Term 1 - Week 2

Tēnā koutou

What a stunning week of weather in our beautiful town! I hope, in some way, you have been able to get out and enjoy the summer so far.

On Thursday this week we held our first whole school assembly for the year.  Having all of our students together in one place is a great way to set the tone for the year ahead.  As part of the assembly we were able to announce our House Leaders for 2024.  Congratulations to all of the students who were successful in gaining the roles below:
Ngauruhoe House Leaders
Mani Ngata, Keiran Hutchinson, Ruby Watts,Gabby Donald
Tauhara House Leaders
Cassidy Rickus, Luke Insley, Noah Kemp,Jacinta Rice
Ruapehu House Leaders
Joe Brown, Ryan Lloyd, Isabella McGeough, Chloe Strange
Tongariro House Leaders
Jamie Gamble, Maddie Smillie, Paora Williams, Luella Jenson
We are blessed with an outstanding group of Year 13 students in 2024, and some amazing humans were unfortunate to miss out on these roles.

During assembly we were also able to reinforce our rebranded school values to take us into the future.  The three values below connect to the tupuna (ancestor) our school is named after.  His name is Tia.  Tia embodied the values of whakapono, wero, and manaakitanga.  A brief description of each value in english is below:
Whakapono – is about reflecting honesty and integrity in all that you do
Wero – is about showing courage and bravery in all school-related activities, and challenging yourself and others around you to be your best
Manaakitanga – is about respecting and supporting everyone around you, working well with others, and showing care and a sense of duty for others and the environment

The new government requirement for cell phones to be ‘off and away for the day’, has, largely, been well received by our students.   I have been impressed at how quickly most of the students have adjusted to this new requirement.

Last year we reviewed our Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) systems in order to keep our students and staff safe, and keep up with best practice. Boards and principals are required to have a robust EOTC management policy, and procedures which are effective. As part of the review we have made a number of changes, notably our consent forms. 
We have moved to an online system for parent/caregiver consent which ultimately will save a lot of time and effort. There are three different types of consent forms and once you have filled in each form at least once, they will be pre-populated with your information for ease of use next time. We understand there have been a few technological issues and we thank you for your patience while we try to quickly iron these out. 
The three types of consent forms we are using are:

1. Blanket Consent- this covers your child for an entire school year when participating in local community based events. You will still be notified about such events that fall within this category. This will be required for every student attending school. 
2. EOTC Consent (with water activities)
3. EOTC Consent (no water activities)
Consent forms 2 and 3 are used when an event involves risk exposure greater than what would typically be the case at school, further consent will be required. This includes:

• adventurous activities or 
• hazardous environments or 
• the event is outside of our township or 
• continues overnight.

If you are still struggling with completing these forms, please contact your child’s Whānau teacher.

Other important panui/notices below:
Bring Your Own Device
We are a bring your own device (laptop) school.  We encourage each student to bring their laptop to school with them every day, charged, and with their charger.  Last year we were able to provide long-term laptops to students who were unable to obtain a laptop themselves.  Shortly, we will begin the process of completing an audit to see who may need long-term loan laptops again in 2024.

YEAR 9 BBQ
Our annual Year 9 student/parent BBQ is on Tuesday 13 February, between 4:00pm and 6:00pm. We would love to see you there. This is a great opportunity for parents to meet your child's teachers and put a face to a name.
Our sports coordinator will also be available to answer any questions regarding sport at the college and coaching opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to sign up for a sports team on this afternoon as well.

YEAR  9 NOHO
All of our new Year 9 students are invited to attend a Year 9 Noho sleepover in our school Marae. The purpose of this sleepover is to help build relationships with house and whanau groups and also a sense of Whanaungatanga and connectedness to our College.  Both Whanau classes from each house will join together and stay one night at our school Marae.
Below is the weekly schedule where you will see which night your whanau class will be staying at the school Marae.
Your child has been given a permission form for this event. Please sign it and return it to us.

Ngā mihi

Ben Claxton
PRINCIPAL

                                       Sporting News

Coaches wanted!
We are on the lookout for sporting coaches to join our Taupo-nui-a-Tia College whanau.
We are after Netball, Football and Basketball coaches.
Are you passionate about working with youth and enjoy sports?
You don't need to have experience, we will guide you along the way.
Email your expression of interest to [email protected] 

Taupo-Nui-A-Tia CACTUS 2024

Are you ready to kick start your Taupo-Nui-A-Tia college year with a bang! CACTUS will be returning to Nui for Term 1, starting the 19th of February. On Monday, February 5, 2024, applications will be open for the years 10, 11, and 12, and we kindly ask that you all check your emails for the link that will be distributed on Monday so you can start applying!   For more info about this please check out our website www.taupobluelight.co.nz and Facebook www.facebook.com/BlueLightTaupo

We are always looking for welcoming families to host our International students. 
Currently we are urgently looking for a homestay family with college aged kids for a humble and kind 16 yo female German student, who has come to our school to finish NCEA.
Preferably , the family lives at walking distance from school ( up to 40 minutes). The student loves being creative and is also involved in sports. Weekly allowance to host this student is $290 p/w.
You will become part of our homestay community and you can rely on 24/7 support from our department.
 
We also are interested to get in contact with homestay families who will be able to host a student from July 2024. We have multiple students arriving. Some will stay till December and others are staying for a full year. We have boys and girls, and will always take your preference into account. 
All those students are coming to NZ to experience the beauty of our country and the people who live here.
We are looking for homestays, who can be a second family for those students. Who will be able to engage them in their life. The students will need a room for themselves and of course they will have meals with you. The weekly allowance from January 2024 will be $290 per week. We can place two students from a different background in one family, if you can offer two rooms,  but won’t be able to place two students with the same nationality  in one family.
Before we will accept you, the school will visit you at your home and to talk about many practical aspects of hosting a student. We also will undertake a police vet check for core caregivers.
During the students stay you can rely on full 24/7 support from the school, to ensure a pleasant stay.
For more information, please get in touch with Aniek Lenoir on [email protected]. 
We will be able to send you an information package, and will follow up with a phone call.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support.
With their support we are able to reward the outstanding
effort and achievements of our students.