DHS Dispatch 7 August 2015

ISSUE 8

Brave Students Honoured Page 4

Snowy Springs Page 6

Glitz and Glamour Page 8

House Singing Page 14

Ki o Rahi Page 17

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FRIDAY 7 AUGUST

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2015

These students receive a certificate and a $10 voucher

AL’S AWAR NCIP DS I R P

Kaleb Riley Caitlin Hool Emily White Jennifer Bell Ben Williams Sophie Palmer Hannah Booth Jackson Proud Cameron Mills Hayley Murray Katherine Hadler Jacob Thomason Cameron Murdoch Sebastian Middleton DHS DISPATCH welcomes any news or photographs you have from events our students have attended outside of school. We love to hear about and share successes and interesting stories.

Please email: sheryl@darfield.school.nz Black and white paper copies are available from reception or Student Administration.

Colour and back copies can be ordered by emailing the above address. Please enquire for cost.

Advertising: If you would like to advertise in our newsletter, please email for more information.

7 McLaughlins Road PO Box 5 Darfield 7541 New Zealand admin@darfield.school.nz www.darfield.school.nz Phone: +64 3 318 8411 Fax: +64 3 318 8543 2

Principal’s Comments The Ministry of Education has approved funding to demolish four classrooms and build eight classrooms (we need to end up with a net increase of four classrooms). With modern learning environments, the concept of a ‘classroom’ has some flexibility. Quotes from potential managers for the project are due back mid-August, with a project manager being appointed by the end of August.

Some key points:

Some design considerations for the new classrooms include:

• Cost is an issue for many

• Spaces should be focussed on how they can best support learning • Design flexible ‘classroom’ spaces to support a range of learning strategies • Flexible building design to enable further developments as future needs become apparent • Design integrates with other buildings (visual and functional) • Simple design to maximise cost efficiency Thank you to the 173 people who responded to our recent online survey regarding future direction for student Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

Responses were fairly evenly spread from parents with students across all year levels, except Year 12 and Year 13 which had fewer responses. The responses contain valuable feedback to guide us in our next steps.

• 88% of students have a laptop (or similar) they use at home • 59% of students currently have a laptop they bring to school • 89% agree that laptops can be an important learning tool at school • 77% agreed that they would provide a laptop if it was strongly recommended • Security of devices is a concern for many Later this term we will publish a more detailed proposal for feedback.

A large number of students and staff have been unwell due to cold or flu illness. The following advice from the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of influenza is worthwhile putting into action. If you are unwell, stay at home until you are better. Follow basic hygiene practices: • Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds and dry them for 20 seconds – or use an alcohol-based hand rub.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

• Don’t share drinks.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze— then put the tissue in a lined bin.

Around School

Congratulations!

You guys have won an ‘Around School’ prize.

See Mrs Watson on Monday.

7 August 2015

Celebrating Our Teachers While we appreciate all our teachers and the great work they do here at DHS, recently several teachers have been nominated by some of their students for the Most Inspiring Teacher. Vote for them at : (http://inspiringteachers.co.nz/ ) This is run by Warehouse Stationery for students to let their teachers know they think they are pretty special.

‘Once again, we’re searching high and low around NZ for teachers who light up their classrooms with imagination and spark the curiosity of their students.

If you know a teacher that deserves to be recognised, go ahead and nominate them today. Teachers give heaps to the job they love —their personal time, their own money (and at times their sanity!). There are heaps of prizes for

teachers and schools to win and those who nominate could win a tablet for themselves.’

Mrs Morgan: She is one of the most dedicated teachers who treats every single student as an individual. I have a daughter with disabilities who Kathryn has worked with over the last couple of years. Without Kathryn’s continued support and encouragement, she would not be the confident girl at school that she is.

Kathryn’s quiet, encouraging manner is exceptional and she builds up a rapport with each student she works with. She knows her job and she knows her students.

I hope she is recognised for her wonderful achievements in Secondary Teaching Miss Hobson: “She teaches us in a fun way and everyone in the class has achieved

at least one goal with her help and knowledge. She is fantastic at getting the point of our learning to everyone and loves all of us.”

“She is the best teacher.”

Mrs Whyte: “She has been fantastic at drawing my daughter out of her shell and getting her to show her true capability. She is fab.”

Miss Walker: “She wrote the workbooks that we use in Level 2 Statistics which are the most easiest workbooks to follow, with each individual step singled out and then it pieces together as you go through the book. She is so helpful, doesn’t give away answers, she actually works with you and is interested in helping you achieve your goal.”

Students Showcase Art at the Selwyn Gallery Art saves lives. Not really, but it does enrich lives. Our Years 12 and 13 Art students have been doing just that: enriching the lives of the community with an exhibition at Selwyn Gallery.

The exhibition is a bi-annual event offered by the gallery, with the intention of giving young people an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of preparing and showing work in a gallery context. A clutch of students, family, teachers, and our principal attended the opening last Friday evening and enjoyed a thematically varied collection of work, along with fruit punch and delicate sandwiches.

