RONGOTAI COLLEGE PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER Week 10, Term 2, 2018 who have worked so effectively to A summary of the changes to the COMING EVENTS make this term so successful. Rongotai College school services is Friday 6 July included with this newsletter, while Last day Term 2 STUDY SKILLS SEMINARS a copy of the new timetable can be found on our website. Monday 23 July We have been fortunate to have First day Term 3 gained the services of Study Skills specialist, Karen Boyes, to work in SUBJECT SELECTION Friday 27 July Tu Tangata at the Michael Fowler Centre our school this year as part of our An important event early in Term 3 is Study Skills Programme. Karen is a Subject Selection. Your son will Tuesday 31 July sought after speaker and is an receive his Subject Selection Subject selection books for 2019 international expert, passionate Handbook on 31 July. He will distributed about providing students practical subsequently make subject choices Thursday 2 August ways to study and achieve success. for next year. This early notification Study Skills Seminar for parents 6.30pm "Passing exams is supposed to get of his intentions is necessary so that you ahead in life - not make you a we can begin planning timetable and Friday 10 August Interim reports posted home nervous wreck", says Karen. staffing needs for the coming year. Monday 13 August On Thursday 2 August, Karen will be Boys will be asked to state which Subject selection for 2019 week working with our Year 11, 12 and 13 subjects they want to study in 2019 Thursday 9 August students and her workshops will by 17 August. There will be an on- Board of Trustees’ meeting at 6pm in the provide easy-to-implement line process via the student portal to Mackay Library strategies and techniques for make this more straight-forward. successful revision. She will also We will give you more information Monday 20 August Rongotai College Pasifika Parents’ Asosi work with our teachers. She will regarding this in the next newsletter. meeting at 6.30pm in the staffroom provide a workshop for parents outlining things that you can do at We will follow-up the subject Wednesday 22 August home to assist your son with revision selection process by notifying you of Parent interviews 4-7.30pm and study. Karen will also help you your son’s choices. Monday 3 September understand some of the challenges Mid Term Break that your son may go through as he Students are encouraged to speak to gets ready for external assessments, teachers, family and friends about Monday 3 to Friday 7 September Winter Tournament Week and ways that you can help him career choices and academic manage himself. Entry to the Parent courses. They can access more Seminar is free, and we encourage information by visiting the Careers you to attend. The Parent Seminar Office or contacting our Careers will start at 6.30pm at the college. Teacher, Ms Wilson. 2018 TERM DATES Term 3 Monday 23 July to Friday CHANGE TO BUSES 28 September Metlink has recently announced changes to bus services starting LATE START – THURSDAY 26 Term 4 Monday 15 October to JULY Friday 7 December Sunday 15 July. Many of these changes, particularly related to bus So our staff can attend a seminar rounds and timetables impact on as part of their Professional how our students come to and from Learning and Development school. This includes big changes to Programme, school will not start Today is the last day of Term 2 all bus routes and numbers, and on Thursday 26 July until marking the half-way stage of the includes our school bus service. 10.10am. 2018 school year. Once again, it has been a busy and productive term For more information, visit Unfortunately, school buses will with many highlights. I would like to https://www.metlink.org.nz/on-our- run on their usual timetable. thank our students and all those way/ members of the school community Ms Wilson is happy to follow up NZQA fees can be paid by automatic your enquiry with information payment. Please contact the college which specifically targets your office for more information about questions. You can reach Ms Wilson this. at her email address: [email protected]. If your son is eligible for assistance, a Financial Assistance Form must be completed and returned to the ENROLMENTS 2019 school by 24 August 2018. If you Earlier this term, we began our require assistance completing the enrolment process with the annual form or have questions about Rongotai Experience and Open examination fees, please contact the Evening. Despite the wet and chilly school office. weather, Open Evening was an extremely successful event, with the hall full of parents and their sons. I have had positive feedback from ACADEMIC families who attended, with GREAT KIWI ENGLISH comments