Wairarapa College

Newsletter Volume 3, June 2017

Dear Parent/caregivers Upcoming Events We won! That was the news that we had won Stage Challenge this year. We are absolutely thrilled. A large team of students from Year 9 to 13 and their teachers Ms Houliston, Ms Senior and Ms Fawcett had travelled down to Wellington to participate in Stage Challenge, June after many months of hard work. From the dress rehearsal we could see that we had something special but our students really pulled it together after a very long day. They drew  Fri 9th - Y11 PITA the short straw and ended up being the last act performing and so our students had to wait Fencing course until after 11pm to perform, however, instead of this being a draw back they used it to build  12th - 16th - their energy, with an amazing outcome. We are very proud of all those who have been Assessment week involved in this, not only because they won but also because of the hard work, the dedication,  Tues 13th - ICAS the many hours of rehearsal and the passion that has gone into this production. writing As a school we would like to acknowledge you as parents and say thank you for your support  Fri 16th & Sat 17th - with teacher only day on 22nd May and in our efforts to consider where to from here with our curriculum and our timetable. The visits to schools from Christchurch to Wellington and the Careers Expo Bay of Plenty were very beneficial. On our teacher only day it became clear, right from the  Fri 16th - Wed 21st - start, that all of the schools we visited were very focused on how they can be more student Y10 Spirit of Adventure centered. For us, as a school, this aligns very well with our vision to be a thriving, student  Sat 17th - Quiz/Auction centered and future focused school, so our discussions on were extremely productive. We have established some directions for how we, as Wairarapa College, are going to become  Mon 19th - Y12 Geo trip more student centered and staff are very keen to begin working on this. to Wellington  Tues 20th - Paraparaumu This process evolved out of our own self review as a school at the end of 2016. We have known and understood that there are things in our school that need to change so that student exchange at Waicol outcomes can be improved. We were well aware of this before we had the visit from ERO at  Fri 23rd - Y11 Pasifika in week three of Term One. We have been informed by ERO that the school has been placed  Tues 28th - Open Day / on a short review cycle. Although this can be a challenge for some schools we are very Night pleased with the positive feedback that we have received from ERO on the new directions that we had already established and we are looking forward to their support for us as we work  Fri 30 - PNGHS Sports through a time of change and renewal as a school. We know that their support and their help Exchange will be pivotal in moving forward. They have already provided us with excellent feedback and advice and guidance around what we can do to improve our outcomes for our students. July We look forward to continuing to work with them.  Mon 3rd - Great Kiwi The beginning of winter sports signals an exciting but also an exhausting time for our English Competition students. A lot of our seniors are involved in many different activities at the moment, from  Thur 6th — Fri 14th - sport through to cultural, their school work and some of them have part time jobs as well. With their exams coming up in a few weeks, it is probably a good time to remind parents of Australian rugby trip the importance of helping their young people to manage their world by ensuring they get  Fri 7th - Interhouse plenty of sleep and good food and that they are not over taxing themselves. Throughout the singing beginning of the sporting season I have enjoyed being able watch a number of our students Junior & Senior reports play rugby and football. It is always great to see them extending themselves and striving to out be the best they can be. We don’t always win but I am impressed with the character and determination shown by our students when they are playing, regardless of the outcome. We are very lucky at Waicol to have such a range of activities for our students to be involved  END OF TERM TWO with. This week we also have Big Sing and fifty three of our students will be involved in that and it also is also a truly outstanding event. We are very grateful for the support of parents and members of our community, in roles as coaches and managers. This allows us to provide such breadth for our students and ensure that they have every opportunity to experience success in any capacity.

Shelley Power, Principal

Congratulations to:  Former Wairarapa College pupils on gaining positions as Training Captains for Qantas Airways. Sam Booth a pupil from 1992 to 1996 and Josh Bennetts a pupil from 1993 to 1997 have both untaken intense training for these positions. Sam and Josh both followed a career in flying after leaving Wairarapa College. To achieve this position in their thirties is a credit to them both and a wonderful reward for their hard work. Well done to them both.

 Former Wairarapa College students in the Black Caps. It is not very often that two former students from the same school play together for the Black Caps. Ross Taylor and Seth Rance have done just that in the May Tri-Series in Ireland. Ross Taylor attended Wairarapa College in Year 9 and 10 before he moved to PNBHS. He played in 1998 and 1999. Seth Rance played 1st X1. Cricket at Wairarapa College from 2002-2005. He captained the team in 2005.

