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Āhuatanga Whangaparāoa
Learners have been learning about two of our key āhua (characters/values) in their rōpū whānau this term.
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Manaakitanga encourages learners to have respect for themselves, their peers, teachers and the wider Whangaparāoa community. We expect positive behaviour to enable teachers to teach and learners to learn. Learners show manaakitanga by lifting the mana of others through care and kindness, and seeking opportunities to serve our school.
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Rangatiratanga encourages everyone to be a leader in their own unique way. When demonstrating this āhua, they strive to achieve personal excellence. They lead and support others to reach their potential. They are responsible and accountable for their actions, and perhaps most importantly, they persevere when things get tough.
“People need to be active, self-motivated, and engaged to exercise rangatiratanga.”
(Fitzpatrick et al, 2018)
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Study Skills
Year 12 & 13 Study Leave: Monday 19 to Wednesday 28 September.
Year 11: School exam and one day of study leave TBC.
School exams start in week 9 and many senior learners will be preparing for their NCEA exams in November while also completing portfolios or internal assessments. This is an important time and can be overwhelming for some. Having a plan to tackle this challenge can really help. Whether they think they need it or not, positive parent support can go a long way.
Taking pride in effort and goals is actually great for learner self-belief and overall hauora. This week’s Year 11-13 assemblies focused on the why & how of study. Learners have also been looking at rangatiratanga in rōpū whānau classes. Rangatiratanga encourages learners to be engaged, proactive and resilient in striving to reach their personal potential. As parents, we often encourage this in our children too!
How do I help my teen study?
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Create a study checklist: Ask your teen to be specific about the work they need to do and record this. Help them estimate the hours needed for each piece of work.
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Organise resources: What tools do they have? eg class notes, past exams, text books, practice essays.
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Create a plan: Help your teen organise their study and assignment time on paper or digitally on a Google Calendar. After blocking out time for sports, practice, jobs etc, add in blocks of study for each subject or topic from their checklist as in the image below. Or use a study planning app such as ‘Easy Study - Plan for School’.
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Study time & study breaks: Your teen cannot study 24/7. Sleep and balance are really important! How many hours a night can they realistically do? Do 45 minute study blocks work best? Do they have a friend who they study well with sometimes?
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Avoid distractions: Help your teen create a study space. Discuss the distractions they often have and the solutions they can create for these: eg put away the phone and turn off chat/social media pop-ups on laptop.
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Study actively: Learners must actively use the information to learn it. This means practising, retrieving and using knowledge and skills. Ask them to explain or teach you the content. Ask them to give you their study notes, practise tests or flashcards to quiz them in a fun way.
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Share in the pride: Encourage your teen to take pride in their efforts and to believe in themselves. Make sure you show them how proud of them you are for taking control of their life and future opportunities.
Helpful links: https://studyit.govt.nz/
The science of revision: nine ways pupils can revise for exams more effectively
Sports
Over the weekend of the 19-21 August, the Year 7/8 Waterpolo team competed in the Tim Sonderer Memorial Tournament at Sacred Heart College. They have been training all year to be prepared for the tournament, which was reflected in their performance and results. They went into the tournament with an amazing attitude and won all of the games in their pool. The playoff for Gold and Silver was against ANI Swordfish. This was the toughest game they have played so far, drawing 6-6 in the last minute. Unfortunately, they had to go to penalties, where they lost by one for a final score of 9-8 but still brought home Silver. A big thank you to all of the Student coaches named below for getting the team to the level it is at.
Isi Booth, Hannah Ploos Van Amstel, Emily Stout, Konstantinos Montes, Ella Pelikani and Theo Montes (Manager).
Senior Netball Team 1 took out the Senior A grade beating Westlake 3 in the final. The team is currently playing in the UNISS tournament where they have placed in the top 16 of the B grade.
Our Senior Netball Team 2 won the College 4 grade at Netball North Harbour beating Glenfield 1, 36-22 in the final. The team played a calm controlled game which showed in the final result.
It was a WGP v WGP in the Year 9/10 JBL Basketball finals last wek. Final score was 63-51 to our Year 10 Boys. Well done Boys.
EPro8 Engineering Challenge
The North Auckland Regional Heats of the EPro8 Engineering Challenge were held at Takapuna Grammar on 17 August. Whangaparāoa College fielded two teams, the WGP Lanthanides and WGP Actinides (named after sections of the periodic table of course!). They faced off against 10 other teams from the Auckland region including ACG Parnell, Henderson High School and Diocesan School for Girls.
