WHANGAPARĀOA COLLEGE NEWS - TERM 3 ISSUE 4

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Kia ora e te whānau o Whangaparāoa

Mānawatia te wiki o te reo Māori! Happy Māori Language Week!

As we acknowledge the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last week, we are reminded of her great example to us of Manaakitanga and Rangatiratanga, two of our Āhuatanga that we are currently focussing on. These encompass leadership, showing respect, generosity and care for ourselves and others.

Our Prime Minister announced the following on Monday:

  • 26 September: This is now a public holiday to commemorate the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. There will be no school. We will update the senior school exam schedule to now include this public holiday and publish that in due course.

  • COVID settings: The vast majority of requirements to keep the spread of COVID-19 have now been removed from the government. The changes which took effect from 11.59 pm on Monday12 September:

  • household contacts of COVID-19 cases will no longer need to isolate, but instead should undertake a RAT test every day for 5 days.

  • Mask wearing is no longer strongly recommended. Learners may choose whether to wear a mask or not.

Our senior school exams are scheduled in Weeks 9 & 10 of this term (19-29 September). Year 11-13 whānau were emailed earlier this week. Please note that due to 26 September now being a public holiday, exams will be pushed out by a day, ending on 29 September.

Congratulations to our newly elected Board of Trustees:

Charlotte Jones, Tim Davis, Ian MacLeod, Sam Ereckson, Craig Caminos, Derek Middleton (Staff Rep) and Jessica Washer (Learner Rep).

With just over two weeks of term left, we encourage all our learners to keep working hard and trying their best in all they do, be it exams, class work, on the sporting field or on the stage. Being kind and looking out for each other is also key.

Ngātahi, Whakapono, Tutuki - Together, Believe, Achieve

Steve McCracken

Principal

September

12 - 16 - Māori Language Week

14 - 16 Year 9 Free Hearing Screening

15 - L1GEOG Tree Planting Trip

15 - Māori Whānau Hui

16 - L1DANC coLAB2022

16 - 18 - Duke of Ed Silver - Final Qualifying

19 - 29 - School Practice Exams

22 - Pasifika Whānau Talanoa

22 - 24 - Year 7 & 8 Waterpolo Tournament

26 - Public Holiday

28 - Enrolment Evening

28 - Volleyball Girls Zone Day

29 - Volleyball Boys Zone Day

30 - Last Day of Term 3

October
17 - First Day of Term 4

24 - Labour Day Holiday

25 - Sports Awards Night

27 - Cultural Arts Prize Giving

November

01 - Leavers Dinner

02 - Last Day for Year 12 & Year 13

07 - NZQA Exams Start
16 - Last Day for Year 11

25 - Staff Only Day

28 - Staff Only Day


December

06 - NZQA Exams Finish

12 - Last Day of Term 4

Lost & Found

 

We currently have a large amount of lost property and some from camp last term being held in the administration building. Please can you encourage your child to come and check if they are missing items as the lost property will be donated to the local hospice shop at the end of the term.

 

Enrolment Dates:

 

 



Wig Wednesday

 

Thank you to everyone who wore a wig last Wednesday and made a donation to support the Child Cancer Foundation’s fundraiser. It was very special that one of our Year 7 learners, Josh Walker and his dad were here to share Josh's journey with cancer as he's the face of the campaign. We were privileged to host Monica - CEO of the Child Cancer Foundation here as well as William Wairua from the AM Show which live-streamed a couple of times from our kura. Thank you to all who made this event a success.

 


BizVenture

 

I was chosen by the Young Enterprise Scheme to participate in the BizVenture Japan challenge for 2022 along with 30 others, we all got flown down to Wellington and it was a great experience and I highly recommend signing up for any of the challenges Young Enterprise hosts.

 

The competition was run by Cookie Time Japan and the challenge was to either create a new product for Cookie Time, or a new way of distribution/promotion for the company, our team ended up winning by creating a new range of energy cookies to help support the Japanese market who tend to be overworked and tired from school or work

 

The entire experience was amazing and I got to meet a bunch of new people who had similar interests and I couldn't recommend it more.

 

Jackson Wright

 


 

EPro8 Challenge Semi Final 

 

The North Auckland Regional Semi-Final of the EPro8 Engineering Challenge was held at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom on the 5th of September. The WGP Lanthanide team (Caleb Gardner, Zach Morgan, Aidan Titelman and Mason Wall) were competing against 11 other teams from ACG Parnell, Glendowie College, Takapuna Grammar, and Rangitoto College.