It is demanding to gather work of a sufficient standard at this time of the year, with externally assessed folios at a premature stage of development. I am therefore delighted with the standard of work on show, which is high, given

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this fact. Students are working within the disciplines of Painting, Printmaking and Photography and with ideas including consumption, morality, decay, the miniature, bogan kitsch, pet idolatry, and extinction, to name a few. The curious viewer is well catered for.

We are lucky and grateful to be given the opportunity to celebrate the successes of our students in this way. The Malvern Community Arts Council is incredibly generous in this respect, as are the gallery volunteers who arrived bright and early to help to install the work and host the opening.

With one week until the exhibition closes on 13 August, there is still plenty of time to enjoy some engaging art. I strongly encourage you to do so.

Bree Smith (HOD Art)

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Courage and Calmness at Accident Earns Bravery Awards It was the outstanding display of calmness and great presence of mind in calling for assistance and caring for others in an emergency that saw three Darfield High School students receive an award for their bravery this week.

Over 80% of students travel to and from school each day on one of our school buses. Many spend well over an hour each day in travel time. As such, there is the ever-present risk of accident. It is a credit to our bus operators, their drivers, our bus controllers, and bus monitors that we have had very few serious incidents.

At the end of last term, on hearing the first sketchy details regarding the accident, we were deeply worried. It was a relief to learn later that there were no serious injuries. We were proud to hear of the way in which all of our students conducted themselves but in particular three of our Year 11 students.

On Friday 12 June at approximately 7.50 in the morning, the school bus on the Hororata route was travelling to school with 12 students and the driver on board.

For reasons that are not clear the bus swerved off the road and sideswiped a number of pine trees. This impact was loud and violent, causing the windscreen to be smashed, and tree branches and debris to be forced inside the bus.

Immediately after the bus hit the trees and with the bus still moving, Kaycee

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to act in the presence of fear.

Jones got up and started moving forward down the aisle, in her words, “To check the bus was going to stop”.

The bus crossed back over the road, went through a fence and into a field which caused Kaycee to be knocked down on to a seat. Once the bus had stopped she told the younger students to stay where they were. Kaycee then borrowed another student’s phone, rang emergency services on 111, described to the operator what had happened and, with the assistance of another student, where they were.

While this was happening, Akalanka Ekanayake and Marmik Patel went to assist the bus driver who was trapped by the broken windscreen. Akalanka took off his jersey and placed it between the driver and the shattered windscreen, while Marmik supported the windscreen off the driver. An unsuccessful attempt was made to push the windscreen away.

A few minutes after the accident a passer-by came to the bus but was unable to get in the front door. Marmik then cleared branches from the door while Akalanka supported the glass off the driver.

Kaycee then moved younger students to the back of the bus away from the broken glass. She later used the bus first aid kit to help treat a student’s cut hand.

Within a few minutes of the accident, there were a number of locals at the scene to help out. And, within 20 minutes, police cars and ambulances had arrived. The students in the bus were shaken but, apart from a few minor cuts, unhurt. The driver was taken to hospital with a number of cuts but luckily no serious injuries.

Most people who are recognised for acts of bravery say that they are doing what anybody else would have done.

However, we can only be appreciative and impressed with those who, when put in situations of danger or stress, are able to act in way that makes a positive difference to a difficult situation.

Bravery is defined as possessing or exhibiting courage. Courage is the quality that enables a person to face difficulty, or danger or pain, disregarding their fear. To put it another way, courage is not the absence of fear: it is the ability to act in the presence of fear.

The actions of Kaycee, Marmik and Akalanka were an outstanding display of calmness in a highly stressful situation.

They displayed great presence of mind to call for assistance and care for others in an emergency.

Left: James Morris, Marmik Patel, Hon Amy Adams, Kaycee Jones, Sandra Rabbidge, Akalanka Ekanayake, and Tony Rabbidge Below: Amy presents Akalanka with his certifircate for bravery Opposite page: the 1st XV Team perform a Haka in honour of our students’ bravery

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7 August 2015

At a special assembly, attended by The Hon Amy Adams (MP for Selwyn, Minister of Justice, Minister for Courts, Minister of Broadcasting, Minister for Communications), Torlesse Travel owners, Tony and Sandra Rabbidge, the students and their families and senior students of the school, certificates were given and their bravery was commended.

Amy spoke of “great presence of mind and maturity shown in thinking of the things they needed to do in a highly stressful situation”. She said it was an “incredible accomplishment” and thanked their families for bringing up such “tremendous young people”. She aknowledged how proud their school, community and families are of them.

Promoting Peace Starting with a Smile This week was Peace Week. The theme this year is Collaboration4Peace: Local, National, Global. This is a national campaign aiming to raise awareness about peace education and building peaceful communities who foster respect, tolerance and understanding by working together towards the same goal.

This is an opportunity for students to help one another and get to know each other. Promote peace and happiness by starting with a smile.

So why make paper cranes? A girl named Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing, was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945, near her home. She was at home when the explosion occurred, about one mile from Ground Zero. In November 1954, when Sadako was 12, she developed swellings on her neck and behind her ears and later purple spots formed on her legs.

She was diagnosed with leukemia.

