The Year That Was - November 2020

YEAR

THE

THAT WAS

Thursday November 26

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YEAR

THE

3

THAT WAS

CONTENTS

EARLY EDUCATION

Back2Nature Childcare .........................................................4 Hurupaki Kindergarten ........................................................5 Mairtown Kindergarten.........................................................6 Whangarei Childcare Centre .................................................7

PRIMARY SCHOOLS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS

Broadwood Area School .......................................................10 Herekino School ...................................................................11 Hurupaki School ...................................................................12 Kaeo School ..........................................................................13 Kaikohe West School ............................................................14 Kaitaia Primary School .........................................................15 Kerikeri Primary School ........................................................16 Manaia View School .............................................................17 Maunu School .......................................................................18 Ohaeawai School ..................................................................19 Raurimu Ave School ..............................................................20 Ruakaka School ....................................................................21 Springbank School ...............................................................22 Taipa Area School..................................................................23 Tōtara Grove School ..............................................................24 Totara North School ..............................................................25 Kaitaia Intermediate School ................................................26 Kamo Intermediate School ..................................................27

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Bay of Islands College ...........................................................28 Bream Bay College ................................................................29 Excellere College ...................................................................30 Huanui College ......................................................................31 Kamo High School.................................................................32 Tauraroa Area School ............................................................34 Tikipunga High School..........................................................35 Whangārei Boys’ High School...............................................36 Whangarei Girls’ High School ...............................................37 He Matariki Teen Parent School ...........................................38

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YEAR BACK2NATURE CHILDCARE THE

THAT WAS

2020 was certainly a year to remember!

F

or Back2Nature Childcare, we celebrated six years of providing quality homebased childcare to our community… And never was this more needed than during the Covid-19 lockdown, when the government contracted Back2Nature educators to provide childcare to essential workers. We feel privileged to contribute in this way, and also pleased that homebased was recognised as a ‘safer’ option, when we were allowed to open our service fully to families at Level 3.

Apart from the Covid interruption, we continued our routine of weekly Nature Days, and Wāhi Koa (Place of Joy) playgroups.

The educators and tamariki love gathering in the larger groups to socialise and explore new things together. We held an amazing ‘International Mud Day’ celebration, thanks to the Whangārei Speedway, with mud slides, mud painting and lots of other fun activities.

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We also marked Matariki with shared kai, storytelling, craft activities and a disco.

Back2Nature Childcare joined the ‘Whangarei Hidden Books’ Facebook group this year, contributing to the awesome kaupapa of ‘hiding’ children’s books each Nature Day for other children to find, read and re-hide. Our tamariki love seeing that the books they hid have been found!

While we are a Whangārei based local business, 2020 sees us building up our team of educators in Mangawhai and also in the Far North, with a group of new educators that hold our Nature philosophy close to their hearts.

As we head towards 2021, we are grateful for the freedoms that we are able enjoy, and share with the tamariki in our care.

If you would like to find out more about our amazing childcare service, head to our website or Back2Nature Facebook page.

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YEAR HURUPAKI KINDERGARTEN THE

5

THAT WAS

H

ere at Hurupaki Kindergarten we are a team of dedicated and fully qualified teachers working together with tamariki, parents/whānau and the wider community to provide an environment where we place a high value on forming trusting, respectful relationships and an atmosphere full of fun and humour. The programme offered at Hurupaki Kindergarten is child initiated and focuses on the children’s strengths and interests. Children’s learning is not measured by what they take home; the emphasis is on their experiences rather than a resulting product. Children are viewed as competent and confident learners and are encouraged to develop their own problemsolving techniques and to become independent life-long learners and investigators through their own explorations and discoveries.

2020 will be remembered as the year of Covid-19 which brought many challenges. By providing constant communication through Facebook and e-mail we were able to stay connected with our tamariki and whānau.

Then on return to kindergarten we focused on relationship building and supporting our tamariki and whānau to feel safe and secure.

It didn’t take long for all children and their families to return to Kindergarten and feel that sense of belonging.

Hurupaki Kindergarten is an Enviroschool and this year saw us reflecting on and then celebrating becoming a Bronze Enviroschool.

We aim to equip our tamariki with the

skills and knowledge they need to become leaders in sustainability. By caring for our kindergarten, our community and our world we become catalysts for change. We have recycling systems in place, including a compost bin and worm farm; a vegetable garden; a strawberry garden; an orchard; a butterfly garden; beautiful artwork inspired by the Atua and nature on murals and bird boxes; a rat trapping system – including taking part in the Tiakina Project for monitoring rat traps – we have caught 13 this

year!!; cleaning and toileting alternatives – re-washable towels, bamboo toilet paper and tissues (no plastic packaging); bulk food buying (no plastic packaging); and regular waste audits to encourage package-free lunchboxes. We are now working towards Silver in 2021.

Transition to School is an area of focus for us and we work closely with Hurupaki and neighbouring schools to develop a programme for enrolments, visits and information sharing with whānau.

We have strong relationships with the New Entrants teachers at Hurupaki School and Kamo Primary and have regular meetings to share information about children and make plans for smooth transitions for each child.

Hurupaki Kindergarten operates from 8:30am to 2:30pm Monday to Friday and we also offer a morning session from 8:30am to 12:30pm.

Our roll is 40 children. We feel privileged to be part of the Hurupaki Community and thank parents/whānau for entrusting the education and care of their children to us!

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YEAR MAIRTOWN KINDERGARTEN 6

THE

THAT WAS

M

airtown Kindergarten is situated close to the town centre of Whangārei in Kensington. Our teaching team are proud to maintain and progress the long tradition of quality early childhood learning in this beautiful facility. We are strong advocates for supporting the relevance of play as the primary tool for learning, building strong relationships with our whānau and community and the importance of being immersed and engaged with nature.

Through play tamariki flourish, learning about descriptive language, social skills, creative thinking and problem solving, gaining strength and coordination and developing their knowledge of the world around them. In alignment with our centre philosophy, manaaki underpins everything we do at Mairtown, enabling our environment to be safe, nurturing and fun for both tamariki and their whānau. We believe in providing a natural and stimulating learning environment that fosters the self-belief of tamariki, encouraging them to have a positive ongoing attitude towards acquiring new knowledge.

At Mairtown we provide many opportunities for children to build a relationship with their natural world, an important aspect of this being our Nature programme. We are proud to be enjoying our ninth successive year of spending time each week immersed in the heart of our

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turangawaewae, learning at the foot of our Maunga, Parihaka and on the banks of our Awa, Hatea, with our older tamariki.

Teachers at Mairtown are passionate about the care and education of all tamariki, providing high quality programmes and promoting strong community links. This begins with our lens of tamariki being capable, competent, and able to make decisions, and is reflected in the wide variety of daily experiences, resources and provocations which are intentionally offered.

We positively encourage sensible/calculated

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risk taking, believing that overcoming risk or challenges builds lifelong learning skills in children. We enable children to develop ‘mastery’ skills through repetition, problem solving and peer tutoring, by not changing resources too frequently. Our environment is welcoming and homely, with a large grassed outdoor area providing ample opportunity for tamariki to explore, climb, be social or find a quiet space.

Our tamariki attend from across the Whangārei region. Sessions are Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 2.30pm. Enrolments are

always welcome, so do feel free to pop in, meet the teachers and experience some of the learning and community involvement at Mairtown. Alternatively you can view our blogs at www.mairtownkindy.blogspot.com or find us on Facebook.

YEAR WHANGAREI THE

7

THAT WAS

CHILDCARE CENTRE

T

ucked away in the middle of town is a very special place with perhaps the best outdoor space of any local early childhood centre.

The centre was the first purpose built childcare centre in Whangarei back in 1975 and several generations of the same families have passed through its doors and enjoyed its service. As a not for profit community centre all any proceeds are channelled back into the centre for the benefit of the children.

We now open at 6.30am and close at 5:15pm making it a great choice for working parents, especially those who start work at 7am. The centre is tucked away behind the Northland Club, it’s private, quiet with no road or foot traffic which makes it very safe.

There is plenty of parking with easy access to the centre. 20 Free ECE hours are available to all three and four year olds and there may also be financial subsidies from Work and Income (based on eligibility).

We’re licensed for 50 children aged 0 to 5yrs and as a mixed centre our children have the opportunity to interact with all ages (including their siblings) throughout the day.

We have themed days, visitors to the centre,

trips out locally and regular visits by the library bus. Our four year olds attend swimming lessons and school transition visits.

Outside we have a huge sandpit, grassed area, 2 two playgrounds, a swing area, a mini cycleway for scooters and trikes, a water feature, a big deck with natural shade, covered veranda and large inside indoor open plan space. Healthy food is cooked freshly onsite daily (except Tuesday which is lunchbox day) and the menu is wonderfully varied. There’s always lots of laughter and the children here settle in quickly and enjoy the feeling of being part of an extended whanau.

All of our permanent teachers are 100% qualified, there is so much positive and constructive energy in the centre that visitors can’t help but notice when they walk through the door. If you’re looking for quality early childhood education, please pop in anytime and we will be happy to show you around our awesome centre.

Whangarei Childcare Centre, 8a Porowini Avenue (behind the Northland Club and next door to the Kaka Porowini Marae). We look forward to meeting you.

8 Porowini Ave, Whangarei • Phone 09-438 7171 • www.whangareichildcare.co.nz

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MEMBERS, THEIR GUESTS AND AFFILIATES WELCOME

Northland Kindergarten Association

Te Kura Köhungahunga Töpü o Te Taitokerau

Many Northland Kindergartens are now open all year!

Session hours at the kindergartens are the same. Families have a choice around when their children attend and will not have to follow the new schedule.

They will not lose their position at the kindergarten if they continued with the current schedule or opted to add a few more days over what was the former breaks.

(excluding the period around Christmas & New Year)

We are now seeking qualified relieving ECE teachers at all NKA Kindergartens This exciting change has meant we need to find qualified relief teachers to cover staff on leave and time away for ongoing professional learning.

If you are interested in applying, please contact Carol Wati on (09) 4359 099 or email appointments@nka.org.nz

To enquire about enrolling call 09 435 9099

Why NKA?

Community Owned

100% Registered Teachers

Kai / Food Provided

As a not for profit organisation we strongly believe in putting a large portion of our spend into resources for our children and their environment.

