in some way by expressing their own opinion on
                                                       personal experience.

     P

                                           PREPARATION IN CLASSROOM;

1.      Tree mapping to show relationships and developments.

2.      Circle mapping on facts about the chosen event.

3.      Bubble mapping to look at specific components.

4.      Gathering resources from encyclopedias, internet and library.

5.      Begin notetaking, and setting up prompt cards.

6.      Practice verbalising speech ideas.

7.      Present a speech in the classroom using interesting content, language and form, with a good audience awareness and able to use personal voice.

8.      Selected speeches from each class will be  presented on________________________

Thank you for your support

Tony Chittenden

As part of the preparation we looked at all the aspects below to devise a good speech. Take note of these ideas if you need to present a speech in the future.

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD SPEECH

      Making a good speech starts with thorough preparation. You should have been thinking of themes and points, noting down ideas and sources, crafting phrases and sentences.

      The best speeches tell your audience things they didn't know and/or give them insights they didn't have. So:

      In respect of the first, research some salient, accurate and up-date facts and figures.

      In respect of the second, look at the subject differently - think 'out of the box'.

      You should have finalized the notes or text at least the day before, so that you can concentrate on reading through the material, becoming very familiar and comfortable with it, and thinking about the actual delivery.

      Once you are called upon to make your speech, pause for a couple of seconds before actually starting your delivery. If you've had to walk up to a platform or over to a rostrum, this gives you time to steady your breath. If you are nervous as a speaker, it gives you time to take a few shallow breaths and calm those nerves. In any event, it gives the audience an opportunity to settle down and focus on you and your message. But the pause should be a few seconds only.

      If you are not using a microphone, be aware of the need to speak sufficiently loudly that the furthest member of your audience can hear you clearly.

      If you are using a microphone, speak at normal volume, but a little more slowly and distinctly than if you were not using amplification.

      Occasionally alter the speed and volume of your delivery. Speaking slower or faster and quieter or louder adds dramatic effect and keeps the attention of your audience.

      Regularly sweep your eyes left-centre-right and back and front-middle-rear and back, so that you engage all members of your audience. The actor Tom Cruise once told an interviewer: "A lot of the time, what acting is really about is meeting someone's eye" - the same is true of public speaking.

      Don't make a rambling opening. There is nothing worse than the speaker who starts with something like: "When I was asked to speak on this subject, I wondered what to say .."

      Don’t use filler words.  Few elements distract an audience like unnecessary verbiage. 

      Make a dramatic opening which seizes the attention with the very first words. This might be a stirring statement: "This year we are going to make a fundamental transformation of our whole organization". It might be a challenging question: "How can we turn ourselves into an even more successful organization?" Whatever you do, don't ask a question that invites a cynical answer from your audience: "Are we the best organization in the country?"

      Have a very clear structure. A good technique is to tell your audience what you are going to say, tell them, and then tell them what you have said. A good structure is for the core message to be three linked points which can be sub-divided as necessary.

      Put the main verb early in the sentence, especially if it is a long sentence. So, not: "When we have all the facts and we have considered all the options, we shall make our decision". But instead: "We shall make our decision, when we have all the facts and we have considered all the options”.

      Consider the use of short sentences or even short phrases for dramatic effect. Examples of short sentences: "Failure is not an option" or” The place is here. The time is now. The prize is great". Examples of short phrases: "Never again", "No excuses".

      Use striking adjectives and adverbs. Not simply: "We face many challenges" but "We face many exciting challenges". Not simply: "We will work on our problems" but "We will work energetically on our problems".

      Consider the use of striking images in the form of metaphors or similes. For example: "an iron curtain" (Winston Churchill, 1946), "a paper tiger" (Mao Zedong, 1946),"the axis of evil" (George Bush, 2002).

      Make moderate use of alliteration in phrases or sentences. For example, some phrases: "broadband Britain", "the digital divide", "silver surfers". For example, some sentences: "The ballot is stronger than the bullet" (Abraham Lincoln, 1856) or "Now let us fulfill our mandate and our mission" (Gordon Brown, Labour Party Conference 2002) or "At our best when at our boldest" (Tony Blair, Labour Party Conference 2002).

      Consider the use of rhyme. For example: "We will fight to show that we are right".

Environmental Studies

Room 5 in Term 3 have been doing a study of our local environment related to the effects of trees and shrubs in our community.

“What is Arbor Day?” was an initiating question posed by the teacher, and it was obvious that there was very little idea. We looked at the impact of Arbor Day, where it started in New Zealand and the established date for planting. Greytown was the first place to set up Arbor Day and in New Zealand we plant every year on June 5^th.

Here is a student story about Arbor Day.

 ARBOR DAY

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Arbor Day was first celebrated in Nebraska, USA April 10^th 1872. The idea was started by Mr J Sterling Morton and 1,000,000 trees were planted on this day in Nebraska.

New Zealand had their first Arbor Day in Greytown in Wairarapa on the 3^rd of July 1890. Wellington had Arbor Day in August 1892 with the planting of Pohutakawa and Norfolk pines.