The mediators started the week by baking for a family in need in our school community. The Year 7s worked with our 24/7 Youth workers, looking at peace on a global scale. The students all had an opportunity to take part in a quote quiz around the school, with a canteen voucher as the prize. We finished peace week off with origami crane making to remember those who were affected by the Hiroshima bombing.

After being diagnosed with leukemia from the radiation, Sadako spent her time in a nursing home folding origami paper cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created a thousand origami cranes would be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, so her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes.

Peace Week is always held around the same time each year and is in conjunction with the bombings in Hiroshima. In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. To help commemorate the 70th anniversary, we will be making origami cranes in the hall at lunchtime on Friday.

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After her death, Sadako’s friends and schoolmates published a collection of letters in order to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all of the children who had died from the effects of the atomic bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Please come and remember Sadako and others by helping us to make origami cranes and celebrate Peace Week.

Top: Peer Mediators with their baking.

Above: Zane Benbow and Andrea Jones won the canteen vouchers for correctly finding and naming the peace quotes around the school.

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Our trip to Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs

During our winter school holidays, two staff and nine international students went on a trip to Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs. Here is a trip report by Gary Wei, who is studying at Darfield High School in Year 11: This was my first time to be on this kind of big school trip. The only thing I can say is that I absolutely enjoyed it very much.

On the trip we saw a lot of things that we hadn’t seen before.

At first, we went to a very beautiful park, with lots of trees and stones. Also, there were a lot of winding roads but we passed through very easily. The wooden bridge was really nice and was a lot of fun. Very soon we came to a very long and fast waterfall. Our teacher said that we maybe can see a lot of baby seals here. All of us were very excited about that.

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We waited for a long time, but there were still no baby seals, but we never gave up. We waited for a long time, and some active students made some strange sounds, wanting to make the seals come out. Suddenly someone shouted: ”Wow, so cute!” and we moved our eyes to the river. There was one cute baby seal, and one was on the rocks. We were very happy and excited.

After that we went back to the accommodation and cooked for everyone. We had a very nice dinner.

The next day of the trip was very fun too we went to a very nice place called Hanmer Springs. We went to the hot pools for swimming. That was amazing; the temperature in the pools was hot, but the weather outside was snowing.

We really enjoyed the swimming time, so we went in the water again and again. At

night time, we had awesome curry rice. It was cooked by all of us.

On the last day of the trip, we went to climb Conical Hill. The snow became deeper and deeper on the road, so we helped each other and became a really good team. On the way, we made snowballs and we had a lot of fun in the snow.

In the end, we stood on the top of the hill and saw the really lovely town below; it was just like a fairy tale world: everything was white.

What a good trip it was. I will never forget my trip to Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura with all the best friends at Darfield High School.

7 August 2015

Farewell French Friends

welcome keiai group This year, 12 students and one teacher are visiting Darfield High School as part of the Keiai High School Group from Chiba, Japan. During their three-week experience, they will be studying English, spending time with their kiwi buddies, and doing a variety of activities.

Above: Marine, Lora, Loona, Emma, Lea and Nolwyn

Recently, we farewelled our six French exchange students who have felt very welcome while they were here and were sad to leave.

Every year, we run an exchange programme with a French school in Brittany (France) and, this year, Darfield students hosted six for nine weeks (eight at school and one visiting Wellington). They had a fantastic time at Darfield High School and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Wishing You Well Darfunk, our Jazz Band, have been performing during assemblies lately, showcasing their line-up for the upcoming Southern Jam Youth Festival, held in Blenheim over the next week. Students in 20 bands from around the South Island will divide their time between master classes, competitions and public performances. There will be a final gala concert on Saturday night in Blenheim, along with an All Stars band of the best student players.

The band has also recently competed in the secondary schools’ JazzQuest, held in Christchurch, which is an annual competition for schools to showcase their jazz bands and musicians.

We wish the band and Music teacher, Rachel Balchin, well for the compeititon and will bring you results in the next newsletter.

Course Booklets 2016 These have been emailed out to all students and parents.

Please return your forms with details filled in by Thursday 27 August.

These booklets and forms are also available on the School Website: http://darfield.school.nz/curriculum/courses/ Issue 8 / DHS Dispatch

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Darfield On Saturday 1 August, Darfield High School held its Hollywood-themed Formal. Over 270 Years 11 to 13 students put on their dancing shoes, their best suits or their most glamorous dresses.

There were many highlights of the night, such as the great music, the supper, the photo booth, and the security guard who owned the dance floor. Another highlight was the First XV Rugby boys putting on an entertaining haka!

thank DJ Hitman for putting on the best mixes of music, Mr Adams for his efforts behind the scenes and organising us, and DC Photography for taking some stunning and memorable photos of everyone.

The Formal Committee spent the whole of Friday transforming the school hall to suit the theme. On behalf of Darfield High School, we would like to say a massive thank you to Don Gillanders for devoting a huge amount of his time and many props to help transform the hall to create the Hollywood theme—it looked amazing!

Cutest Couple: Georgia Cottrell and James Thornley

We also couldn’t have put on such a tremendous night without the PTSA: they supplied a delicious supper which everyone enjoyed. We would also like to

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King and Queen of the Ball: Tim Logan and Annabelle Johnston The Prince and Princess: Michael Ridgen and Lexi Southerland

Also, we say a massive thank you to all our fellow students who came along and blew the roof off the place. To all you future 2016 Year 13s, we have set the bar high and we all wish you good luck for next year!

