Term two has kicked off with much more of a ‘back to normal’ feel which staff and students are enjoying. Students have participated in all manner of activities: cross country champs, house relays, living classroom and enviro experiences. Construction Academy students have been pouring concrete pads, and we even had some of our STEAM students providing all of the delicious food for teachers at the recent parent teacher interviews. No doubt we’ll get a spike in Covid cases at some stage, but for the time being it’s great to be mostly back to normal. Congratulations to Ruahei Demant (Te Whanau a Apanui, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa) who has been named captain of the Black Ferns rugby team. Ruahei was Head Girl in 2013, and debuted for the Black Ferns in 2018. Since then she has gone on to play 15 tests at first and second five-eighths. We wish Ruahei all the best for the upcoming World Cup! Basketball player numbers have surged, with 14 teams entered in North Harbour competitions (up from 7 teams last year). It’s also great to see the number of pickup games happening around the school at break times, with students enjoying the new hoops. Pleasingly this uptick has not been at the expense of other sports, with player increases also for traditional sports like rugby and netball. Many students have added a second (or in some cases third) sport to their schedules, which is commendable. The resurfaced rugby field is bedding in well, and should be available to teams at the start of next term, and hopefully the pool should be back in action soon, once the minor repairs are completed.
Last week we took a number of Māori & Pacific students to Waikato University, a new partnership to encourage our rangatahi to consider tertiary futures. The students were treated like royalty, receiving a fully escorted campus tour, a unique lecture and a tour of the halls of residence. Waikato University has a focus on arranging internships for every student, and has recently introduced a world’s first undergraduate degree in Climate Change. Literacy is a real academic focus for staff at the moment. NZ’s declining literacy rates are well known and obviously it’s an area that needs to be addressed nationwide. From 2024 a new literacy requirement is added to NCEA, providing further timely impetus for a renewed focus on all aspects of literacy. Staff spent the recent teacher only day engaging with the latest research around disciplinary literacy including vocabulary building and reading fluency, and look forward to incorporating these learnings into our daily practice. Reading is really the master skill of schooling.
ANZAC DAY SERVICES Once again our Prefects proudly represented our school at the Anzac Day services. This year we had the honour of forming the Catafalque Guard, with our students, positioned at the four corners of the Anzac Memorial watching over the memories of our fallen soldiers. Head girl, Amelia Burton, spoke at the 10:30 Service where she remembered her great-grandfathers’ contributions but she also emphasised the importance of this generation not forgetting the