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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: My life in 30 seconds I'm so excited and I just can't hide it, only two more days of school until the holidays. I'm so ready for a holiday - just to be able to sit back, relax and not worry about too much at all. You still have to worry (there is never no worrying ie climate change) but in the school holidays there's just less worrying. For school on Tuesday I have to play with the pipes and drums band at the Junior School Speech Day and on Wednesday I have to play in the school concert band and big band for the Senior School Speech Day so there's that to look forward to. After this week my family and I and a friend of mine are off to the coast to Bermagui. If you've read my column before you've probably heard me talk about Bermagui before -if not it's a beautiful coastal town that we go to every Christmas holidays .It's a really nice place to relax and unwind. It can get a bit lonely for me up there with no friends to talk to so this year we thought of inviting one of my friends, and we're both really excited to get it all going. I'm also looking forward to Christmas and the new year. For Christmas we are going to my Grandma's house, it will be great to see her again. So to everyone: Merry Christmas and have a happy new year. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter Report from: My desk Story filed: Taiko Hi people Leo here, I've just recently come back from a weekend in Dubbo. I went out there to do some taiko performances. I believe I've talked to you about taiko before but just in case you've forgotten or you're new here, taiko is a form of Japanese drumming and I am in a group called Kumi Taiko based in Dubbo. On Sunday there was a bit of a workshop or more of a drumming session with another taiko group called Taiko No Wa from Sydney. But that wasn't the main reason I was in Dubbo. My group was invited to perform at a special dinner to celebrate a Mayoral delegation's visit from Dubbo's Japanese sister city Minokamo. So the taikos were very fitting. By the looks of things, everyone liked our performance as after we had performed for our distinguished guests and representatives they told us how they all loved the performance. We received some lovely gifts and then we had some dinner which was provided by the venue. I proceeded to have a good night's sleep. The next day we had a drumming session with the other taiko group I was talking about earlier. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed playing with some older and more experienced taiko drummers. Our next event was to play at the gates of the Japanese garden in Dubbo just as the Japanese representatives arrived for a tea ceremony. It was amazing seeing people walking in wearing their kimonos and the garden was absolutely beautiful. After the event, mum and I got back on the road to head home. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed a new experience, and I would love to do it again someday maybe even in Japan. Until next time Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk, late at night
Story filed: school camp

Hello, people. Leo here. Last week my year group went on a school camp. It was three days long, Wednesday to Friday. I still feel really tired with sore muscles from camp activities and it didn't help that I also got sick from it all. The hacking cough started Friday afternoon on the bus ride home and the following weekend it wasn't any better. I'm slowly recovering and should be good in about a week or so. The camp was actually really fun. The activities were awesome and I was in a good cabin with some of my friends. I was also in an activity group with all of my friends during the day - bonus. Some of the activities we got to do were caving, high ropes, bush walking, rock climbing and the challenger valley which was a bunch of obstacles in the mud and water so we got absolutely soaked. The camp was good, hanging out with my friends, the food was good, and sleep was just about all right. The only thing that was not alright was that the packing list said 'more than one pair of shoes required ' (as our shoes were going to get wet) but I sort of thought that I would be fine with just the one pair. At camp, I soon realised that I would not be alright. At first, it was good, then when we did caving my shoes got drenched but not too badly, so I when around the rest of the day with my wet shoes BUT they did dry overnight! The next day when we had the challenger valley my shoes got truly absolutely soaked. As that was the same day we were leaving the best I could do was to have a shower and change my clothes and socks and try to dry my shoes as much as possible. Reader, they did not dry at all. For the bus ride home I just wore my socks and put my wet shoes under the seat. When we had a pit stop I would just wear my socks I didn't even bother with damp shoes. I definitely learned a lesson at camp: trust the list and from now on you will never catch me with just one pair of shoes.

