September 2018 Winter Sports Tournament Week—Federation Cup Helene Herzog keeps the ball in play for WGHS 1st XI Hockey Team against St Margaret’s play off for 7th and 8th place. Dear Parents/Caregivers a wide range of designs, along with very tradi- tional schools– big city and rural, single sex and Tēna koutou katoa co-ed. We are all facing the same challenges, trying to achieve the same things for our stu- Wiki whakamutunga ko dents and are all at varying points along the jour- wiki o Te Reo Maori – ney. Our curriculum is one of the best in the last week was Maori world, with all the flexibility we could possibly Language week and it ask for, especially if we focus on the front pages seemed to catch the heart of the nation with the vision, principles, key competencies and like never before. It was no exception for values. Other countries are having to legislate to our school as our Maori Department, led change their curriculum to achieve what we can by HOD, Ringi Hohepa and kaiako Maori, already do. Health and well-being, especially Moana-Aroha Henry, organised the first mental health, ae at the top for schools all over ever hikoi to be held in Whangarei to the world and there is a variety of responses to mark this important week in our calendar. this. Wales is currently a pilot with 120 schools As the students proudly led the way from to trial a new curriculum which includes: key Whangarei Library to the Cameron Street stages being axed, no formal exams before Mall and then on to the Canopy Bridge. GCSES, pupil assessment will be more informal, with their banner carrying the theme “Kia no changes to A levels and more emphasis on kaha te Reo Māori”, - keep the Maori lan- health and wellbeing. As a generalisation there is guage strong, the numbers behind them less emphasis on technology than in NZ schools. swelled to 3000 people from all over There is a strong emphasis on vocational path- Northland. They are to be congratulated ways with all schools required to have a work- on their great initiative and outstanding place component and all schools have to have organisation as it turned into a major lo- ‘Safeguarding’ policies and procedures in place gistical challenge as the numbers contin- so that someone knows about every student, ued to grow. We are grateful for the sup- even when they change schools. Teacher short- port and sponsorship we received from ages are the same everywhere and more chal- the police, Te Ora Hou, Wananga o Aotea- lenging behaviours being faced was another roa and Te Kapua Whetu so the marchers common theme. could proceed safely on closed roads and enjoy free sausages at the Canopy Bridge. The Leadership course at Harvard University was It was an added bonus to win Maori Tele- the highlight of my time away. There were 160 vision’s Reo Town Trophy as Whangarei principals, directors and superintendents from was the city with the most kupu – people all over the world and as in the UK, the challeng- being able to give a word in Māori. Huge es and areas of focus were all the same. We had thanks and congratulations to the staff an inspiring line-up of world leading educators and students in our Māori Department for and researchers and covered a wide range of their superb organisation and outstanding topics including strategy, changing culture, fami- success. The response and feedback has ly-school partnerships, leadership, universal de- been so positive– it obviously struck a sign for learning, going from the system to the chord with thousands! classroom and so much more. I am still in the process of pulling it all together. It feels good to be back after the trip of a lifetime which seemed so long and flew by We enjoyed the sightseeing immensely as we so quickly. Schools throughout the UK visited the beautiful Geek Islands, Croatia, Bos- made me feel so welcome and I thorough- nia and Italy. We experienced temperatures of ly enjoyed seeing brand new schools with up to forty degrees in any places –it would be hard for anyone to ignore climate change as coaches and managers who gave so gener- these counties move from severe and damag- ously of their time and expertise to give ing winter storms to heat waves and droughts these teams the opportunity to compete and huge fires burning hopelessly out of con- and shine in their respective sports codes. trol for weeks. NZ firefighters were men- tioned in the news and their help was enor- The Year 9 students will shortly be selecting mously appreciated. The Yosemites State Park their option choices for Term 4 from an ex- was closed the day before we were due to go citing line up. They will be taking the skills hiking there and was not open by the time we they have acquired in the nine options they returned home. studies over the first three terms and apply- I am so much richer for taking this trip and am ing them to project based contexts. Each deeply indebted to the Woolf Fisher Trust, student will be choosing three courses to our Board of Trustees and Kevin Dean and complete next term. other staff who did a wonderful job of leading the school in my absence. Applications for Head and Deputy Head Girls It was exciting to return to the wonderful and prefects are now open and students are Dance Concerts where the performances of invited to apply for these positions. The in- the students never cease to amaze me – from formation has been emailed to all Year 12 the thought provoking performances of the students. If your daughter has leadership senior students to the slick, well performed ability or potential and the qualities we are group dances of the junior school – everyone looking for, please talk with her about carried out their part superbly to make for a putting herself for these positions. As they week of standout Dance. Huge thanks to the are nearing the end of their secondary edu- talented Dance teachers for another impres- cation, it is important they recognise their sive showcase of Dance. capabilities and talents and put them them- selves forward to make the most of their They were followed closely by the Science Fair opportunities. It is also important to discuss where our students gained an impressive ar- with her how she can continue to develop ray of awards, including a trip to Otago Uni- her leadership ability if she is not successful versity. as every year we have more worthy appli- cants than there are positions but there are Tournament week is always a highlight on the many other leadership roles in the school school calendar and we had teams travelling too. I do need to emphasise that becoming a far and wide. However, we were spoilt this prefect is not a reward for being a good stu- yea rto have the exciting Federation Cup dent. We do greatly value all those qualities hockey up here in Whangarei. It was exciting, but are looking for the leadership factor. nail biting hockey with nothing between the The night before I left to go overseas, I was top eight teams. Congratulations to our 1st X1 interviewed along with Craig McKernan, who are the seventh best team in NZ! The Principal of St Francis Xavier School, to co- other teams also enjoyed successful tourna- lead our Kāhui Ako. We have been appoint- ments with 2nd X1 hockey finishing in third ed to this joint role from the beginning of place and our netball team having a great this term. We are looking at ‘wellbeing’ be- week earning themselves a spot in the covet- ing the achievement challenge that all the ed A grade competition for 2019. The 1st X1 schools in the five Kāhui Ako will focus on football are now competing in the Premier and in addition to that Craig and I are in the tournament and have maintained their place process of consulting with our Kāhui Ako on again for next year. We are very proud of all including STEAM (Science, Technology, Engi- our teams and would like to thank all the neering, Arts and Maths) oral and written language in our challenges. The other schools Eco Wave... in our group are: Maungatapere, Matarau, A Young Enterprise Ngunguru, Parua Bay and Pompallier Catholic College. We also have Early Childcare Cen- Business tres: Best Start Regent Kindy, Comrie Park Eco Wave is a Young En- Kindergarten, Kensington Educare, Manaia terprise business made Kindergarten, Parua Bay Childcare, Parua Bay up of four passionate stu- Playcentre, St John’s Progressive Childcare dents who attend Whan- and Tutukaka Coast Playcentre. garei Girls’ High School and encourage the reduction of single use plastic bags. We have The year is running out quickly, with Prize noticed that customers often forget their re- Giving early next term and there will also be usable bags which results in them using single another half day soon after that for staff pro- use plastic. We here at Eco Wave have creat- fessional development. The date in mid- ed a product Eco Chain, a keychain compart- November has yet to be confirmed but will be ment which stores a reusable bag. This prod- communicated as soon as we know. uct aims to reduce the single use of plastic and offers users a convenient, practical and a All the best for a safe and happy holiday. sustainable alternative to plastic.