41 minute read
Takapuna Grammar
TGS Senior Prize Giving Special Awards 2020
Award Description
First Name Last Name
Gold Merit Debating, Hockey, Peer Team, Environmental Group Arabella Chapman Cricket, Football, Water Polo, Peer Team Ella Cronshaw Arts Council, Leonessa and TGS Chorale, Hockey, Peer Team Colette Morrison Journalism Club, Amnesty International Leader, Peer Team, Premier Advanced Debating Laiba Batool Amnesty International, Peer Team, Leonessa, Student Librarian Madoka Yamaguchi
Citation Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award
Citation Argyle Award for Service
Peninsular Cup Excellence in Performing Arts Margaret Campbell Shield Overall Excellence in Languages Daniel Tan, Jayden Choi, Libby Easterbrook, John Cheney Anya Christiansen, Mac Dalzell, Kennedy Scott, Leo Lin, Ella Morrison Tausala Faulalo
Henry Simpson
Mike Donald Memorial Award Most Committed Senior Art Student
Tony Steele Award Service to Kapa Haka Leah Kampkes
Lomano Crichton
Post Award Service to Kaupapa Maori Reina Stilwell AFS Award Promotion of International Understanding Laiba Batool Zonta International Year 12 Leadership Award This award is intended to be given to a quiet leader: a down to earth young woman in Year 12 who doesn't seek recognition for herself but aways looks out for others. Angelina Lovison Library Service Award Service to the Library Molly Ryan
Aroha Cup
Daniel James Shield Awarded to a student from Special Education who has demonstrated strong achievement throughout the year. An award presented by ex pupil Daniel James, recognises individual excellence by a Special Education Student. Hamza Khan
Molly Ryan
Success Cup Special Education - This cup was donated by Everard Allison and Elizabeth Fairgray. It acknowledges a student who has demonstrated the true meaning of success, a personal standard, reching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can.
Malcolm Fairgray Cup for Horticulture Special Education Ricky Buxton
Joshua Thomas
Prentice Award
Ex Pupils' Scholarship
The TGS International Student Scholarship
Rowan Nicks Scholarship
Warren Mason Scholarship This award for a student who has shown significant growth and perseverance throughout the year. The recipient has continually sought their personal excellence often under testing circumstances. Recognises a student in the senior school to support him or her to return to school the following year. It acknowledges unstinting diligence, participation and co-operation. 1 year further study awarded to a student who has used the opportunities Takapuna Grammar School affords for personal growth and international experience. Further Academic Study at Tertiary Level to a student who has achieved in top 10% for 2 sciences and who is also studying an arts subject. Further Academic Study at Tertiary Level is for a student achieving at the highest level in Mathematics and Science. Daisy Eaglesome
Ivan Tomanan
Charles Wang
Evelyn Campbell
Zak Beaumont
The Dorace Mason Scholarship To recognise a student who is achieving at the highest level in Science. Alana RodriquesBirch
The PTA Encouragement Award Recognition of a Student who has persevered and show resilience to achieve personal excellence. Robert Wilson, Sarah McClune
Ministry of Education Prime Minister's Vocational Excellence Award Oscar Garcia Auckland University Top Achievers Scholarship ($20,000) Evelyn Campbell Auckland University Pacif Academic Excellence Scholarship ($20,000) Tausala Faulalo Auckland University Ella Gladwell Auckland University Year 12 Arts Award Lucy Perry Waikato University Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship ($10,000) Evan Williams
Award Description First Name Last Name
Victoria University School Leaver Excellence Scholarship Tangiwai Scholarship Arabella Chapman, Pippi Duncan, Thomas Lee, Leah Pank, Imogen Pearce, Felix Shaw-Bell
Waikato University Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship ($10,000) Evan Williams Auckland University Pacific Academic Excellence Scholarship ($20,000) Tausala Faulalo Auckland University Top Achiever Scholarship Evelyn Campbell Auckland University Scholarship Ella Gladwell Auckland University Year 12 Arts Award Lucy Perry Canterbury University Matthew Du Faur Scholarship Canterbury University Hiranga Scholarship Zoe Raines for Academic Excellence Canterbury University Julian Lampen Scholarship Otago University New Frontiers Caitlin Walker, Bethan Excellence Parker Scholarship ($2,500) Otago University Donna-Rose McKay Daisy Eaglesome Scholarship ($6,000) Otago University Leaders of Tomorrow ($6,000) 2020 Dux of TGS Evelyn Campbell. Daniel Tan, Jade Nguyen, Ella Schenkel, Esther Allis, Felix Shaw-Bell, Emma Tolcher, Catherine Fairbairn, Tom Christie, Molly Sherlock, Zak Beamont Otago University Performance Entrance Scholarship ($16,000) Otago University New Frontiers Excellence Scholarship ($20,000) Otago University Leaders of Tomorrow ($20,000) Nicola Korck, Ruby Worrall, Lucy Buckeridge, Jacob Davey
Molly Tucker
Connor Cowie
Otago University Academic Excellence ($35,000)
Mary Nixon with Spooner Cup winner Ruby Worrall.