Our teaching teams are 100% qualified and registered teachers and must meet the same Education standards as qualified teachers in schools.

Healthy, nutritious Kai/food is provided at many kindergartens, with this being any combination of breakfast, morning tea or lunch.

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NKA Enviroschools Kindergartens Where Tamariki: • Discover a joy of learning about nature.

• Connect with and care for their environment.

• Experience curiosity, excitement and possibility.

The program provides our tamariki with life changing opportunities that provide them with the knowledge, skills and values to connect, explore and care for their environment.

To download an enrolment pack go to www.nka.org.nz

YEAR BROADWOOD AREA SCHOOL 10

THE

THAT WAS

E ngā iwi o te Tai Tokerau, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko ngā mihi tuatahi ki te hunga kua riro i te ringa kaha o Aitua i te tau kua pahure ake nei, ka tangi, ka mihi, ka maumahara.

Koutou te hunga wairua ki a koutou, ko mātou ngā mahuetanga iho ki a mātou.

Ko Raetea te maunga Ko Manganui-o-wae te awa Ko Te Whiringa o te Muka Tangata te wharenui Ko Maria te wharekai Ko Te Kura Takiwā o Manganui-o-wae tēnei e mihi nei ki a koutou.

Ko ngā tikanga o tua whakarere e here pai nei i a mātou ki tō mātou nei kura, ko te tika, te pono me te aroha. Ko te whāinga, kia whakaara i te kakano i roto i tēnā, i tēnā o mātou kia pūāwai marika.

Kia ora mai tātou.

A

ue, what a year it has been for all of us! Our school’s mission is for each of us to challenge ourselves to reach our full potential, but this year this has looked a little different than years gone by. The challenge wasn’t to get up in front of our whānau and friends and hundreds of whānau we haven’t met yet and sing a solo on stage at the Tai Tokerau Festival, it wasn’t to finally get to the National stage for Manu Kōrero, it wasn’t to play with our team for the last time at NASA, or any of those challenges we were looking forward to. The challenges this year looked a bit different. For many of our students it meant doing on-line learning

with no ‘online’, it meant losing loved ones and moving back or moving away. For our Year 13s it meant more of a struggle than a challenge to believe that University Entrance was still within their grasp.

But, we discovered many things about ourselves and each other that we would not have in other years. We found out that we really are a whānau. Our kaiako drove to ‘ngā pito e whā o Hokianga’ to deliver kai and schoolwork to our students. On return from lockdown, our tuākana put down a hāngi for everyone to celebrate, and as soon as we could we competed against each other, against the staff, against the students, against anyone who was up for the challenge in sports such as Netball, Basketball, Athletics, Tennis, Cross Country, and other games we made up on the spot. Because, in case you didn’t know, Manganui-o-wae LOVES sport! But the best thing was that we had fun together. There was not one event that our 18 year olds weren’t running, swimming, helping with our babies, that teachers weren’t dressed in outrageous costumes to add a bit of flair to the occasion, that we weren’t laughing and supporting one another.

And, for all of the challenges that we faced, we had successes. Our Sports Academy was initiated this year to build leadership capacity and wellbeing within our community through sports, including mentors and specialist coaches. We welcomed new staff to broaden our curriculum, including Mau Rakau and Visual Art specialists and we all worked together to strengthen Manganuio-waetanga for the future of our students and whānau. Most importantly, our students grew stronger and braver and more caring in this environment, and we could not be more proud of them. Mauri ora!

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YEAR HEREKINO SCHOOL THE

11

THAT WAS

MOTTO: KIA KAHA, KIA MAIA, KIA MANAWANUI BE STRONG, BE BRAVE, BE STEADFAST

T

his year has been like no other, with Covid 19 and nation wide changes to how learning happened. Our online learning was a positive and collaborative approach with our families. We have a stable staff with highly experienced and qualified teaching staff.

For our staff, students and whanau at Herekino School, this year has proved to be a year of affirmation. We are a small rural school, set out on spaciours grounds approx 23km South West of Kaitaia. Secluded and quiet, with plenty of room, facilities and resources, our students flourish within a family setting at our little kura. We have very bright students with creative flair and leadership skills.

Our values of belonging, connecting, hospitality, caring and desire to learn underpins our delivery of learning.

We have had steady roll growth this year, and we continue to deliver the curriculum as any other school.

We have a strong approach toward hands on learning experiences, allowing our students to learn skills for life: growing their own food, knowing how to harvest and prepare their food. Understanding how our ocean provides us with food, time with family and a place we feel proud of.

Appreciating our local forests, bush and animals that also provide us with food,

shelter and provides us with water and the ability to be self sustainable.

Whole school studies in Marine Reserves, Senior Science GNS Camps, Whole School Cultural Portraits, Matariki events, and community events have been ways to showcase their knowledge and skills learned.

We teach children the importance of looking after each other, being proud of who they are and where they are from. We teach children to ask questions, solve problems and get along with others. We teach our children to stand and mihi, to karakia, to learn and korero i te reo.

We include our students ideas and suggestions when planning for future learning. We welcome parents and whanau

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to have a say and help drive our learning contexts. We teach Te Reo and tikanga within our every day life at school.

We believe children should be outside as much as practical, learning in and from their environment. Being active and physically involved and learning skills in Aquatics, Athletics and Sport.

We have all the modern resources, tools, devices, spacious grounds and pool. We take our students out to as many opportunities that will help them in their learning. So, if you’re looking for a smaller setting for your child, hands on learning combined family based approach. Haere mai.

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YEAR HURUPAKI SCHOOL 12

THE

THAT WAS

C

reativity, problem solving, resilience, initiative and adaptability have been identified as qualities that have a significant impact on learning success at Hurupaki School. We call them our Learner Qualities and students are encouraged to develop capability of these in order to thrive in a modern world. Students are supported to understand what it means to have a ‘growth mindset’, what to do when they are stuck or meet challenge in their learning, and how to get out of ‘the learning pit’.

Collaboration, relationships, and selfdirected learning are special features of our school, underpinned by our values – caring, respect and responsibility. Providing a family like context for learning and nurturing the learner to support educational success has been a focus, with high levels of student achievement continuing in all learning areas.

Learning through play in the new entrant area supports the development of oral language and the learner qualities. Use of an approach called Play, Make, Create has been extemely successful and engaging for the littlies. Starting our first bilingual collaborative class for Years 4-6 students this year, has been both a highlight and a success.

The ‘Greats and Grands’ day held by one of the classes was a load of fun, with all ages expanding their inner creative selves.

Self-directed learning is supported through a school-wide ‘progressions based learning’ approach, enabling students to select learning goals in consultation with their teachers. These are available to our students, parents and teachers online. Parents now have access to information about what their child is learning and how they are progressing. They can see which goals their children are currently working on, goals they have recently achieved, and the current level of achievement.

Weekly learning contracts and access to digital devices has contributed to an improved level of self-directed learning.

Opportunities are provided to support tuakana teina across the school.

A delightful example of this is the robotics and coding student leaders, who go into other rooms to support digital learning.

Senior students have many opportunities to take on responsibilities and leadership roles that contribute to their sense of belonging and social development.

School sporting activities this year included, swimming, triathlon, cross country, football, cycling, netball and athletics.

Students have created beautiful artworks and were given opportunities to learn about things that interested them. A highlight earlier this year, was one of our talented Y5-6 teams winning the interschool science and technology Northpower Epro8 Challenge competition. Although some camps did not go ahead this year, we have ensured the students had a trip of some kind. Visits to the Waitangi Treaty grounds were a memorable experience. The Enviro team have continued to power on with creating healthy, sustainable products, such as wax wraps, kawakawa balm, lip and hand balms.

The children have engaged in many exciting learning experiences this year. We are very privileged to have fabulous students and supportive parents, talented teachers, a dedicated board and an amazing parent support group. Thank you all so much for a wonderful year!

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YEAR KAEO SCHOOL THE

13

THAT WAS

Motto Aim High: Stand Tall Taraia nga taumata E tu Teitei.

Learn, Love, Contribute, Grow.

Principal’s Message.

2020 has, of course, been a year like no other but despite the challenges that Covid 19 gave us, it has been another successful year at Kaeo School with so much for our children, staff and community to look back on with pride.

This years big news was that we were again selected for the Graeme Dingle School Excellence Award. The award recognises that ‘outstanding schools are schools that accept young people for who they are, recognise their potential, and take them there’. Debbie Hancock took the trip to Auckland to receive the award on our behalf in the presence of Sir Graeme and Lady Dingle and the Governor

Olivia on Wacky Hair Day

Lucas and his woolly friend

General Dame Patsy Reddy. A proud day for all connected with Kaeo School.

Many of the usual events that occur throughout the school year were ‘Covided’ this time around but we still had the opportunity to bring the community together for our Matariki event in winter and then in our ever popular Pet Day and Grandparents Day later in the year.

A special mention to Mrs Robinson who left us during the year after making her contribution to Kaeo School and to Tracy Walker who after many years outstanding work at Kaeo School moved to a management role with the Kiwi Can organisation.

Thanks to our wonderful teachers and staff who all work so hard and with kindness and care for our children, to everyone who contributed in some way to making our school the neat place it is, and to our delightful children who make working at Kaeo School so enjoyable.

Finally, best wishes to those who leave us at the end of the year. Your efforts and contributions are appreciated and we wish you well for the years ahead.

Meri Kirihemete to all from Kaeo School!

Tracy wears the school korowai on her final day at Kaeo School

Chloe and her penguin vege creation

A great turnout for Grandparents Day

Mrs Hancock at the Dingle Foundation Awards

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YEAR KAIKOHE WEST SCHOOL 14

THE

THAT WAS

Bling Bling Matariki. Our students and staff created this BEAUTIFUL display for the Community Bling Bling program.

This year our town wide Kapa Haka performance was done differently, via zoom.

All the local schools who were apart of this event done an amazing job!

After lock down we received some funding for our students and decided to buy every student a pair of gumboots and pyjamas, to keep them warm at home and their feet dry on their way to school.

Our students and caretakers were busy growing vegetable plants from seed, which we sold to the community. All proceeds went back into our school Garden to Table program.

Our school are now the owners of a beautiful Pizza oven. Made by staff and members of the community over the weekend. Very excited to start using it!

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YEAR KAITAIA PRIMARY SCHOOL THE

15

THAT WAS

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:

Camp at the beach - Tu meke Rooms 11 and 13!