Paige Heselwood and Leigh McConchie

7 August 2015

You can see more formal photos in the Gallery section of our website.

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ICAS

Students from Darfield High School achieved outstanding results when they participated in ICAS this year.

Those students whose achievements were outstanding were rewarded with Certificates of Merit, Credit, Distinction and High Distinction.

Thank You, Darfield

from World Vision and fa milies you’ve helped in Bangladesh Thank you to everyone who contributed this year by taking part in the 20 or 40 Hour Famine, sponsoring students and supporting them over Famine Weekend, or by attending our Famine Disco—with your help, our school raised a whopping $5328.60!

Last week, Lauren Stewart, World Vision Schools’ Co-ordinator, visited our assemblies to thank students and tell them a bit about where their fundraising would be spent.

She also presented certificates to the Top Ten Collectors, along with the senior Leadership Team, and we have just heard our school has been awarded four places at the Intermediate Scholarship Day. This is a rewards day for students and

will be full of fun activities, leadership development and presentations from some of New Zealand’s top experts in development.

Brock Hatton, our top collector, spoke to the school about a fantastic opportunity he has been involved in—applying to become a Youth Ambassador for World Vision. From 200 applicants, he is now in a group of 20 selected to attend a leadership camp in Auckland at the end of August. This camp is designed for those chosen to get to know each other and for them to showcase their strengths and how they would make good representatives. We wish Brock all the best and know he will be doing his best to secure a spot in the final four.

ICAS Competitions are developed for students in Years 3 to 13 and are sat annually. Each ICAS test is designed to assess students’ academic ability in aspects of Digital Technologies, English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Writing.

ICAS Science

Credit Sophie Bucknell, Natasha Young, Beowulf Scott, Kieran McKay and Michelle Bruce Merit Courtney Newell Distinction Kate Morris High Distinction George Watson

ICAS Computing

Credit Jessica Bassett, Kieran McKay, and Michelle Bruce

Thank You!

Above: Simon Rells and James Morris

Above: some of the Top Ten Collectors with Lauren Stewart, Rosa Dunnlogan and Lois Burtt

2015 Top Ten Collectors Brock Hatton, Crystal Van Duinen, Emily de Rooy, Annie Campbell, Casey Cooper, Lily Cameron, Courtney Newell, Reuben Boyes, Tiaan Johns, and Tomas Norris.

Spot prize winner: Rosa Dunnlogan 10

Thank you to the kind folk at Athletes Foot and all those in the community who have purchased their school shoes at this store and nominated our school under the School Rewards Programme. Because of this, Simon Rells, from Athletes Foot in Northlands Mall, visited and presented our school with a cheque this past week.

See the advert in the notices section of this newsletter for details.

7 August 2015

Ex-students’ Achievements New University of Canterbury undergraduates and graduates from Darfield High School: Kate Jenkins Benjamin Ridgen Kate Meder

BCom/LLB BSc BTCHLN (Primary) In addition, the following former students graduated from the University of Canterbury in December 2014 and April 2015: Thomas Falconer Bachelor of Science Genevieve Galletly Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning (Primary) Meghan Heath Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (Primary) Matthew James Master of Science Scott Jefferis Bachelor of Commerce Ethan Lancaster Bachelor of Engineering with Honours Alexander Pickard Bachelor of Fine Arts Elisabeth Reid Master of Business Administration Charlotte Tregear Bachelor of Arts Former pupils who have graduated from Victoria University of Wellington between June 2014 and May 2015:

What Do We Know? Secondary Schools’ History Quiz On Tuesday 28 July, two teams from Year 11 History headed to Cashmere High School to battle it out with the best of the best in a quiz to decide which school would reign supreme as history champions.

The teams each consisted of three people, Brogan Baldwin, Harriet Watson and Sean Pennells on Team Two, and Tom Gullery, Finn Davidson, and me on Team One. With the upcoming nine rounds of 10 questions, ranging from questions about the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Vietnam War, both teams were feeling pretty confident.

Halfway through the quiz, we had

discovered that it was not what we expected—it contained some questions that left us numb in the brain and some that may have been just a bit too easy.

In the end, Darfield’s History Team One took fifth place out of 40 teams, feeling envious of Christchurch Boys’ High School who took both first and second places.

At the end of the day, it was all in good fun and was a great experience for us as students. I encourage anyone taking History next year to do the History quiz and see if you can outdo previous Darfield teams.

Samuel Roper

Emma Cunningham BAS Kathryn Fan BAS Nicholas Greenslade GDDE The University of Canterbury, Victoria University, and Darfield High School are very proud of the achievements of these students.

Thank You! A big thank you to Darfield ITM for their very generous donation in assisting our Mathematics Department. The battens they donated have helped our Level 1 students in completing their Trigonometry Assessment.

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St John Canterbury Regional Youth Competitions During the weekend, many of our students performed very well with excellent results. Tests included drill, clinical, communication, written, and health care. To all of our students: well done on your achievements!