Leah Pank
2007 Prefects Cup Recognition of Service as a School Prefect Emma Tolcher 2013 Legacy Cup Year 13 Student Worthy of Recognition for Service to the School Ella Cronshaw 1970 Prefects Cup Sportsman of the Year Evan Williams Sandie Wiltshire Cup Sportswoman of the Year Natalie Sayes Cleverdon Cup All Round Effort and School Spirit in Year 11 Phoebe Rennie White Cup All Round Effort and School Spirit in Year 12 Tessa Renneberg Spooner Cup Best School Spirit Overall in Year 13 Ruby Worrall June Spooner Award Academic Excellence Year 11 Tori Johnson June Spooner Award Academic Excellence Year 12 Andy Wu
Summa Cum Laude Academic Excellence Year 13
June Spooner Award
Academic Excellence in Year 13 and Proxime Accessit The Dux Cup Academic Excellence in Year 13 and Dux of the School Will Dalzell, Sam Cordner, Holly Wakelin, Pippi Duncan Anna De Boyett Alana Rodrigues-Birch, Aislin Wells
Evelyn Campbell
By Sonia Thursby, CEO, Yes Disability
2021 is here. And so are we!
Sonia Thursby.
With the new year in full swing, we are looking forward to all the amazing new adventures and opportunities that 2021 has in store for us.
We will still be working to amplifying the voice of young people with disabilities through I.LEAD, with many opportunities for young people from across the country to come together, communicate and collaborate on how to make New Zealand more accessible.
We will be holding the second I.LEAD Youth with Disabilities Conference this year, with many other opportunities to connect with young people with disabilities across the country by facilitating symposiums and meetings throughout the year.
We are also working on some projects that, once live, will provide much needed “Quality of Life” choices for people with lived experience of disability, making it easier for people with disabilities across the country to achieve independent, thriving, meaningful lives.
We still have our Youth Engagement Groups running this year too. We are looking for new members for both groups. If you are a young person with a disability aged 16-30, and are looking to make positive change in your community and the disability sector, contact us to apply: info@yesdisability.org.nz
On top of all this, we still have our mainstay projects continuing on from last year. Our first in-house I.Drive workshop was a success, and we are looking forward to providing more young people with disabilities the opportunity to take their first steps into independence through gaining their learner license. 2021 is looking to be a busy year for us here at YES, and we look forward to reconnecting with old connections, as well as the opportunity to make new ones, including all the awesome experiences that this will bring. Here’s to a new year, and more possibilities.
www.yesdisability.org.nz
Wilson Home Trust 2021
The team at the Wilson Home Trust has returned after a good summer break and looking forward to 2021. We were sorry to see Carol White leave for her new life in Northland at the end of 2020 but we are excited to welcome Emma McCarthy who is helping the team out for the next few months.
This year we are looking forward to offering a range of events and services. They include a concert in the chapel, Art for All, school holiday activities and demonstration days as well as our grants scheme programme. Keep an eye on our website: www.wilsonhometrust.org. nz for more information.
We do receive a number of enquiries from individuals and groups requesting to visit this beautiful site and find out more information about the Trust. In response to these requests we offer a number of Information sessions throughout the year. The first one for the year is scheduled for Tuesday 23rd February at 10am; please call 09 488 0126 or email info@wilsonhometrust.org.nz to register or for more information.
The wedding season is upon us and Justine is busy working with couples on their special day. The gardens are looking great and if you would like to come and have a look at the gardens or chapel for your upcoming wedding then please contact Justine at weddings@wilsonhometrust.org.nz
If you would like to know more about the Wilson Home Trust and the work we do check out our website www.wilsonhometrust.org.nz or facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wilsonhometrust1/ 1 Saint Leonards Road, Takapuna 09 488 0126 or 0800 948 787, www.wilsonhometrust.org.nz
Cam Calkoen is an inspirational speaker who is bending perceptions to inspire change and an attitude of awesomeness through simple, lasting human truths.
Passionate about the Shore, this column reflects the awesomeness that surrounds us and the potential we all have to achieve a personal best. Cam
Calkoen.
2020: it took more, it gave more!
Happy New Year… 2020 wasn’t the year many of us had planned for; it took more, it gave more, but most awesomely it enabled us to GROW more. The perspectives gained from 2020 will forever make us stronger, more valuable and way more awesome than EVER BEFORE!
With a new year comes new opportunities to reimagine, to ask ourselves who we’re going to be and to DREAM BIG! Big dreams aren’t airy fairy impossibilities. Big dreams lead us to identify the support we need to be able to thrive, big dreams further the depth of our resilience, big dreams build mighty teams. Big dreams enable us to achieve more, and most significantly our mental health and physical wellbeing become a reflection of those big dreams rather than the reality of our fears.