Kia ora koutou!

2020 has been an exciting year for us here at KPS. It sure hasn’t turned out the way we planned it at the end of last year. We are grateful to our KPS whanau for all their support during what can only be called, one of the most difficult years in education in the last 100 years. My thanks to everyone who has journeyed with us in 2020.

Your support is what continues to make our school strong.

I wish all those returning in 2021 a safe and happy Christmas holiday. To those moving on to other places, I wish you all the best for the future.

2020 has been another year of significant growth at Kaitaia Primary School.

Although our plans for this year haven’t turned out quite as expected, we have remained positive and have just made the best of what we can. We have been very lucky to still be able to have all classes in the senior syndicate go on camp (11 classes in 5 weeks) during Term 4 this year. Our learning results in Writing have also been a highlight and many of our students have made 2 years achievement progress. Well done kids!

Our school curriculum has continued to develop into a balance between a “curriculum of care” and a “curriculum of achievement”. Our children are finding success in their learning and their relationships in our Reo Rua learning classrooms (Rooms 18, 15 and 19) and in our mainstream classrooms alike. We

strive to have tikanga Maori in our school environment in all our classrooms and in our playground. We have made changes to our school break timetable. We now have smaller numbers in our playground during break times in the senior syndicate area. It has made our playgrounds a much calmer place to be and our tamariki are enjoying having more room to themselves.

At KPS, we believe that everyone deserves a chance to be successful and are prepared to adapt our school environment, culture and attitude to make this possible for all our students. We work through the tough times and the good with whanau and believe that having strong relationships is the key to success for all. We strive every day to live up to our school Vision Statement: Kia whakaara kia manawanui mō tona ao (Inspired and resourceful learners for life).

From garden to table - well almost made it to the table...

Sshh! Don’t tell the teacher what the secret ingredient is.

We can’t wait to see what 2021 brings our school!

Rooms 9, 10 and 19 enjoying the waterslide at camp in Term 4

Noho ora mai (May you be well) Brendon Morrissey Principal of Kaitaia Primary School

Kai time at camp - come and get it!

Kaitaia Primary kids and staff standing up for the Support Staff team at KPS

Hands up - who wants an ice block

Mrs T enjoying the flying fox at Marsden Bay camp in Term 4

YEAR KERIKERI PRIMARY 16

THE

K

erikeri Primary School has had another amazing year in 2020! We hit the ground running and then COVID-19 arrived on our shores and we went into lockdown. Distance learning got underway with daily task boards and classes getting together online twice a day to discuss and share learning. Our children and teachers really enjoyed the online learning experience, but were all very happy to return back to school again.

Property The school has had so much going on this year, we have been working with Avail Pacific to refurbish many of our classrooms. We are in the conceptual stage of designing a bike track which will be installed along with a turfed and covered court. Our Student Council, which is made up of a student from each classroom, brought forward these ideas for our school.

Learning through play To support children’s transition into our school, we provide a play based learning environment. You will see costumes, play kitchens and toys in our junior classes to support them with their learning.

Te reo Māori and Tikanga Māori These are an essential and valued element of our school. We also have three bilingual classes (Te Whakatupuranga) teaching and learning 30-50% in te reo Māori. Te reo Māori

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and Tikanga Māori are also integral aspects of learning in the English medium classes.

Rōpu Days Each child and teacher is in a rōpu (think school houses from your high school days). Each term we have two rōpu days where children get into their rōpu groups and participate in a range of fun activities. Each rōpu day has a theme, for example Matariki, summer fun, Science. The children are vertically spread and these days are always a great example of tuākana-teina, the older children working alongside our younger children.

Relationship Based Learning and PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) Our school has been involved in two professional development initiatives. We are in our third year of Relationship Based Learning, this stems from the work of Russell Bishop and looks at culturally responsive practice. Teachers video themselves teaching and, alongside a peer, reflect how their practice aligns with the principles of culturally responsive practice.

With PB4L, we are in our second year of this professional development. We are embedding our KORU kid values into everything we do, ensuring there is consistency across our school. Our KORU values help students progress towards mature, responsible selfdirected behaviour.

What a busy year we have had, what makes life so good at Kerikeri Primary is that we are all in this together - he waka eke noa.

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YEAR MANAIA THE

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VIEW SCHOOL

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t Manaia View School we aim to offer students as many opportunities as we can to extend their learning and participate in new experiences.

Raising student achievement is our first priority and teachers have worked hard to provide innovative programmes to engage learners. Our students have enjoyed a successful school year in spite of the disruptions caused by Covid 19 and the impact it has had on schools and learning programmes. We are proud of the resilience our students have shown in both their attitude and their learning, as well as our ability to provide devices to all whanau to ensure students remained up to date and engaged in their learning.

We are proud of our rich Maori heritage and this is an important part of our school identity. Our classes are focussed on developing whanaungatanga and a sense of belonging. Learning programmes are immersed in Te Parawhautanga and students take pride in sharing their whakapapa with the class.

Our students have also enjoyed a range of sporting codes this year. They have been able

to take part in a range of sports from Ki o Rahi to Turbo Touch. We have hosted the “Pools in School” swimming pool this term and students have enjoyed swimming lessons through Swim for Life.

We are always grateful for the ongoing support of the many sporting specialists

who have offered a range of opportunities for our students, both in class and in after school programmes as well as supporting our own coaches.

This year we are excited to welcome the Raumanga Community garden project onto our school grounds.

This is in keeping with our role at school of kaitiaki and has given students a hands on experience in planting and cultivating their own fruit and vegetables. We have also hosted a very successful Community Touch programme and it has been rewarding to see so many students step into leadership roles managing teams and refereeing games.

We strive for excellence, both academically and in terms of student development. Our students graduate from Manaia View School confident in their identity and their ability to succeed as 21st century learners. Whilst 2020 has had its challenges we end the year proud of our students’ many and varied accomplishments. Staff and students farewell our Year 8’s wishing them every success at high school and we all look forward to a healthy and happy new year.

Whakatinana te moemoea.

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YEAR MAUNU SCHOOL 18

THE

2020

has been a year like no other – I know you have heard that so many times this year. Well it was true for Maunu School. It had its challenges, from a very quick notification of lockdown and the implementation of homebased learning to the return of children in stages through level 3, 2 and 1. Those days do seem a long way in the past, but we know that the impacts of Covid19 are still being felt in many ways in our communities.

Our focus has been on being safe, being kind and being caring. We would like to acknowledge our Maunu community, both school and wider, who have supported the children in 2020. It was tough not having parents, whanau and friends in and around the school as we usually do and the move to level 1 was fantastic. This was especially evident with the senior sharing day where the children held a powhiri to welcome whanau into the classrooms to view work from their Space topic. The Celebration Assembly was another wonderful occasion where parents spent the day at the school with different groups performing.

2020 has seen some amazing events and achievements from the team at Maunu.

The year started with the senior syndicate, Year 5&6, heading off to the Bay of Islands for a 4-day camp. They stayed at the Bay of Islands Holiday Park and undertook activities in and around Paihia, Waitangi and Russell. Children, parents and staff arrived back on the Friday happy and exhausted!

Classroom programmes, while always focussing on academic excellence, had Well Being and Caring as central themes. We managed to hold our school Cross Country, using the Maunu School and Pompallier College grounds. It was a wet and cold day, but the children showed their positive attitude, embracing the challenge. Athletics day was a beautiful sunny day with lots of parents and family members coming to cheer the children on. It ended with a very competitive parent/staff v children relay!!

The school’s Te wiki o te reo Maori and Matariki celebrations involved all students in activities organised by staff and senior students. These included weaving, outdoor games, myths and legends and waiata Te Ahorangi te kura o Maunu continued to practice throughout the year and performed with skill and enthusiasm at school assemblies and the Mangakahia Cultural

THAT WAS

Festival. They certainly create an atmosphere when they are in full voice.

Three teams (two Y6 and one Y5) entered the Northland MathEx competition, held at WBHS in October. This involved teams from Warkwoth to Kaitaia. This is a fast paced, exciting maths competition. All teams achieved excellent results with one Y6 team coming 4th and the other winning the competition – an amazing performance of speed, skill and knowledge.

Even with disruptions this year, we have had many memorable events and achievements. The Junior Syndicate have been to WAGs for gym skills, the Middle

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Syndicate to the beach and Flip Out, children from Y4 – 6 auditioned and performed in the annual Maunu’s Got Talent, with Lachie Antonio wowing the audience with his winning rendition of Dance Monkey.

A group of Y5 students went to WIS for a transition leadership day as part of a CoL initiative (Kia tau awhi), joining with students from WIS, Whangarei Primary, WBHS and Kamo High. It is impossible to mention all the achievements, from all the children.

We look forward to 2021 with bright eyes, a spring in our steps and our school values firmly planted in our minds. A Merry Christmas to you all and best wishes for a New Year filled with family, laughter and hope.

Paul Shepherd Principal

BY THE TOWN BASIN!

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OHAEAWAI SCHOOL Vision: “Working together to be the best that we can be” “Ka mahinga pai tatou ki te tino matau”

O

haeawai School staff and students have enjoyed another successful school year.

Despite COVID-19 and all the hurdles it sent our way students were able to take part in activities both in and outside of the classroom, celebrating our unique identity. The year has been filled with learning, collaboration, trips, laughter, family, fun and most importantly student successes.

As a school, our priority is to raise student achievement and develop confident, motivated students who have ownership over their learning.

Our teachers are committed to providing innovative programmes using Learn, Create, Share. As part of being a Manaiakalani Outreach School, digital learning is an integral part of the teaching and learning that happens and the Chromebook acts as a pencil and book as well as a tool for students to access their work and most importantly, a means

to communicate and collaborate with classmates, teachers, whanau and the world.

Under the tutelage of Matua Dwayne, our kapa haka tutor, our kapa haka group continued to grow and develop and this year performed live on Facebook in the first annual Te Ohonga o Ngāpuhi.

Our Year three and four students take part in the Garden to Table Programme. The children enjoy working in the garden, planting seedlings, harvesting and then creating delicious recipes using what they have harvested. As part of our enviro curriculum, students also create Kawakawa balm, bath salts and beeswax wraps and our senior students play a major part in our recycling programme.

