Strata Term 2 2018

Strata

TERM 2 | 2018

TERM 2 | 2018

The ACG Strathallan Magazine

Quiz Night

Supporting the community Our students continue to seek new opportunities for supporting local causes and, in doing so, learn the importance of making a positive difference in the lives of others. Many of our initiatives are studentled, and each year our students find new ways of giving back. This year is no different.

In early May, Puni School was devastated by an arson attack. The fire left one classroom completely gutted, two others damaged and the teachers’ resources in ruins. Very quickly, the call went out for a mufti day at Strathallan to raise funds, and nearly $2000 was collected that day.

The Papakura Marae runs another community project that our students have been inspired to support. Each Thursday, several senior students, together with a member of staff, offer their time to help serve meals and plate up desserts to those struggling in our immediate community. The marae visits have provided an opportunity for us to join with a number of community groups to assist those in need.

Strathallan has also become part of a local environmental initiative, Hingaia Gardens, a community garden project that has been on the Papakura Council’s agenda for

some years. It took Year 13 Student Council president Mckenzie Northcott to start the conversation with the Papakura Council and Gardens4you, resulting in our senior students being invited to help plant the first stage of the garden with guavas, feijoas, avocados, and various nut and citrus trees.

We look forward to these trees becoming more established and seeing the local community taste the fruits of our labours.

Garden crew

Sarah and Kiran

This year’s Quiz Night supported the upcoming World Challenge team project and Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD). World Challenge team members worked with the Student Council to organise the night, with funds raised going towards their community project in the Nuratau Mountains in Uzbekistan. The team will spend four days there, helping to build a library and immersing themselves in the local community. This year, an impressive $2400 was raised.

Such commitment to giving is integral to our school values and it is heartening to see our students embrace these opportunities wholeheartedly as by doing so they are certainly developing a strong foundation for good citizenship.

SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

unity Project

World Challenge Corammf in As

Winter Field Day Following the success of the Summer Field Day earlier this year, ACG Strathallan hosted the Winter Field Day— a fantastic event for Year 7s and 8s across the North Counties region. Our students got together with over 350 likeminded sports-loving students from various schools to compete in four different sporting tournaments: rippa rugby, football, hockey and netball. There was a good mix of teams, with students having the opportunity to play in either a social grade or a competitive grade. Students had a wonderfully challenging day, doing what they enjoy most. Here is what some had to say:

Jasmine Burson | Year 7 I got to play a position that I don’t usually play and I discovered I was really good at it. It was a great opportunity to test my skills.

Jack Schroder | Year 8 I enjoyed socialising with my teammates the most.

Lauren Aylward | Year 8 Playing people from different schools showed me that other schools play differently, which was a great learning opportunity. The games were fair because we were playing with an equally matched team which was great.

Annalie Malins | Year 8 I thought that it was a fantastic activity because it helped us with our sports skills, and we all got involved whether we were good at the sport or were just trying something new.

New sports uniform An exciting change in the sports department has been the introduction of new uniforms for all sports teams. Teams are now all unified by the colours of the new school logo. Each team has a specific colour, with the top teams wearing a slightly different shade of the designated colour. The uniforms are worn by all team members participating in games so they proudly identify themselves as a Strathallan team. ACG support office worked together with Tracy Heaven, Product and Business Development Manager at LENCO, to help make this possible.

DEVELOPMENTS IN SPORT | SPORT, ACTIVITIES AND THE ARTS

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Tip Top learning With environmental pollution an intensely debated issue these days, it is encouraging to see our very young students learning about it at the preschool. Simone Butler shared how this topic was taught experientially through a trip to the Tip Top ice cream factory.

In the senior preschool our current focus has been Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! We have been learning about how we can reduce our waste at preschool with our worm farm, how we can reuse rubbish to make new things, how to recognise the recycling symbol, and what things we can recycle. To conclude our learning, we had a trip to the Tip Top factory to learn about the process of packaging one of our favourite foods — ice cream! We were all really excited to begin our bus journey and see how ice cream is made, so off we set with smiles on our faces.