As you plan to make 2021 stronger, more valuable, and way more awesome for you, your people and your teams, here are three wellness steps that will further fuel your opportunities, further ignite who you choose to be and further inspire the dream: 1. Connect from the heart. We are part of the tribe of humanity. We are surrounded by our brothers and sisters and we are all made up of the same divine light, the same matter. Love is a force that unites us all. 2. Be grateful for all the abundance and blessings we have. We are truly blessed when we open our eyes to the immense abundance and beauty everywhere. Each day is a gift to be honoured and cherished. This day is our 24 hours, so spend them wisely. Open up and embrace this awesome world. 3. Feed curiosity and be open to the new. Don’t let our desires for safety and security become our prison. Harness the enthusiasm and passion for life that is so often found in the kingdom of a child. Why not stay young at heart, stepping out of the comfort zone to taste all the delightful flavours in life's kitchen of experiences.
While conceptualising this article a man pulled up in the car park next to me asking if I could get some money for him, for he’d lost his job, his home, his life as he knew it. Fraud or a new reality for him? One thing we know is that the greatest challenges do not arise from what we are born into but from what smack us in the face. Balancing our health, fitness and wellness makes challenging decisions that much easier.
Enjoy your awesomeness in 2021.
Inspirational Speaker Book Cam and inspire new levels of awesomeness with your team. Contact Cam 021 11 26 598 www.camcalkoen.com
The future of schooling post Covid-19
Mark Wilson
“History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.” (John W Gardner)
This quote is highly relevant as we navigate our way through the global Covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic has forced rapid change to the way we work and do business. As the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, said back in April 2020, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”. Our teachers certainly experienced this, as the new urgency for home-based learning triggered the increased use of various digital tools to deliver their teaching programmes.
While most senior students enjoyed some of the flexibility and independence of this new remote learning, they and their teachers also expressed how they missed the social and collaborative elements of traditional learning. Schooling will always be much more than its core business of educational outcomes around qualifications; schools are highly social and relational places. Humans are created for social relationships, a sense of belonging and a need to love and be loved. This is why meeting up with friends, being part of a sports team, performing with others on stage and engaging in service projects are all critically important aspects of schooling; they develop the whole young person and their character.
Most people recognise that these times will herald a profound period of change. However, the future of schooling will not permanently move to remote online learning – this would be detrimental for young people’s social skills, mental wellbeing, breadth of experiences and quality of learning and achievement.
We need to leverage technology in pursuit of genuine teaching practices that will prepare our young people for their future. This will not see the end of classroom learning; people will continue to seek out opportunities to connect and learn in person. However, learning experiences will need to be immersive, personalised, deeply relevant and engaging. This is where technology can help teachers to accomplish what they couldn’t do before.
As students gain access to knowledge through a few clicks on their personal device, the role of the teacher becomes redefined to guiding students' understanding and application of their knowledge. Covid-19 has illustrated how globally interconnected we are, and here at Kristin our International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes position us to prepare our young people for this global world. These difficult times also highlight the need to develop wider character skills such as resilience, adaptability and emotional intelligence. Such life skills are not learnt in front of a digital screen, but through working with others in the classroom, on the sports fields and in the performing arts.
While this period of history is very confusing, messy and uncomfortable, I am ever so hopeful. This will be a critical moment in our history that positively transforms, and strengthens, what schooling will be. Together, we can and will emerge from this better and stronger.
Accountancy with Graham Lawrence of Bellingham Wallace.
Tax Year end: Important points
Graham Lawrence.
We are racing up to the end of the financial year end. 2020 was a year like no other, so consequently there are some extra issues to consider when dealing with your business’s taxes.
Fully deduct some assets
The low value asset depreciation rules were changed for the year ended 31st March 2021. You can now deduct the full cost of your business assets with a value of less than $5,000 in the year you purchased them. This is instead of having to spread the cost over the life of the asset. This can make a difference, as previously the threshold was $500.
Depreciation of buildings
In 2011 the tax rules changed and removed the ability to depreciate buildings. As part of the Covid-19 response, the ability to depreciate commercial and industrial buildings has been reintroduced for the tax year ended 31 March 2021.
If your business is eligible, you will be able to claim depreciation deductions in your tax return for commercial and industrial buildings. These changes are to help: • you with your business cash flow in the short-term • economic recovery long-term by encouraging you to invest in new and existing buildings.
It is important to note that residential buildings are not part of these depreciation changes. This is because Government intended to assist businesses and not landlords when enacting these changes. There are some properties, particularly short stay accommodation, that will fall into the commercial category, but residential rentals will not fall into these rules unfortunately.
Wage subsidy position
Although most businesses have crystalised their position in relation to whether they qualify for the wage subsidy, or decided to pay it back to Government, this is a good time to check that the position taken by your business met the criteria. If not, now is the time to take steps to rectify the position to prevent unwanted audit results from Government. As a reminder, the first wave of subsidies required a 30 per cent decline in revenue between January and June the year prior. The second subsidy required a higher threshold of a 50% decline.
Declare a dividend
If your business did well during the 2021 tax year, you will be wanting to declare a dividend. With the new marginal tax rates coming into effect from 1st April 2021, you should pay a dividend before you potentially end up in the new 39 cent tax bracket.