about the attitude and NEWS COMPETITION manner of the students who guided Interim school reports will be posted Ten members of 9GM and 10BK them, and the engaging manner of to you on 10 August and a participated in the University of the staff and their passion for the subsequent Parent Interview Canterbury Great Kiwi English school. I would like to publicly thank Evening will be on 22 August. Competition. Rongotai College had all the boys who volunteered to help more students enter the competition at both the Rongotai Experience and In the meantime, if you have any this year (the second year it has run) the Open Evening – you are our best immediate concerns about your than in 2017. The competition, run advertisement. son’s schoolwork, please contact the by The Centre for Evaluation and To date our enrolments for 2019 are appropriate year level dean. The Monitoring at the University of encouraging and we will be deans are: Canterbury, investigates students’ organising enrolment interviews Year 9 Mr Nick O’Halloran abilities to read and understand starting in August. If you have Year 10 Ms Esmee McAuley various types of texts, and tests friends who are intending to send Year 11 Mr Justin Gray reading comprehension, grammar their son to Rongotai College next Year 12 Mr Kit Norman and spelling, and understanding of year and have not yet enrolled, Year 13 Mr Phil Sparks audience and purpose skills. The boys had 50 minutes to complete 40 please ask them to do so promptly to be part of this. questions of varying degrees of ART STUDENTS AT TE PAPA difficulty. This competition gives the Evander Tere-Rongotaua and Tuki boys advanced practice for NCEA 2019 TERM DATES Tutaki, two of our art students, Unfamiliar Texts examinations at It has now been confirmed that recently participated in the Michel Levels 1, 2 and 3 in English. We wish dates for the 2019 school year will Tuffery project at Te Papa, involving them well with their results which be: 14 high school students from across will arrive in Term 3. Term 1: 28 January to 12 April Wellington. Term 2: 29 April to 5 July Term 3: 22 July to 27 September The project, Ngā Whetū o Matariki, Term 4: 14 October to 6 December saw the level 1 windows at Te Papa transformed into a cascading mural, drawing inspiration from both Te Ao NZQA FEES Māori and the Pacific, as part of NZQA fees are collected by the Matariki. school on behalf of NZQA, and are From left: Miha Mitcalfe-Matthews, Oscar not payments to the school. These Michel’s kaupapa behind bringing Watson, Daniel Turner, Reuben Ballara, Oscar fees are a registration fee to have all artists together was all about the Cole, Angus Doddridge, James Sutton, Luke Gibbs, Jagan Buckman and Armin Ruckstuhl. credits earned this year recognised process. He said, “We’re by NZQA. empowering the kids, we’re not just The last date the school will accept making another mark, it’s about the LEVEL 2 GEOGRAPHY NZQA fees is 24 August 2018, and meaning behind the mark-making.” Recently Wellington Mayor Justin fees not paid by this date must be Lester took time out of his busy paid direct to NZQA. Non-payment The windows are on display schedule to speak to our Level 2 of NZQA assessment fees will mean throughout Matariki, and through Geography students who visited the that your son will not have any until early August. CBD as part of their preparation for credits he gains this year recognised an internal assessment on graffiti by NZQA and he will not receive any patterns in the city. They were also qualifications that may result. addressed by one of two old boys on Council, Cr Simon Woolf and Cr Chris Calvi-Freeman, who spoke fondly of When you join a team, you make a his time at Rongotai College. CULTURAL commitment to your coaches and team mates to attend practices – NEWS please make sure your son fulfills that commitment. NZ YOUTH ORCHESTRA Following an incident on the side- line last year involving a dog on a Congratulations leash and a rugby player, we must to Hamish remind all supporters that DOGS ARE Goodhue who NOT PERMITTED anywhere on has been school grounds (either on or off a accepted into leash). We should also mention that the NZSO LEVEL 2 HISTORY the college (including its grounds) National Youth Our Level 2 History students, who are a SMOKE FREE ZONE. Orchestra 2018. have been learning about the Hamish will be performing with the Vietnam War, had the opportunity SPORTING SUCCESSES to hear from retired Air Vice orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre on Friday 6 July and then at New Zealand U19 Floorball Team Marshall Robin Klitscher CBE, DFC, the Auckland Town Hall on Saturday Congratulations to the six Rongotai AFC, who flew Iroquois helicopters students who have been named in during the conflict.