 Vania Mason competed in the Wellington/Wairarapa team at the Equestrian Nationals in Whangarei. The team finished in 4th place. Jeremy Thurston also competed at the nationals in the games and came in 4th. Fantastic achievements in horse riding.

Malaga Pasifika Planning for Success

On 30th May the following students took part in a Careers Planning for Success facilitated by Careersnz and staff from Wai Coll and Makoura College.

Jacob Cavubati, Mathieson Griffin, Seira Manesa-Anae, Destiny Mila, Beyonce Neemia, Anisha Satya and Eteri Tafa.

 Three of your students attended the Wairarapa Kapa Haka Academy during the second week of the school holidays They were; Polly Walker Ekin Te Mataki-Waaka Carleigh Cocks

Three tutors from one of Aotearoa’s most successful senior kapa haka group, Te Waka Huia, were brought into the region to work with the students. Te Waka Huia have won Te Matatini many times. Rawiri Toia Kereama Te Ua Alexia Greening

The group received tutoring in voice projection, choreography, poi and haka over the three days which culminated in an excellent performance to whanau on Friday evening. The three tutors commented on the fantastic commitment and attitudes of our young people. We are very proud of the hard work they put in over the three days.

Big thank you to the following sponsors

Carters Masterton for supplying some stain for our PITA class who have been making the farm look much better.

Subway Masterton for sponsoring the WAICOL UFO’s football team with a play of the day voucher.

FROM THE HEALTH NURSES.

BLOOD DONORS DAY was held in the College Hall on May the 17th with a record turnout of Wairarapa College students signed up to be donors.

This was our tenth year as a Donor College and once again our students behaved impeccably and took this seriously. We were so proud of them all. We had 72 students sign up to be a Donor on the day. 62 Units of Blood was taken which was amazing. Our goal was 60 and WOW we did so well. 9 students were deferred due a cold, new piercing or not meeting the goal weight to height ratio. I hope these students will sign up again.

To all our new Donors please carry this on now, THE NZ BLOOD SERVICE NEEDS YOU ALL .

COLDS / FLU Please stay at home if you have either of these. 24 to 48 hours at home, with rest, sleep, water and whole- some food is the best cure for either of these aliments.

We are to come into the colder months now, so please get that school jacket out, umbrellas etc so you are not sitting in a classroom wet.

A reminder also if your puffer jacket gets wet, hang it up to dry ASAP as the smell of old wet jackets is not pleasant in a classroom.

Former College House Manager –Sandy McNicol Sandy McNicol sadly passed away on April 20th in Australia. Sandy, with his first wife Sue managed College House between 1996-1997.

Sandy also taught Geography and Sue was our first on-site nurse.

He was also number 722 - All Black.

Our condolences to family and friends.

The Ball The Ball was a huge success, thanks to the hard working Ball Committee. The theme was ‘Ville de Lumieres’ and the hall was absolutely sensational. The behaviour of the students was outstanding. With a French flavour to the evening, glamorous students danced the night away or participated in the many activities on offer. A big thank you to all those who supported the evening and made it such a huge success. Mrs Jo Bisset WAIRARAPA COLLEGE FOOTBALL We are very pleased to be running 10 football teams during the 2017 season. We have six boys teams with the 1st XI team playing in the College Sport Wellington competition. The other teams play locally on a Saturday morning. Our 1st XI girls team play in the Manawatu competition on a Wednes- day afternoon. Local girls football is on a Wednesday and Thursday.

A massive thanks must go to PITA PIT Masterton who are sponsoring player of the day rewards across football, rugby, netball and rugby. Also to Fagan Motors Limited who sponsor the Boys 1st XI Football team.

We look forward to seeing the progress of all of our teams during the season and encourage as many family/supporters to continue to come along and support our football teams.

