Kia ora e te whānau o Whangaparāoa

It has certainly been an interesting start to the school year, for learners, for staff and for whānau.  At our first full school assembly of the year, held this morning, I thanked our learners for their patience with us and for making a positive start.  I’d like to thank our wider school community again, for your support and patience as we navigated the disruptions of the first few weeks.

We have been talking with learners about tangata whenuatanga - our place, a place to be respected.   As we stand in our place, we represent all those gone before us, ourselves, and those who will go after us.  We have a responsibility to uphold the mana of our people. The vast majority of our learners are doing this.  For those who do not, there will be firm consequences.  Learners who resort to fighting to settle differences that arise or disrespect our Āhua, our values, with any form of gross misconduct, can expect to be stood down.  Our expectation for all our learners is that they will do their best, and that they will work with our non-negotiables.  As parents and caregivers, we hope you too, will encourage your learners to meet our expectations as well.

Last night, we posted to social media, for our senior students and their families, a video we have made about what NCEA means.  In addition to the formal reporting you receive from us, I encourage you to become familiar with the requirements for NCEA and be prepared to ask your senior learner how they are progressing, are they on track, and will they reach their NCEA goals?   There is a link to the presentation later in this newsletter.

We put the call out to our community last week regarding our partnership with Taradale High School and our goal to raise $10,000 with a non-uniform day, to support Taradale’s Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.  We know our community is fabulous but you have blown us away with your support!  We reached $10,000 in donations by 8:30am this morning and it is still climbing.  Thank you so, so much for your generosity.  We will have the Aroha for Taradale High School GiveALittle page open until the end of this week and will be very happy to continue receiving donations right up until it closes on Friday.  Funds will be transferred immediately to Taradale High School so they can provide immediate support to their community.  From our whānau to their whānau.

Ngā mihi nui

Steve McCracken
Tumuaki | Principal

March 
1-3      Year 12 PE Camp - Mangawhai.
    1      Year 7 & 8 North Harbour Softball Boys.
            Dance Squad Auditions.
    2      Gateway - Lifecare H&S Course 1.
            Year 7 & 8 North Harbour Softball Girls.
6-10     House Event - Chaos.
    7      Gateway - Great Success.
            L3ESSC UofA Discovery Centre Field Trip.
8-10    Polyfest.
    8     Year 7 & 8 North Harbour Tag.
    9     Level 3 Outdoor Education Kayaking Puhoi.
           Year 7 & 8 North Harbour Cricket Boys.
   10    Year 7 & 8 North Harbour Triathlon.

NCEA Information Session

This week we provided whānau with an information video on NCEA, including an introduction to how NCEA works and our expectations of learners in Years 11, 12 and 13.  You can view the video here.

Prefects 2023

Pictured: 2023 Prefects team with Prefect Executive Front Row L-R - Kano Sugawara, Ariana Hunt, William Mueggenburg, Cameron Travis, Tristan Pieterseca

Introducing our 2023 Prefect Executive:

Head Girl - Ariana Hunt
Kia ora, my name is Ariana, and I am the head girl for 2023. I am interested in sports, specifically netball, and I enjoy reading and writing in my spare time. My future goals revolve around pursuing a career in law and to continue playing netball. As one of the executive five prefects, I look forward to being an active member of our college by running events and getting to know students from all different year levels! I’m excited about what 2023 will bring. Thank you!!

Head Boy - William Mueggenburg
Hi, I'm William. My interests are 3d modelling/printing and working as a part-time electrical engineer building scoreboards for sports teams. My subject interests are mathematics, physics and materials technology. My goal for the future is to study mechanical engineering at the University of Auckland. This year being part of the executive 5, I look forward to getting involved with school-wide projects and events in which I once took part in the past few years and possibly setting up new events with fellow prefects.

Chair of the Learner Council  - Tristan Pieterse
Kia ora, my name is Tristan Pieterse. A bit about me: I am passionate about volleyball and art. My future goals are to pursue volleyball, grow as a leader and do the best I can in level three. I am looking forward to this year because, as an executive five, I can initiate the changes I've always wanted to happen.

Deputy Head Girl  - Kano Sugawara
Kia ora, my name is Kano Sugawara, and I am an international student from Japan. You may often find me playing lacrosse, and I enjoy spending my time outdoors especially taking the horses out on a gallop along the beach. My future aspirations include working in the field of wildlife conservation, which comes from my interest/love of animals and continuing to study abroad for my academic and sports career. I am grateful to be a part of the 'Executive 5' as I am excited to meet and work with amazing people!

Deputy Head Boy
Kia Ora my name is Cameron Travis I was born and raised in New Zealand. I’m involved in the Whangaparaoa College hockey team and was the captain for 2022. I’m looking forward to getting involved in lots of activities with a variety of learners this year. In the future, I hope to study at Auckland University and then hope to be an Engineer.

Peer Support Leaders - Life Changer Project

40 of our year 12 and 13 learners have signed up to be peer support leaders for 2023. We have started the year strongly working with the life-changer project. These learners will help mentor the year 7’s and assist in delivering this project over the next few weeks. Well done team; we are excited to see the difference you will make to our year 7 learners.

Signing Learners Out Early

A reminder that when caregivers are wanting to sign a learner out of school early, they must contact the school Reception at least two hours prior.  This can be done by phone (09-424 9177) or email
[email protected]. 
This is to ensure that teachers are aware a learner is signing out early and the learners themselves come to the office when required.  If the learner will need reminding please let Reception know and a note can be sent out at the appropriate time.

