Onehunga High School News

Tēnā koutou, ki te whānau o Onehunga High School

As we reach the end of Term 2 and look forward to a well-deserved two-week break, I am immensely proud of the progress our students have made and how they conduct themselves daily with kindness and respect. Their strong focus on learning, coupled with the uptake of available support and close academic tracking, has resulted in significant academic achievements. Our end-of-term assembly was a shining example of our school living by its values. The student-led event, filled the room with pride. We celebrated our students' academic successes, cultural capabilities, and their commitment to the core values of loyalty and courage, demonstrated by the numerous LAC Badges awarded.

Additionally, Nga reo rau o te Haerenga (our Māori Committee) met last week to share and strengthen current initiatives supporting our Māori students to succeed as Māori. Last week's Matariki celebrations were a highlight, enjoyed by all. More importantly, they provided an invaluable learning opportunity, deepening our understanding of Tikanga Māori .

There are many notable highlights across the past fortnight:

Staff vs Student debate on the resolution that, ‘we are living in a dystopian world’. The staff team refuting the statement was, Mr Elliot Moka, Mrs Anne Younger and Mr Shane Burton. On the Affirmative side for the students was Cleo Milne, Ja-bez Halasima and William Scott. A well argued and entertaining debate!
Level 2 Business students trip to Wellington. Students had the chance to visit Parliament and a number of places including, MBIE, the Reserve Bank, ANZ trading room, the Commerce Commission and the University of Victoria, Business and Law schools.
A week of Matariki celebrations. Led by Matua Anthony Keung, the Whānau class and the Kapa haka group, we enjoyed a week of entertainment and learning, culminating in a fantastic shared lunch in the sunshine.
Level 3 Chemistry 100% of students in the Level 3 Chemistry class achieved the Electro-Chemistry REDOX internal! A fantastic effort. Well done!
Congratulations Xavier White. Xavier has been named in the New Zealand school team to compete for the Southern Cross orienteering challenge in Australia in October.
Sports: The Junior A Boys’ Football team remain unbeaten; they have won all 6 games they have played. The Junior A Girls’ Football team are top of the table. They have played 7 and won 7! The Rugby Girls’ 10’s continue with their winning streak, posting big wins against their oppositions.
TheatreSports, OHS secured a win against the competition leaders St Kents and Auckland Grammar this week.

Looking ahead, Term 3 will begin with our second Open Day for the 2025 cohort on 24 July, followed by the Senior Drama Production of Little Women, which will run for four nights during the same week. On August 1 and 2, we will hold our annual 3-Way Conferences. This is an important opportunity to discuss your child's academic progress to date and collaborate on future steps to ensure successful academic outcomes. We are hosting the Careers Pathway Evening on August 7. The evening is to support students' with their subject selections and tertiary pathways for 2025. The Business School Night Market will also take place on the same evening, showcasing student made entrepreneurial products.

We look forward to these exciting events and the continued success of our students in Term 3.

I wish everyone a restful and rejuvenating break.

Shameen Hayat
PRINCIPAL

Key Dates

17-19 July - Term break Workshops for Level 1 students
18 July - Term break workshop for Technology students
22 July - Term 3 begins and Option Selection (for 2025) starts
23-26 July - OHS Drama Production - Little Women
24 July - Open Evening 3.30-6.30pm
30 July - Community Education classes start for Term 3
1 & 2 August - Three-way conversations
7 August - Pathways Evening (subject selection) & Night Market 3pm - 6.30pm
9 August - Diversity Day (Cultural Council)
19 August - Start of Tongan Language week
17-19 Sept - CAA assessments
20 Sept - Senior Exam week begins

School Board News

For the Board of Trustees, it has been encouraging to see OHS make such good strides against our strategic goals during Term 2.

High Aspirations (strategic goal 1) – our teachers were privileged to collaborate with Professor Russell Bishop, a leading and thought-provoking academic, on raising achievement for all learners, in particular Māori achievement. The Senior Leadership Team continued their work with Dr Linda Bendikson with a focus on raising NCEA level 1 results.
Self-Review (strategic goal 2) – NCEA achievement in all learning areas is being tracked and reported. The Board receives a forecast of NCEA achievement results at least once a term. There has been continued development and embedding of a consistent early intervention process for students at risk of not passing NCEA.
Student Engagement and Wellbeing (strategic goal 3) – there has been development of resources for the explicit teaching of the OHS learning culture values in Years 9 and 10. The focus of this term was Resilience, with discussions around why resilience is important and how we can show it, regularly being heard in classrooms and the theme of whole school assemblies.
Partnerships and Connections (strategic goal 4) – the start of this year saw our Pasifika Committee formed, including parents, board members, staff, and students. This term the committee met, and a number of initiatives were actioned and the vision and aims of the committee developed. Nga reo rau o te Haerenga (Maori Committee) which began last year, also met this term, and continued to work on their initiatives. The initiatives and work of the committees has been reported on through school news.

Property has been a big focus for The Board this year and next term will see us embark on a master plan, encompassing a long-term vision for the school and will inform short- and medium-term priorities. We are currently working with the Ministry of Education on plans for a comprehensive refurbishment of ABC block (the older block in the middle of the school). It has been exciting and fulfilling to see the installation of state-of-the-art AV equipment and curtains in the refurbished hall space, in time for the senior drama production, Little Women, in Term 3.