All challenges were based on engineering solutions for a Rock concert including sound, lights, crowd control and drum kits.

Our team completed their first task before many other teams by completing the four stages of designing a robotic lighting system and taking second place. This did not last however as the other teams caught up and completed their first tasks with our team soon dropping to 7th. With perseverance the WGP Lanthanides completed the sound system task just as the timer counted down to zero! Usually completing two tasks within the 2.5 hour time frame is a recipe for success however as the final points were tallied our team missed out on qualification for the finals by 30 points, ending their run in the 2022 EPro8 competition and 5th place overall.

Our EPro8 teams will make another attempt next year as part of the same year level competition (Year 9/10) but hopefully we will also have some Year 7 and/or Year 8 teams to start in their own events for 2023. If any learners are interested in this competition then please speak with your Science teacher to find out more.

 


EnviroGroup 

Amberleigh and Fuka helped check the beehive on a beautiful Friday after school. We haven’t been able to go into the hive for a while due to the cold, wet, windy weather - this is when bees tend to stay tucked up at home, and they aren’t too happy to see you! It’s looking really healthy with lots of brood (babies), and lots of worker bees bringing pollen and nectar to feed them. The honey frames are full of honey, so there’s lots of food for the baby bees when they hatch.

We put some chemical treatment strips in for varroa mites, which can kill a hive if not treated. If you are a senior and are interested in bees, come along to our next hive inspection in a couple of weeks. Or if you want to help the bees out, plant lots of bee-friendly plants and flowers this spring in your garden such as marigolds, sunflowers, rosemary, thyme and our native flax, as well as plants with blue or purple flowers.


Pod Profiles

Personalised Learning Pod Learner: Ruby Douglas

Pod Project: Character Design

Project Process: I've based my project process off of the general process used by professionals to develop characters. It's about asking yourself a lot of questions - what sort of things does your character like? What do they struggle with, and why? How do they approach different issues? What's important to them? Do they have a special reason behind it? 

Environments also matter a lot - do my characters live in a desert, where the temperature fluctuates between extreme cold and heat, or do they live somewhere more temperate, like a grassland? These elements might affect whether they have one main outfit that usually works, or a couple depending on the temperature. Their way of life is also impacted by the environment, which can be key to developing their personality.

Key Learning: There are a lot of things to take into consideration when it comes to character design, more than I expected. I found myself, at times, having to go back and revise my work, after realising there was a crucial aspect to a character that I overlooked. You really need to know your characters inside and out.

Highlights: It's quite rewarding to see people react to my work. It's quite obvious that - whatever they were expecting - I have considered more than they anticipated.

For more information about the Personalised Learning Pod please check out the Pod website.


 

Alumni

 

Aleisha Taylor (formerly Snep) 

Class of 2011

My senior year at Whangaparāoa College was by far the best as it was when I decided what I wanted to do when I left school. I initially wanted to become a midwife, however, chose to aim for University Entrance into Nursing/Midwifery and see where things took me. 

I was very lucky to have Mrs Rowlands in Year 13 Biology who supported my goals in where I wanted to be when I finished school and helped me successfully study to gain Level 3 NCEA Biology. I also have to credit Mr Salahub who helped me to gain my required Mathematics credits, I have never been good at Math! With my required University Entrance gained, I applied to both Nursing and Midwifery at AUT. I was successfully accepted into the Nursing programme which, after four hard years of very steep learning, and a lot of support from my parents and now husband, I passed and earned my Bachelor of Nursing in 2016. 

My nursing journey began in the medical wards at Auckland City Hospital where I completed my Nursing Entry to Practice programme and worked alongside a team of very experienced nurses. As anyone who is a nurse will understand, eventually the shift work got the better of me and I moved across to private surgical care where I nursed patients on the surgical floor for another year. While working in this job I developed an interest in the speciality of Infection Prevention and Control. This speciality involves all things weird and wonderful with a focus on patient safety in the form of preventing infection and also quality improvement if someone does unfortunately develop a postoperative infection. Infection Control specialists are also responsible for policy development and review, staff and patient education, input in regards to hospital infrastructure, auditing, serious event reviews and much more. 

I was lucky enough to work alongside a very experienced Infection Control Nurse who showed me the ropes. I decided to complete postgraduate study in this area and have since completed a postgraduate certificate in Infection Prevention and Control with distinction, with plans to continue my studies when I find the time. 