Provisional tax planning
As you finalise your tax position for the 2021 income year, you will be taking a position in relation to provisional tax.
The change in legislation to increase the provisional tax threshold from $2,500 to $5,000 is a permanent change. This means that if you had over $2,500 in tax to pay, after all tax credits were allocated, you were a provisional taxpayer. Now you will only fall into the provisional tax regime if that amount is above $5,000.
This is intended to lower compliance costs for smaller taxpayers and allow them to retain cash for longer. It is estimated that this will reduce the number of taxpayers paying provisional tax by around 95,000. While this may not affect your business, it could well affect your personal tax position.
Remember, your 2021 tax position sets your provisional tax position for the next couple of years.
Careful thought and planning
When you combine the declaration of dividends with your standard remuneration (like shareholder salary) with the new top tax bracket, this new provisional threshold will take a little thought.
Keeping onto your provisional tax payments can avoid some nasty surprises. 2020 saw some leniency regarding use of money interest from Inland Revenue, but we are not guaranteed the same leniency going forward.
Tax year end is always a good time to review the year past and plan for the year ahead. While business is uncertain, given the global pandemic is still raging, there are also opportunities to be had.
Restructuring to suit the new way business is being done needs consideration of your tax position too. At Bellingham Wallace we are helping a number of businesses expand as opportunities are many. As part of the restructuring, we consider the refinancing and tax opportunities too.
By Graham Lawrence (Director) and Carla Cross (Senior Associate) Phone: 09 309 7851, Visit: www.bellinghamwallace.co.nz
By Kevin O’Leary, General Manager, Business North Harbour More economic challenges ahead
Kevin O’Leary.
Following the holidays, as we gradually return to our latest version of normality, I hope that 2021 has started on a positive note for you all, as we attempt individually and collectively to put the unique challenges of 2020 behind us.
I am asking you to start the new year as you ended the previous one: by buying local and utilising locally available goods and services. Our local businesses continue to need your ongoing support. Indeed, for many small businesses in particular, your support of the local economy has been the difference between survival and closure.
Long-term, sustainable economic recovery is of paramount importance nationally, regionally and for our local economy. However, the growth of our economy at all levels continues to be held back by the situation which sees stock being stranded on ships rather than being available for purchase. This problem continues to plague many local retailers and wholesalers as our ports struggle to cope with the arrival and off-loading of containers for a plethora of reasons.
Many of you, no doubt much to your frustration, will have witnessed first-hand the empty shelves or you may have noticed the line of vessels anchored in local waters, waiting for their turn to dock. I sincerely hope that a solution to this issue can be found sooner rather than later so that businesses and consumers alike can return to an appropriate level of supply and demand that will serve to effectively stimulate local economic recovery.
In addition to the lack of stock for businesses and job losses for residents, further pressure is soon to be added to business and North Shore household budgets which you may not be aware of. Auckland Council in February/March is seeking your feedback on their proposals for the latest 10-year budget, as it seeks to fill the hole in its finances due to the pandemic. Proposals include a 5% rates increase next year and Watercare has recently approved an increase of 7% in prices for the next two years and other increases that could see prices double in the next 10 years.
There will be other economic challenges ahead so as we all look forward to and hope for much more positive and enjoyable times, the team at Business North Harbour hope you enjoy a successful 2021, whatever the definition of success looks like for you this year.
Phone: 09 968 2222, Mobile: 027 479 9563, Email: kevin@businessnh.org.nz
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act
Johnathan Kwing The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act (“RTA”) became law on 11 August 2020. This is a brief run-through of the new laws that will come into force from 11 February 2021. Phase 1 (in force from 11 August 2020)
Transitional and emergency housing – the RTA does not apply to transitional and emergency that is funded wholly or partly by a government department.
Rent increases – Instead of every six months, rent increases are limited to once every 12 months.
Phrase 2 (from 11 February 2021)
Rent setting – It is a requirement to state the rent when advertising tenancies. This is to stop rental auction situations. Tenants are still allowed to offer to pay more for a property if they wish.
Periodic tenancy – Landlords will not be able to end a periodic tenancy without cause by only providing 90 days’ notice. Periodic tenancies can be ended by the landlord for one of the following reasons: • The landlord issued a tenant three notices for separate anti-social acts in a 90 day period. • The landlord gave notice that a tenant was at least five working days late with their rent payment on three separate occasions within a 90 day period. • The landlord will suffer greater hardship than the tenant if the tenancy continues. • Fixed tenancies – At the end of fixed-term tenancy, it will automatically convert to a periodic tenancy unless: • A landlord gives notice using the reasons listed in the RTA for periodic tenancies. • A tenant gives notice for any reason at least 28 days before the end of the tenancy. • The parties agree otherwise i.e. to renew the fixed term or to end the tenancy.
Minor changes – If the tenant requests a minor change to the property (the RTA defines “minor change”), the landlord must give permission. The landlord can set reasonable conditions around how the change is carried out. The tenant must remove the minor change and remediate the property when the tenancy ends.
