Category: School Work

Zoom Out Of An Image

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cropped-Dolphin-23-Good-20xp1y6-1gl8ig4.jpgPhoto: Meg

I took this photo on the 25/03/16. I was going to the Abrolhos Islands for Easter with my family and two other families that we are very close to. I was sitting out on the bow of the boat with my two friends and these two dolphins joined us and swam along side the boat for a few minutes. It was so amazing to watch the dolphins having so much fun, and I am so glad I had my camera with me at the time.

Make comments about what else is happening outside this picture. Try not to make them very long, so other people can have a go! Remember to read the comments before yours so the ‘story’ makes sense.

Zest Festival

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Since 2012 in Kalbarri, around the 18, 19th of September, there is a festival held that goes over the weekend. It has to do with the history in this area. It began 5 years ago on the 300th anniversary of the Zuytdorp crashing on the cliffs north of Kalbarri. This year is the last year it will run, on the 400th anniversary of Dirk Hartog arriving in Australia and leaving behind the first artifact, the Hartog plate. It began in 2012 and the subject was the Netherlands and the Zuytdorp. In 2013 it was about South Africa, in 2014 it was Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. In 2015 it was Japan and China. This year the subject is unity and how all of those countries were united through the VOC or (as it roughly translates to in English) the Dutch East India Trading Company.

I really love the Zest Festival and all of the opportunities it has brought to the community and students. I was strongly involved in last years Chamber of Retoric, a performance on the Saturday night that has to do with the year’s subject,. I was one of the four puppeteers that moved the two Japanese samurai brothers. I trained with a professional puppeteer, Karen Hethey, for weeks leading up to the performance. It was amazing to see the whole thing come together and all the work that happened behind the scenes that paid off.

Every year an activity from the country we are studying comes to school. It is normally a musical instrument of some sort. In 2013 drums were brought to the school and all the classes learnt to play. The best students were then chosen to perform at the Chamber of Retoric. In 2014 I was in the group of people chosen to play at the Chamber of Retoric. We played the Gamelan instruments from Indonesia. In 2015 we learnt to play Taiko drums. They were played by professionals at the Saturday night performance.

The Zest Festival has been amazing experience for everyone who has ever visited for the weekend and attended or been involved in the process. I feel very privileged to live in Kalbarri. it’s not every day an opportunity like this comes around and to quote myself from last year “When something like this comes around you have to reach up and take hold of it with both hands”.

Character Study

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Today I will be writing about Taylor Markham, the main character of my English novel, On the jellicoe road. I will be writing about her characteristics and the importance they play in the novel. The book is written in first person, from her perspective. Taylor is a senior and the leader of her school house. She is an orphan as both of her parents died in a car crash when she was younger. It is September, meaning the beginning of the territory wars between the Townies, the Cadets and the Jellicoe School. Taylor has been raised to lead the jellicoe school and she will do her best to succeed.

Taylor’s most prominent characteristic is leadership. She is a born leader and, since year 7, has been trained to become the leader of her house and of the school. She has the right to surrender to the others and she has to contact the leader of the Townies and Cadets to negotiate land, paths and areas. She controls the other house leaders, even though they hate her, they cant kick her out because they need 5 votes and they only have 4. Taylor is also strong-willed and minded and will not let anyone tell her what to do.

Taylor is quite an erratic character. Both of her parents dying hen she was young affected her greatly. Going to a boarding school she had no authority figure an her grief made her wild. When she was in year 8 she ran away from the school, and found a Cadet who was also running away. They boarded a train but it derailed so off they went, to find Taylor’s sister. The Cadet “betrayed” her and they both got taken back.She burnt down the laundry one year as well. She is quite a rebel and doesn’t listen to many people.

The third major characteristic Taylor posses is empathy. She mentions a lot how bad she feels for certain people. She feels sorry for Ben who is always getting bashed by the seniors and that they always target his fingers and hands so he won’t be able to play music. She is sorry that she doesn’t try to look after the younger children in her house and that Hannah has to do it because Taylor has never bothered. She carries a lot on empathy but she doesn’t empathise the right people.

Taylor Markham plays an important role in the story as the main character. Without her the story would not be. Her leadership is important and her erotica move the story along and keep it interesting.