Wednesday Timetable - Late Start

Just a reminder to our school community that the school timetable has a 15 minute later start on Wednesday mornings (8:55am instead of the usual 8:40am) to allow staff to undertake professional development.  There is no rōpū whānau on Wednesday mornings, learners go straight to Period 1 for 8:55am.

Keeping our learners safe!

During the month of February, Whangaparāoa College partnered with LineWize, one of the world's most comprehensive student safety platforms, to trial a new Firewall setting to both help protect every one of our learners on their digital journeys and focus them on their on learning.

LineWize allows teachers to see which students are on task - and which are distracted - with screen monitoring, reinforcing responsible use by learners, The School Report tool allows deans to have an overall view of our network usage and identify concerning patterns. 

This short trial has helped us to further protect our learners from accessing harmful and adult content as well as preventing the use of VPN (Virtual Private Network). VPN use allows students to bypass our security settings, and preventing their proliferation is an essential part of our duty of care. As such, we only monitor our learners school Google account during school hours while onsite and connected to our network.  

If you want to learn more about this platform, you can find information here.

Roadblocks to Communication -  Workshop for Parents

Success and Resilience at Oceans National Junior Surf Lifesaving Festival

Last weekend we had some of our younger learners compete at the Mount Maunganui competition which was ran over four days, with 700 competitors and 44 clubs from all around New Zealand. The conditions were tough with variable weather, strong waves and a daunting steep shore break that tested every athlete. Our learners did incredibly well representing Red Beach Surf Club and Whangaparāoa College. What stood out to me was the school āhua of rangatiratanga (potential, leadership and determination), consistently seeking their personal excellence. Well done to Cooper O’Brien (Year 7), Ella White and Yuki Cross (Year 8), Leandra Owens (Year 9) and Dylan Blanchard (Year 10).

Dylan took out gold medals in both the board race and the tube rescue, as well as two more silver and three bronze medals. An incredible achievement at the highest level of Junior Surf. We know how hard he trains and how much he loves this sport, so it is fantastic to see him get these results. 

Mauri mahi, mauri ora / Do the work, get the treats.

PPTA National 1-Day Strike Action

The PPTA Strike Action is taking place on Thursday 16 March. Year 7 and Year 8 learners will still maintain teaching and learning onsite at Whangaparāoa College, with cover being provided for their classes by relievers and non-union members at the school.

SchoolTV

"The wellbeing of today's youth has never been more challenging."
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Today parents face a multitude of modern day challenges in raising happy, well and resilient young people. Whilst there is a great deal of information available, this can often be confusing and overwhelming for parents looking for guidance.

SchoolTV addresses this as a new online resource designed to empower you as parents with credible and sound information with realistic, practical ongoing support strategies.

Link to SchoolTV https://wgpcollege.nz.schooltv.me/ (located on our website under Intranet tab).

Star Short Courses

Fun, hands-on, taster courses for Year 12 & 13 learners. Normally held in school holidays, most courses offer unit standards to gain NCEA credits and are all fully funded – no cost to learners!
- Explore a future career interest
- Learn skills to help with part-time work
- Have fun learning about something you’re passionate about

Military & Police Prep, Adventure Tourism, Flight Attending, Mocktails & Bartending, First Aid, Animal Care, Makeup & Skincare, Hairdressing, Barbering, Cooking, Computer Software & Engineering, Barista, Fashion, Childcare, Game Design, Music Production, Animation, Film/TV Production, Coaching, Personal Training, Acting/Presenting, and more!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS                                                              APPLY NOW

Our International Department

We are delighted to welcome so many new international students to Whangaparāoa College. 
Since completing our orientation programme, the students have settled into their new lives at school and with their host families. It’s wonderful to see so many new friendships forming already.
Are you a local family interested in becoming Homestay? Please see details later in this newsletter!

Sport

Congratulations to our Learners that competed at the Senior Tag Nationals held from Friday - Sunday @ Ngati Otara Park.

Callum De la rue, Cody Jones, Owen Casson, Jack Phillips, Ethan Brown, Hye Watkins and Joel Brewer were part of the U18 Raiders team that took out the Bronze medal

Noelani Roberts, Ayana Roberts, Maisie Keclik, Lexi Wiig took out the gold medal in the U18 Girls grade, also repping HBC Raiders.

Most of these learners competed at the Senior Tag ZD today. Our Boys team came 4th qualifying for Auckland champs. Our Girls had some good wins and a few narrow losses.

Well done to all the learners involved.

Lumino 2023

Dear Parents and Guardians,
 
The Lumino the Dentists Mobile Unit is scheduled to come to Whangaparaoa College in 2023. Term 1, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. 

The Lumino the Dentists, School Smiles Programme is fully funded by the Ministry of Health. It offers free dental examinations, oral health education, x-rays and a professional dental clean for students in year 9 to year 13, *up until their 18th birthday.

Treatment including white fillings, sealants and extractions of baby teeth are also provided on the  school grounds as required. For other treatment not completed on board the unit, you will be referred to your local  practice or orthodontic specialist. 

Enrol with us! 

If you’d like us to see your child during our visit, please complete the online enrolment form via the link below. If we have seen your child at Whangaparaoa before, please also complete this online enrolment form, to make sure we have up to date contact/medical information for your child, as we now advise our patients/their parents of upcoming appointments via text message. 
Please call or text us on 0272228521 if you have any questions. 

Click here to enrol with Mobile 3