Wainuiomata High School Newsletter

February 2010

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Letter from the Principal
• Student News and Achievement
  - Junior Prizegiving, NCEA Success, 2010 Head Students, House Leaders, Peer Mentors
• Sports News
  - Athletic Sports
• Staff News
  - Departures and Arrivals, Senior Leadership Team
• Careers Faculty News
• Board of Trustees News
  - BoT Elections, Fundraising Committee
• Other News and Notices
  - Complaints Policy, Learning Conferences, Junior Awards, Uniform Standards, Entry to Victoria University, "No Sweat Parenting", Notifying us of Absences
• Coming events

26 February 2010

Dear Parents and Caregivers, Kia Ora, Talofa lava.

Welcome to the 2010 school year, which has started with the usual bustle and a full roll. Special thanks to all of you who have helped the High School by having your child in full uniform from the first day – it’s much appreciated.

Our preliminary NCEA results for 2009 are in, and we’re pleased with them. Level One shows an improvement on the 2008 results; and there were some especially good results throughout the Senior School, which are mentioned later in this newsletter. We will provide further analysis in our next newsletter, by which time the results will be finalised by NZQA.

It’s the start of the year, so I thought I would offer my advice on what parents can do to help their children perform well at school. Being a parent to teenagers is hard work at times, but anything you can do to support your child’s education has a huge payback.

• Always encourage your son/daughter, and offer reassurance that they can succeed, even if they are finding some of the work difficult.
• Show an interest in what they are doing at school (even if your child is a “teenage non-communicator”), including making sure you receive their reports, checking homework diaries, reading newsletters, watching their sport, attending Parent Interviews and - especially - recognising their achievements.
• Help provide a suitable work environment for your child, which may be as simple as designating a bedroom (and a desk) as a no-brother/sister/friends, no-TV and no-phone area for a certain period. If such an area is unavailable, our Library serves as an after-school Homework Centre Tuesday-Friday until 4:30pm, with a teacher in attendance.
• Try and make study and home-learning a habit. A snack and then homework after school, but before tea, is a good habit to get into. Many students are too tired to study at night.
• Sufficient sleep is vital; tired students cannot learn. I also believe it is important TVs aren’t in bedrooms; and I encourage all students to read for 15-30 minutes every night before lights out, which has a huge impact on literacy ability.
• Exercise is important; the High School provides a variety of sporting opportunities that all of our students can benefit from. Also, there needs to be a balance between school, leisure and part-time work; long hours in an after-school job invariably lead to falling academic achievement.
• Support the school in issues such as uniform, lateness and non-attendance, so your child is focussed on being in class and learning.

Martin Isberg, Acting Principal

STUDENT NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Junior Prizegiving

The Junior Prizegiving, held on 15 December last year, was a great finish to the year. Our guest speaker, HOF Careers and Transition, Sue Ward (in one of her final tasks before leaving to a well-earned retirement) gave a passionate and musical speech about the importance of considering your future pathway.

Top Year 10 Academic prizes were awarded to:

Emily Harris Wainuiomata High School Principal’s Trophy and Medal for Top Year 10 Student Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 10 Science Moana Clothing Trophy for Year 10 Soft Technology – Joint winner Japanese Embassy Prize for Year 10 Japanese	Juanita Randall Wainuiomata High School Principal’s Medal for Runner Up Year 10 Student Cathy Quinn Eady Cup for Senior Maori Language
Courtney Collier Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 10 English	Shaneel Kumar Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 10 Social Sciences – Joint winner
Olivia Mok Lower Hutt Paper Plus Award for Service to the Library and excellent use of library resources	Ben Robertson Furnware New Zealand for Year 10 Mathematics
Michael Sheat Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 10 Social Sciences – Joint winner	Amanda Valster Bruce Little Go Travel Trophy for Junior Hard Materials Technology Moana Clothing Trophy for Year 10 Soft Technology - Joint winner

Top Year 9 Academic prizes were awarded to:

