2010 Literacy quiz

Wellington Literacy Quiz-2010

On April 30th 2010, nine students from Muritai School's senior syndicate attended the Wellington Literacy Quiz at Seatoun School. The students who attended were Meg, Hazel, Sofija, Nick, Sam, Kieran, Zoe, Kenzy and Sean. These are some of the most passionate and top readers in the syndicate and it was a real privilege for them to go through to represent Muritai school at a regional level.

We met at school at 8:30, and with the help of Hazel's, Nick's and Sam's mothers' we all travelled across the city to Seatoun. We arrived and were met by a flurry of excitement. Other young students, parents and teachers were piling into the school hall, signing in their teams and getting settled into their team areas. There were clicks and the flashes of cameras held by proud teachers and parents of the teams they were supporting. Muritai's two teams sat down and collaborated. They looked over the ten literature sections, it was only then that they saw which sections would be covered. There was a mixture of apprehension and excitement coming from the teams. The teams discussed their strategies and pondered over which section they would choose to 'double up on'. Both teams choose Fictional Characters as the area they would double their points on. Both teams found it hard to decide, as all of the sections seemed really ambiguous (for example, America, Dogs and Elephants). It was hard to know what questions would be asked in each section. The organizer got everyone's attention and before long it was time to begin.

There were 10 questions in each section. The questions were quite challenging but both teams from Muritai were able to keep up alongside the best. After each section was complete, the organizer gave each individual a chance to win $5 for correctly answering a question that was asked in last years World Final that was held in Johannesburg. The adults were also given the chance to answer a question, the prize was a book. If the adults could not answer, the student who could was awarded $10! After 5 sections, we stopped for lunch. It was nice for the teams to mingle with others and chat with friends from other schools. Once we had eaten our lunch, some energy chocolate and discussed how we were feeling about it so far, we piled back into the hall and begun the second phase of the quiz.

It was a great day, with both Muritai teams drawing rounds with other schools. Sam and Nick won $5 each for being the first to answer a question that was asked at last year's world final. It was a long and challenging day, but everyone tried their best and really showed how broad their literature knowledge is. Two teams, Papakowhai School and Wellesley College are going through to the National Literacy Quiz that will be held at Parliament. The team who comes first at the National level will fly to Edinburough, Scotland for the 2010 Literacy Quiz World Final. The grand prize is $10, 000!

All the students who attended should be very pleased with their efforts and their commitment to studying in preparation for the quiz. They certainly represented Muritai well, and the school is very proud of them!