Hockey Update 1st XI Girls Hockey: proudly sponsored by RIVAL Wealth This season we welcomed 5 new players to the team. Our team is lucky enough to be benefiting from the knowledge of their amazing coach Katherine van Woerkom who has stepped up to help us out again this season. We started our season with the Sports Foundation Mini Tournament at Clareville on ANZAC Day, our first games as a team. The girls put in a solid effort with some great team work to successfully win the tournament for Wai Col, not a bad way to start the year off! Next up it was the weekly P1 Wellington Competition. We came through the first round of grading games first in our pool, facing Queen Margaret College in the first cross-over which also doubles as the semi-final. Unfortunately we were unable to claim victory on that night with QMC securing their spot in the first round finals. On Friday 1st June we will face Wellington Girls College hoping to end the first round in 3rd place. Then it all begins again with another chance to win in Round 2. We hope to get a couple of home games this round, so please keep an ear out & come support all our Wai Col teams when we're at Clareville!! Mel Kiernan 1st XI Boys Hockey: proudly sponsored by Property Law The 1st XI Boys Hockey have again this year been sponsored by Property Law. We are very grateful for their ongoing support. This year we have seen a substantial change in player personnel with 7 new players into the squad. We took an extended squad to pre-season hockey tournaments at Clareville and Hamilton to develop players for the future for Wairarapa College. This provided some very good grounding in basic skills and establishing combinations for the season. To date we have been involved in the Wellington Premier 1 Boys Secondary Competition grading round. Results have seen us unbeaten so far with wins over Paraparaumu College (5-3), Scots College (1-0), Rathkeale College (3-1) and our semi- final game last Friday (6-3) win over Rongotai College. This Friday we are playing off in the final of the Dominion Post 1st Round Cup against Paraparaumu College at Clareville. The boys are pumped and ready to go to defend this trophy. The team as follows:- Wills Taylor (Capt), Alex Hare, Frank Dickson, Ethan Presow, Ollie Bunny, Rob Winchester, Ethan Butcher, Jonty Tomlinson, Caleb Nunn, Perry Lewis, Jonty Hooper, Jeremy Thurston, Craig Pankhurst, Josh Nelson, Sam Silvester. Congratulations to Wills on making the Capital U18’s. Hamish Taylor ------The 2nd XI boys entered a Wellington competition for the first time this year. So far the 15 squad members has shown great dedication and enthusiasm at trainings and during the games. The boys are playing in the R3 grading rounds at the moment and has had a flying start to the season. So far they have played 4 games and won all 4 scoring 42 goals and conceding none. The results so far were: 7-0 against Tawa College 2, 9-0 against Samuel Marsden 1Boys, 15-0 against St Patrick's College 3 and 11-0 versus Wellington College 6. The chances are very likely that the 2nd XI team will be promoted to a higher game after the grading rounds. Jaco Le Roux

2nd XI Girls Hockey = Played 4 games, Won 4 Games, Goals for 32, Goals against 1 The team is playing in the final of grading games Friday 2nd June against Wainuiomata High School, if they win they go up to R1. The girls are enjoying playing in the Wellington competition and are playing some good structured hockey. It will be good to go up a grade so they get some more challenging hockey. Anne-Maree Nikolaison ------The Colts (Girls 4th XI) have completed Round one and had our second game in Round two. Our girls have had one win, but are really starting to gel as a unit. This was apparent with a fabulous showing on Monday night against Kuranui 1st XI losing narrowly. They continue to improve weekly and are striving to reach their team goal of making the top four of the competition. The team spirit is awesome as we continue to develop our skills and structure. Go, the Colts!!! Catherine Smith

Playing in the local College Combined grade, the 4th XI boys have made a great start to the season with 4 wins out of 4 games, 22 goals for and 3 against. The season is looking positive with a good number of players now in the team. Jim Hoskin

Drivers Licence Students are encouraged to gain their car licence. Having a car licence makes a student more employable. Also, students can gain the following credits toward their NCEA.

Unit Standards 29363 Level 1 Credits 2 Learner’s 29364 Level 2 Credits 4 Restricted 29365 Level 2 credits Full First Round University Visits All universities, except for AUT have visited the school and spoken to self-selected Year 13 students. AUT will visit in July.

All Liaison officers will return later in the year to assist students to plan their degree for 2018.

giv ME Generosity New Zealand A reminder to Year 13 students to research scholarships on this website: www.generosity.org.nz/giv-me

The school pays a license for this website, so access at school is free.

New Zealand Uniform Recently we met with the CEO of New Zealand Uniform to discuss the supply issues we have had recently. Included below is an apology statement from NZU. We are expecting an improved response to our uniform needs as a school for our Community.

Uniform Supply list

New Zealand Uniform have outlined to me the supply list for Wairarapa College. Outlined below are the uniform description, the sizes in stock as of Friday 2 June 2017. Uniform item In stock - size Arrival date Boys long trousers 77, 72, 87, 82, 102, 107, 112 117. Other sizes ordered. 28 June Boys jerseys All sizes in stock Girls jerseys All sizes in stock School sock All sizes in stock Boys shorts All sizes in stock More on order 7 August due PE / Rugby short 14 All sizes on order 21 August Netball dress 10, 12, 3 21 August Kooga socks Size 7-11 & 11-13, 21 August Track jacket 2XL, 3XL, XL 21 August PE top 2XL, 3XL, XL 21 August Soccer shorts 12m 14m S, M, L, XS, XL, 21 August

It’s been a busy term so far on the cultural front ….