Erika Inocentes Wainuiomata High School Principal’s Trophy and Medal for Top Year 9 Student Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 9 English Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 9 Mathematics Vera Phillips Trophy for Junior Languages	Toni Angus Wainuiomata High School Principal’s Medal for Runner Up Year 9 Student
Mikaylee Beckham Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 9 Student of Maori	Kasey Bircham Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 9 Social Sciences
Rebecca Bishop Japanese Embassy Prize for Year 9 Japanese	Elizabeth Marner Wainuiomata High School Trophy for Year 9 Science Japanese Embassy Prize for Year 9 Japanese
Cellaise Tuita STARS Cup for Junior Commitment

Congratulations to all these students. They can be proud of their achievements.

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Academic Successes

Congratulations to the following students for their special successes in the 2009 NCEA results:

Scholarship passes (an external examination, where the pass rate is set at around 3% of the Year 13 students studying for the subject nationally) for:

• Arek Wojasz (Mathematics with Statistics and Economics)
• Hailey Thomson (Geography)
• Morgan Ryan (Art)

NCEA Endorsements at Level 3:

• Arek Wojasz (Excellence)
• Hailey Thomson (Merit)
• Morgan Ryan (Merit)
• Zachary Meech (Merit)

NCEA Endorsements at Level 2:

• Marley Aitken (Excellence)
• Olivia Ryan (Merit)
• Nohokainga Pulekautaha-Lai (Merit)
• Hayley Colgan (Merit)
• Yoshna Reddy (Merit)

NCEA Endorsements at Level 1:

• Colin Williams (Excellence)
• Loren Mancer (Merit)
• Danielle Burdon (Merit)
• Waiariki Koia (Merit)
• Aidan Barrett (Merit)
• Jake Aitken (Merit)

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Head Students 2010

Congratulations again to our new Head Students for 2010:

Nicole Adamson Head Girl
Gabriel Tupou Head Boy
Marley Aitken Deputy Head Girl
Alesana Mene Deputy Head Boy

Left to right: Alesana Mene, Marley Aitken, Gabriel Tupou, Nicole Adamson

House Competition

The House competition was expanded last year (with great success) to include recognition of a wide variety of activities (including sporting, academic and extra curricular activities).

House totals will be announced each week at assembly and the House Shield will be awarded on an interim basis at the end of Terms 1, 2 and 3 with the final presentation to the top house at the Senior Prizegiving in November.

House Leaders have been appointed for 2010 and will work with Teacher House Leaders to organise activities and encourage participation. Congratulations to the following students who have been named Student House Leaders:

Kauri House Leaders
Alesana Mene	Kayla Randall	Angela Fa’aaliga	Chase Peratiaki
Rata House Leaders
Puhinga Hunia	Lydia Jones	Marty Mullin	Leyton-Leigh Alderson
Totara House Leaders
Mitchell Duncan	Sharn Kelly	Oli Ryan	Penina Lote
Kowhai House Leaders
Eden Laulu	Kylie-Regan Taiapa	Logan Pepere-Buchanan	Evander Waitoa

Peer Mentors 2010

Peer mentors play a valuable role within the school, assisting the Year 9 students to settle into life at the High School. Senior students are selected and trained to mentor junior students and provide support. The following students have been named 2010 Peer Mentors for our Year 9 classes:

SPORTS NEWS

Athletic Sports

The school’s annual Athletic Sports were held on Tuesday 16 February with blue skies and a school-wide “Sevens” spirit, with most students sporting costumes and face paint in their house colours.

Competition for some events was particularly fierce and none more so than the House Relays.

Top Athletes of the Day:

New School Records:

Lahraine Sagaga (RATA)
Intermediate Girls Javelin (22.60m)

Denzel Guth (TOTARA)
Intermediate Boys 3000m (11:00.56)

Tem Forbes (KOWHAI)
Intermediate Boys 3000m (11:00.66)

Joanne Daniels (TOTARA)
Senior Girls High Jump (1.40m)

Juanita Randall (KAURI)
Intermediate Girls High Jump (1.33m)

Thanks to the House Leaders and teachers for organising their athletes and to the PE staff (especially Stuart Berkeley) for arranging the whole event.