Until next time 

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  cello and fun

Hi ya folks, hope you're well. I just got back from a Suzuki cello camp in Sydney. We arrived at our grandma's house which acted as our accommodation. We would drive back and forth from the venue to my grandma's house, most of the trip was driving around. The cello camp went from Thursday to Saturday, you would turn up, go to your group classes and go home when the day was done, there was a lot of cello playing just how I like it. Some highlights of the trip were when my mum and I went out to a Chinese restaurant they had a great menu and the food was delicious, another was when I visited some of my aunts which was nice but the best highlight for me was getting to see my other aunt and uncle Michael and Sharon it was awesome to see them I but the best part was that I got to hang out with my cousin Tomo (who is the son of my aunt and uncle) I love Tomo he's one of the best (there are many 'one of the best' in my family) he took me out to dinner and the arcade we had lots of fun playing games, their shooter games and racing games, he set a high score on a punching game it measures how hard you punch and on our way out we saw a bunch of guys trying to beat his high score, they didn't even come close, we nearly won a Nintendo switch it was so close but we did not succeed. After a really fun night out we drove back to his place, where my mum, Sharon and Michael were still talking soon mum and I headed back to our place. Overall I had a great time. It was a good holiday but now get ready for school, the fun's over.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed: The Movie Show

Hi folks, Leo here. today I am going to talk about my movie-watching habit. I've been watching some good war movies lately and here are five of my favourites. At number five we have The Battle of Britain, this is an older film but that doesn't take away from how good it is - just adds to the experience. The fight scenes are great with fighter planes and bombers flying all over the place. It's also a really good story of the men flying the planes and their experiences of war. Number four on my list is Iron Fury. This movie has amazing CGI scenes and fight scenes - it's truly an amazing film. Number three is 1917. You might have heard of this movie as it came out not too long ago. It's absolutely mind-blowing with a great story of a famous incident in WWI. At number two is Dunkirk - you might have also heard of this one as the filmmakers won some awards for their work and I say they truly deserved them. It is an absolute beauty of filmmaking. and finally at number one is Danger Close: the Battle of Long Tan. This movie is very sad and sweet. It is a Vietnam war movie depicting outnumbered Australian and New Zealand forces holding off an onslaught from the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies. It was a beautiful piece. None of these films glorifies war but tells a human story under terrible circumstances. There are many more amazing war movies I haven't mentioned like Land of Mine, Hacksaw Ridge and many many others. And I intend to watch them all.

Until next time 

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  Pipes and Drums

Hi people. It's your favourite Roving Reporter here, coming to you live from you know where, my desk! The Fifth Condobolin Tattoo was held on Saturday 10 September and I played as part of the school pipe and drums. It all started with a street parade as we all marched down the main street of Condobolin. The Tattoo started afterwards in a small arena behind the RSL Club. And it was cold! This event is held every three years in the Central West with Pipe Bands, dancers and performers coming from all over NSW to entertain the Lachlan Shire. Due to COVID-19 it was postponed in 2020 and again in 2021 but we got to do it all now this year in 2022. There were a number of performers at the Tattoo including Lithgow Highland Pipe Band, Scots All Saints College Pipes & Drums Band, Wagga and District Highland Pipe Band, Yanco Agricultural High School DrumCorp, Leeton Pipe Band, Granville Boys High School, Condobolin RSL Pipe Band, Joy Reiher School of Scottish Dancing, Galari Bia Waga Dhannys dancers, Parkes Shire Concert Band plus individual pipers and drummers. It was all pretty amazing.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: carnet de voyage
Story filed: France in Canberra

Hi people, Leo here. Today I am going to talk about a recent school trip to France Canberra. Last Thursday and Friday me and a handful of Year 7 and 8 students went on a French excursion to Canberra. We went to places like Alliance Francaise, a french restaurant called Ondine and to my mind the best place of all, the French Embassy. The whole trip was amazing. At the Embassy we had a tour and talks and even got to have a look around the French Ambassador's residence. Ondine was a really nice restaurant and the food was sooooo good, especially the dessert. Alliance Francaise is a French school where we got some French lessons. That bit was a bit boring - not going to lie but it was still a fun experience. We stayed at the YMCA and I didn't get much sleep. At the end of the trip, we went to the sculpture garden in Canberra to have lunch and once we were done we hit the road back home.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  I screwed up

Hi folks, Leo here. I'm just enjoying the last days of the school holidays and on a lazy Sunday evening, I was busy working away on a mini-diorama I hadn't finished and had been meaning to finish. The diorama consists of a 3D-printed American Sherman tank that could fit in the palm of your hand. I had the tank lying around for a bit before I eventually painted it and then I thought it would look really good in a mini-diorama. This story isn't about how I did a terrible job at making the diorama, in fact, I'd say I did a really good job. Firstly I built the ground matter which was a cobbled street half covered in dirt and craters since this was a WW2 diorama. It also had a street corner but I only got as far as making the base of the street corner. After that, it lived in a drawer for longer than I care to admit. So, for this school holiday, I pulled it out and started making the streetlamp and the 'ruined' building and I think it came out really well. I'm proud of my work. The only thing that I got wrong was the scale when I built the building. I made it too small so now the tank looks ginormous. On one hand, I have a sick diorama but on the other hand, I'm back to square one with the tank. I'll probably just build another diorama but this time, in the correct scale.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  It's kind of cold