Since 1977 New Zealand has celebrated this event on the 5^th of June to mark the start of the planting season.

Many native trees of New Zealand are planted to provide shade and shelter for our environment.

The indigenous wildlife need these trees to survive.

Many schools observe Arbor Day with conservation of forests and wildlife recreation areas.

 By Kaiya

A question from the teacher“Why do we plant trees?” gained improved responses with suggestions such as providing a home for birds, giving us shade, and cleaning the air by breathing out oxygen.

The Hastings District Council provided us with an opportunity to plant over 200 shrubs in our local community at the entrance way to the seaside village of Te Awanga. The day was utterly miserable with a cold wind, overcast conditions and a temperature no higher than 4 degrees.
But our parents arrived in force, transporting to and from the venue and assisting with the digging and planting.
Some photographs display how successful the day was for our pupils, parents and the community. 

Another focus was to look at images of tree shapes found in the world. Here is a creative story related to viewing images of trees.

   Describing a Dark Beautiful Tree.

A strong dark trunk touching mid-air was a long way over my head.

Tender sprouting leaves are making a bare tree look incredible.

The beautiful long searching roots spread longer then you could possibly imagine!

 Supporting twigs were there for the leaves.

The wind picks up, the leaves stalk behind me as I move away

I look out the window at the tree.

Ugly horrible, furry moss is finding a way around the outside of the dark, wet bark on a growing tree.

I see leaf beads growing taking in load by load of Carbon Dioxiode 

By Molly

A Study of the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games (known as the British Empire Games from 1930–1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954–1966, and British Commonwealth Games from 1970–1974)^[1] is an international, multi- sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, which were cancelled due to World War II, has taken place every four years since then.

The games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition. 18 cities in seven countries have hosted the event. Apart from many Olympic events, the games also include some sports that are played predominantly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls and netball.

Although there are 53 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, 71 teams participate in the Commonwealth Games, as a number of dependent territories compete under their own flag. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—also send separate teams. Only six countries have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for twelve games, England for seven, and Canada for one.

This year the Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow. The class looked at sporting events, why New Zealand does so well with a population of 4 million and did a research study on a selected sport and the rules that are used in that sport.

We also looked at some of the venues used in the past and where the Commonwealth Games will go next. We held the Games in 1974 in Christchurch and again in 1990 in Auckland. They are more manageable for smaller nations than the Olympic Games.

The next Commonwealth Games will be in the Gold Coast, Australia.

Edition	Year	Host City	Host Nation	Start Date	End Date	Sports	Events	Nations	Competitors	Top Placed Team
Inter-Empire Championships
Inter-Empire Championships	1911	London	England	12 May	00 June	4	9	4	Unknown	Canada
Edition	Year	Host City	Host Nation	Start Date	End Date	Sports	Events	Nations	Competitors	Top Placed Team
British Empire Games
I Games	1930	Hamilton	Canada	16 August	23 August	6	59	11	400	England
II Games	1934	London	England	4 August	11 August	6	68	16	500	England
III Games	1938	Sydney	Australia	5 February	12 February	7	71	15	464	Australia
IV Games	1950	Auckland	New Zealand	4 February	11 February	9	88	12	590	Australia
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
V Games	1954	Vancouver	Canada	30 July	7 August	9	91	24	662	England
VI Games	1958	Cardiff	Wales	18 July	26 July	9	94	36	1122	England
VII Games	1962	Perth	Australia	22 November	1 December	9	104	35	863	Australia
VIII Games	1966	Kingston	Jamaica	4 August	13 August	9	110	34	1050	England
British Commonwealth Games
IX Games	1970	Edinburgh	Scotland	16 July	25 July	9	121	42	1383	Australia
X Games	1974	Christchurch	New Zealand	24 January	2 February	9	121	38	1276	Australia
Commonwealth Games
XI Games	1978	Edmonton	Canada	3 August	12 August	10	128	46	1474	Canada
XII Games	1982	Brisbane	Australia	30 September	9 October	10	142	46	1583	Australia
XIII Games	1986	Edinburgh	Scotland	24 July	2 August	10	163	26	1662	England
XIV Games	1990	Auckland	New Zealand	24 January	3 February	10	204	55	2073	Australia
XV Games	1994	Victoria	Canada	18 August	28 August	10	217	63	2557	Australia
XVI Games	1998	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	11 September	21 September	15	213	70	3633	Australia
XVII Games	2002	Manchester	England	25 July	4 August	171	281	72	3679	Australia
XVIII Games	2006	Melbourne	Australia	15 March	26 March	162	245	71	4049	Australia
XIX Games	2010	Delhi	India	3 October	14 October	171	272	71	6081	Australia
XX Games	2014	Glasgow	Scotland	23 July	3 August	171	261	71	4947	England
XXI Games	2018	Gold Coast	Australia	4 April	15 April
XXII Games	2022	Edmonton or   Durban	Canada or South Africa	To Be Announced	To Be Announced