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Tēnā koutou, ki te whānau o Onehunga High School
It was great to see students and parents actively participating in the process of making informed decisions about academic pathways at the inaugural Careers and Subject Selection Evening. This event highlighted the importance of thoughtful planning for the future, both at OHS and beyond. Making informed subject choices helps students align their studies with their interests and goals, setting a solid foundation for their academic journey and future career paths.
At the same event, the Business School brought us the Night Market. It was a valuable opportunity to showcase our students' entrepreneurial skills and creativity. The event allowed students to present their well-crafted products, demonstrating real-world applications of their learning. It was gratifying to see the enthusiasm and dedication that went into each project, reflecting the innovative spirit that thrives within our school community.
With just five weeks until Senior Exams begin, encouraging your child to establish good study habits can make a positive difference. While we have many support initiatives to ensure all students achieve successful outcomes, attending school every day and on time is fundamental for success. Please see the website for support initiatives: https://www.ohs.school.nz/curriculum-learning/subject-support.
There have been many notable highlights over the past fortnight:
- The OHS Theatresports team had an impressive win, beating St Kentigern, Mount Albert Grammar, and Avondale College. They will perform in the semi-finals!
- After a fantastic season, the Girls' Rugby 10s will play in the final of the competition on Monday at 4:15 PM at Orakei Basin. We will be there to cheer you on.
- Well done to our Junior A XI for making it to the 14th Grade A2 Central East grand final this Saturday. We are hosting the final and look forward to a supportive home crowd.
- Congratulations to Year 11 student Tonga Fakatava, who is Captain of the Auckland Netball U16 2s team and was named MVP.
- The OHS Spoken Word team is performing in the semi-finals of the competition this Saturday, 17th August, at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre.
- Year 13 Physical Education students, Ms. Cheshire and Mr. Gallardo, raced in the 6km Mud Run with 1,000 runners from Auckland schools.
- Year 13 students Shaila Buenaventura and Chloe Mercurio attended the ‘Dreaming Big’ conference and were inspired by some of this country's most successful business leaders.
This week, we celebrated Diversity Week. At the whole-school assembly, I spoke about the value of embracing and celebrating diversity. Our varied backgrounds contribute to our individuality, while our shared school values create a strong common foundation. It was wonderful to see the whole school wearing their cultural dress with such joy and pride. The day was a vibrant celebration of all of our sixty cultural backgrounds.
Have a great weekend.
Shameen Hayat
PRINCIPAL | |  |
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Key Dates - 19 August – Level 3 Tourism Trip to Rangiriri
- 19-23 August - Tongan Language Week
- 24 August 10.00am-2.00pm In-Zone Enrolment Interviews for 2025 cohort (no need to book)
- 27 August- Canapés Evening
- 29 August 9.00am-8.00pm In-Zone Enrolment Interviews for 2025 cohort (no need to book)
- 12 September - Graduation Gala Concert (Year 13 Music) - 6pm
- 17-19 September - NZQA Common Assessments (CAA exams for Years 10 & 11)
- 20 - 26 September - Senior End of Year Exams (Years 11, 12 & 13)
- 26 September - Last day of Term 3
- 27 September - Teacher Only Day
From the OHS Board of TrusteesThe school’s WAKA value focus in Term 3 is integrity – it provides an excellent opportunity for our students to reflect on what integrity means both in their academic work and their interactions with other people. The Board of Trustees fully backs a school culture which holds our students to the highest standards in maintaining their own mana and that of their peers and teachers. It is encouraging for us to recognise our entire school community is united in the desire to maintain a safe and supportive school environment.
This term the Board begins a major project, working with an architectural firm to create a long-term property master plan for OHS. This will involve detailed investigations of the entire school grounds and buildings, assessing current school needs and priorities and projections for future needs, which will provide a comprehensive framework for us to plan, and budget for, the long-term development of OHS. This is an exciting opportunity for those of us on the Board to make an impact on the future of this special school.
The Board has also recently created a Sports Committee, which will focus on developing sporting excellence at OHS. The committee is drawing on our community resources and connections to shape expansion and progress of current and new sporting codes at OHS, engage experience and expertise, and shape the strategic direction of sports at OHS.
As a Board we receive regular updates on achievement rates throughout the year and it is immensely fulfilling to see how our newly developing ‘self-review’ processes (strategic goal number 2) are making such a difference. Detailed tracking of academic achievement across each year level is enabling early intervention, adjustments and scaffolding for those students who are not on target. Our first strategic goal is ‘high aspirations’ – we believe every single student should be given the opportunity to achieve their full potential. As senior students begin to focus on preparation for their derived grade exams at the end of this term, we look forward to seeing our OHS students reaching higher and higher.
For further details regarding our strategic plan see https://www.ohs.school.nz/about-ohs/strategic-plan-policies. Sporting NewsThe winter season competitions are starting to wind down for our OHS teams, as some of the squads switch their attention to tournament week preparations.
Our Boys' basketball teams have much to be proud of. Our Senior Boys finished 4th in the Central West Top 6, demonstrating resilience and determination throughout the season. The U17 Boys' finished 3rd in their competition. The Junior A team achieved a commendable 2nd place in the Central West B division, while the Junior B team also secured 2nd place in the Central West D division. These results reflect the hard work and dedication of our players and coaches, and we celebrate their efforts and achievements this season. Thank you to the coaches and managers of these teams, in particular, Mr. Anthony Keung, Mr. Elliot Moka, former student Mr Ray Lavea, and Ms. Brenda Dwane.