Some of this year’s highlights include; Surviving COVID-19 lockdown, Years 5 & 6 SKi Trip, School Cross Country, Pet Day, learning from home and Greats and Grands Day.

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YEAR RAURIMU AVE SCHOOL 20

THE

PRINCIPAL’S WELCOME

Greetings from Raurimu Ave School!

We are a small school with a big heart. The teachers and staff, pride themselves on making sure that the students are always at the ‘heart’ of the matter. You are welcome to drop in and visit our school at any time.

Come down to see and experience the positive school climate. This is achieved by putting wellbeing and mana at the forefront to ensure successful learning.

As a community we developed our school C.A.R.E Values in 2017. In support of the establishment of a Rūmaki Reo class tin 2019, we proudly released our M.A.N.A Values. This is our Kaupapa of C.A.R.E. and M.A.N.A for all at Raurimu Ave School.

Riripeti Totoro | Principal

THAT WAS

We have seen a very different school year this year. For everyone it has been a year of firsts. We learnt that learning at home was achievable and for some students new knowledge through own inquiry learning brought out new passions and skills.

Our year was filled with environmental studies and outings in to the community to put in place our findings. We took the opportunity to participate in water safety with EMR, Water Safe and Tutukaka Surf.

We are a nation of water lovers, so this was a great chance to refresh and upskill our tamariki. Our senior students created masterpieces at Tech class, and we started our own cooking class here at the school and adult Te Reo Maori evening class.

Our biggest change this year was the introduction of our new school logo. This has been a long process, incorporating who we are as a school with our surroundings. We love the final result, and this is another step in our journey.

Our focus in term 4 has been on the environment and predators within. Our Year 5 and 6 students are now the proud keepers of two bee hives. These beekeepers are working with Tahi honey to learn about life cycles, honey production and the amazing work

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these bees do.

Our Year 7 and 8 students have joined forces with Predator Free Onerahi and have been working along the Waimahanga Track laying bait strips and checking these frequently to see where the majority of the predators on the track populate and how to control them.

Our Year 3 and 4 students have been experimenting with growing seedlings and feeding them with different sources of nutrients, or lack of nutrients. Water, coffee, fizzy drink have been used as liquid sources and high sunshine areas versus low sunshine areas have produced some interesting results.

The year 1 and 2 students have painted pots and planted seedlings which when ready were transplanted into the raised garden beds and they have had their first crop of lettuces go home to share.

Students have enjoyed being out in the gardens and take pride in seeing their work produce results which can then be shared with whanau.

We thank everyone who has supported us this year, wish you all a happy and safe summer break and look forward to next year’s adventures.

2 3

Te Pepeha o te Kura Ko Manaia te maunga Manaia is the mountain Ko Ōwhiua te pā Ōwhiua is the pā Ko Te Terenga Parāoa te moana Ko Te Terenga Parāoa is the sea Ko Te Parawhau, Te Uriroroi me Ngāti Kahu ngā hapū Te Parawhau, Te Uriroroi and Ngāti Kahu are the sub tribes Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi Ngāpuhi is the tribe Ko Raurimu te kura Raurimu is the school 1. Learning to surf with Tutukaka Surf School 2. Snorkelling at Reotahi with EMR 3. Junior students tending to the school gardens in conjunction with our environmental studies 4. Staff getting into the fun of dress up/ wig Wednesday

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YEAR RUAKAKA SCHOOL THE

Editorial

Regardless of the effects of Covid, our roll has continued to grow and we are expecting to start 2021 with at least 300 tamariki. To cater for this growth, three temporary classrooms are currently under construction.

The ICT skills of both staff and tamariki took off this year when we were forced into on-line learning. This has been fantastic for us all on our return to school. With so many new whanau at our school, it has been great to see so many of them enjoying school events with their tamariki. They have particularly enjoyed partaking in food provided by our Garden to Table Cafe at these events.

Next year we will be starting the year with providing free healthy lunches to all tamariki through the Healthy Food in Schools programme.

Bilingual classes

We have continued with our four Maori Immersion classes this year. The first two years are total immersion in Te Reo Maori, and from then on, English is introduced. Te Whanau Harakeke, the immersion unit, has a growing roll, particularly in the Year 1 class.

Chrome Books

This year we have purchased 80 Chromebooks for our senior classes. This has enabled us to really move forward with collaboration and digital technology. We also purchased the licence for Hāpara which is a tool to help teachers manage and focus students while building digital citizenship skills. Hāpara gives teachers visibility in order to help students become independent digital learners. These skills will also help our Year Sixes immensely as they transition to Bream Bay College in the coming years.

STEAM – (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Maths).

This year, as part of the Bream Bay Kāhui Ako, we have had a lot of exciting learning around STEAM and Wellbeing. We have focussed on collaboration within our school and with schools in our community.

Highlights this year have been our school wide trolley challenge and our Space Challenge where we worked with Waipu and One Tree Point Schools on a plan to launch a Lego man into space! These challenges have allowed us to work in partnership with our whanau and our community to develop scientists, technicians, engineers, artists and mathematicians of the future!

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Bubble day

We celebrated our return to school after our Distance learning with a day of bubble fun. We made bubbles of all sizes and it was a beautiful celebration of bursting our bubbles and returning to school. Anyone driving past our school would have been amazed at the bubbles floating out of our playground!

Trolley day

In Term 3 the challenge was set for every class to design at least one trolley. There were two categories, speed and creativity! During the term from the juniors to the seniors research was undertaken, prototypes were created and trialled, whanau were invited in to share their knowledge and expertise and wheels were everywhere. Another element of the challenge was that most of the material used was to be recycled! It was a fun parade and race off and the children were thrilled!

Robot Challenge

Mrs Dunn walked into the three Senior classes and offered them all a STEAM based challenge.

Each class had to be resourceful and create a robot that would be useful in some way. It could be made out of recycled materials and classes could trade their supplies. The finished robots helped celebrate the end of an amazing inquiry into robots.

300 Party

We reached a huge milestone this year, 300 tamariki! This was celebrated with party hats, singing, dancing and 300 cupcakes, one for each child!

Garden to Table

Garden to Table’s aim is to introduce students to the joy of fresh seasonal produce they have grown, harvested, cooked and shared.

We have had 4 classes involved in our Garden to Table programme this year which is held in our beautiful Multi-purpose/Library building which has 3 kitchen spaces. This year we have held our Garden to Table cafe and invited parents, grandparents and recently the Mangapai Gardening Club. We have also had representatives from Turners and Growers visit and quiz us on our vegetable knowledge!

SHINE Leaders

This year we introduced our new SHINE leaders. These wonderful Year 5 and 6 children were amongst others who wrote a letter of application with the reasons why they believed they would be a great leader in our school.

The following children were selected to be our first SHINE leaders: (from left to right) Waikohu Carrington, Ruby Lou Nilsen, Eli Malota, Elliot Dunn, Larissa Tanuvasa, Nikau Harvey, Hosea Kaiarake, Spencer Casey, Lukas Wilson, Eloise Grieve, Kaila Bernsee, Ryan Lange and Cory Whitehead (absent today).

They have helped immensely throughout our school this year. Tasks they are part of are running school assemblies, helping at school events, assisting with Junior PE sessions and modelling our school SHINE values.

New Swimming Pool upgrade

On Friday the 14th of August, we opened our new swimming pool as part of our ‘300 tamariki’ celebration day. Many of our tamariki braved the cold and plunged into the freezing water. We are so glad summer is here for us to really enjoy swimming in a much warmer and bigger pool.

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YEAR

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THAT WAS

Athletics Day Tug of War, Orcas House Group

Lockdown Learning, Room 2

SPRINGBANK SCHOOL

W

e began the new decade eager to make the most of whatever was to come, yet we were oblivious to what 2020 had in store for us!

The school year started as relatively typical for Springbank; celebrating excellent 2019 Cambridge International Examination results, followed by fun in the sun at our school camps, Athletics Day, and our Junior School Duathlon.

We were looking forward to exploring our Schoolwide Focus of “Wellbeing”; however, we certainly did not foresee the extent to which the wellbeing of earth’s population would be tested in such a dramatic fashion.

What a fortuitous focus we formulated!

Early to mid-March, before there was even talk of a nationwide lockdown, we started planning for a distance learning contingency… just in case! When, on Monday 23rd March, the nationwide Level 4 lockdown was announced for 2 days’ time, even though we didn’t yet have a full plan in place, I was confident that our teachers would be ready to offer a comprehensive distance learning programme. Wow, they certainly rose to the challenge! We held a Teacher Only Day that Tuesday to enable us to fully prepare, and by the Wednesday morning our distance learning programme was underway.

I have absolute respect for our dedicated teachers who went above and beyond in facilitating their distance learning programmes. I was also thoroughly impressed with our students’ adaptability and productivity during this extensive period. Thank you to our parents for their wonderful support during the lockdown period.

The key to a holistic education is not just what is learnt in the classroom, but what is experienced outside of it. With Auckland in Alert Level Three in August, the school’s annual ski trip was threatened, so when the green light was given and we could take part, we had an

absolute blast. We had eighty students and parents, and it was a magical week witnessing the students’ skill development, camaraderie, and growth in confidence.

The 2020 Market Day was another of my highlights.

After being forced to postpone into Term Four, our students did not disappoint with their products, stall presentation, and general passion for their products.

2020 marked the 10th year that the Friends of Springbank have run the Fireworks Extravaganza. I am blown away by our supportive school community who rally around to ensure that this event is run to an extremely high standard. Thank you to all parents and students who gave your support to make the 10th Fireworks Extravaganza a success.

I consider myself fortunate to be able to share in the variety of experiences that our students undertake. It is a pleasure to witness our students challenging themselves academically and physically, stepping outside of their comfort zone, and to share in their joy when they succeed and grow from these experiences.

Kung Fu with Josh Traas and Luca Cook

Middle School Camp at MERC

Our students look out for and support one another and are developing lifelong friendships and lasting memories.

I thank our students for contributing so positively to the learning environment that we strive to uphold.

The end of 2020 marks a quarter of a century since my parents decided to start their own school; it has been a quarter of a century since I began as a Year 10 student, one of only fifteen students in the entire school! I do not believe my parents fully considered how many lives would be changed as a result of that decision. They simply strived for the best educational opportunities for their own boys. I now have the opportunity to continue that vision for my own children, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be a part of such an outstanding school.