Assignment – All requests by the tenant to assign a tenancy must be considered and landlords cannot unreasonably decline. A residential tenancy agreement cannot prohibit an assignment.
Landlord records – It is unlawful for landlords to not provide a written tenancy agreement. Landlords must provide tenants with a breakdown of fees charged on agreement to assignment, subletting or ending a tenancy. This provides tenants an opportunity to consider if the fees are reasonable. Landlords have an obligation to provide the records relating to healthy homes standards.Finally, Healthy Homes Standards – current level of compliance statement must be included in most periodic tenancy agreements.
Enforcement – The Tenancy Tribunal can hear cases and make awards up to $100,000. If things get really bad, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has new measures to take action against parties not meeting their obligations.
The RTA aims to provide tenants with more rights to their living arrangement and give more clarity to landlords on their obligations. If you are unsure about your tenancy, we are here to help you through the process.
Schnauer & Co, 1 Shea Terrace, Takapuna 09 486 0177 www.schnauer.com
Tammy McLeod (BA LLB) is the managing director at Davenports Law and a trust and asset structuring specialist. Tammy leads the Davenports Trust Team and enjoys providing clients with advice and assistance on a broad range of issues involving the structuring and establishment of asset plans, interpretation of trust deeds, the management and administration of trust funds and trust disputes. An important part of Tammy’s practice is reviewing existing asset holding structures to ensure they achieve the needs and requirements they were established to meet. She is also experienced in Property (Relationships) Act issues and advises clients on both contracting out agreements and separation.
Tammy McLeod.
Andy and Susie
Andy and Susie had been together for six years and had one small child. Andy was a school teacher and Susie was an accountant. They owned their home, which due to the rising property market on the North Shore, they now had quite a bit of equity in. After a tumultuous 2020, they were looking forward to a more settled 2021 (fingers crossed!) and had just spent two weeks over the summer in a gorgeous little bay on the Coromandel. They had enjoyed it so much that they were seriously looking at buying a section on which they would eventually build.
Susie was also making her way up the ranks in her accounting firm and had been offered an opportunity to purchase shares in the business and become a director. The other directors in the firm all had their shares in family trusts and recommended that Susie talk to her lawyer regarding whether she should also set up a trust to purchase her shares.
Susie and Andy spoke to a friend who explained that trusts had become quite a specialised area, especially since the new Act came in at the end of January 2021 and they really needed to talk to someone who was an expert in the area. Their current lawyer, who they had used to buy the house, was lovely but did a bit of everything, so they decided to go to the trust specialist lawyer recommended by their friend.
Their first question to the lawyer was – did they actually need a trust? Her answer was definitely yes. Becoming a director of any business brought with it an element of risk and it was all about layering up the protection. A trust was an important part of that asset protection and the lawyer recommended that not just the shares went into the trust, but also their family home. This would also wrap protection around the family home.
As Susie was an accountant, she already knew about the potential tax efficiencies that can come with a properly structured trust, particularly with the increase in the top personal tax rate which the government was introducing. Their new lawyer said that she would usually recommend taking tax advice, but Susie was able to handle that part of it. She explained that it was always important that the lawyer and accountant worked together to get the best outcome for the client.
If Susie and Andy did go ahead with purchasing the section, then it would be best to also put that into the trust. A trust is a perfect vehicle to hold assets that you may want to keep for future generations, and Susie and Andy were sure that the holiday home they would eventually build on the section would become a very special place for their family that they would want to pass down to future generations.
The lawyer explained that now was the perfect time to be setting up a trust – it was early on in their careers and lives and they would be able to show a history of protection in the event that they ever needed to rely on the protection that the trust would afford them. She said it was a bit like taking out medical insurance when you were younger before any “preexisting conditions” could negate the benefit of protection. She also said with the recent changes to the Trusts Act, it was a perfect opportunity to set up a structure that was well suited to the requirements of the new Act and would hold itself in good stead for the future. She said that all people who already had trusts should be reviewing their existing trusts to make sure that they were correct in terms of the new Act. Susie and Andy both made mental notes to let their respective parents, who both had trusts, know this.
The other important element the lawyer talked about was their wills and making sure that they tied in with the trust. She also said that they would need to think about their wishes for the trust after they died – she said it was called a memorandum of guidance or letter of wishes and it was a bit like a will for a trust. She said that she could provide examples to give them some ideas as to the kinds of things people liked to include.
Susie and Andy left the meeting feeling immensely relieved and confident that they were not only doing the right thing, but that they were dealing with a lawyer who was really knowledgeable and that they were getting exactly the kind of structure that they needed for their family and their future.
If you feel you could use some specialist trust advice, don’t hesitate to contact Tammy McLeod or the Trust team at Davenports Law by calling 09 883 4400 or visiting davenportslaw.co.nz.
09 883 4400 DAVENPORTSLAW.CO.NZ
Join Tim Pankhurst for brekky in Takapuna
SPONSORING PARTNERS
PRESENTED BY THE NORTH HARBOUR CLUB
- an interesting presentation on seafood, fishing and media
Jumping in to 2021 we have our first Business Excellence Network (BEN) Breakfast lined up for February.