At the Tip Top factory we were treated to a really fun, in-depth tour of the factory, and we were lucky enough to watch boysenberry and caramel ice cream being made, packaged and checked for quality.

We learnt lots of interesting facts about ice cream, such as how people in New Zealand eat 27 litres of ice cream each per year! That’s a lot of ice cream! In the ‘magic moments’ room we were able to sample the delicious ice cream and watch a movie about the history of Tip Top. The exploration strand of our New Zealand curriculum, Te Whariki, states that “Children should develop working theories for making sense of the material world”, and now we know Tip Top’s secret recipe. What better way than learning about making our own ice cream treat from actual ice cream makers!

PRE-SCHOO L TRI P TO TI P TO P | E XPER I ENTI A L EDU CATI O N

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Oliver! Oliver!

Never before before has has aa boy boy wanted wanted more! more!

Never

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The production of Oliver lit up the Hawkins Theatre with its delightful music and gripping story about the orphaned boy, Oliver, who was born in a Victorian workhouse. His life takes many twists and turns, eventually leading him to a life of crime on the streets of London.

Audiences were delighted by the spectacular acting, singing and dancing of the cast, thanks to director Penny StaffordBush, musical director Josh Mackay, and production organiser Sophia Grobler.

To put on a show of this magnitude takes keen students who are willing to put themselves out there and take to the stage.

Strata spoke to three students about their roles, and what encouraged them to participate in the production.

Holly Cawdron (Year 10): I played the role of the Artful Dodger. This was a bigger role than I have ever played before so it was a huge challenge. I enjoy doing things like this in general because I love performing and entertaining others while on a stage. Also, I view musicals as a unique and fun way to tell a story.

Sky Wu (Year 10): I played Old Sally and was also a part of the chorus. With my role there was an obvious challenge because I had to mimic an elderly lady’s movements and tone of voice. I was a part of the production last year and I had great fun and learned a lot, so I wanted to do it again this year. Also, I really love just performing on stage and expressing myself to the audience.

and what a great learning opportunity beyond the classroom for the many students involved.

Devon O’ Halloran (Year 9) In the production I played three different characters: an orphan, a townsperson and a member of Fagin’s gang. These three characters are very different. For example, when I was an orphan I had to look sad and hungry whereas when I was a part of Fagin’s gang I had to look cheeky, smart and happy.

Some challenges I faced were learning all the songs and managing quick costume changes. I decided to audition for the school production so I could meet new friends and get to know more people (because I’m new to this school). I have met so many new friends and most of them aren’t even in my year level!

It was truly a very polished production which certainly left audiences crying out for “More!”,

OLIVER | SPORT ACTIVITIES AND THE ARTS

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Teachers as learners Being a life-long learner is an aspect of a teacher’s practice that is considered necessary for staying up to date and relevant in an ever-changing world. Being a reflective practitioner plays a key role in a teacher’s success with students. When choosing a teaching strategy, teachers are always mindful that what may work with one group of learners may not always be the best for another group. To think about this in a more explicit way, Strathallan’s teacher professional learning this year has focused on how we could use a research paradigm to take a deeper look at our practice and the outcomes for students.

This PL on ‘Teaching Inquiry’ was delivered over three sessions by Tabitha Leonard, an educational facilitator and coach. Under

her guidance, teachers had to assume the role of students as we were challenged to explore our practice. Teachers often have a hunch about some learning or a particular strategy they use. Using this method of inquiry, teachers were led to ask questions about these hunches, create hypotheses, then collect and analyse data in order to reflect their thinking. An important part of the process was also to look at the research that supported the pedagogy we chose to use.

This PL started in the Primary School last year, and interesting learning has already come out of their inquiries. Jane Warne, a teacher from the Primary School, shared their inquiry focus for this year:

At its best, ‘Teacher Inquiry’ is embedded in the classroom programme, is contextual, and aims to elevate student learning.

Through an ongoing inquiry routine, Strathallan teachers are looking forward to learning in clearer, detailed ways what is happening for their learners, realising the impact of their teaching actions and planning more meaningful and successful learning experiences.