The Senior Girls' Basketball team had a very successful season finishing 2nd and as a result played in the Greater Auckland tournament for the top 8 teams. They finished a very creditable 3rd in this tournament. Our basketball team members are young and there is a lot of up and coming talent with plenty of potential for future growth. We look forward to another excellent season next year!
We have had a number of great successes across the wide range of sports and we are incredibly proud of our OHS sports teams.
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
College Sport Road Race Championships:
Onehunga High School runners had a good showing at the recent Championships held at Bruce Pulman Park. It was prime conditions for running which made for some quick times across all the grades. Lisa Hellyer was able to take top spot in the competitive Intermediate Girls’ grade. Well done to all our runners on the day.
Junior Boys 4km:
47th Xavier White 16:04min
Intermediate Girls 4km:
1st Lisa Hellyer 13:38min
10th Sarah Hellyer 14:27min
Intermediate Boys 4km:
34th Reese Kilpatrick 13:46min.
Boys’ 1st XV Rugby:
The First XV will be playing Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in the 1B Plate semi-finals on Saturday 17 August at SEHC. The last game was a tight affair in the round robin of Pool B with OHS taking a narrow 15-12 win. The team is almost back to full strength with several players recovering from injuries.
1B Plate Semi-final: Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate Saturday 17 August
Sir Edmund Hillary vs Onehunga High School 12:00pm
Girls 10s Rugby:
The Girls 10s are off to the ARU Girls Rugby Finals Day after a hard fought 32-20 win in their semi-final vs St Mary’s College on Monday 12 August. St Mary’s College provided a vastly different challenge to the others team OHS had played in pool play, but we were able to weather the storm and come out on the right side of the ledger.
ARU Girls Rugby Finals Day: Orakei Domain Monday 19 August
Girls 10s: Otahuhu College vs Onehunga High School 4:00pm
Girls 1st XV: Howick College vs Auckland Girls’ Grammar 5:00pm
Girls Football:
Girls Premier 1st XI claimed a 2-0 win over Pakuranga College and will be playing off for 5th in the APC. Our Premier Girls will be facing either Marist College or St Cuthbert’s in their final.
Junior Girls 2nd XI have finished 3rd in the Central Junior B grade thanks to a 2-2 draw vs Baradene B.
Boys Football:
Our Junior Boys A XI will be hosting the 14th grade A2 Central East grand final on Saturday vs Pakuranga College Academy after a convincing semi-final win over St Kentigern Blue 4-1 last weekend. This game will be a cracker as the round robin game finished in a 2-2 draw at the start of the term.
14th grade A2 Central East Final: Onehunga High School Saturday 17 August
Onehunga High School vs Pakuranga College Academy 9:00am
Our 1st XI has had a strong start to Term 3 coming away with 2 wins with a combined score of 10-4 across the matches. The team is looking to finish their campaign strong as they prepare for the Rex Dawkins Tournament in Napier during tournament week.
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Girls' Rugby 10s' into Finals!
Congratulations to our Girls' Rugby 10s' team who played St Mary’s in the semi-finals in a home game last night and won 32-20. | |  |
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Health Science Academy Fono for University Scholarships
Our recent Health Science Academy Fono held on Wednesday the 14th of August was well attended by our students and families. | |  |
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Shaila and Chloe are Dreaming Big.
Shaila Buenaventura and Chloe Mercurio represented OHS at the 'Dreaming Big' conference at the Fonterra Centre, organised by leading NZ business women especially for Year 13 girls. | |  |
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Congratulations Mr. Collins!
We would like to congratulate OHS Director of Sport Mr. Scott Collins, who has been appointed as Forwards Coach for the senior women’s North Harbour Rugby team. | |  |
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You Need to Be Tough for the Mud Run!
Not for the faint hearted, the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge, held at the Kumeu Showgrounds is a grueling 6 km mud run. Competitors run through mud, over and under obstacles as fast as they can. | |  |
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Tonga Fakatava- What a Talent!
Year 11 student, Tonga Fakatava is multi-talented. Tonga has just been named MVP by Auckland Netball. Tonga is the Vice Captain of the Auckland U16 2s team. | |  |
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Market Day Products Impress.
The Market Day organised by Ms Ng for senior Business students, provided an opportunity for students to fulfill the business plan requirements for NCEA and gave attendees a truly enjoyable experience. | |  |
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Careers Pathways Evening Success.
The Careers Pathways evening was a huge success with many of our students taking the opportunity to meet with tertiary providers and explore the options available to them. | |  |
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The Junior A Boys' Football Team Make Finals.
The Junior A Boys' Football team is a young team with some talented players. They have trained hard with their coach, Board Chair Mr. George Woodward. They remain undefeated in the 14A2 grade this season. We look forward to watching them develop as they move through the school. | |  |
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Diversity Week
This week has been Diversity Week at OHS. We have over 60 different nationalities represented among students and staff at OHS. | |  |
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CareersOur Year 13 students have been busy preparing for university. This week our Careers Advisor’s ‘Uni 102’ workshops addressed many questions about the new final year Fees Free policy and included tips for planning a degree programme as well as applying for student loans and allowances.
Throughout August, liaison staff from Auckland University, AUT, Victoria University and Otago University are offering lunchtime workshops to give students a taste of what to expect from different degree programmes and how to make the most of their university experience in 2025.
Highly recommended to all our senior students are the upcoming Open Days at AUT and the University of Auckland on Saturday 24 August.
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