STRATA
The ACG Strathallan magazine TERM 3 & 4 | 2018
FOSTERING A POSITIVE way of thinking
As we focus on a more holistic approach to education, student wellbeing has been highlighted as a necessary part of student development. This year, we have been fortunate to have Marcia Spyve working with us at ACG Strathallan as student counsellor. Her training and vast experience in both private practice and the public sector have helped her uncover significant insights into the difficulties people can experience, and what can be done to help. Marcia shares some important thoughts for parents with Strata: Each person brings their own story to the counselling room, but something they all have in common is the expression of hopes and dreams being shattered, the grief and loss associated with this, and the array of feelings and thoughts that result from it. Part of moving forward is about readjusting to manage the changes in life. What has stood out for me over the years is that the way we think has a big impact on how we feel and behave, affecting our overall wellbeing. Negative self-talk can lead to low self-esteem and low mood, and affect how we view ourselves and how we believe others view us. It shapes who we are and how we feel about our future. We learn to think negatively and talk negatively about ourselves as children. We often hear societal messages that we are ‘not good enough’. For a child these messages can get stuck and become a way of thinking, reinforcing negativity about themselves and their abilities. Changing negative thinking takes practice. As a parent, try to encourage positive self-talk with more focus on good things. Over time, our minds will gravitate towards a more positive way of thinking and our children will start to feel happier. Our brains are designed to change when we repeat thoughts and actions over and over. When your child is upset, try to understand how they are feeling from their point of view. Help them express how they are feeling, and validate their feelings. Teach your child that everyone experiences challenges and that this is normal. Making and taking the time to be with our children is the most precious gift we can give them.
ACG Strathallan student counsellor Marcia Spyve
FOS TE RI N G A POS ITI V E WAY O F TH I N K I N G | WEL L B EI N G
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CELEBRATING SPRING in the Preschool Spring is the season of new beginnings. Fresh buds bloom, baby animals are born, and the earth seems to come to life again. In our Preschool, our focus has been on learning about plants, bees and pollination. Our Junior Preschool children have been enjoying watering and harvesting the vegetables they helped plant in their garden. This led to baking yummy savoury muffins, bread with herbs, and also eating raw veges to experiment with taste. Senior Preschool children learnt about parts of a plant. We talked about how plants grow from seeds, how we can nurture them and what they need in order to grow into healthy plants. The children also looked at different fruits to see if the seeds in them were edible. They discovered that plums have stones and apples and oranges have hard seeds, which are not good to eat. However, strawberry, cucumber and pumpkin seeds are fine to eat. After they finished experimenting with the seeds, the children cut the fruit into small pieces to make fruit kebabs for their morning tea. The children have also been learning about the importance of bees as pollinators. Some of the activities we did included
looking at the body parts of a bee, going for a walk around the school campus to look for bees collecting nectar, and observing the shape of a honeycomb. The children also planted bean seeds, and once the seedlings were big enough they took them home to replant in their gardens. We’re looking forward to sharing the beans from those plants at Preschool. Gardening offers wonderful opportunities for children to play, learn and grow. It teaches them to be responsible and learn how to take care of the seeds so they grow into healthy plants. Working in the garden also enhances fine motor skills development and is a great way of introducing science and the concept of cause and effect: for example, plants can die without water. The Exploration strand of Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, states that all children should generate, develop and refine working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical and material world around them. Gardening gives the children a chance to learn about the outdoor environment in a safe, fun and productive way, as well as learn where fresh fruit and vegetables come from.
CELEB R ATING SPRING | ACADEMIC CURRICULUM
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MEET MS THOMAS Our Year 4 students were very excited to interview new Primary School principal Kristie Thomas, and moved promptly to ask the important questions. Ms Thomas’s favourite colour is coral and she would rather zipline than climb a volcano. She has several pets, including two chickens called Nosey and Posey, two ponies named Buzz and Tamsyn, two miniature horses called Daisy and Richie, and Marley the cat. Furthermore Ms Thomas speaks some Japanese and Maori, enjoys reading on holiday, and would pick summer as her favourite season.
Star: Which is your favourite school value? Pride – if we all try to be the very best we can be, then we will want to show integrity, respect and compassion because we know it is the right thing to do. Everyone loved being part of this interview and getting to know more about Ms Thomas.
The students then put on their serious journalist hats to find out more about what makes being principal of ACG Strathallan Primary such an amazing job to have. Sophie: Why did you change schools to come here? I have always wanted to be a part of the ACG Strathallan community and feel very fortunate that I have been given this opportunity. I knew it would be a wonderful school to work in. Jaime: What is your favourite year level to teach? Any! I love teaching all year levels and have taught New Entrants through to Year 8. Oliver: Do you enjoy being a principal? I love being a principal. I am passionate about ensuring that primary education is holistic and every child is given the opportunity to learn and develop their own unique abilities in a supportive environment. School must be fun! I like to make sure that our dedicated teachers have everything they need to make learning motivational and innovative, and that there is a positive school culture where school values are truly embedded.