Results Darfield Division Niamh Guy: First: Junior Individual Written First equal: Junior Individual Communication Second: Clinical Individual 1 First: Clinical Individual 2 First equal: Clinical Individual 3 First: Aggregate Olivia Manning and Casey Cooper First: Junior Team Test Zoe Van De Pol First for Leader: Junior Team Test Hanako Wilson First: Intermediate Individual Written First: Intermediate Individual Communication First: Intermediate Individual Drill Third: Clinical 2 Second: Clinical 3 First: Intermediate Individual Aggregate Jenny Walter Frist: Clinical 1 First: Clinical 2 Third: Intermediate Individual Aggregate Thank you to Lynda Walter for photos and information.

Ben Francis Third: Intermediate Team Drill Second: Intermediate Team Communication First equal: Intermediate Pairs Third: Intermediate Teams Aggregate Team 1 Darfield Third: Team Clinical 1 Kathryn Barnhill Second: Senior Individual Written Second: Senior Individual Communication First: Clinical 1 Second: Clinical 2 First: Clinical 3 Third equal: Clinical 4 First: Senior Champion Tom Wilson Third: Senior Individual Written Third: Clinical 2 Second: Clinical 4 Emma Grigg Third: Senior Individual Communication Third: Clinical 1 Third: Drill Test Senior

Library News

For the last six months, we have had the assistance of one of our Year 11 students, Brogan Baldwin, in the creation of new pamphlets and bookmarks to promote reading in our library.

Brogan has been working hard in her own time as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. For the last two terms, she has learnt new skills in the development of pamphlets, promoting specific genres and building lists of books in the form of bookmarks.

Library promotion takes a lot of time, so Brogan’s volunteer work has been very much appreciated by the library staff.

To help students find appropriate reading, we have a variety of bookmarks and pamphlets available at our issue desk. If you would like a copy of a particular genre or age-related reading list or would like some suggestions to support your child’s reading, please email us (Helen, Trudy or Jane) on libstaff@ darfield.school.nz or call us at school.

Alternately head to http:// darfieldhighschoollibrary.blogspot. co.nz/ and check out links to reading sites or even look up what we have in our catalogue at school.

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7 August 2015

Darfield High School Senior Scholarships and Sponsorships 2015 Applications open on Friday 7 August 2015.

Application information for all scholarships is available from the School Office and at www.darfield.school.nz. *Selwyn District Council and Orion applications must be delivered to the Council.

Scholarship

Year Level

To Be Used For

Value

Closing Date for Applications

Elizabeth Richards

Senior and past students (previous applicants may also apply)

Tertiary Agricultural study at Lincoln University

Variable

4 September

Malvern Lions Club

Senior

Tertiary Education

$2500

Friday 4 September

Malvern Community Health and Welfare Trust

Senior

Tertiary Health Studies

$1500

Friday 4 September

*Selwyn District Council Education Fund Bursary

Senior

Tertiary Education

$1500

tba (Forms not yet available)

*Orion Selwyn District Centenary Educational Trust

Senior

Tertiary Education

$1250

tba (Forms not yet available)

Frews Heavy Trade

Senior

Class 2 Heavy Trade Driving Licence

$700 plus

Friday 4 September

Broughton Family Scholarship

Senior

Tertiary Education

$1000

Friday 4 September

Hickman Family Trust

Senior

Tertiary Education

Variable

Friday 4 September

There are many more scholarships offered by New Zealand Universities and other Tertiary Institutions.

Visit their websites or talk to the Year 13 Dean or Careers Adviser to find out more.

Fees and Financial Assistance for NZQF Qualifications in 2015 How much does it cost?

Any NZQF standards and up to three Scholarship subjects: $76.70 per candidate Each additional Scholarship subject: $76.70 per subject Fees for International Fee Paying Students: Any NZQF standards: $383.30 per candidate Each Scholarship subject: $102.20 Can I get help to pay?

Financial Assistance can be applied for if your family cannot afford to pay your fees.

Who can apply for financial assistance?

Financial assistance is available to assist with the payment of entry fees for National Secondary Schools qualifications (ie NCEA). To be eligible to apply you must be the fee-payer and meet at least one of the following criteria: •

•

be currently receiving a Work and Income or Study Link benefit, or have a current Community Services Card (benefit-based applications)

family1 income that would entitle you to receive a Community Services Card (income-based applications) •

have two or more children who are candidates, irrespective of family income, and the total fees you would have to pay would otherwise be more than the $200 multiple candidate maximum (multiple candidate applications).

You cannot claim financial assistance for international feepaying students.

How do I apply for financial assistance?

To get financial assistance you need to fill in a Financial Assistance form and give it to your school. You can get this form from the school office, or by emailing Shona, shona@ darfield.school.nz, or the NZQA Website at: www.nzqa.govt. nz/financialassistance.

Application forms are available online or from the school offices.

Last date for school processing is Monday 31 August.

After this fees need to be paid directly to NZQA.

are not currently receiving a benefit, or do not have a current Community Services Card, but do have a joint

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It’s All About That Bass!

Rawhiti Takes The 2015 Singing Title

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7 August 2015

It was the last day of a long term and for several weeks, the four Houses had been practising their songs for the big finale.