The Actinides (Charlie Teviotdale, Jessica Menzie and Oliver Woolton) took an early lead with their "Magic Show" build, collecting a number of key points early. The team then struggled with the final criteria and so moved to another task but were overtaken by other teams.
The Lanthanides (Caleb Gardner, Zach Morgan, Aidan Titelman and Mason Wall) also hit a few challenges with their "Alarm Clock" task but persevered with advice from the EPro8 judge to complete the task and jump up the leaderboard.
After two and a half hours of building and trying to keep the workspace tidy the Lanthanides managed to hold on to second place and a spot in the semi-finals on the 6th of September at Diocesan School in Epsom.
Year 7 Auckland Museum Trip
This term the Year 7 classes visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Museum Educators supported our learning topic in English ‘Myths and Legends’ and ‘Cultural Identity’ in Social Science. We explored Pacific storytelling through objects, sound and movement.
Year 13 Biology Zoo Trip
The two Year 13 Biology classes went on their much-anticipated annual trip to Auckland Zoo on Friday 19 August. Despite it being an at-home learning day, the vast majority of the learners turned up excited about the day ahead.
On arrival at the Zoo, we were split into 2 groups, one of which had an interesting hour doing an interactive lesson on human evolution. Learners compared modern human and chimpanzee skulls and skeletons, put ancestral human skulls into chronological order, and hypothesised the uses of a variety of stone tools. The second group toured through Africa, refreshing memories about the behaviours and interrelationships of the various animals found there.
After the education sessions, we were free to roam around the Zoo, have a much needed coffee at the cafe and enjoy the many newly designed enclosures that cater to both the needs of the animals that live in them and to the people who come to visit them. Our learners, as usual, conducted themselves exceptionally well and it was a very quiet bus-ride back to school.
Market Day
The Year 11 Market Day has recently taken place here at Whangaparāoa College. The sun shone for us and there were queues far longer than we've seen before.
It was a great opportunity for our young Business Studies learners to plan their businesses and sell their products at school! There was lots learnt from the day and it was really exciting for all.
Congratulations to the following award winners:
Macy Breingan, Shyla Webster, Holly Gray and Maia Keenan for the Most Viable Market Day Stall. Selling candy floss for $2 (despite their teachers encouragement to sell higher!), these girls walked away with over $500 net profit.
Zachary Collier, Ruben Rangi, Terenze Tiau and Jai Chandra for the Best Stall. These Flying Boys sold a non-food item which is always risky, and did a fabulous job!
Brandon Robertson, Daniel Clague, Rory Gresty and Nicholas Bainov for the Most Innovative Market Day Stall. This group showed innovation through their promotion. Can you see Santa drawing crowds? That's them.
We appreciate all staff and learners who supported our young entrepreneurs and we're excited about what these learners will be able to do, in Business Studies, come Year 13.
EnviroGroup
If you are interested in the importance of reducing food waste, Ethically Kate’s Food Waste Challenge might be just for you. With a potential reward of a $500 voucher, the challenge is to come up with an innovative idea on how to reduce food waste at the college. Remember to register by 31 August, by emailing Mrs Sinclair at [email protected] More information can be found on the poster below.
In addition to promoting this initiative, the EnviroGroup has got up to more over the past few weeks. For one, we’ve gone back to the WGP Recycling Centre to make more worm bins out of old wheelie bins and the process is as interesting as ever. We’ve also kept up with our usual initiatives (weather permitting), such as gardening on Wednesdays after school, rubbish and weeding sprees on Thursdays after school, as well as our usual pest trap monitoring.
If any of these sound like activities you might be interested in helping out with, or if you’re generally interested in improving the school and community’s environment, then perhaps you should give us a try. We meet on Fridays during lunch in S2 and new members are always welcome!
That’s anyone from Year 7 to Year 13, and staff. An extra pair of hands is always appreciated.
Alumni
Ryan Mitchell
Class of 2012
I currently live in Queenstown and run a digital studio called Do Good Things. After school, I tried University out and it was not for me. I ran my first company for 5 years and made enough money to buy things that I thought were important, like cars, boats and other fancy things.
I sold my first business at 26 and moved to Queenstown after realising there was a lot more that life had to offer than material things. I now focus my energy on incubating and assisting innovative Tech-Ventures that want to change the world.
I have two vivid positive memories of WGP College. The first was Year 13 school camp. It was then that I realised students and teachers can co-exist on a human-to-human level. The second was doing Stage Challenge. I had never done drama before and was nervous about performing. Pushing through the mental barriers of “Am I good enough to do it” helped me to grow.