MEET MS THOMAS
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WORLD CHALLENGE This year, World Challenge saw a team of ACG Strathallan students head to Central Asia. Katherine Greenley shares highlights of the 23-day journey. Day 1–2 There was a mix of pure excitement and apprehension in the air as the team prepared to leave. The first couple of days were spent travelling by air, which was exhausting due to the flights crossing different time zones. There was a 12-hour stopover in Beijing, so we entered China to visit the Great Wall. What a way to start! Day 3–4 The team spent the first few days in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, acclimatising and organising for our visit to the Silk Route cities. We spent time exploring areas of Tashkent using the city’s metro system. The locals were friendly and curious, but explaining where New Zealand was took some doing. Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent’s famous farmers’ market topped
with a giant green dome and with acres of colourful spices, meat, fish and other foods, was an exciting shopping opportunity. Day 5–9 Leaving Tashkent by private bus into the ‘community’ phase of the expedition took the team through varied landscapes. The start of the journey was along main routes through the city. However, before long we were travelling through an arid landscape. Asraf village, where we were headed, is in the Nuratau Mountains. It is a small community which relies on springs from the mountains for water. The village was lush along the stream and was a welcome sight after travelling through the desert. The villagers have set up an eco-tourism project, so we had a pleasant place to stay and were well fed each day, including with the local dish of
WORLD CHALLENGE | LEADERSHIP & SERVICE
‘plov’, consisting of meat and rice. As it was the height of summer the manual work was challenging, but the team threw themselves into the tasks laid before them, such as whitewashing the local elementary school and collecting rocks from the hillside to build walls. The team also had the opportunity to help dig wells to ensure the village had a supply of water given that it had been a drier than usual winter. Several members of the team became quickly accustomed to early starts as they assisted locals in fruitpicking at dawn, while others helped with other chores throughout the day. Day 10–12 During the next phase we could be tourists and enjoy the Silk Route cities. The earlier planning in Tashkent paid off, enabling us to make the most of our short time in the cities
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of Bukhara and Samarkand. Both cities are rich in history and culture and the team wasted no time exploring bazaars, citadels, mosques and mausoleums, including Samarkand’s Registan – the medieval city’s commercial centre. Buhkara has buildings spanning a thousand years of history, with the Ark the first on our list of sites to see. The amazing colours were in stark contrast to the desert we passed through on our way here. It was clear to see why Samarkand was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2001. Day 13–15 The next few days were spent transiting to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. This involved a train journey back to Tashkent, then another train trip to Bishkek via Kazakhstan. This was quite a long time to spend on the train so we welcomed our day in Bishkek. Day 16–20 The last phase of the expedition involved trekking. For some, this was the pinnacle; for others, the biggest challenge. We left
Bishkek with our guide and travelled 42km southwest to Ala-Archa National Park. The park sits centrally within the Kyrgyz Range, Tien-Shan. The trek started at Alplager at 2150m, including a day spent in the area acclimatising to the altitude. The views of snow-capped mountains and lush green valleys were amazing. On the second day, we trekked up to Ratsek Hut where we would spend the next three nights. The hut sits at 3330m at the foot of the Ak-Sai Glacier. We spent a day walking up to the Uchitel Glacier, but the climax of the whole trekking phase was the hike up Uchitel Peak. The conditions were perfect, allowing the team to walk through snow to the peak at 4572m. To get there required mind over matter, but we succeeded and the views were breathtaking. Overall it was a 12-hour hike. Many team members pushed through what they thought were their limits to achieve something beyond their expectations.
learnt a lot about themself and others and gained new experiences and insights. But the delight of returning home to families was also there amongst all the emotions.
Day 21–23 There were mixed feelings as we began our long journey back to Auckland, again via Beijing. The expedition had been a success, and each individual team member had
WORLD CHALLENGE | LEADERSHIP & SERVICE
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2018 Equestrian team
Sportsperson of the Year: Grace Schroder
Junior Sportsperson of the Year: Elizabeth Murphy
SPORTS AWARDS This year’s sports awards presentation was hosted by Sports Council leaders, Joshua Sinclair and Samantha Francis, and the evening was an opportunity to recognise not only our sports stars, but those who volunteer their time to support our students in achieving success.
Our Junior All Rounder of the Year was Siobhan Balle, who has had success in a number of sporting codes, most significantly cross country, athletics and netball, and All Rounder of the Year was Daniel Tilsley who has not only excelled in high jump, but is also a member of our basketball and rugby teams.
The guest speaker for the evening was Bailey Rogers who has had an illustrious career in weightlifting thus far. She has represented New Zealand at two Commonwealth Games, in 2014 and 2018, and is motivated to reach the pinnacle of her sport with the aim of attending the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Her speech shared her motivational thoughts on how to plan for success. She told students to have a clarity of purpose, establish daily habits which will help accomplish their dreams and to have self-belief and confidence. Notably, she pointed out that failures only defeat you if you let them
The highlight of the evening was of course the Top Individual Sportsperson of the Year which is presented to those students who have achieved highly in a sport or those who have excelled all round. This year’s Junior Sportsperson of the Year was Elizabeth Murphy who has achieved Gold at both the NZ Age Groups and NZSS Swimming championships while our Sportsperson of the Year was Grace Schroder who came first at the 2017 NZSS Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship and has represented New Zealand internationally in her sport and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Games.