Mike Warren, Principal of Springbank School

Gagapit Fun

Market Day Winners for the Junior School Most Outstanding Stall Presentation. Tiffany Skedgwell and Brisa Carlyon, Year 6

Ski Trip

Trashion Show

YEAR TAIPA AREA SCHOOL THE

OUR SCHOOL is an Area School catering for Years 0 – 13 students (tauira). We are situated on the shores of the Taipa beach in Doubtless Bay. Tauira are allocated to a vertical whānau class, Years 1 – 6 and 7 – 13.

Whānau time helps our students develop strong relationships with staff and peers and adds value to our school culture.

Taipa Area School provides a Rūmaki Reo option for tauira Years 1 – 6. We have also developed innovative thinking in our curriculum and are able to offer all science subjects and a full range of technology classes with specialist staff. Our point of difference are our 3 short course periods in years 1-8, and 6 periods a week during years 9 & 10.

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OUR VALUES: PAINGA We work for positive outcomes

MANAAKITANGA We show respect for ourselves and others

MAHITAHI We work together as a team

OUR VISION is to connect our tauira with the rich history and learning of Ngāti Kahu Mātauranga, the environment, past present and future. It is important that students develop skills in knowing who they are, what they are capable of and know where they are going.

2020 has been a very memorable year! In September we opened five new classrooms and a library. Our curriculum has also been diverse throughout the school year, offering Marine Biology, Predator Control and Forestry and Farming Level 1 courses.

Furthermore, our short semester courses have been a huge success for our year 1 10 students; we are making great traction with delivering courses which reflect what our students want. Additionally, Taipa Area School are very proud to acknowledge the following during 2020:

Te Hiku Manu Kōrero • Year 5 Te Reo Maori, 1st – Marama Murphy • Year 8 English, 1st – Caitlin Russell • Year 8 Te Reo Maori, 1st – Aramia Vause • Faye Irwin Trophy – Highest Scoring Year 8 Student, Aramia Vause

Senior netball champions

Year 4 students sharing their learning with Mrs Lockett

• Far North Manu Korero winners in Te Reo (Yrs 5&8 respectively) and English (Yr 8) • R.Tucker Thompson Tall Ships race winners • Smokefree Rock quest National Champions (Young Guns) • Northland Regional Duet Award • National Champions of Korihi song writing competition • Senior Netball team won the Mangonui Netball Centre Premiership.

FUTURE 2021 brings more variety of NCEA subjects, including a Level 2 Trades Academy and a Ready to Work course. We will also have our brand new gymnasium up and running for school and community use. Finally, we have a rationalisation programme which will take away 7 old classrooms, our old library, the old staffroom and offices. Looking ahead, our values are established, our learning environment is awesome, now bring on 2021!

Year 12-13 Trek to Spirits Bay

National Smokefree Rock Quest winners

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YEAR TŌTARA GROVE SCHOOL 24

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T

ōtara Grove School is a primary school with fourteen classes of students from Years 0-6. We are situated between the suburbs of Kamo and Tikipunga in Whangarei.

A sense of whanau and community is a strength of our school. We provide a nurturing,supportive learning environment, empowering and encouraging our students to develop self-management skills and take responsibility for their own learning.

We care about each child, and each family, and we enjoy working in partnership with families to achieve positive outcomes.

“What’s best for the child” is at the heart of all we do.

Our school whakatauki – He aha te mea nui o te ao?

Ko te tamaiti, tona whanau, tona ao.

What is the most important thing in this world?

The child, their family, their world.

THAT WAS

Matariki Celebrations

Matariki is a time for growth and change.

This is a time of celebration of people, culture, language, spirituality and history and most importantly a time to share kai.

It was a great day to share our Matariki learning with whanau.

Kaitiaki Students have been exploring the local waterways adjacent to our kura in Tōtara Parklands. Our kura has an important role in being kaitiaki of these awa and we are investigating ways in which we can ensure that they stay clean and safe for future generations.

Part of our educational journey this year has been looking at local resources and connecting with them in meaningful ways.

This will continue to be a focus for us as we develop our localised curriculum.

“Tupu Tahi - Growing Together Standing Strong Reaching High.”

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Obstacle Course

This year we decided to change our traditional fun run into an obstacle challenge to get more children actively engaged in a fun way.

Children had to climb under nets, through a waterslide and over hay bales just to name a few of the obstacles. The highlight of the day was seeing whanau complete the obstacle course with their tamariki.

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Healthy and Active

We like to provide opportunities for children to stay healthy and active.

• We have a scooter track that can be used by skateboarders too. That is a fun activity to do at break times. Children like riding over the jumps!

• We also had cycle safety lessons this year so we know how to ride a bike safely.

• We have a group of children who participate in regular break dancing sessions • We have school netball teams

YEAR TOTARA NORTH SCHOOL THE

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THAT WAS

W

e are a small rural school established in 1852 and have served many generations of local families and those from the wider Whangaroa district. We are located on the beautiful Whangaroa Harbour hillside.

We are special as we have small classes and a friendly community feeling that creates a whanau like environment where children form caring relationships are enabled to give everything a go.

An Enviroschool and we are continuing to build on what we have already done and continue to practise sustainable learning opportunities and our next project will be establishing a water system for our gardens.

Our online learning in term Term 2 was all about Recycle, Reuse, Reduce through the Programme provided by What’s for Lunch. Term 4 also saw us using their Garden Programme.

Term 2 was our Literacy Term where we studied a New Zealand Author and had a Character Parade at the end of our Book Week.

This year our School Camp was deferred till later in the year due to Alert Levels and we set off to Lonsdale Park where the focus was on confidence building, cooperation and a bush theme. We are so lucky to have this facility near to us.

Other major events like Cross Country, Winter Sports Day and Cultural Festival were unfortunately cancelled.

Hats Off Production

Camp at Lonsdale Park

We were able to defer our production to term 4 and after all the stops and starts due to Covid the children put on a marveollous show. They performed for their grandparents and other invited guests at the Matinee and Morning Tea Show and then to their whanau.

We continue to be KIwi Can School and our Kiwi Can Leaders are here every week teaching values around social relationships, behaviour and learning.

We regularly engage with expert providers to deliver engaging education programmes and activities that teach children about making healthy lifestyle choices and therefore Totara North School is involved with the Energise Programme (Sport Northland), Watersafe Programme and other coaches from different sporting codes.

Term 3 - Book Week - Character Parade

Unfortunately this Year our major fundraiser ‘King of the Coast’ fishing competition did not happen but hopefully this will be back on the calendar next year.

We welcome new enrolments throughout the year and are more than happy to meet with you and show you around our school. Phone 09 4051852 Email principal@ totaranorth.school.nz See you all again in 2021.

Camp at Lonsdale Park

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YEAR KAITAIA 26

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THAT WAS

INTERMEDIATE PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: Hutia te rito o te harakeke Kei hea te komako e ko Kī mai ki ahau, “He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao?”

Māku e kī atu ‘ he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata’.

Ka rere ōku mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa ngā whānau, ngā hapu me ngā iwi o te Hiku o te ika, koutou i tautoko i tō mātou nei whānau o te Kura Takawaenga o Kaitaia.

Mauri ora ki a tātou katoa.

I am privileged and honoured to be the Principal of Kaitaia Intermediate, working with the students, staff and whānau that make this a special place.

I am proud of the achievements and progress we have made throughout the year and the challenges we overcame with Covid 19 and the impact it had on us all. Thank you to our Board of Trustees and Staff for the commitment and efforts taken this year to care and support our tamariki and to build learning partnerships with their families.

I look forward to working with my Deputy Principal, Senior Management team and classroom teachers to further develop and maintain programmes and to continue to grow a culture of learning for all in 2021. It looks to be another event filled and very busy year.

I welcome you to join us, support our classes and be a part of our whānau.

Wayne Lunjevich Principal

STAFF 2020 Kaitaia Intermediate continues to strive for excellence in everything we do. We continue to develop and create opportunities for all our students. A real focus for our school this year has been to complete our Learner Profile, which we have achieved.

A Learner Profile is a way in which a school can communicate what a future orientated learner can look like. It describes the knowledge, skills and attitudes that students will need to develop in order to participate in a range of life contexts both at and beyond school. We will introduce and implement our Learner Profile with students in 2021.

KAITAIA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL LEARNER PROFILE Image created in collaboration with the school by local graphic designer - Richard Murray.

RARANGA This year we have been in the fortunate position to offer Weaving (Raranga) as an option for our students to showcase their talents in VISUAL ART.

SUPPORT STAFF A big thank you to our fabulous support staff for their dedication and commitment in assisting our students and teachers to make our school a better place for all. They were recently treated to a special lunch to acknowledge their valuable contribution to our school.

AIMS GAMES Aims Games is a must at Kaitaia Intermediate. This is where we send groups of students in their different sporting codes to Tauranga to compete against other Year 7 and 8 schools from

throughout New Zealand for a week.

Unfortunately it didn’t happen this year due to Covid but we are planning for the 2021 Aims Games. Despite a disruptive year, students always represent our school well and with pride in athletics, swimming, netball, basketball, rugby sevens and rippa rugby. We held our own AIMS Netball competition here at school in term three with a students vs staff game.

Thank you to all who have worked hard, assisted and supported the school throughout 2020. We value your input and we look forward to your continued support throughout the 2021 school year.

YEAR KAMO THE

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INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL S PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: Our vision, Together Building Tomorrow - He mahi tahi, mō apōpō, continues to drive our curriculum. We offer a range of character classes to further enhance learning through a variety of contexts and extend our students through a range of STEAM subjects.

Intermediate years offer an opportunity for choice and this can lead to lifelong interests or perhaps careers.

Our overall concept for the year, Enterprise, has allowed the students to design, model, make, market and sell their creations. To encourage diversity of products, some students made goods while others have created services.

2020, a year which has been like no other due to Covid19! Despite the challenges faced because of the pandemic, our students have enjoyed a vast number of opportunities throughout the year. These have included camp, which was a major highlight for many; the stage production Fame Jnr, which allowed us to showcase many talents of students across the school; Science Fair and MathEx; multiple sporting opportunities; and the recent Maranga Mai Regional Kapa Haka competition - these are a small snapshot of 2020, a year to be remembered for more than a pandemic.

ome of the most memorable moments a student can make, happen at Kamo Intermediate School. To start the year; Tabloids, Camps, and EOTC experiences were held in Term 1 for all classes. Friendships were formed, challenging activities encountered, and learning at its best! Students also engaged in new specialist (STEAM) options, offering more diverse learning opportunities and greater access to STEAM for all types of learners.