A major part of the House competitions over the year, this big event really brings out the competitive spirit amongst the students.

The theme for this year was Respect.

Each house had selected their own song which in some way linked to our schoolwide expectations of respect.

Rawhiti chose Ed Sheeran’s Don’t, Tawera—Lean on Me, by Bill Withers, Kikorangi performed a mashup of: Imagine, by John Lennon, I Want To Break Free, Queen and Why Can’t We Be Friends.

Waimakariri covered the mashup by Mikey Wax, which combines the songs Shake It Off, and All about that Bass.

There was a great atmosphere in the packed hall as everyone waited for the final results. James Morris and guest judge, Karine Das* found the performances very hard to judge and it was extremely close in the end: but only one House can win and that was RAWHITI! Second was Tawera, followed by Kikorangi and then Waimakariri.

An outstanding and entertaining end to Term Two. Well done, Rawhiti. *Karine studied Jazz vocals at Massey University, has performed in a few Jazz bars around Auckland, and been involved in theatre. She has been taught by three leading New Zealand artists and has also been a vocal coach. Her claim to fame is that she was once in a band with Lorde’s Drummer.

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Ki o Rahi Tournament On Friday 31 August, ten keen teens took off into Christchurch to challenge some talented students from other schools at the Maori game of Ki o Rahi.

Annemieke Thomas kindly offered to drive the team into town to accompany Miss Watherston. The students had been practising hard for two weeks prior to the tournament to try and prepare themselves for the known tough competition. We were up against schools who live and breathe this as their main sport, and are educated at a full Maori immersion school.

Darfield arrived with an open mind and a positive attitude. Due to the venue being different from the previous year, the court and playing area were three times as large as we were expecting—this led to some very tired students. Rachael Phillipson and Caitlin Soal had to remain on the court at all times, as you had to have two females participating, which was exhausting for them. They worked extremely hard and were great assets to the team, especially since they only took up the sport of Ki o Rahi a week before the tournament, along with Finn McGregor!

Our captain, Isaac Proud, led the team out onto the court for our first game against Hillmorton High School. The first game was a shock to the system and we were up against a tough team, with the score ending 18–1 to Hillmorton High School. Our second game we were alert and ready to redeem ourselves, coming out with an 8—6 win against Hornby High School. Sydney Riley was on fire, defending the tupu with confidence and determination. Our third game was another fast and intense game: unfortunately Papanui High School took the win with a score of 12–7.

Isaac Proud was named in the overall Ki o Rahi Tournament team, which is outstanding, considering there were 70 plus students participating in this competition. It was a great day and it was fantastic to see our Darfield students getting involved in something completely different to the sports they are used to.

Team members: Sydney Riley, Isaac Proud, Jackson Proud, James Thornley, Gus Thomas, Georgi Pander, Rachael Phillipson, Caitlin Soal, Brock Hatton, Finn McGregor.

Secondary Schools’ Road Cycling Championships Ethan Rose swapped his mountain bike for a road bike and it brought him super results at the above event, held at Ruapuna during the July school holidays.

The Saturday morning was a cold and frosty start, with clear skies and very little wind. The first event of the Champs was the 3.4 km Individual time trial—Ethan took out the U13s race by eight seconds, in five minutes 39 seconds.

During the afternoon, he rode in the U14s 6.6 km Team Time Trial with Isaac Earl, who also had a strong ride in the U13s Individual Time Trial with an 11th place, and Abe O'Donnell, Ashburton— they finished fourth in 12 minutes and 19 seconds. A good result to end the first day of racing.

The Canterbury Nor'wester was in full swing on Sunday morning, making for tougher conditions with good head winds on the main straight and very fast tail winds in other places for the road races.

The U13s 10 km race started with an easy pace on the first lap with no one 16

wanting to do all the work riding into the head wind. Halfway round the second lap, Ethan made a break, pushing hard to string out the field and, at the start of the final lap, he sat up a little, letting a couple of riders past him, then sat in behind for a little rest before breaking again on the second half of the lap. He didn't look back, taking the win with a healthy gap over second, third and fourth, all of whom had a good gap on the rest of the field.

Ethan had a great weekend competing at his first ever road race, doing something a little different and meeting new people. He will continue to ride the road bike over winter and is planning to compete in the Junior Tour of Selwyn at the end of August, all part of keeping fit for the mountain biking season starting in spring. He plans to race in the NZ MTB Champs early next year.

Adam Heard Right: Team time trial with Abe O'Donnell (front), Isaac Earl and Ethan at the back; Ethan on the podium; Ethan crossing the line in the road race

7 August 2015

Motocross Success Year 11 student James Doherty has been active and competing in Motocross since the age of 7. He now rides a 250cc Kawasaki in the Premier Junior Class of age group 14–16.

During last three months, James has placed: •

Tenth in the New Zealand Junior Nationals held in the North Island

•

First in the Chch TT Series

•

First in the Ashburton Camps.

•

Second in the Otago Champs held in Cromwell

•

Fifth in the South Island Champs held in Pleasant Point

•

Second in the Michael Godfrey held in Omihi during May

Well done, James—exceptional results!