We were honoured to deliver four BEN Breakfast events throughout 2020, all with incredibly strong attendance over what was such an uncertain year. The success of these events is real tribute to the support of our network and our fantastic speakers who so freely give up their time. The BEN Breakfast series is back for 2021 and we hope you will come along to see what all the fuss is about.
Tuesday 23rd February (7am), Regatta Bar & Eatery, Takapuna Guest Speaker: Tim Pankhurst Director of Media Affairs New Zealand Limited, former CEO of Seafood New Zealand
Tim Pankhurst joined Seafood New Zealand, the fishing industry’s peak body, in April 2013 as Chief Executive and was in that role for seven years. He was previously the Chief Executive of the Newspaper Publishers’ Association, representing the print media. Tim was a journalist for 35 years in New Zealand and Australia (The Australian, Melbourne Sun). He was editor of four major New Zealand daily newspapers – The Dominion Post, Waikato Times, The Press and The Evening Post. Earlier in his career, he was the fishing reporter on the Nelson Mail. He is author of Roughy on the Rise, the story of New Zealand’s most controversial fishery. As both a seafood industry leader and a keen recreational fisherman, Tim has a vested interest in the state of our marine environment, working with numerous stakeholders to shape an industry that is sustainable, innovative and uses best practice. He retired from Seafood NZ last year and is now editor of the industry magazine, NZ Seafood. Tickets are $65+gst and include a delicious breakfast, hot coffee, a chance to network with local business people and stimulating conversation right in the centre of Takapuna. The perfect way to start your morning.
We have five BEN Breakfasts booked for the 2021 season: February, May, July, September and November – we hope to see you throughout the year.
Book online at www.northharbourclub.co.nz or by emailing events@northharbourclub.co.nz
Tim Pankhurst
2021 BEN Breakfast Dates Regatta Bar & Eatery, Takapuna
Tuesday 23rd February Wednesday 26th May Thursday 8th July Wednesday 15th September Tuesday 16th November
Do you have this pest plant in your backyard?
FEBRUARY PEST PLANT OF THE MONTH: Blue Morning Glory
Pest plants, such as moth plant and blue morning glory, are invading Auckland’s North Shore – your gardens and your nearby bush reserves. Controlling them when they are small is easy and cheap. If they are left to grow, they can spread across your property onto your neighbours’ gardens and to nearby reserves.
Auckland Council has recently introduced new rules that require people in some areas to remove some pest plants from their property, in order to protect our native biodiversity.
Blue morning glory’s purple tubular flowers may look pretty right now, but it’s extremely fast growing and can smother native vegetation as ground cover, as well as climbing up native trees, eventually out-competing them. It can take over any garden, smother all plants and cover buildings, if not controlled.
If you notice blue morning glory on your property or in your nearby parks, please take action as soon as possible: • Report the weed using the EcoTrack.nz app • Hand pull small infestations. • For larger vines, cut near to the ground and immediately paste a thin film of Bamboo BusterTM on the cut stem – can be purchased at most garden centres or hardware stores. • For mature, woody vines, use MetGelTM on the cut stem, which will kill the root system below. • Return after three months to control any regrowth. • As the weed spreads vegetatively from stem fragments, hang up cut vine well off the ground and leave up high to dry out. • Put all other cut waste inside a securely tied plastic bag and dispose in the rubbish bin to go to landfill. Alternatively, it can be put inside a composting weed bag. • Talk to your neighbours and encourage them to take action too!
There are several environmental networks across
Auckland’s North Shore that support communities to recognise, report and remove pest plants and restore our native wildlife.
East Coast Bays and Hibiscus Coast – Restore Hibiscus & Bays: info@restorehb.org.nz, restorehb.org.nz/resourcespest-plants/, Facebook.com/RestoreHB Kaipātiki – Pest Free Kaipātiki: enquiries@pestfreekaipatiki.org.nz, pestfreekaipatiki.org.nz/pest-plant-resources, Facebook. com/pestfreekaipatiki/ Takapuna – Pupuke Birdsong Project: enviro@takapunatrust.org.nz, Facebook.com/pupukebirdsongproject Devonport Peninsula – Restoring Takarunga Hauraki: pestfreedevonport@gmail.com Upper Harbour – Upper Harbour Ecological Network: upperharbourecology@gmail.com, Facebook.com/UpperHarbourEcologyNetwork For advice on chemical-free alternatives – Kaipātiki Project, community@kaipatiki.org.nz, kaipatiki.org.nz, Facebook.com/kaipatikiproject This Pest Plant of the Month feature is a collaborative initiative between Restore Hibiscus & Bays, Pest Free Kaipātiki Restoration Society, Pupuke Birdsong Project, Restoring Takarunga Hauraki, the Upper Harbour Ecological Network and Kaipātiki Project. Building on Te Ao Māori principles of kaitiakitanga and whanaungatanga, these environmental networks bring our communities together to foster guardianship, care and respect towards our whenua, natural world and indigenous wildlife.