For further details regarding our strategic plan see https://www.ohs.school.nz/about-ohs/strategic-plan-policies

Onehunga Board of Trustees

Recent News

Business Students' Busy In Wellington.

The HOD of Business, Mrs Ng, Level 2 teacher of Economics Mrs Younger, Mr Andrei Colquhoun and nineteen Level 2 Business students returned from a two day trip to Wellington last Friday night.

Pūhoro STEMM Academy.

A group of OHS students attended a Wānanga at the AUT southern campus yesterday, as part of the Pūhoro STEM Academy.

JULY 3 - OHS THEATRESPORTS

Come along on Wednesday 3 July at 6pm to support the OHS Theatresports team. A great night of laughter brought to you by the Threatresports Youth Programme.

And the Winner Is!

OHS Theatresports players' delighted the home crowd of excited supporters with a win against some formidable opponents in their latest match. The very proud teacher in charge Ms Abbie Parsons writes:

CELEBRATING MATARIKI

Ka mahuta a Matariki i te pae, ka mahuta ō tātou tūmanako ki te tau. When Matariki rises above the horizon, our aspirations rise to the year ahead.

Roof Shout Celebrates House Build Progress.

The ‘roof shout’ is a tradition on building sites in New Zealand and has become an event to look forward to at OHS, thanks in part, to the plentiful, delicious baking done for the occasion by the wonderful Mrs Maureen Meyer.

Bluetooth Speaker Project Captures Student Interest.

Few of the Year 10 Product Design students imagined that they could make their own bluetooth speaker yet they all have.

Pewter Pendants Impress.

Product Design for many of our Year 9 students is an unfamiliar subject. It is more challenging than they may have anticipated, however, for those students who persist and learn the new skills required, they take home products they can be proud of. Students are given a design brief and specifications…

Go Well Mr Eastwood!

After 35 years of service at OHS Mr David Eastwood will spend next term on sabbatical.

Kaleidoscope of Talent On Display.

Huge thanks to the Arts Council for their organisation of the recent school Talent Quest.

Assembly Celebrates Success.

The last full school assembly for the term was held on Thursday to celebrate the achievements of many of our students in a number of areas.

Matariki 2024

Thank you to Matua Keung, the OHS Kapa haka group and the whānau class for their presentations on Matariki and the activities they organised this week to honour the Māori New Year and promote cultural awareness at OHS.

You Either Love It Or Hate It.

Marmite and Vegemite are yeast based spreads that people either love or hate. Marmite is made by Sanitarium in their factory less than a kilometre from the school.

SchoolPoint for Subject Selection

This year we are introducing SchoolPoint for students to select their subjects for 2025. This is an online platform for exploring the available subjects and then students can make their selections. Caregivers can be a part of this process and they can see all the subjects as well as what thier child selects for their subjects.

TIMELINE FOR SUBJECT SELECTION

Friday 5th July - Available subjects for 2025 go live for students & whānau to see via School Point - See slides for instructions
Holidays 6th – 21st July - Take some time to explore all the subjects to prepare for subject selection in Week 1, Term 3
Monday 22nd July - Y9/10 assembly to go through steps on how to make student subject selections
Tuesday 23rd July - Y11/12 assembly to go through steps on how to make student subject selections
Weds 24th July - Students can start selecting their subjects online
Weds 7th August - Career Pathway Evening for students & whānau to explore more information about the courses (3-6.30pm)
Weds 14th August, 4pm - Subject selections closed. Students & whānau can still view the subjects but they won’t be able to select. Students can see their Dean if they want to change their subject selection.

Adult Education

Term 2 has been a very busy one in our Adult Learning Centre with an amazing array of things learned, made and cooked.

Term 3 classes begin on July 29th. We have several new courses and a great range of Saturday workshops that may interest you. Browse www.adultlearn.co.nz or email us at [email protected] to learn more.

Careers

A number of Year 12 students recently participated in the Catalyst programme at the University of Auckland. Catalyst aims to connect students with the university's research institutes and help them understand how tertiary education contributes to research breakthroughs and pioneering achievements. Students heard from the Space Institute and the Centre for Cancer Research alongside hands-on experiences such as a computational chemistry lab. A highlight was learning about advancements in 3-D printing - from creating replica body parts for surgical planning to producing musical instruments indistinguishable from their traditional counterparts!

COMMUNITY NOTICE

As part of the of the ongoing work at Onehunga High School, the Ministry of Education is demolishing one of the old classrooms on the land above the carpark at the top of the school. Mutual Demolition, a licensed asbestos removal company will be undertaking this work. This is expected to start 6/7/2024 and it will take approximately 3-4 days.
WorkSafe NZ has been notified that this licensed asbestos removal work is to be undertaken. Onehunga High School has been consulted about the nature and timing of this work, together with the strict safety measures that will be used to ensure everyone’s safety. The risk assessment that has been done by the Contractor and removal specialist indicate that there is a very low risk to these works. The following safety measures will be maintained for the duration of this part of the project:

All work will occur within the construction zone that is not accessible to students or staff. The immediate work area will be screened off from the rest of the construction site.
To prevent dust, the soil will be wetted down throughout the process – all material removed will be sealed before leaving site.
Air monitoring at the work site boundary will be place for the duration of the work.
An independent party will carry out an inspection of the site on completion of the work, and issue a clearance certificate.

If you have any questions or concerns about the removal, please contact us at school on 09 636 6006.

OHS Property Team