Our Sports Team of the Year is presented to teams who have grown, developed and excelled over the last year. The Strathallan Regional Team of the Year Award this year went to the Boys U/19 Basketball Team and the Strathallan Premier Team of the Year was awarded to the Strathallan Equestrian Eventing Team. Both teams have had overwhelming success in their respective sports throughout the year.
Congratulations to all students who were nominated – you all put in a huge amount of time and effort to be at the top of your game.
Junior All Rounder of the Year: Siobhan Balle
All Rounder of the Year:
Daniel Tilsley
2018 U19 Boys Basketball team
SPORTING AWARDS | SPORT, ACTIVITIES & THE ARTS
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YEAR 10 CAMP
To end the school year, Year 10 students were fortunate to head off on a week-long camp from 18–23 November. Accompanied by a number of staff, they spent the week at the Hillary Outdoors Education Centre in Tongariro National Park. Ashley Rohloff shares her experience with Strata. It was an amazing experience and each individual took something special away with them. At camp we not only took part in incredible activities but also learnt valuable lessons that will stay with us for a long time. It was wonderful to bond with so many new people, and as the week progressed a feeling of trust developed between group members. We created memories that will last a lifetime and formed friendships with people we hadn’t necessarily interacted with before. In the short space of a week, a group of students became people you trust and now consider close friends. The activities we did were incredible!
Y E AR 10 CAM P | E XPER I ENTI A L EDU CATI O N
We packed so much into one week! We did everything from hiking, high ropes, playing in the snow and canoeing to jumping off bridges, caving, tramping and an overnight camp. There were definitely challenges along the way but the support from your group was what ultimately got a person to overcome those challenges, at least that’s how it was for me. The overnight tramp was a really cool experience and it was amazing to be so close to and experience so much of nature and learn about the different elements of it along the way. One of the many highlights for me would definitely be watching those in my group overcome challenges and fears and learning the power of encouragement. We were pushed to do things we were unsure about which was really awesome, and it was cool to help other people do things they weren’t sure about too. Camp was nothing short of amazing, and we all have memories that will stay with us forever.
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THE CAMBRIDGE ADVANTAGE “In top-performing education systems, the curriculum is not mile-wide and inchdeep, but tends to be rigorous – that is, provides a high level of cognitive demand. It’s also more focused – with a few things that are taught well and in great depth and in a way that is coherent.” – Andreas Schleicher (2017), Director for Education and Skills, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The introduction of the Cambridge Curriculum at the start of the twenty-first century in a select number of New Zealand schools must have seemed like an unusual move to many. However, discontent with the national curriculum at the time motivated concerned educators to search for an alternative that would provide students with deep subject knowledge, conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking skills. I am thankful to my predecessors for having the foresight to introduce the Cambridge Education pathway at ACG Strathallan. It provides our experienced teachers with a detailed curriculum that allows them to spend quality time teaching their students. We consistently achieve excellent academic results and our students continue to benefit from a curriculum that combines an emphasis on mastering subjects in depth with all important skills for study and work in the future. Critics of the Cambridge Curriculum believe it is too content-heavy, but I would argue that the deep subject knowledge and understanding that our students learn in their respective subject areas provides them with the confidence to be able to apply this knowledge in a range of situations. The Cambridge Curriculum is internationally recognised and widely regarded as one the best pre-university courses in the world. We regularly receive feedback from our alumni that their academic studies at ACG Strathallan gave them the knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle the rigours of university study. Universities are well aware of the benefits of attracting students who have graduated from schools offering Cambridge qualifications, and this is reflected in the number of university scholarships offered to our students each year. With another major review of the New Zealand National Curriculum underway it will be interesting to see what changes are made to improve the current programme. We shall watch with interest, but rest assured that we have the autonomy to offer our staff and students the best possible academic programme at ACG Strathallan.
Danny O’Connor Executive Principal
ACG Strathallan 0800 222 899 | T +64-9-295 0830 | E strathallan@acgedu.com Hayfield Way, RD1 Papakura, Auckland 2580, New Zealand
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS The graduating class of 2018 received an impressive number of scholarships and I would like to congratulate the following students: Zoe Allan: Manu Kaewa (School Leaver’s) Scholarship, University of Waikato Cindy Lee: University of Otago Academic Excellence Scholarship Daniel Marshall: Victoria University Tangiwai Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Victoria University Kahotea Scholarship Mckenzie Northcott: Manu Kaewa School Leaver’s Scholarship, University of Waikato Jordan Shore: New Frontier Entrance Scholarship, University of Otago Joshua Sinclair: University of Canterbury Emerging Leaders Scholarship Sahil Tiku: Rotary Scholarship, Rotary Club of Papakura