Our newly created ‘Graduate Profile’ is a collective vision for student learning. This was developed by students for students and includes attributes, qualities, skills and knowledge that our young people will need to develop in order to participate in a range of life contexts at school and beyond.

The Graduate Profile qualities are: To be Respectful, To be Curious, Have a Sense of Belonging, Be an Effective Communicator, Have a Healthy Well-Balanced Lifestyle and Have High Expectations. We endeavour to work alongside students to ensure these attributes are embedded in the mindset of the students during the two years they are with us.

Learning with the use of digital technology became very important when the country was thrown into a national lockdown. KIS was well prepared for distance learning and all

Kapa Haka Regional Festival ‘Te Puia o Te Kamo’

KIS Production ‘Fame”

KIS Yr 7 Team. 1st place in the Northland Mathex Competition

Camps are one of many highlights for students.

staff worked hard to ensure quality learning and engagement continued. Students were motivated to interact digitally via many platforms including zoom lessons. We were most grateful for the support from families and whanau to ensure their students did not miss out on crucial learning during this challenging time.

Kamo Intermediate continues to ensure that we provide the best possible learning space and programmes for all students. Our overarching concept this year, ‘Enterprise’, had all students work through a process of ‘Dream It’, ‘Design It’, ‘Develop It’ and ‘Do It’.

The vast array of products and services that were created were outstanding. A ‘Market Day’ was held to celebrate success, where whanau and the community were invited to come along and purchase the quality products students had developed. Alongside this concept and core learning areas, students have been supported to engage in regular Passion Based Learning (PBL).

Students are engaged in a lot more depth in areas of interest.

Our character classes which offer options for different learning styles - Boys Only, Sports, Bilingual & Thinkers Plus Classes continue to thrive. The Year 8 Thinkers Plus class recently spent a week in Wellington exploring areas of interest like Te Papa, Weta Workshop, Parliament and Capital E.

Bring the kids, bring your friends, relax and enjoy the great food - Kiddie friendly

With the support of an adult, students planned and purchased food for the week then prepared meals for their group.

Budgeting was a big part of this process. This in itself, was a great learning experience.

There are always plenty of opportunities to compete against other Teams (formerly known as syndicates). Some of these opportunities include lunchtime sport, Litquiz, speech & mathex competitions, tabloids, school wide sport events, and our Inspire awards, which are based on our school values. The highly contested Team Cup is up for grabs each year!

Each year we see students represent our school in the community, across Whangarei, Northland and New Zealand. Due to Covid19, our two largest extracurricular events, AIMS and the overseas trip to Vanuatu, did not take place. We were well represented in the Regional Science Fair, Northland Mathex, Litquiz & Debating, Regional Kapa Haka Festival, Whangarei Cross Country, Swimming & Athletics, Northland Agri Kids to name a few.

Kamo Intermediate School recognises the importance of the emerging adolescent.

This is a time for students to explore areas of interest and passion and we say to all students - “tell us what you want to learn about and we will help you”. We work together to ensure our students take pride in their identity and have a strong sense of belonging, and are confident in the ability to succeed. ‘Together, Building Tomorrow’

Tabloids is always a favourite amongst the students

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28

YEAR BAY OF ISLANDS COLLEGE

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THAT WAS

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:

Covid-19 closed the economy, it caused many disruptions in our lives and is going to be around for another year at least.

Our lives have been forever more changed.

Big businesses are now using hybrid models, where people are now working from home and the pandemic proved that offices are no longer essential to conduct business. We now have the opportunity to think about what can change in our schools. Covid-19 highlighted that it is the social and emotional values of our students that must be taken care of first.

Education has focussed too much on Numeracy and Literacy and judging success by standardised assessments rather than valuing our students as human beings.

Relationships have been deteriorating, social and class issues continue because humanity in education has been forgotten.

So what can we do about it? When the country was forced to move to the Digital platform during Covid-19, Bay of Islands College was well ahead of the game. As members of the Manaiakalani & Kaikohekohe Education Trusts for the past four years, our students were very familiar with online learning.

There were some fine tuning and tweaking needed but on the whole, we were well prepared for LockDown 2020.

The reality is that the internet has become the ‘go to’ place for all of us when we need to find information or learn how to do things and it is no different for our students. We live in a globalised society.

We are not travelling but we can still stay connected through the digital platform.

We have the opportunity to reinvent education and create new forms of teaching and learning, to empower students to become the owners of their own learning. For students and teachers’ well being we need to continue to have an innovative mindset. Schools should serve their community and provide educational experiences and reformulate relationships because by trying to treat all students the same we fail to acknowledge the human uniqueness that helps communities to grow. We cannot go back to education pre-Covid nor should we want to. Let’s stop treating student difference as an inconvenience and instead start celebrating and catering to the diversity they bring into our schools

Manaakitanga - Creating a culture of Care Arataki leadership Lead by Lt Tuari Davis-Brooking, Arataki is a voluntary course designed to develop a student’s leadership, teamwork abilities and personal drive. It is not a military course; however, it utilises the military style of personal and unit development for each student to develop key skills for the future.

This course instils students with confidence and personal to drive to persevere beyond what they thought possible. It develops their ability to work as a team but also to stand

up and lead. It pushes them to maintain a high standard in everything they do and to stand out as leaders of their school, their community and their country.

Key Skills learnt on this course • Personal Fitness • Mental Resilience • Teamwork • Leadership • Discipline • Fieldcraft/Survival • First Aid

“Tu Kaha, Tu Maia, Tu ki Mua – Stand Strong, Stand Up, Stand in Front”

MANA WAHINE: Bay of Islands College were privileged to have the newly elected Northland MP Willow-Jean Prime, and our Guest Speaker for the night, Portia Woodman the most recognised player in women’s rugby, join us for our Senior Graduation Dinner this year Pictured left Ngawaiora Davis (2019 Dux), Edith Painting-Davis (Principal), Willow-Jean Prime, Portia Woodman, and Ruth Hills (Senior Manager).

IMPORTANT DATES We are holding an Enrolment Evening this Tuesday 24th November 2020 for all students wanting to enrol at Bay of Islands College for 2021.

This is being held in our school hall starting at 5.30pm.

All Welcome.

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Healthy lunches in school. There are the supporters and the critics of this initiative but beyond the actual food, there are many opportunities that can be afforded our students.

Eating together and valuing the sharing of food as a positive social interaction that engenders discussion and broadens the mind. Our Environmental Sustainability Management classes have been tasked with growing some of the produce for these meals and managing the composting of waste.

The Recycling students are researching the best way for the food to be served and collected to reduce waste in our school. People in our community can be employed alongside our Hospitality and Catering class to create menus and provide Healthy Food options. Our Business and Maths Financial Capability classes are creating budgets and forecasting costs associated with the overall program.

There are so many possibilities for our students to engage in real and purposeful activities that benefit many. We are only limited by our own imagination.

START DATES FOR 2021: Year 10-Year13 students start on Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Year 9 Students start on Wednesday 3rd February 2021 beginning with a Powhiri to welcome all our new students and staff.

The Schools Main Office will be open from Monday 18th January 2021 for all new enrolments and our Uniform and Stationery Shop will be open daily from Wednesday 20th January 2021 from 9am to 3pm.

BAY OF ISLANDS COLLEGE ‘Together we will develop caring students, maximising their potential’ “Kokiri Ngatahi” Moving Forward Together

YEAR

THE

Hayden Bartlett & Summer Babe-Vercoe - Harvey Abercrombie Scholarship

29

THAT WAS

Taunga Taunga - Racial Harmony Award

Kayla Carter & Jack Boakes joint winners of The Dr.McBirney Scholarship. Jack Boakes Dux & Kayla Carter Proxime Accessit

BREAM BAY COLLEGE

Year 13 - King & Queen

B

ream Bay College’s belief in Deep and Engaging learning has driven our “New Normal”; with strong relationships underpinning learning in the college.

It was a natural progression to changing our approach to student engagement.

Over lockdown our conversations with our community were based on the philosophy of “How are you? How can we help?” This new style of interacting with our community was seen as non-confrontational and made the assumption that we all wanted the same thing; the best for our students.

Despite Covid-19 our students maintained regular learning via zoom. This reduced the stress on student learning while not being able to attend school in person. Teachers had two days of intensive professional development to support their ability to deliver the curriculum on an online forum.

PE, Dance, Science, Music and other practical subjects created challenges for staff to find alternative ways to deliver these curricula. Student agency and the use of fast developing apps helped to overcome this hurdle.

Upon returning to school the “New Normal’’ has continued with composite learning: face to face and zoom teaching running side by side in classrooms.

Year 11 - Belle & Beau

George Watt Scholarship

As 2020 draws to a close, and despite the challenges of COVID-19, the senior students celebrated two major events on the calendar: The Senior Ball “Under the Stars” and Senior Prizegiving. It was a time to celebrate with glittering lights, ball gowns, suits and ballroom dancing. Senior Prizegiving: The prestigious event that celebrates the academic achievements of the Year 11 to 13’s.

Congratulations to all BBC students on their personal achievements and to the Year 13 “Graduating Class” of Bream Bay College.

What have we GAINED from this?

• That “WE can do it” and that challenges drive innovation and change • Ensuring that all students had access to essential technology • TEAMWORK is the new normal • CARING for each other • Engaging wider support networks where necessary The result was “Our waka was paddling in the same direction”

Year 12 - Prince & Princess

Kaua e hoki i te waewae tūtuki, ā, apā anō hei te ūpoko pakaru.

Don’t turn back because of minor obstacles but push on to the desired goal!

It is my pleasure to be able to support Bream Bay College.

My children are both past pupils and I wish the teachers, the admin and all pupils a very happy summer and a success filled 2021.

Janine Goldsmith Branch Manager & Sales

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YEAR EXCELLERE COLLEGE 30

THE

THAT WAS

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: We are rural, on the edge of Kamo, set amidst natural grounds and playing fields, a wonderful environment for learning. A large gymnasium is surrounded by learning spaces, with our Whare providing staff space and more learning spaces. The recent addition of yet more classrooms is allowing us to cater for our growing roll.

