Term Planner Monday 23rd February

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1 Strive and go forward Kia Kaha ki te ora tonu - Ulterius Tende Newsletter 20 February 2015 E te ti E te ta, Nau mai hoki mai mo te tau hou To everybody, Greetings to you welcome back to the New Year Term Planner Monday 23rd February Tuesday 24th February Wednesday 25th February Thursday 26th February Sunday 1st March School Photos TSSSA Tennis Finals TSSSA Yachting PTA AGM Y12 Geo Trip TSSSA Life Saving School Photos There is an online system for parents to make their orders and shoot keys (online ordering number), will be sent to school after the photo day. For parents who do not wish to order online, the order envelopes will be sent to the school after the photo day. Envelopes to order sibling photos are available at the school office now. (School photos are thanks to PhotoLife Studios). Y12 Geography Trip Please note the change of date everyone from Friday 27th February to Thursday 26th February. Wednesday 4th March Thursday 5th March Friday 6th March Wednesday 11th March Thursday 12th March Friday 13th March Canterbury University Visit Y10 Mountain Trip Interim Reports Waikato University Visit WHS Athletics WOMAD Cook Off TSSSA 3x3 Basketball Otago University Visit TSSSA Taranaki Athletics Progress & Pathways Interviews Website: admin.office@waitarahs.school.nz Facebook:

2 WELCOME TO WAITARA HIGH SCHOOL Dear Parents and Caregivers Welcome back to our students and their families for the 2015 school year. I hope that you had a relaxing break and time to spend with family and friends over Christmas and the New Year. I would like to extend a special welcome to all our new students; I trust that your time at Waitara High School will be both enjoyable and rewarding. I know that students, who take the opportunities presented to them here, will indeed succeed. Welcome also to two new staff members Miss Sharne O Brien, who takes up a position in the English Department and Mr Todd Fisher, in Mathematics Department. The new school year also brings a new uniform and the feedback has been very position to the new look. I am appreciative to all who have worked on the development of this uniform over the last two years; including the school s Board of Trustees. Congratulations to all students who succeeded in gaining NCEA qualifications last year and to those who received subject and level endorsements. Our students can be very proud of the qualifications that they have achieved and, after results are finalized by NZQA next month, we will be recognizing students who received endorsements in our school assembly. When looking at our results for 2014, it is very evident that students who are not achieving are actually not attending. Our staff are very keen for all students to achieve, but achievement is difficult when a student chooses not to attend classes. So the Ministry of Education, and consequently the school Board of Trustees, have set a target for all students to be in class, on time, at least 85% of each school week. Students who fail to meet these targets may find that they are unable to represent the school in sports teams, at cultural events, at exchanges and other school wide events. Students meet with their Form Teachers every morning at 8.45am and so they should be able to keep their absents under control. The introduction of the Futures Programme (for Year 11 to 13 students) will see many new options being made available within the school timetable. The current timetable has been reshuffled in such a way as to ensure that all subjects retain the same number of periods as in 2014, so some of the new options, such as Outdoor Pursuits, Fabric and Fashion, Songwriting and Music Performance, and a Sports Academy, can also be introduced. You may have seen recently that Waitara High school has been re-designated, by the Ministry of Education, from a decide 2 to a decile 3 school. While this has a positive influence on students who may enroll, as well as the local community, the change does come with a fairly major cut in school funding. So while this year we are trying to make education affordable to all students, and consequently there are no school subject fees, to combat the reduced funding from the Ministry, many subjects are requesting a donation, to assist with providing resources for students in classes. Although this is an optional payment, we would ask families to give a high priority to making this donation, as it allows us to maintain the high level of resourcing needed in classes. I trust that together we can provide the opportunities for your son or daughter to achieve this year and please do not hesitate to contact me directly, should you require any information about our school. Noho ora mai. Graeme Hood Principal

3 Notification of Parent Teachers Association 2015 AGM The 2015 AGM of the Waitara High School P.T.A. (Parent Teachers Association) is being held at 3.30pm on Wednesday 25th February 2015 in the school meeting room (next to the school office). All parents and caregivers are welcome to come along and be a part of our enthusiastic team as we plan our year s activities. This is a great opportunity to support our school, students and teachers, as well as meet others. Last year the P.T.A. ran a lively and entertaining quiz night, catered for our annual sports exchange and donated funds towards IT development in the school. We have a couple of vacancies on our committee and there are also opportunities to volunteer for specific events during the year. For more information come along to our AGM or phone Sharon on Rugby Training It is nearly time for rugby training to start and if you would like to help out, either through coaching, assisting, providing transport or anyway at all then please contact the school office on ALSO. We will be holding a Rugby Muster at 10am on Saturday 14th March. The TRFU will be bringing some professional players to talk to and train with, and there will be a free sausage sizzle. Students wishing to play rugby this year are expected to attend this day with all their paper work and their $45 fee for the season. Flyers and forms will be given out soon. Some Important News from the Counsellor s Corner Success Schedules This is a great time of year for students, and their parents/caregivers, to set schedules and rituals for successful study. The School Counsellor, Rhona Shaw, has a number of resources that can be useful for focusing on success. So parents/caregivers, please feel free to phone or call Rhona at the school office ( ) for ideas to help and support. Start early... Finish with SUCCESS!