Teacher learning is of crucial importance to student learning, and can make a real difference to student outcomes. As Australian educator, Alan Reid, states: “Educators are understood as people who learn from teaching rather than as people who have finished learning how to teach.”

Current ‘Teacher Inquiry’ themes include student behaviour, the impact of ICT, promoting reading interest, and integrating a growth mind-set within the curriculum.

“Educators are understood as people who learn from teaching rather than as people who have finished learning how to teach.”

– Alan Reid | Australian educator TEACHERS AS LEARNERS | ACADEMIC CURRICULUM

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Sports Council

Growing good leaders As educators we are constantly looking for creative new ways to foster leadership in our students because good leaders can have a huge impact on their peers.

a semester, with students required to make sure they carry out their role in the designated time, ranging from before school to lunchtimes.

Emmy Malins and Daniel Xian shared the leadership initiative currently running in the primary school. It is the Year 6 Leadership Passport, which sees students undertake a leadership role they have chosen themselves. They can be a groundskeeper, an office helper/resource room monitor, junior sports monitor, library monitor, or rock band roadie. They are then responsible for organising the activity by setting it up and tidying up at the end. When they have completed their role the teacher in charge signs it off once they are satisfied it has been accomplished. The initiative runs for

A college Sports Council was set up this year to provide a new avenue for student leadership. The purpose of the council is to create awareness of the range of sports available in the Strathallan community, to grow our sporting ability and promote the school’s sporting successes. The council’s vision is to promote sport attendance, support sport staff and set up good systems of communication between students, staff, parents, coaches and managers. Head of Sports, Mr Fourie, says the students have made a great start. “They have successfully set up notices about games,

LEARNING TO LEAD | LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

reported results, communicated with different sporting teams and spent time supporting the Sports Office with the sorting of new uniforms.” The council presents an excellent opportunity for students with a passion for sport. This year, the council is made up of Joshua Sinclair (chairperson), Samantha Francis (secretary), Duncan Campbell, George Fowler and Rochelle Cole.

A leader is someone who can inspire those around them to be their very best, and we believe that by creating leadership opportunities for our students we are creating leaders for life.

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Experiential education “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Aristotle Learning something by doing it seems like common sense really. However, so much of what students learn at school is confined to the four walls of a classroom, and at times they struggle to make the all-important connections that help them acquire new knowledge and skills. Providing students with authentic experiences that bring theoretical concepts to life allows them to develop a deeper understanding of the specific area or concept being studied.

Put simply, experiential education is about purposefully engaging learners in direct experience and reflection. The Preschool trip to the Tip Top factory in Mt Wellington this term wasn’t just about the free ice cream (although I’m sure that was a bonus!) any more than the Year 13

Economics class trip to the Reserve Bank in Wellington was about experiencing the delights of our capital city. Both trips provided students with direct experience that allowed them to see theoretical concepts in practice.

Experiential education also encompasses overseas trips and outdoor education expeditions. Kurt Hahn, founder of the Duke of Edinburgh Programme and Outward Bound, was a firm believer in the benefits associated with providing students with challenging experiences in the outdoors. Hahn argued that it helped students to develop character as a result of being put in situations that required them to step outside of their comfort zone. For some students, the Year 4 sleepover at Kelly Tarlton’s represents

Year 4 - Kelly Tarltons trip

ACG Strathallan 0800 222 899 | T: +64-9-295 0830 | E: strathallan@acgedu.com Hayfield Way, RD1 Papakura, Auckland 2580, New Zealand

a significant challenge, and for others it might be spending a night with the people of the Nuratau mountain village in Uzbekistan as part of the three-week World Challenge expedition.

A day at the Botanic Gardens, an overnight stay on a marae, an art trip to Melbourne, a week-long camp at Mt Ruapehu or a three-week overseas expedition shouldn’t be viewed as just an exciting thing to do with friends, it should be viewed as an integral part of a child’s education and a powerful opportunity to learn, grow and develop.

Danny O’Connor Executive Principal