Blessings Graeme Whitehead Principal

W

Year 12 dive course

elcome to Excellere College, a Year 1-13 Christian Special Character school of approximately 280 students. Our vision, Excellence in learning; Christianity in living, provides the foundation for our growing community of learners.

These four aspects guide our development: • The Promise: To develop a sense of God’s purpose for our lives.

• Relationship: To develop a sense of God’s love for us.

• Guidance: To develop a sense of God’s story, through history.

• Wisdom: To develop a sense of God’s Grace.

2020 has been a unique year, like no other.

The appearance of Covid-19 has changed our lives completely. We have had to adopt new health practices to keep ourselves safe, and consider others like never before.

It has affected all aspects of our lives, and continues to impact our decisions.

However, despite the tragedy of the pandemic it has also provided an opportunity for us to share our Christianity. Through us God can squeeze good from bad, and in these times we must let the love of Jesus guide our steps. This is a time to see the Fruit of the

Year 7

Year 1 & 2

Spirit outworked through us all; this is a time when to love God is to love your neighbour.

Our staff has risen to the occasion this year and shown Jesus’ love through their care for their students and each other, efforts during on-line learning, and giving of themselves beyond the normal. They are a loving group of Christians, reflecting our values of compassion, integrity and honour.

Our students have shown amazing resilience and patience. They have coped with disruption, anxiety, and the unknown.

In spite of their circumstance they have continued learning, and loving each other.

Our Senior student Ball was a highlight, a bonus in a year of cancellations.

Our parents have supported us through their partnership in learning, acceptance of Covid-related procedures, and calmness in parenting. They shone during lockdown, letting love be the priority as they carried the added responsibility of guiding learning.

We finished the year in good heart, and feeling blessed. Our roll continues to grow, we have new staff starting next year, and we will continue to seek the Lord’s guidance as we provide a Christian learning environment and culture.

We wish our wider community a restful Christmas break and pray that the Lord blesses them all in the year ahead.

Kapahaka

Year 8 Science

2020 Excellere Ball

Year 3-4 netball team

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YEAR HUANUI COLLEGE THE

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THAT WAS

H

uanui College draws upon openminded, enterprising, supportive young adults to inject their energy and enthusiasm into this stimulating and expanding learning environment.

Offering small classroom numbers, and fostering a genuine interest in the wellbeing of our students, their families and our staff, we take responsibility for our actions and outcomes and we are in a unique position to build positive values and understandings through our close-knit interactions. We think it is important to know one another well and to embrace and respect diversity, encouraging care for others and for our environment. The Huanui Way symbolises a strong sense of responsibility and an understanding of the importance of community-minded actions.

Our tiered Whanau system ensures a supportive network for our students from day one, introducing them to a family of other students from Years 7 to 13 whom they will support in competitive fixtures, charitable events and any other enterprise that entails comradery and fun.

We applaud hard work, effort, perseverance and success. We set high standards and our students strive for personal excellence, be it through competition or through focused, independent endeavour. They are provided with challenging academic and physical opportunities, in order to promote grit and resilience and learner agency is at the forefront of our expectations.

As well as the Cambridge Curriculum, Huanui College offers alternative pathways to further education, including NCEA qualifications and a recently forged collaboration with North Tec, as we recognise and advocate the need for our young adults to be open-minded and adaptable to a variety future considerations and we endeavour to enable them to meet their potential and to fulfil their future aspirations confidently and successfully.

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YEAR KAMO HIGH SCHOOL 32

THE

THAT WAS

Magazine Project

W

hen media students at Kamo High discovered the British newspaper; ‘The Guardian’ had run the headline: “Saving New Zealand’s murder capital” and that it referred to Kaitaia, they were shocked. They didn’t want to be defined by the negativity attributed to the region, especially when they had experienced so much that was positive about living here. They wanted to ‘re-present’ their neighbourhood and tell their stories of their ‘true North.’ Then they decided to share them in their own magazine.

At printing, Whangarei and the Far North had yet to find out who was representing the region politically and these students saw an opportunity to have some input into how they would like themselves to be represented. They didn’t want to become ‘spin doctors’ - they know that like any community, we suffer from challenging issues and they wanted to explore that, in search of solutions rather than sensationalism.

Savannah Walker, accepted into Auckland

University next year, says: “I didn’t know until researching that there was such an issue around consent - it made me think about what can be done from an education point of view.” Haylee Allen, off to Victoria Uni, in a hard-hitting opinion editorial says: “Almost all of Northland’s issues stem from the way we are represented around the country in the media’’. This magazine in a way, is their way of changing that narrative.

Young people here often joke that the only thing they want to do in Northland is leave - yet these students found a lot to love and to come back to. Daniel Burns, editor, liaised with JOP the printing company - gaining valuable real-world industry experience and is also a member of the local branch of the Sallies. He wrote about the important charity work they do in our community. Koha for the magazine goes to the Salvation Army Whangarei Christmas Food Bank - making it a double winner in every Christmas hamper this year. Pick up your copy now at the Salvation Army Family Store on Vine Street.

Photo by Taeya Nicholas

2020 Senior Prizegiving

C

ongratulations to all of our students who collected awards at our Senior Prizegiving held on 11 November. Special congratulations go to our Dux, Sebastian Shi, who received the Dux Cup, the Dux Medal, the UIT Award and the University of Otago Dux Scholarship.

Congratulations also to our students who were awarded university scholarships. This year scholarships Sebastian Shi – Dux 2020 received totaled over $100,000: AUT McDonalds Scholarship: Raivyn-Skye Tangariki-Pou Massey Sports Scholarship: Anna Moselen & Kobe Walters Massey Undergraduate Scholarship: Poppy Gunson University of Otago Māori Entrance Scholarship: Daniel Dance & Tai Davies University of Otago 150th Scholarship: Emma Ryan, Leon McIntyre, Sebastian Shi University of Otago Dux Scholarship: Sebastian Shi University of Otago Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship: Daniel Kim University of Waikato Sir Edmund Hilary Scholarship: Nathan Parkes

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TAURAROA AREA SCHOOL

T

he students and staff of Tauraroa Area School, supported by parents, the Board of Trustees and community, have enjoyed many successes in 2020. Located 20 minutes southwest of Whangarei, catering for over 500 students from Y1 to Y13, the school attracts students from a wide area, including Whangarei city.

Our vision, “to be the best we can be” is seen in our focus on high quality teaching and learning, with the goal of developing young people to become resilient, selfmanaging, qualified individuals of good character, equipped for the world beyond the school gates.

The school has offered a wide range of learning pathways to our students, with 47 successfully completing ‘Gateway’ work placements. A number of senior students

have won prestigious scholarships to universities around the country for 2021; and current year 12 students, Sam Buckwell and Violet Blomfield have been selected to attend the prestigious Auckland University Science Summer School (the 4th consecutive year TAS students have been selected), with fellow year 12 student, Natalia Albert, winning a place in the Otago Science Forum (the third consecutive year a TAS student has been successful here).

Cornerstone Values are an important aspect of learning at TAS. This year we have focused on responsibility, compassion, obedience and consideration for others.

These values contribute strongly to the sense of ‘family’ or ‘whanaungatanga’ at school.

The Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award Scheme has seen 46 students work towards

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gaining Bronze and Gold Awards, putting Cornerstone Values in practice through community service, learning skills and undertaking challenging expeditions.

Our junior school has attracted widespread positive attention with the successful use of a ‘structured literacy’ approach to reading and

writing, in tandem with play-based learning for our youngest students.

In spite of the COVID lockdown, 2020 has featured a number of significant events: athletics and swimming sports, country day and numerous trips and camps for students.

We continued to host international students from Japan, France and Thailand.

The ongoing upgrading of our campus facilities has continued, with an enlarged and refurbished drama suite completed early in the year. We are looking forward to the opening of our new gymnasium in time for the 2021 school year.

Students at Tauraroa Area School enjoy the benefits of a beautiful rural setting along with the very best learning facilities technology and - most importantly - caring, professional teachers. Students of all backgrounds, interests and abilities are challenged and supported to be The Best They Can Be. The staff and students of Tauraroa Area School have had a great year. We look forward to more of the same level of success as we look forward to 2021.

Grant Burns, Principal

YEAR TIKIPUNGA HIGH SCHOOL THE

THAT WAS

O

ur school’s motto is “tukua o punga” – cast your nets, which encapsulates the key purpose of schooling – to enable students to cast their nets so that they can be successful learners, reach their personal potential and be purposeful, productive and caring members of society.

Without doubt the opening of “Tauira” has been the highlight of the year to date and a celebration of our cultural identity. We have the duty, honour and privilege to be kaitiaki of our language, culture and world view. This whare is our commitment to this kaupapa.

I need to thank and acknowledge the Kahui Taumata, our whanau from Pehiaweri and Ngararatunua, and the kaumatua and kuia who guided us on our journey. Tauira “Ko Tauira tōku whare e tu nei” Tikipunga High School’s new whare wananga “Tauira” was officially opened by Kaumatua and attended by past/present staff, students, whanau and dignitaries on Friday 25th September 2020 at 4.30am.

Tikipunga High School is a place of learning, where student opportunities and the aspirations of whanau can be realised.

We believe strongly that the cultural identity

PRINCIPAL’S COMMENT: I am delighted with the partnership we continue to grow and value with our whanau in support of our learners. We offer individualised student centred learning programmes. We strongly believe through achievement comes opportunity. Our senior learning programmes are complemented by our Services, Automotive and Maori Culture and Tourism Academies.

We are a small school with a big heart. Call in and look at what we can offer.

of every student is of vital importance and our vision, values and philosophy outline our commitment to each student’s personal development. The Whanau system is the basis of our pastoral support for our learners and encourages and establishes a sense of belonging.

At Tikipunga High School we know and value our students. We have high expectations of ourselves and our students.

We are values based (Ako, Manaakitanga, Pono, Tikanga, Whanaungatanga) and restorative. We are solutions focused and take a Maori potential point of view.

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YEAR WHANGĀREI BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL 36

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THAT WAS

2020 – Another outstanding and inspiring year in the proud history of WHANGĀREI BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL.

O

ur academic results in 2019 continued on an upward path and were some of our best ever, with pass rates exceeding National Rates in all areas for Levels 1, 2 & Level 3. The school was a dominant force in Science Fair this year, despite the competition being run online, with some stunning entries picking up 8 awards, including Best Technology Award, Northpower Consistent Excellence Award and Northland Regional Council Environmental Excellence Award, Best Year 12-13 Award, and Judges Award for Y10-11. This continues to underline WBHS as one of the top Science schools in the north.