COME TO THE FOOD ROOM AT INTERVAL OR LUNCHTIMES. LIMITED SUPPLY. FUNDRAISING FOR A COFFEE MACHINE

Winter Second Hand Book Sale Saturday 22 August 10.00am to 1.00pm On green beside Hillyers Café.

Lose yourself in a book this winter and grab a bargain at Lincoln's Annual Second Hand Book Sale.

Info: www.facebook.com/lincolnmarket

Game Snaps

The game was held here at Darfield recently against Mt Hutt College. Darfield won this game 38–5. It was great to see a good turnout of supporters to watch and cheer the teams on for their last game of the season.

There are more photos in the Gallery on our website

Issue 8 / DHS Dispatch

17

NCEA 2015 TIMETABLE 2015 Examination Timetable Day Day 1

Date/Time 9.30am Fri 6 Nov 2.00pm

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Scholarship Drama

Weekend Day 2

Mon 9 Nov

Day 3

Tues 10 Nov

Day 4 Day 5

Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

9.30am 2.00pm

Mathematics

9.30am

Science

2.00pm 9.30am Wed 11 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Thurs 12 Nov 2.00pm

9.30am 2.00pm 9.30am Tues 17 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Wed 18 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Thurs 19 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Fri 20 Nov 2.00pm Mon 16 Nov

Te Reo Māori English Earth and Space Science

Mon 23 Nov

Day 12

Tues 24 Nov

Day 13 Day 14 Day 15

Day 16

English Japanese Media Studies French

Home Economics Te Reo Māori Economics Canterbury Anniversay Day Weekend Biology Media Studies Physics

Physics Health Dance Biology

Day 17

2.00pm

Home Economics

9.30am

Chemistry

2.00pm 9.30am Wed 25 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Thurs 26 Nov 2.00pm 9.30am Fri 27 Nov 2.00pm

History Drama Economics

Mon 30 Nov

Tues 1 Dec

German Business Studies

2.00pm 9.30am 2.00pm

Classical Studies

9.30am Day 18

Wed 2 Dec

Day 19

Thurs 3 Dec

Day 20

Fri 4 Dec

18

Dance Spanish Samoan French History Accounting Weekend Chemistry Agricultural and Horticultural Science Classical Studies Japanese Drama Geography Latin Art History Weekend

Agricultural and Horticultural Science Chinese Accounting

9.30am

Biology

Mathematics Music Te Reo Māori Geography Social Studies

9.30am Day 11

Making Music

2.00pm

Spanish

9.30am 2.00pm 9.30am 2.00pm

Samoan Te Reo Rangatira Latin Art History

Music Health Business Studies Chinese Education for Sustainability Te Reo Rangatira Social Studies German

Chemistry Home Economics English

Health Music Studies Classical Studies Drama French Economics Statistics Physics History

English Samoan Statistics

Physics

Calculus Media Studies Spanish Geography Te Reo Rangatira French

Te Reo Rangatira

Classical Studies

Biology

Accounting

Earth and Space Science

Music

Business Studies Geography Calculus Japanese Art History Media Studies Chinese

History

Agricultural and Horticultural Science Accounting German Te Reo Māori Spanish Dance Samoan Social Studies Latin

Economics Chemistry Latin Chinese Art History Japanese Earth and Space Science Agricultural and Horticultural Science German

7 August 2015

School and Community Notices Term Dates Term 3: •

Monday 20 July–Friday 25 September

TERM THREE

WEEK FOUR Monday 10 August • House Quiz

Term 4:

•

• • • •

Tuesday 11 August • ICAS Mathematics

Monday 12 October–Thursday 10 December Monday 26 October: Labour Day Thursday 12 November: Staff Only Day Friday 13 November: Canterbury Anniversary Show Day

•

The Parent Portal is now available for parents with Gmail or Windowslive email addresses. The Portal gives access to upto-date information about timetables, attendance, reports and NCEA results.

To access the Portal, go to parents.darfield.school.nz. You must log in with Gmail or Windowslive email address that has been registered with the school.

This does not mean changing your existing email address.

Email correspondence will continue to be sent to your existing address and the Gmail/Windowslive one will be used by you only to access the Portal.

To register a new email address for the Portal, send a message to jane@darfield.school.nz

Contact Between Home and School We have found that up-to-date information is vital in case of an emergency but also for general day to day contact. Have you changed your address recently? Changed cell phones?

Place of work? Or would you like to update / change the emergency contact for your student? Also the second parent address for reports being sent.

If any of the above changes apply, please advise Jill, Student Administrator, by: phoning 318 8411 / ext 3; emailing jill@darfield.school.nz or write it down and ask your student to deliver it to the Student Office DHS DISPATCH welcomes any news or

photographs you have from events our students have attended outside of school.

We love to hear and share successes and interesting stories.

Please email sheryl@darfield.school.nz.

