Term 1 - Week 3

Tēnā koutou

We have just completed our first full week of school with students.  There will be some tired students and staff at the end of today.  It does take some time for students and staff to get back into the rhythm of day to day school life. One of the  rhythms/routines which is important to get right at the beginning of the year is being on time for school. Good habits now will prepare our students well for the future.  Please reinforce the importance of being on time for school with your children.

Pleasingly, two Year 13 students from 2023 were successful in gaining History scholarships.  It is important we acknowledge these students’ academic achievements.  The two students were Eve Hancock and Liam Moffet.  Well done to these two students to their history teacher, Mr Gregory, for all their hard work and perseverance.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce our new teaching staff for 2024.  These wonderful humans have joined our team and we look forward to seeing how they can contribute to our kura and community in 2024!
Silvia Mutton – Science
Ashley Ceder – Science
Ling Hseih – Science
Denise Trent – Vocational Pathways Leader of Learning
Erin Mathews – Music (part-time)
Tash Forrest - Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo)
Mason Elliot (Digital Technology)
Anehera Otimi (Te reo Maori)

Next week is another important week on our school calendar.  Below you will be able to see details of our Year 9 noho sleepovers which take place from Monday-Thursday next week.  These noho are an opportunity for our Year 9 students to continue to develop their connection and sense of belonging to our kura.  We look forward to spending time with the Year 9's throughout this unique experience.  Excitingly, the week concludes with our annual Colours Day - a day filled with traditional and non-traditional athletic and sporting events on our school fields.  This week the students have been preparing their House chants, which is always a highlight of the day.  Colours Day is an official school day, so counts towards attendance overall.  Students are expected to attend and take part in whatever way they can.

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.

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

                                       Sporting News

Upcoming Events:
BOPSS Senior Volleyball Champs- 17th and18th February 
BOPSS Triathlon Champs- 20th February 
Kiorahi Senior Regionals- 20th February 
Colours Day- Friday 23rd February 
 
Winter Sport Trials:
Hockey:
Girls Trials
Monday 26th of February 5-6:30pm
Wednesday 28th of February 6-7.30pm
Boys Trials:
Tuesday 27th of February: 5-6:30pm
Thursday 29th of February 5-6:30pm
 Location: Taupo Hockey Turf
 
Senior Boys Basketball
Thursday 15th February 6:30pm-8:00pm
Tuesday 20th February 6:30pm-8:00pm 
Location: School gym 

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 26th 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.