In early 2020 I was offered a role as the Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Nurse Specialist (IPC CNS) in the hospital I was working in... and then COVID hit. I am grateful to have experienced this while working in a private healthcare space because I cannot imagine what my colleagues in the public sector experienced. As a green, newly released CNS it was another huge learning curve for me and the phrase baptism by fire is exceedingly appropriate. Providing education around COVID and support to my hospital for a disease no one had ever encountered was a challenge and something I will always remember. 

Flash forward to now, my husband and I have relocated to the beautiful Taranaki where most days I get a beautiful view of the Maunga on my way to work. We have settled into the peaceful lifestyle here with some bumps along the way and I am working as an IPC CNS for Te Whatu Ora Taranaki Base and Hāwera hospitals. This job is ever-evolving and provides constant learning for me. There is never a day that looks the same and my knowledge continues to grow with each new challenge. 

I will always be grateful for the support I received from my teachers at Whangaparāoa as their encouragement to gain my University Entrance was the starting point to the career I have today. 


Whangaparāoa triumphs at Special Olympics

On Wednesday 7 September, our College sent a team to the Special Olympics Basketball Tournament. The team was coached by Jamayn Reddy and assisted by Matthew Free. In Jamayn’s words

We played three games and won every game. We had good communication and made sure everyone had a chance to score. As the coach and captain of the team, I chose the lineup for each game and rotated the players on the court. I really enjoyed my first Special Olympics and I am looking forward to participating in more Special Olympics in the future.

Congratulations to all the team. 


Whangaparāoa College Sporting Achievements 2022

Nominate those individuals who have been involved in local, regional, national or international teams/competitions in 2022 so that we can recognise and acknowledge sporting achievement of our learners, for the year 2022. (learners can compete in school sports and sport outside of school).

Please complete the form below before Monday 19 September.

Sporting Achievements 2022


Sports

AIMS Games 2022

In Week 7 we took four sports teams: Rippa Rugby, Netball, Girls Football, Boys Football and 7 individuals to attend the AIMS Games in Tauranga.
 
Owain Roderick-Clarke, Quinn O'Mara and Dylan Taylor, all learners in Year 7 competed in the Cross Country.  Owain placed 50th, Dylan placed 80th and Quinn placed 100th out of 123 competitors.
 
Noah and Mika Elmiger competed in canoeing.  Mika came 10th and Noah 11th overall at Canoe Slalom and Mika 5th and Noah 3rd overall at Canoe Sprint, winning him a bronze medal.
 
Oscar Pedersen competed in swimming, he got some PB's and placed 10th in 200 backstroke.
 
Valentina Gladiadis competed in Yachting (individual) 3 days of fleet racing (Open Skiff). She achieved:
- 1st Girl
- 2nd Year 7 overall
- 7th overall
 
Boys Football had a mixed bag of results and competed well. Big thank you to Nigel Atkinson for coaching and Tracey Cousins for managing this team.
 
Netball team had a tough first few days but ended the tournament well with some good wins. Thank you to Year 10 learner Jessica Washer for coaching and Year 9 learner Dane Da Rocha for umpiring. A big thank you to Jo Bentley for managing the team.
 
Girls Football had a great week away, they had mixed results but came away with a good win, which our principal got to witness. This team is coached by Will Mahuru and Brett Kennedy; managed by Liz Mahuru and Arnika Kennedy - big thanks to you all.
 
Rippa Rugby performed well played 12 games throughout the week winning 7, drew 1 and losing 4 only by a few points. They placed 8th out of 36 teams. Well done! Thank you to coach Jenna Brown and manager Michelle Walker.
 

 

 


Congratulations to our girls’ Lacrosse team on their great season, finishing 6th place in Auckland’s top high school division. This fantastic result came from a dedicated and positive team, who were committed to giving 100% in games and in practices. We also had lots of fun along the way!

Extra special congratulations to our players who have been recognised in the wider Auckland region for their success:

  • Issie Champion, selected for the Auckland U15 Representative Team
  • Kano Sugawara, selected for the Auckland U18 Representative Team. Kano also organised and coached a training academy for junior learners interested in Lacrosse.
  • Brianna Kennelly, selected for the Auckland U18 Representative Team
  • Jenica Crous, selected for the Auckland U18 Representative Team

Lacrosse is a wonderful sport and we are always keen to have new players join us (no experience necessary). Our pre-season training will start in Term 1 of 2023. Please chat to any of our current lacrosse players or Sian Canton if you would like to know more about lacrosse at Whangaparāoa College.