4 A Word from the School Office. Change of address or phone numbers Parents/caregivers - if you have changed address or phone number in the holidays could you please ring the school office and change the details. Health Assessments The Public Health Nurse, Marlene Proctor, will soon be carrying out health assessments at school on all Year 9 students. This is a voluntary assessment and continuance of the initiative that was rolled out by the Ministry of Health in Consent is asked of the student on the day, and If you would like more information, please contact Marlene directly on marlene.proctor@tdhb.org.nz or on (06) Alternately, you can google HEaDSSS assessment on the internet. Congratulations!!! to the four students who were selected for the National Touch Competition in Auckland from 9 th -13 th February. U15 girls Paula Stanton Taylor Collins Taiapo U17 Boys Jarn Hauraki Jaden Wanoa

5 ZUMBA!! Zumba Instructor and School Secretary extraordinaire, Michelle Warren, is once again hosting Zumba Fitness classes, in the school hall on Wednesdays at lunch time -1.40pm. Classes run for 1/2 an hour and ALL students/staff/ public members are welcome, and best of all there is no charge! That s right classes are FREE!! Come along for the dance party! All you need is your workout clothes, shoes and water, a smile and some enthusiasm! You don't have to be an expert, or even know how to dance, just come along, listen to the music, try it out and have some fun. Waitara High School s Head Boy for 2015 is Dougal Hannam- Williams Dougal s goal for the year is to be a positive role model for all students and to further develop his heavy metal band, Pedal to the Metal. As well as entering Taranaki RockQuest for a second year, the band has lined up a visit to Australia in the Term 2 holidays. A member of the Waitara High School 1st XI hockey team, Dougal is also the school s Academic Leader for His interests include computer programming and miniature war gaming. In 2013 Dougal was one of 50 secondary students from throughout New Zealand to participate in the Christchurch Urban Expedition as part of the Sir Peter Blake Youth Enviro Leaders Forum. Dougal s future plans involve music and computer programming, with a view to becoming a computer programming rock star. Waitara High School s Head Girl for 2015 is Tara Miller Known in the Waitara community as a real people person, Tara has wanted to be Head Girl since she was a Year 9 student. She is excited at the prospect of being able to better get to know lots of people this year, including fellow students, school staff and those in the wider community. Tara is a Blue House Leader and is also involved in a Sports in Education initiative in which students themselves plan and present interval and lunchtime activities to encourage other students to be more physically active in their free time.

6 Congratulations!!! Jamie Dallas who won a prize for being able to say all five REACH values to a full assembly hall. Way to go, Jamie! Also to our three students whose REACH coupons were drawn out of the bag this week: Angela Cole (Commitment working hard in Biology) Lance Makowharemahihi (Commitment Good start to Year 9 Science) and Arohaina Hough (Excellence in Science) Well done to all of you! Waitara High School Website and Facebook Sites Students and parents/caregivers are reminded that the school has an official Waitara High School Facebook site which has up to date information about upcoming events, and activities. It is important to check this site regularly, as it is our quickest method of getting information out to students and their families. It also has a link to the school website, which has more detailed information and photo albums, etc. and this is also updated regularly. The website will have the latest newsletter uploaded the day it goes out with students and past copies are filed there for at least a term so you can check back if necessary for information. The website also has a link to the Kamar Parent Portal, where you can log in and check on things like your child s attendance, read the notices and see upcoming events in the calendar. You will be sent your login details for this parent portal soon. To access the school Facebook site, you need a Facebook account. We do use Facebook closed groups in some classes for online collaboration and reminders, so students should set up an account. (They can restrict the privacy settings so it is only available to them and their parents if you do not want them to have other students able to access the account). The site is easily recognised as it has a photo of the front gate with details of the school. The URL for the school website is: The website is easily recognised - (see photo right of the front page). This shows the links to the newsletter, Facebook, school webmail and the calendar at the bottom of the home page.

7 Here Are Some Quick Tips About How To Do Revision From Mr. Berghan Revision is an activity that tests how much you can remember about a topic. The activity involves answering written or verbal questions. When revising, your answers should only include the MAIN POINTS. If you find you cannot answer a question just go on to the next. When you have done all of that, then go back to the start and read all your answers CAREFULLY, making corrections and additions where needed. Then take out your notes and/or the textbook references and CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. Then, using a different coloured pen than the one used to write your answers, add any important points that you did not get the first time. Finally don't forget to CONGRATULATE yourself for all your correct answers! PARENTS/CAREGIVERS.you can also use these tips to help your child with homework as a way to revise the days lessons. WHS Tabloids Sports Day 2015 Respect - Excellence - Aroha - Commitment

8 Community notices STARRING GUESS WHO??