Waitakere College News

Newsletter Issue 31

Base Camp and Beyond

Week three begins with our Senior Prizegiving Celebration on Tuesday evening and culminates with the formal sign-out for Years 13, 12 and some Year 11 students so they can begin NZQA external assessments from Nov 5 - Nov 29.
It is the senior focus window of the year where the last 5, 4 or 3 years of academic study is measured on a national scale providing an educational legacy students can carry with them in their lifelong learning journey.
If Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had Mt Everest as the beginning of their lifelong successes then NCEA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 are equivalent to what our mountaineers call the first real test of success in any expedition, Base Camp. For our students, NCEA is Base Camp on their student journey of lifelong learning. A crucial stage of achievement and completion in preparation for the specific skills needed for tertiary study and apprenticeship, high-end trade careers.

Congratulations to the Young Enterprise (YES) students who made the YES finals held at the University of Auckland. To have 4 finalists and 2 outstanding winners as individuals or teams reflects the natural entrepreneurial talent and hard work that exists here at the College.
Congratulations to our students, family, whānau and aiga who were part of our Mana Māori and Pasifika Awards evenings also held this week. A magic celebration of talent and hard working students.

Ngā mihi

Mark P Shanahan