I have two pieces of advice for learners that are reading this. The first is to apply yourself. Apply yourself without getting caught up in the outcome. Getting caught up in outcomes takes you away from the present and forces you into the future. Good outcomes are a direct result of a ferocious attempt at applying yourself. The second piece of advice I have is to START! The more you think about doing something, the longer you delay doing the thing. Once you start, you will be able to tell if what you are doing is for you or not. Plus, you will have gained valuable experience on the way.
From The Nurse
How WGP College supports learner hauora (wellbeing)
· We have a team of experienced Guidance Counsellors [email protected]
· We have a Registered Nurse on our staff [email protected] who can complete assessments for mental health, eating disorders, drug and alcohol use and concussion screens.
· We offer HPV vaccinations to Year 8's (with parental consent). HPV 2 is due on 17 November.
· We have a visiting Physio 3 days per week and a Hand Therapist 2 days per week (hand therapy is free under ACC) .
· The Auckland Regional Dental Service provides dental care to our Year 7 and 8 learners who are enrolled (Term 1 and 2) .
· Lumino Mobile Dental Van provides dental care to enrolled Year 9-13 learners in Term 1 .
· Families of Year 9 learners have been emailed about the free Hearing test and education that is occurring for our Year 9 learners between 13 and 16 September. It is an opt-out program so please email [email protected] if you would like to opt out of the free hearing test.
· If your child takes a controlled medication at school such as Ritalin / Rubifen, this needs to be kept in the Health Clinic in a locked cupboard. Please contact our Nurse, Alexis Purvis to arrange for the administration of medication in the school.
Physiotherapy and Hand Therapy
We have a Physiotherapist onsite 3 days per week to treat learners and staff. Under ACC and with a referral from the school nurse, the first treatment is free and further treatments are $10 each.
We have a Hand Therapist onsite 2 days per week. All treatment under ACC is free.
If the School Nurse is referring a learner to the Physio or Hand Therapist, she will get permission from parents / caregivers.
The number to call to make an appointment to see a Hand Therapist or Physiotherapist at school or clinic is 09 426 6619.
Unwell learners
If your child is unwell with obvious symptoms, please keep them home until their symptoms improve. If a learner has a persistent cough, they can return to school when they are able to manage to get themselves outside to cough.
If your child becomes unwell at school with Covid-19 symptoms, you will be contacted to collect them.
If your child tests positive for Covid, they will need to isolate for 7 days (including day 0).
If the result is negative and symptoms persist, your child will need to retest. They can return to school if negative, when symptoms have improved.
All learners who feel unwell at school need to go and see the School Nurse. In many instances she can support the learner to remain at school. If our Nurse assesses that they need to go home, she will contact parents. We are seeing a trend of learners contacting home themselves. Learners should NOT be contacting parents/ caregivers to collect them.
The process is in place to support learner attendance and learning, and to support working parents with minimal interruptions. If your child contacts you, please ask them to go and see the Nurse. Often the Nurse can provide some treatment so they can remain at school.
If your child is acutely unwell, we appreciate you keeping them home. Learners can attend when their symptoms are mild. Usually 2-3 days is enough time to get through the acute stage of colds and tummy upsets. If a learner has a persistent cough, cough suppressants/ lozenges can help with this.
If you are concerned that your young person is having time off school due to health concerns (including anxiety), you are able to contact our Registered Nurse, Alexis, to discuss and see what supports can be put in place.
Learners with mild symptoms at school
If learners present to the Health Clinic with mild stand-alone symptoms, then the school nurse may opt to do a R.A.T to determine if they are able to return to class.
If the result is positive, whānau will be contacted to collect the learner. Whānau will need to record the positive result on “My Covid Record” or call 0800222478 if the child is under 12.
Any concerns related to this, please email [email protected]
HIBISCUS COAST SPRING BALL (R20 Event) -
NEW DATE: Sat 15 October at The Beer Spot
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW BEFORE SALES CLOSE! Numbers needed for catering.
A great night of entertainment .... band, casino event, adult lucky dips, art auction, great food!
Dress: Formal or 1920s. This is a fundraiser for Whangaparāoa College learners - you get to choose which of 3 areas you want the profits to go to when you enter the ball: (1) Sports; (2) Performing Arts; (3) Learner Wellbeing - e.g. in Financial Need.
More info and link for tickets sales here: https://www.facebook.com/events/417283293568505
If you don't have Facebook, link here for tickets: https://www.eventbee.com/.../hibiscus-coast.../event...
WE ARE ASKING FOR YOUR HELP WITH THIS.... So please:
If you are interested in helping us, Email: [email protected]
The Ball Committee
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