Hi people. It's your favourite Roving Reporter here, coming to you live from you know where my desk! I know the school holidays are the best excuse to get out and about, but recently I've just barricaded myself in my room with the door closed. heater on and the blind down. Going outside for something, or anything is a big event for me as most of my days are spent sitting on my butt. But don't feel too sorry for me as I have Minecraft and YouTube for company. One thing will get me out of the house though. I'm sure you are all aware of the current Bathurst Winter Festival and I'm sure you're very excited about it. Me too! I still don't know exactly when I'm going but I think it's sometime next week, fingers crossed. But whenever it is, it's going to be fun. I want to try all the different food carts and have a look at what rides they have to offer. The lights in Machattie Park are looking pretty amazing at the moment and they really add to the Winter Festival feeling. Walking around the colourfully lit-up park is very comforting. Anyway, for my top Winter Festival tip, if you're going to venture out, make sure to wear something warm.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  The finale

Hi, hope you're well. Sleeping good? Eating a healthy diet? I hope your answers to those questions were all yes. At the time of writing this, I'm incredibly tired, I'm not writing this late at night and I didn't go to bed really late, I'm just tired. I don't know why. It's funny, I say I'm tired and yet I'm writing this on a Saturday evening and I haven't done anything productive all day except for farting around. Onto something interesting, On Friday night my school had a showcase at BMCE ( to display our music program). It was from kindergarten all the way up to senior school with various musical groups performing music all night. The first half of the show act 1 was for the junior school and at the end of act 1 both the junior and senior schools came together to perform the final piece for act 1, it was a really big piece and it was amazing. I played second cello in that. Then after the intermission, it was our turn ( the senior school's turn). I was running back and forth through the bowls of BMEC as I was in a handful of musical groups or concert bands to assemble, whatever you like to call it. It was a good night, it did go on pretty late, but it was a good night nonetheless. It's not long until the school holidays, one more week just one more week. I can wait one more week. I'm tired don't know why but I'm tired, tired of something. Does it matter, I'm just a 14-year-old boy rambling on in a little column in the corner of a small little newspaper, so if by any miracle you dear reader happens to be reading this; I wish you goodnight.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  Vanitas

Hi folks, Leo here. Today I am going to talk about art. I recently did an art project for school and I think it turned out really cool. Our current topic for art is the Dutch Golden Age of painting and Vanitas. For those of you who don't know what either one of those terms is, let me explain. The Dutch Golden Age was a period in history in the Netherlands, roughly from 1588 to 1672, in which Dutch trade, science, art and the Dutch military were among the best in Europe. Vanitas is a style of art and the Dutch were really good at it. In a longer explanation, Vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the journey of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. I know right, very cheery. Our task for this unit was to create our own Vanitas and I think mine turned out pretty well, there are some things I would like to improve on but I've submitted the final work already. I just hope it will do well.

Until next time 

Leo Roving Reporter

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Leo, Roving Reporter
Report from: My desk
Story filed:  Missing

Hi everyone, Leo here. The school holidays have now come to an end sadly but I have an extra week of holidays. Normally that's a good thing but I owe this extra week to Covid and boy it is not fun having Covid. Because of Covid I couldn't march in the bagpipe band for ANZAC Day as I was stuck in bed and I still am. That wasn't the end of my rotten luck. Just as I was coming down with Covid, Ari our new little kitty cat went missing for over 48 hours. His disappearance really shook the household. The loss of our cat had an impact on all of us as we consider our cats family. On Saturday night two of our three cats came home and one did not. We waited and waited we went out looking through our garden, out on the streets and down the small lanes but to no avail. We did the same thing the next day too, we spent hours looking for our cat until we assumed he was never coming back, that maybe someone was walking along and just picked him up because he is so cute and friendly that he would trust anybody. For the rest of the day and the following night, the vibe of the house was really down, we thought we would never see Ari again...or so we thought. The next day about midday he came sprinting home and I mean sprinting home - he didn't just walk up to the door, he spirited from wherever he had been stuck, meowed loudly and when we let him he sprinted in saying how hungry, thirsty, frightened and dusty he was. He was back.

Until next time 
Leo Roving Reporter