Audrey Hackman

School is much different than school at home. For one, it’s much less academic. We have two recesses, one 30 minutes and the other 45. Each of those include eating, but still. That’s a long time. And we sometimes go out for games during class. And we have 1 hour of sports/PE. And sometimes the stuff we do in class isn’t exactly school. For instance, we do textiles, and we’re basically designing and sewing. I like school here so much better. The other thing that’s different is that students are required to be much more independent. If you want to do a club, you have to sign up and do it yourself, during recess time. Your parents don’t do anything. I went a little overboard with this. I have signed up for every club that has come along except travelwise and ukelele club. This includes enviro, kapa haka, craft club, leadership, and a librarian. Unfortunately, I signed up too late for the latter. I am hoping to audition for singing. Out of school activities include basketball, piano, and hobbies at home!

Another thing that’s different about school is that they spend so much more time writing. We have our whole break between morning tea and lunch dedicated to writing. And yes, they do call it morning tea. Very british. For morning tea and lunch, if I’m not doing any clubs, I like to play with my friends, Isabella, Ava, Sabella, and Lauren. We sometimes like to go into room 8. Room 8 houses Aiden at morning tea and lunch.

Aiden is a special needs child. He has autism, and it’s very recognizable. He doesn’t like noise at recess, so he goes in room 8 to play. Students are allowed to play with him as long as they are respectful and no rough play. It’s rather fun in there, and I love playing with Aiden. He likes building with these hard foam blocks. When his towers fall, he yells ” Timber!” with a big smile. If you are reading this and you think it’s weird that he’s a boy and I’m a girl, it isn’t like that. I don’t have a “crush” on him or anything like that. It’s just fun playing with him.

My teacher is the best teacher ever. She knows when to get mad and when to simply give a warning. She is a very good teacher, and she is great at helping kids pay attention. She also knows about teenage stuff enough to be considered “Cool”. She is the best.