Peter Cowan,
Sports Coordinator

CAREERS FACULTY NEWS

The Careers Faculty is very delighted to introduce Mrs Virginia Wilson (right) as our new Head of Faculty. Virginia joins us from Rongotai College and her expertise and experience in Careers and Gateway will be invaluable to Wainuiomata High School.

The Careers Faculty has many exciting programmes planned for the year. Students should ensure that they read the Careers Noticeboard every week for any up and coming events and any job opportunities that may come available.

Janette Tickner,
Careers Assistant

Gateway

Our Gateway class is full for the first intake. There will be a second intake in June for students who would like to join and this will be advertised in the Daily Notices before then.

We have our Health and Safety and First Aid courses being held as follows:
Health and Safety - 18 February 2010 (off site)
First Aid - 25 and 26 February 2010 (on site)

Our Gateway Broker is commencing to find workplacements for the students and all students should be out on work experience by the end of March in their chosen area. Our work experience days are Wednesday or Friday.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to call our Faculty on 938 3224 Extension 7102.

Virginia Wilson,
HOF Careers and Transition

STAFF NEWS

New Staff

We have a number of new staff starting this year, all of whom were noted in the last newsletter of 2009, except for Tanya Graham, who joined our English Faculty this week. Tanya returns to New Zealand after teaching for the past three years in the United Kingdom.

Neil Leslie ICT	Aisea Masila Mathematics	Corrin Vedder English
Suzanne Meijer English	Tanya Graham English	Kimarina Leach Mathematics
Jennifer Wright English	Virginia Wilson HoF Careers

Congratulations to Cherie Holmes (Specialist Classroom Teacher, currently on maternity leave) who had a baby girl, Paige, on 20 January.

Katrina Hudson has been appointed the new Head of Faculty English and Languages, replacing Angela Sellwood, and Lauren Percy has been promoted to the position of Assistant Head of Faculty English. Congratulations Lauren and Katrina.

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Senior Leadership Team 2010

You may be aware that our Principal, Rob Mill, is working in the United Arab Emirates – specifically, at a boys’ school in Al Ain, to improve teaching and learning there. The Board of Trustees has given Rob a year’s leave, in recognition of the fact that Rob has a four-year contract in the Emirates, reviewable after the first year.

Accordingly, I am the Acting Principal for Terms 1-3 this year, (and Term 4 last year); and Chris Wood, who is our Head of Social Sciences, is Acting Deputy Principal in my place. Louise Berry will fill the role of Acting Head of Social Sciences. Rob will indicate in the middle of the year whether he will return at the end of his year’s leave; if not, there will be an appointments process to fill the Principal’s position.

Another of our current Deputy Principals, Gael Ashworth, has received a Study Leave award for 32 weeks, and her role will be filled by Melissa Denzler from 8 March.

Finally, we have decided to change our group’s title from a Senior Management Team to a Senior Leadership Team, to better reflect how we see our role in the High School.

The Senior Leadership Team:

Left to right: Melissa Denzler, Gael Ashworth, Martin Isberg, Martin Henry, Chris Wood, Janette Melrose

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

BOARD of TRUSTEES NEWS

Fundraising Committee

The Board of Trustees would like to set up a Fundraising Committee to help raise money for school equipment. This would allow us to buy items that would benefit students, which we could not afford otherwise.

If you are interested in being involved, or have any fundraising ideas please contact Hayley Lawrence (Board Secretary) on 938-3224 or email hayleyl@wainuiomatahigh.school.nz. The Fundraising Committee will be facilitated by Fleur McKean and Richard Hulse on behalf of the Board of Trustees.

Clearly the more ideas and the more people involved the greater the impact we can make. We look forward to your support.

Fleur McKean and Richard Hulse,
Board of Trustees

OTHER NEWS and NOTICES

The Phoenix 2009

The office still has a small number of last year’s school magazine, The Phoenix, for sale ($7.00).

Complaints Policy

If you are unhappy with something the school has or hasn't done we have a procedure to try and address this.