Vocal Spectacular Choirs from our local schools – college and intermediate level – certainly raised the roof during their combined warm up at this concert a couple of weeks ago, and the enthusiasm flowed on from there as each school performed their items. This is an annual event and is a great chance for the choirs to experience a large audience – particularly those colleges preparing for the Big Sing competition.

Trip to ‘Carmen’ NZ Opera A group of students and staff enjoyed a night out at St James Theatre in Wellington recently to watch the dress rehearsal of NZ Opera’s latest offering ‘Carmen’. Schools were very fortunate to be given this opportunity which enabled students to experience opera at a greatly reduced cost.

Big Sing Choral Festival This regional schools event was held in Wellington last Wednesday and involved three of our choirs - 53 students in total. Our auditioned mixed choir Cantate, senior girls Armonia Dolce and and male choir Pogonologists had been rehearsing for this day for many weeks and finally they took the stage at the Michael Fowler Centre, along with 20 other choirs from the Greater Wellington area. The day started at 10.30 am with choirs performing all through the day and culminated with an evening Gala Concert. Cantate was competing for selection in the National Finale and schools will be notified later in the term as to whether they have been selected.

All three choirs, along with staff involved, have put in many hours of rehearsing to reach a high level. If you’ve heard any of our choirs, you’ll agree that they all sound fantastic, and continue the Wai Col tradition of entertaining, high quality choirs.

And still to come …

Rock Quest We have two bands entered in Rock Quest, both quite different but both featuring some outstanding talent from Year Ten and Year Eleven. The local event this year is on 24th June at the Carterton Events Centre. Well worth checking out.

Cultural Concerts At the end of the term in Week Nine the senior students will be performing their solos for NCEA as well as some excellent group performances. This will be as part of a focus on Cultural Diversity the theme for the week across the school. There will be a range of activities including lunchtime concerts Tuesday to Friday and a public concert on Friday Night the 30th of June featuring the best performances of the week. 6.30 in the Hall Gold Coin Donation.

Stage Challenge 2017 At 6.30am on the 1st of June, after weeks of rehearsals, 102 Wairarapa College students, staff, a parent help and a truck full of set and costumes headed down to Porirua to compete against 15 schools in the annual Stage Challenge competition. This year our concept was cosmetic animal testing with the students wanting to get a message to the audience that we know about the horrific torture these animals endure and yet we still buy products that rely on this to make a profit. The set was once again huge, including five moveable 4m high cages which held the rabbits. The backstage crew did a magnificent job of constructing and painting the set and also impressed with their slick set movement and setting and striking during the production. Costuming was also an important part of the production, with 80 costumes being made to portray the various characters such as pretty girls, rabbits, scientists and activists. The chore- ographers did an amazing job of teaching the cast all the dances – definitely not an easy task! We drew last spot for the evening, which meant taking the stage really late, but that didn’t affect us and the students put on an incredible performance. So incredible, we came FIRST in the Open Division!! (there was a lot of screaming and jumping around…) We also picked up Excellence awards for set design and function; costuming and character; visual enhancement; choreography, stage use and our backstage team won the Best Stage Crew award (the only school to win this). After a 19 hour day we arrived back in Masterton (at 1.30am!) exhausted, but so proud of our amazing effort. There were definitely some very tired students and teachers at school the next day… Well done to all who were involved for your commitment to our performance and making it such a lot of fun!

Wairarapa Playcentre Association. Hello, my name is Rebecca Robertson and I am the new PR person for the Wairarapa Playcentre Association.

Do you have pre-schoolers and do you know about Playcentre? Playcentre is a parent co-operative throughout New Zealand which offers an enriching and quality early childhood education for families. We run mixed aged sessions from birth- 6 years, with sessions run between 9am- 12pm. Playcentre is fully licensed, and funded through the Ministry of Education.

Playcentre philosophy is based on child- initiated play and recognises parents/whanau as the first and best educators of their children. We offer free NZQA recognised education for parents/whanau that emphasises parenting and children’s learning.

Come along for your free three visits!

There are three centres throughout the Wairarapa - Masterton: cnr Renall St and Ngamutawa Road Carterton: Howard Booth Park Martinborough: Venice Street

Google www.Playcentre.org.nz or phone 0800PLAYNZ for further information.

Rebecca Robertson, 027 686 8499