Term 1 - Week 6

Tēnā koutou

I have been thinking a lot about routines lately.  I am a person who thrives on routines - unashamedly so!  My alarm goes off at the same time each weekday morning, my work clothes are laid out the night before, I make the lunches for me and my kids the night before. The routines in my life mean I am able to cope with the unexpected when it occurs.

Routines also work really well for most teenagers.  Our teachers are encouraged to create positive, predictable environments for their students.  We explicitly teach our students what we expect of them, in and outside the classroom, related to our three values of Whakapono, Wero, and Manaakitanga.  The routines that we teach are designed to help students as they move from classroom to classroom and in break times. Our wero to you as whānau is to encourage these routines at home with your children e.g. have those alarms set for the morning, have their lunch or their lunch money ready, be on time for school, have their laptop charged and other stationery in their bag ready to go etc.  These routines will all help us as we try to shape and mould our children of the future.

Our Whānau Day is next Wednesday 13 March.  We would love to see the whānau of all our students on Wednesday.  It is a great opportunity to complete some mutual goal setting with your child(ren) and their whānau teacher(s), and also reflect on how the year has started.  Bookings can be made by logging into our website here https://www.taupocollege.ac.nz/ 

Athletics Finals Day 
What an awesome day for all competitors. Lots of very keen competition. Below are our school champions for this year. House points yet to be calculated. 

ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS 2024
Junior Girls:                   
1st – Haidee Milne (9Tg1)
2nd – Isa Green-Camargo (9Ru2)
3rd – Carly Arnold (10Ru1)
Junior Boys:                   
1st – Samuel Turner (10Ng2)
2nd – Chris Walker (10Ru2)
3rd = Taika Rose-Dunn (9Tg2)
3rd = Tai Te Awa (9Ru2)
Intermediate Girls:       
1st – Alex Milne (12Tg1)
2nd – Makenna Giles (10Ng2)
3rd – Pipi Hunter (10Ru1)
Intermediate Boys:       
1st – Dante Minhinnick (10Ta1)
2nd – William Mortimer (11Ru2)
3rd – Harri Prestney (11Ru1)
Senior Girls:
1st – Kamaia Minhinnick (13Ta)
2nd – Amelie Wood (13Ta)
3rd – Leah Kilmister (12Ta2)
Senior Boys:                 
1st = Jack Hopkins (13Ng)
1st = Joe Brown (13Ru)
3rd – Ryan Lloyd (13Ru)

RECORDS BROKEN
Zene Erasmus – Junior Girls Javelin 26.18m
(broken Betty Fotu’s record of 24.80m (500g) set  in 2017)

William Mortimer – Int Boys High Jump 1.73m
(broken R Yerex’s record of 1.72m set in 2008)

Kamaia Minhinnick – Snr Girls Shotput 12.21
(broken Betty Fotu’s record of 10.82m (3kg) set in 2021)

Kamaia Minhinnick – Snr Girls Javelin 32.40m
(broken Delany Rihari’s record of 24.16m (500g)set  in 2015)

Other important panui are 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.  We have begun the process of collecting information about which students will be eligible for a long-term loan laptop.  These laptops will be distributed within the next week.

New skirt
Starting from Term 2, 2024, we are excited to announce the addition of a straight-style skirt, alongside our current skirt, which is available for purchase via our website, as part of our school uniform options. With the introduction of this new skirt, the older style straight skirt, which has not been available for over six years, will no longer be a part of our uniform. From Term 3, 2024, it will be considered a non-uniform item.  The new straight-style skirt is not currently listed on the Argyle website.
We want to highlight that Year 12 students who currently own the older style straight skirt will be exempt from this change. We understand that requiring them to purchase a new skirt for just two terms would be unfair. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we strive to enhance and update our uniform options to better suit the preferences and needs of our students.

Ngā mihi

Ben Claxton
PRINCIPAL

                                               Careers Information

Thinking about university?
University information sessions for students start on 11 March. These visits are a great way to help students with how and when to enrol in courses for their undergraduate programme. Sessions will be in D16 at lunchtime – 12.50pm to 1.40pm.
11 March – University of Waikato
14 March – University of Canterbury
15 March – Massey University
25 March – Victoria University (Wellington)
28 March – Lincoln University
11 April – University of Otago

                                      Sporting News

Upcoming Taupo-nui-a-Tia College Sporting Musters:
Girls Rugby- Friday 8th March 3:30pm at school
Girls Football- Monday 11th March 3:30pm at school
Girls Senior Basketball- Monday 11th March 3:30pm in the school gym
 
Upcoming events:
BOPSS Senior Volleyball Champs- Friday 8th- 9th March- Tauranga 
BOPSS Swimming Champs- Wednesday 13th March, Tauranga 
Central Plateau Gymkhana- Wednesday 13th March, Taupo
WaiBOP XC Mountain Biking- Thursday March 14th, Te Miro 

We are always looking for welcoming families to host our International students. 
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.