The Board of Trustees has a Complaints Policy which explains how parents can deal with any concerns they have. Complaints are taken seriously and most are able to be easily resolved, but in some cases matters are referred to the Board. The guidelines are:

1. Each year the Complaints Policy outlined below will be published.
2. All complaints will undergo the following procedures:
   • They will be referred, in the first instance, directly to the Principal (or BoT Chairperson if the Principal is the subject of the complaint),
   • The Principal or BoT Chairperson will examine the complaint and determine the next course of action,
   • At all times relevant parties will be informed of the progress of the complaint and its outcome and will be treated with dignity and respect,
   • At all times complaints, their nature and the parties involved, will be confidential to those directly involved,
   • Should any party not be satisfied as to the outcome of their complaint then they should be informed of their right to contact the Board of Trustees which will then deal with the matter in closed sessions or contact the Ministry of Education.

Learning Conferences

Staff and students are starting to prepare themselves for Learning Conferences with parents on 25-26 March.

Form teachers will meet with each parent and their son or daughter for a 20 minute discussion.

This will include students discussing their goals, short term and long term, with their parents, showing them a portfolio of some of the work they have produced so far this year, as well as their progress report, attendance report and NCEA or Literacy results to date.

Parents will receive their appointment time in the next couple of weeks.

Janette Melrose,
Deputy Principal

2010 Junior Awards

This year we are trialling a new award into the High School, in Years 9 and 10, whereby two students (a boy and a girl) from each Form Class are named as follows:

Term 1: Most Diligent Students
Term 2: Most Improved Students
Term 3: Most Valuable Students

Certificates will be awarded at Assembly and names will be published in the Newsletter.

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Sniffer Dogs

Because of concerns around the availability of marijuana in the community the Board of Trustees has asked if Police drug sniffer dogs can visit the High School – as takes place at a number of other secondary schools in the region.

This has been arranged, and will take place some time in the next 2-4 weeks, as well as at an unannounced time in Terms 2-4.

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Uniform Standards

We are concerned at how a few students present themselves when out of school, and give a poor impression of the High School by smoking in uniform (e.g. at the Mall), and wearing non-uniform items (we enforce our uniform code thoroughly within the school, but the standard drops outside, especially when students are walking home).

I have talked about pride in the High School, and the need for our students to be positive ambassadors, particularly when travelling to and from school; your support in this is appreciated.

Martin Isberg,
Acting Principal

Victoria University News

The following information was received from Victoria University and should be of particular interest to our senior students considering tertiary education in the next couple of years:

Admission to Victoria University of Wellington from 2011

Victoria University, along with all other universities, has to look at ways of managing enrolments because of policies to cap the number of funded places for domestic students in tertiary education.

To enable us to manage our enrolments, should we have more first-year applications than places available, Victoria has decided to adopt a ranking system for new students.

We expect that most of our applicants will be accepted into a programme. The system just means that if we are oversubscribed we are able to place some limits on the number accepted. There will be provisions to ensure that we meet our equity objectives and develop sound pathways to degree study at Victoria for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

For students applying with NCEA the rank score will be based on the 80 best credits at Level 3 or higher, over a maximum of 5 subjects, with a maximum of 24 credits in each subject, and weighted by the level of achievement (Excellence = 4, Merit = 3, Achieved = 2). CIE and IB will also be ranked. Students will also always need to gain University Entrance. We will establish a Guaranteed Entry Score, which will mean that every student who has applied by the due date, and achieves that score, will automatically be confirmed into their programme when their results are released from NZQA in mid-January. Those students whose results fall below the rank score, but who do achieve University Entrance, will be waitlisted and approved into a programme so long as there are places available.

Susan Harper,
Victoria University
Susan.harper@vuw.ac.nz

COMING EVENTS

February 2010 Newsletter, online 1 March, as the printed version was being delivered.  News and views from our Principal, staff and students.  The words were processed by Hayley Lawrence.  Editing, HTML and publishing by Clive Grainger.

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©Clive Grainger 2010