Issue 8 / DHS Dispatch

BOT Meeting, 7.00 pm

Wednesday 12 August • Akitakata City Students Visit (to 27th) •

The Parent Portal

Art Exhibition at the Selwyn Gallery (to 13th)

NCEA Credit Cards Issued

Thursday 13 August • House Quiz •

Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Ski/Snowboarding Champs

•

Year 10 Commerce Business Competition Day

Friday 14 August • Year 12 Rural College Practical Day •

House Quiz

WEEK FIVE Sunday 16 August • Year 13 Outdoor Ed Tramp (to 18th) Tuesday 18 August • Waste of a Day Trip for 7SJ •

PTSA Meeting, 7.45 pm

Wednesday 19 August • Cantamaths Thursday 20 August • Canterbury SS Slope Ski/Snowboarding Reserve Day Friday 21 August • Year 13 Rural College Practical Day WEEK SIX Tuesday 25 August • Peer Mediation Training Day Thursday 27 August • Canterbury Primary Schools Winter Tournament (to 28th) Friday 28 August • Newsletter # 9 •

Scholarship Applications Close

•

Year 11 Rural College Practical Day

•

Year 12 Alpine Trip (to 30th)

19

Remember: If your student is not at school, or arrives late, please phone the school to explain

Reader/Writers Needed

We have a small number of volunteers who willingly give an hour of their time every so often to assist students requiring a Reader/Writer while they are sitting tests and exams. We would like to have more Reader/Writers, as often there are a number of students needing assistance at one time.

If you would be willing to help, please phone the school office and speak to Elaine Guy.

Science Summer School Applications for the Hands-On Science summer school at Otago (Years 11–12) and the Rotary National Science and Technology Forum at AUT/Massey/University of Auckland (Year 12 only) are now open.

Students with ability in Science are encouraged to apply for these, as they give you a good idea of where you can take your ability and interest in Science in the future. There is a lot of competition for places, as these are prestigious opportunities.

This is why we are giving as much warning as possible to allow students to prepare good applications.

See your Science teacher or Mr Baars for further information.

School Uniforms Darfield High School uniform items are available from The Warehouse Rolleston and the Uniform Shop here at school.

Uniform Shop at Darfield High School Orders at Darfield High School are taken by appointment only, so contact Sue to arrange this. It is preferable parents refrain from coming to reception for uniform items from 8–9.30 am as this is a very busy time.

If you have second hand uniform for sale and would like it to be added to the database, please email sue@ darfield.school.nz.

Malvern Community Bus Do you need a ride somewhere, into Darfield or into Christchurch?

Talk to us—the Malvern Community Vehicle Trust.

We have a van for larger groups and a car for the one’s or two’s needing transport.

A low fee will be charged to cover running costs.

Please phone Kathy Stirrup: 3187077

Uniform Shop Hours for Students Monday: 11.00 –11.25am Thursday: 11.00 –11.25am

WANTED:

Blazers!

Does your student have their blazers still? Please ask them and as there are a large number of unclaimed and unnamed blazers in the lost property room.

A referee—student (parent or adult) willing to upskill and be our Senior Girls Basketball Tournament Referee during September.

Please email go@darfield.school.nz

DARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL WEBSITE

Please contact Karen Armstrong, ka@darfield.school.nz

20

7 August 2015

The Malvern Cancer Support Group is getting ready for Daffodil Day on Friday 28 August. We are always very well supported by you in our various locations throughout the district, and the money raised comes back to us to help us support our locals with a diagnosis of Cancer.

This year we are in need of some extra volunteers to help at the collection points, in Darfield, Sheffield, Springfield, Kirwee and West Melton. If you are local and could spare an hour or so on this day, your help would be very much appreciated.

Please contact Elaine 318 8893 or elaine@avocait.com for more details.

Language and r Laughte

This is an invitation to join an ESOL Language and Laughter group to help newcomers from other language groups to feel at home in New Zealand. The free programme runs from 9:30 to 11:30 am on Mondays at Darfield Baptist Church Lounge, Greendale Road.

Please phone Virginia [3180198] or Bev [3188881] for more details, or come and join us.

Issue 8 / DHS Dispatch

21

29th year

CALL FOR ENTRIES!

2015 ART, SCULPTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY

AWARDS & EXHIBITION 2-11 OCTOBER

ENTRIES NOW OPEN DEADLINE 15th September CORBAN ESTATE ARTS CENTRE, CNR 426 Gt NORTH RD, 2 MT LEBANON LANE HENDERSON

THIS YEAR INTRODUCING 13-18 year old category!

E ONLINE @: L B A IL A V A S M 33 PH: 09 838 57 ENTRY FOR .COM ITAKEREARTS AIL.COM

T@GM WCCACEXHIBI

Presland & Co.

WWW.WA

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SERIES

TALL FERNS VS. JAPAN

7 AUGUST TIP OFF 7PM

COWLES STADIUM CHRISTCHURCH

9 AUGUST TIP OFF 2PM

EA NETWORKS CENTRE ASHBURTON BOOK TICKETS NOW AT RAMS.ORG.NZ

#tallferns

Revell Family Trust

www.basketball.org.nz Photos: www.photosport.co.nz www.gettyimages.co.nz

Issue 8 / DHS Dispatch

22

Address: 7 McLaughlins Road Email: admin@darfield.school.nz Web: darfield.school.nz

PO Box 5 Darfield 7541 New Zealand

Phone: +64 3 318 8411 Fax: +64 3 318 8543