Harold is News from Charlie Pollard and Jenni Gilbertson – Educators excited about the year ahead...
Life Education North Shore is in for a busy year – some of this is from lost time in 2020 due to the impact of Covid, and also from increasing school demand.
To ensure we continue to be responsive to the ongoing and emerging needs of our schools, we look forward to participating in our upcoming National Educator Conference. This is part of the Trust’s ongoing investment in enabling us to continue to be at the forefront of teaching health and well-being. Some of this year’s conference highlights include: the latest insights into the emotional, physical, intellectual and social development of the brain; navigating the updated relationships and sexuality curriculum guidelines; recent developments in substance education, including the impact on the adolescent brain and making positive choices.
As part of a continuous evaluation process to measure the quality of our teaching and how we meet children’s learning needs, teachers are asked to provide feedback after their Life Education sessions. We are encouraged by the positive feedback we continue to receive for our programme: • "The Life Ed sessions gave us a point of reference for many conversations. The sessions were well-remembered by the children, so referring to them and the ideas from the sessions helped transfer those ideas to everyday situations." • "Each session allowed for follow-up lessons in class. Parents were singing praises of Life Education as children went home talking about their wonderful experiences with Harold! These sessions have inspired the rest of the year’s learning." • "Lessons on managing impulses (reacting vs responding) have been continued in class and have been useful in reinforcing positive behaviour. The children seem to have a grasp of what it means and understand the notion of 'making the problem smaller'. Useful language and concept to support children with behavioural challenges." • "Life Education lessons are up to date and motivating. We see Life
Education as a way to advise our Year 7/8 students year by year. A fresh face with a professional but important strong message." • "Fast paced, engaging and really informative. All my Year 5/6 students were actively involved and I love the fact that we can access the resources online." • "The activities and videos gave our Year 3 students an opportunity to collaborate and share ideas about uniqueness and peer pressure." • "Thank you for your passion and the fun approach; this enabled students in our Year 2 class to extend their ideas and be super engaged with the learning." Like us, Harold is looking forward to the year ahead, working with our amazing schools to support the needs of their students and families here on the North Shore.
Contact us: secretary@lifeeducationnorthshore.nz Visit: www.lifeeducationnorthshore.nz
By Bronwyn Bound, Sunnynook Community Centre Manager Greetings from Sunnynook Community Centre
Bronwyn Bound.
2021 has started with a hiss and a roar. We have been incredibly busy over the Christmas period doing our annual maintenance and the Centre is looking fabulous.
Some groups started mid-Jan, others started during the first week of February (Term 1 2021). Our Early Learning Centre also reopens during the first week of February. We are working on a new website so please bear with us!
Our 2021 Term 1 Community Newsletter is available in the Community Centre foyer.
The ‘Christmas Wheels Trail’ on 10th December 2020 was a wonderful event and thanks must go to Sarah Thorne and all of our helpers and sponsors.
We ran a holiday programme for a couple of days in December 2020 and the children enjoyed ‘Bubble Soccer’ for the last day of the 2020 programme (a great way to finish the year!). Our January holiday programme / youth programme was well attended and we are pleased to be able to offer affordable holiday programme care for our local community.
We will be running a very ‘low key’ Family Fun Evening on Friday 26th February 2021, from 4.30pm to 7.00pm. We hope you can join us at the Community Centre and on Sunnynook Park. We will then plan to have our normal big ‘Annual Fun Day' in 2022.
Glenfield Rugby League Club
The Glenfield ‘Greyhounds’ Rugby League Club this month launched its inaugural ‘Holiday Blast’ for kids in the local community. In conjunction with Auckland Rugby League. Based over two days, the programme is designed around ball games and other activities. After a successful start, the intention from the club is to continue the programme for the next school holidays in April. It's just $25 per day excluding lunch. Check out the Glenfield Rugby League Club facebook page for enrolment details.
All the best Bronwyn Bound, Centre Manager
with Lindsay Knight
Loving Bowls as a nonagenarian
Playing six hours of bowls, especially on one of the hottest days of an Auckland high summer, is exhausting even for lawn bowlers in their teens, 20s or 30s.
But for a nonagenarian to regularly do this, as Mairangi Bay stalwart John Miles does in his club’s open tournaments, is a monumental, mind-bogging achievement.
Not only is he a regular participant in Mairangi Bay’s and other North Harbour clubs’ tournaments, he still plays in club championship events, having recently been involved in the pairs.
If any particular bowler within the Harbour centre exemplifies bowls’ best values it is this 95-year-old, who took up the game 36 years ago and is still going strong. And all those years have been spent at the one club.
For as well as playing Miles has been an active contributor off the green, in mainly practical roles and especially looking after greens. That service has been recognised with an award some seasons ago of life membership.
“There are a lot of benefits to be gained from bowls,” he says. “There is the friendship and the companionship and it is a beneficial, gentle exercise. Even people with incapacities can play and enjoy the game.