The school takes great pride in its sporting achievements and a longstanding reputation as the top sporting school for boys in Northland. Even with all the cancellations due to Covid, 2020 successes were no exception to this tradition. Sporting highlights include: Tea-Rani WoodmanTuhoro was selected to the NZ U18 & the NZ Secondary Schools Rugby League Teams; the Squash Team came 4th at the National Secondary Schools Tournament and RileyJack Vette-Blomquist is the NZ Junior Squash Champion; he won selection to the Senior NZ Secondary Schools Team, the NZ U19 & the NZ World Junior Squash Teams; Freddie Jameson and Flynn Venmore were selected for the Junior NZ Secondary Schools Squash Team. In Australian Rules Football, Reef Bainbridge was selected to the NZ U18 Team. In Adventure Racing the combined WBHS & WGHS Teams came 1st and 2nd in the NZ Secondary Schools Get2Go Challenge.

Daniel Hammond won the NZ U16 Tennis Doubles and selection to the NZ Junior Davis Cup Team. Ryan Townsend was selected to represent the NZ Men’s Gymnastics Team, which competed in the United States. Oliver

Sean Alexander receiving A & P Award

MAGIC TYRES

Wilson is the NZ U18 Longbow Archery Champion, and Trevor Coetzee was selected in the Samoan Cycling Team to attend the Oceania Championships. At the ASB Northland Secondary School Sports Awards, WBHS won 10 individual awards.

The cultural field was severely curtailed because of Covid-19 and very few opportunities were available. However, the strength of our cultural programmes continues to provide for and encourage boys to shine in fields other than the sporting arena. The Drama Department produced high calibre shows in the Senior School, including the outstanding 4 Seasons of Blackadder performed by the Y13 cohort. Some inspirational musicians and performers were on show at the Senior Prize Giving, and our Kapa Haka Rōpū goes from strength to strength.

Despite all that has happened this year, our students continue to achieve some stunning results in the academic field. A number of students have been awarded prestigious university scholarships for 2020. These include The University of Waikato: Te Paewai o te Rangi: Scholarship for Outstanding Academic Achievements to Brandon Peck; Ko Te Tangata School Leaver Scholarships to Richard Adams, Caden de Zwart, Brandon Peck, Angus Trail & Vincent von Mulert-Carvell; University of Auckland: Top Achiever Scholarship to Aidan Segessenmann; Waka Moana Scholarship to Wirihana Croft-Malcolm, Ethan Hare & Levi Popata; University of Canterbury: Business and Law Excellence Scholarships to Ben Foon & Brandon Peck; University of Otago: Leaders of Tomorrow Entrance Scholarships to Kian Bird, Ben Foon, Jack Slatter, Aidan Scrooby & Caleb Squires; Maori Entrance Scholarship to Cobe Aspden-Howell; Performance Entrance Scholarship to Brandon Peck;

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: What a year it has been! Despite all the challenges of 2020, Whangārei Boys’ High School had another excellent year and we continue to do what we do best. In that sense, we have probably exceeded expectations given the amount of teaching time lost and the number of sporting and cultural events that were cancelled. The boys have continued to aim high in all areas of the school and the community, supported by a dedicated staff who have truly gone the extra mile this year. We take immense pride in their achievements and continually encourage them to aim for excellence in all their endeavours. The school vision is to develop boys into fine men and we have certainly continued to achieve that this year and will continue to do so in the future.

– K Gilbert-Smith, PRINCIPAL

Shot of the Day: Marsden supporters...

Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarships to Jak Kelly & Colin Xu; Auckland University of Technology: School Leaver Scholarship to Riley-Jack Vette-Blomquist; AUT McDonalds’ Te Tai Tokerau Scholarship & AUT Accommodation Scholarship — Office of Maori Advancement to Wirihana Croft-Malcolm; the Massey University – Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Award to Wirihana Croft-Malcolm; Victoria University of Wellington: Totoweka Scholarship to Shawn Larsen; the Tangiwai Scholarship & Te Herenga Scholarship to Brandon Peck.

In addition to these university awards, the New World Regent Scholarship to Jude Lyon; the Whangārei A & P Scholarship to Sean Alexander; the Prime Ministers Vocational Excellence Award to Devlin Gurr; and the Prime Minister’s Oranga Tamariki Award Academic Pathway Scholarship to Levi Popata.

WBHS 1st XV perform the haka prior to their preseason match against Wellsford on the weekend ahead of their first round game against Westlake. Photo: Alan Bee – BeeScene

The leadership programme at WBHS continues to provide opportunities for our boys that are unparalleled in Northland.

Every boy has a chance to develop his leadership skills and become a school prefect. In 2020, all boys have an opportunity to participate in Prefect-lead committees, put themselves forward for a place on the Student Council, and develop leadership capacity by getting involved in the Student Volunteer Army.

This year a new mentoring programme was trialled involving Y12 & Y13 mentors, supporting Y9 boys. It was very successful.

2020 has been another great year in the long history of Northland’s oldest secondary school – business as usual for us. Construction work on the new school build is well advanced.

The bridge across Waiarohia Stream is complete, and the building platforms and foundation work for the new classrooms and administration areas are well underway. In only a year from now we will be moving in! The prospect of continuing to develop boys into fine men in 2021 and beyond is something we look forward to with much excitement.

If you are interested in enrolling your son at WBHS for 2021, please contact the school on 430 4170 ext 742 (or enrolments@wbhs. school.nz, or visit the school website www. wbhs.school.nz) for an enrolment pack and information.

Students Donate Their Time for Benefit of Hospice

GOOD SELECTION OF STEEL RIMS P

O H S W E N

103 Port Road, Whangarei P Phone 09 438 3534, 09 430 0055 or 0800 867 897

YEAR WHANGAREI GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL THE

THAT WAS

2020 – a year that will go down in history HIGHS

• • • • • • • • • • •

Outstanding student leadership Student Volunteer Army Performing Arts shows and concerts Art and Technology exhibitions SWITCH classes Primary Industries Academy NZSS Squash Champions Student initiated Year 13 Independent Study day Kāhui Ako Wellbeing strategy implemented Technological upskilling of students and staff Blended pedagogy

LOWS

• Lockdown – equity issues • Miss our usual numbers of international students • Ball and sports tournaments cancelled

OVERALL

Test is about how we all respond to challenges – all credit to our school community for the way everyone stepped up, adapted and moved forward Anne Cooper Principal

37

YEAR HE MATARIKI TEEN PARENT SCHOOL 38

THE

THAT WAS

H

e Matariki Teen Parent School offers education to young parents or parents-to-be in a modern, calm, welcoming and purpose-built facility. He Matariki is located next to the NorthTec campus in Raumanga, and right next door to He Kakaano Early Childcare Centre. We have a capped roll of 35 students who can attend the school until their 20th birthday year; keeping our classroom numbers small and our teaching personal.

He Kakaano Early Childcare Centre

Childcare is available through the school’s early childhood centre partner He Kākaano Early Childcare Centre. This partnership enables students to continue breastfeeding and visit their children while they study.

Students can relax knowing that their child is well cared for and happy right next door, and learning at the same time as they are.

Free transport is available to students and their children attending the school and childcare centre.

“It’s so good having HK just next door because we can go down and visit or feed our babies. We are very lucky to have them close to us as we learn” - MEIKA

Individual Learning Programmes

Students meet with staff to identify areas of interest, and discuss possible future career and employment options. As no two students are the same, neither are the individual learning programmes that we create with them. These personalised

Prizegiving 2019

programmes allow students to focus on learning content and skills directly relevant to their career and employment goals, and to learn at their own pace.

“He Matariki School is exceptional. The staff are wonderful, and I like the fact that every students’ learning is independent and you are able to progress at your own pace” - SUMMER

Academic Support and Employment Opportunities

Whether a student’s dream is to enter the workplace, or to prepare for further training or tertiary study, we can get them there.

We offer pre-NCEA, NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3, University Entrance, National Certificates and Level 2 Vocational Pathways Awards. Our qualified subject specialist teachers are able to provide students with complete academic support; whilst our career development and employment specialist is able to provide comprehensive career guidance and work placement opportunities for students.

“Our school provides us with so many opportunities. Being young parents does not hold back our futures” – ANIKA “This is my last year at HM. I am moving to Hamilton to study towards a Bachelor of Law next year” – SHAY

Education and so much more

He Matariki provides a friendly, whanau atmosphere. We have visiting youth workers and a school nurse, as well as access to a wide range of wraparound support services such as social workers. We can help students to get their driver’s licence, enrol in childbirth education classes, and so much more. We also

Career Focus NZ - Creating Meaningful Career Pathways I am proud to sponsor He Matariki School and its students as I admire the teachers’ great mahi as they support young mums in reaching their educational goals. I have a long standing association with this wonderful school, having spent many years assisting students to develop their career pathways and help give their education more purpose and focus.

We want young people to know there are many exciting new opportunities out there! We help with:

• Secondary school subject and career guidance • Pathway planning into further education, apprenticeships, earn as you learn and university • Individualised plans for students based on their interests, skills and aspirations

P: 02763334171 E: muriel@careerfocus.nz

www.careerfocus.nz

provide elective activities that allow students to explore new interests, as well as take part in activities with their children.

“I’ve made some really close friendships, and will always be grateful that I was given a second chance to go far in life with my daughter” – KAMELLA

SAY GOODBYE TO 2020 and make 2021 your year to get ahead with NorthTec!

Congratulations to all our learners who have persisted and succeeded with their studies this year.

Thank you also to all our staff for the work and support you have undertaken to support our learners. We acknowledge that 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone – but we’re so proud of you all for making it through.

Kia kaha and wishing all our ākonga and staff a safe and peaceful Christmas.

Jon Smith, Acting Chief Executive, NorthTec

WE’VE GOT WHAT YOU NEED

OPEN DAY

Friday 22 JANUARY 2020 10.00am - 2.00pm

NorthTec, Gate 1, Raumanga Valley Road, Whangārei

p: 0800 162 100 e: study@northtec.ac.nz www.northtec.ac.nz

Proud to be a Northland based business supporting local schools for over 25 years