He has no doubt that it is bowls which has had a role in his own longevity. “The Mairangi Bay club has become my second home and the people there my second family.”
As well as being perhaps the oldest active player within the Harbour centre, Miles has one other distinction. As a member of the Royal Air Force’s air crew until he migrated to New Zealand in 1967, he is one of the last survivors, at least in the bowls community, who saw active service in World War II.
Originally from Kent in England, he decided to migrate to New Zealand on leaving the RAF because his mother had a brother living in New Zealand. Good family genes have been another contributor to both his longevity and continuing good health.
In his younger days badminton was his main sporting passion and while he modestly claims to have been moderate player he must have had some ability which he passed onto his son, also John, who was good enough to be a New Zealand representative.
Not long after his arrival in New Zealand he married Caryl and when she took up the game she proved to be the family star. As an impeccable draw bowler, she has achieved almost legendary status within the centre. She had playing the game only a couple of seasons when she won her first centre title, the 1988-89 champion of champion pairs. Since then she has amassed a staggering 18 titles, adding two bars to her gold star. John hasn’t had quite the same success but while he hasn’t won a centre title has a handy number at club level. Naturally enough, given Caryl’s status in the game, he welcomes the greater involvement between the genders of the past 20 years.
The game, he says, has undergone many changes in the years he has been involved, but all were necessary. “If some of the old ways and attitudes had remained the game would have been losing more members. The changes had to come.”
John Miles.
www.bowlsnorthharbour.com
Generous bequest to help generations to come
Locals receiving hospice care in the future will have more options for outpatient support, thanks to the legacy of a former volunteer.
North Shore resident Michael Keenan was passionate about hospice during his lifetime, being one of Harbour Hospice’s most engaged and committed Day Group volunteers. He regularly brought patients to and from the weekly support groups at Shea Terrace, to clinical appointments at the hospital, and meetings at the Cancer Society.
In 2014 Michael died in the Takapuna Inpatient Unit and left a substantial bequest to Harbour Hospice. His thoughtful generosity has helped boost a variety of projects, including his beloved Day Group programme and training opportunities for palliative care specialists.
A significant portion of Michael’s gift will now be directed to Harbour Hospice’s $20M redevelopment project in Shea Terrace, Takapuna.
With demand for palliative care across our region expected to increase by 50% in the next 14 years, and 90% in the next 40 years, its facilities must grow. “We can’t wait. This redevelopment is crucial in enabling us to meet this demand and deliver our unique community model of care,” Harbour Hospice Chief Executive Jan Nichols says.
In addition to an expanded and improved Inpatient Unit, the rebuild includes a state-of-the-art Day Centre where patients and families can visit health professionals, attend support groups, day programmes and other group activities and receive complementary therapies.
Nichols says these programmes are carefully designed to assist people to live well at home. “We are delighted to have dedicated the Day Centre in Michael’s honour, to recognise his tremendous support and the difference he is making for Harbour Hospice,” Nichols says.
“We know Michael would be extremely happy that his gift is helping us build a new future-proofed hospice that will vastly improve every offering and service we provide, for generations to come.”
Last month non-clinical staff and clinical community teams relocated to their temporary new home at 1 Shea Terrace in preparation for the first phase of construction. The Inpatient Unit is not yet impacted, with all services running as normal.
“Harbour Hospice has been humbled by early support for this vital community project, and with the generosity, loyalty and commitment of supporters like Michael we look forward to making our bold vision a reality,” Nichols says.
To learn more about the project, track progress and find out how you can get involved, visit www.harbourhospice.org.nz/future-hospice or email kate.thompson@harbourhospice.org.nz
By Sonia Thursby, CEO, Shore Junction
Shore Junction Grand Opening
Sonia Thursby.
Shore Junction is starting the new year off on a high note with the announcement of its Grand Opening on 19th February. We will also have an Open Day on 20th February, opening our doors to the public with the aim of showcasing what Shore Junction has to offer the young people of our community.
A lot of time, sweat and hard work has gone into making this event a possibility, especially with the amazing work from our testers, who have had a great time investigating the building and working out what to ‘keep, drop and create’. In the last few months of 2020. We have had some amazing young people come through to stress-test Shore Junctions facilities. Along with testing the facilities, they also came up with four core values which everyone must uphold while at Shore Junction:
Don’t be an egg – Shore Junction is a safe space for all young people. There is a zero tolerance for bullying.
Be a tidy Kiwi – The space is yours, respect it and tidy up after yourself.
Number 8 wire – Try something new; who knows what you may learn or discover. If at first you don’t succeed then try again.
She’ll be right – If you need help ask for it. The Shore Junction team is always be here to help.
These core values set the precedent for what Shore Junction stands for, and set the tone for the overall culture of the youth innovation hub. They were created to help young people discover, create and learn in the safety of an innovative and encouraging environment.
Our Youth Engagement Group is excited to develop these further and create a value recognition programme at Shore Junction where young people can nominate their peers when they see them holding up one of the Shore Junction values.
