6 minute read
Whareama School
55
STUDENTS
7
STAFF
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Darren Kerr
It has been great this year to get back into most of our activities, other than a little bump along the way for a mini home learning break. Our students and sta have done an amazing job in learning in an environment with such uncertainty. Whether it be inside or outside the classroom, the learning experiences that the students have been involved in, are a special feature of our school. We have many students achieve at a high level in many curriculum areas and are regularly chosen to represent Masterton and the Wairarapa in their area of talent. 2022 will be another big year for us with continual development of the work we have done in the development of our localised curriculum, when we will be working alongside our hapu to create our cultural narrative. The continual development of our new forest school remains a focus for us and to ensure we continue to provide a high quality, engaging and fun learning environment.
Editorial: Written by Charlee Halewood and Emily O’Neale (Year 8 students)
Term 1
Term 1 was a busy start to the year when we had our beginning year programmes in our new classrooms. There have been a lot of building projects around our school and this has seen new learning spaces created around our school. We had our swimming programme, Pedal ready, a trip to Mataikona Beach to support our learning in class. There was also a Leadership Camp that selected students went on and the Wings Over Wairarapa STEM Day. What a busy start to 2021!
Term 2
Term 2 seemed to come and go really quickly. First we had the start of a ve week RURAL kids programme, then the Rural Cross country and some Enviroschools work that needed to be done. We had another couple of sessions of Pedal Ready and then the Take a Kid Fishing day. There was so many
A happy, engaging and safe learning place is what we pride ourselves on at Whareama.
events on around and out of school that it kept us busy in learning in so many di erent activities.
Term 3
Things didn’t slow down in term 3! In fact they seemed to speed up. This term we had our home learning programme start again, due to covid-19. Then we had a dress up day to support the Masterton Foodbank. We also had a visit from Harold and the Life Ed van to teach us about friendships, resilience and mental wellbeing. Term 3 ew by but it was great to just be back at school with our friends and teachers. This year we also got a metal shipping container called the Woolshed, we learnt about wool and the di erent things it does and what it is used for. We also started our work with planting at the dam across the road from school, this is going to be a huge project.
Term 4
In the rst week of Term 4 we have our annual Pets’ Day where everyone brings a pet to school and participates in class competitions. We do athletics with the Kia Hakinakina team and the Rural Cluster Athletics day. This year has been really fun and our school just gets more and more interesting! We are all looking forward to the last of this year’s activities. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and safe New Year.
Support from outside providers ensures excellent learning opportunities for our students and valuable professional development for our sta .
Tuakana – teina is an important learning approach for us and ensuring students learn empathy, compassion and collaboration. Our leadership camp for senior students is a highly successful programme to develop the leadership skills in our future leaders.
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Working in partnership with our young people this year
Tuia Mentorship
The Tuia programme pairs promising young Māori leaders aged between 18 and 25 with mayors who mentor them. Taizak Walker has been working for the last year with Mayor Alex Beijen, getting tips on developing his leadership skills and at the same time, contributing insights from a youth and Māori experience. Taizak, who is 19, and currently working with the Covid-19 response, says there are several challenges facing youth in the Wairarapa, “such as road safety, environmental issues, and jobs and housing – it’s expensive to live here”. However, he says the mentorship had enabled him to meet other mentees and travel to different parts of New Zealand to learn about their history, culture and Te Tiriti. “It’s helped me get a better outlook on life, and has generally been good for socialising, developing people skills and relationships,” he said.
Mayors Taskforce for Jobs
Mayor Alex Beijen has been a champion of the mayors taskforce for jobs, a programme to help councils assist young people who are unemployed and not in training (NEETs) in their region. South Wairarapa is a great place to grow up, but young people report needing more frequent public transport, especially to secure work. In the last year, the Wairarapa Whānau Trust and the council have together helped find 56 full time jobs for young people. Ashley Taylor of Featherston is a recent school leaver who found work as a barista with The Offering in Greytown. Ashley’s boss schedules her hours in line with the bus, but she admits she could work more hours if there were more frequent services. The mayors taskforce also helped Ashley get her driver’s licence. The programme focuses not only on matching youth with employers and work ready training, but also provides funding for driving lessons for school students or recent school leavers, to increase their mobility. “I wouldn’t have a job if it weren’t for them,” Ashley said.
Community board youth reps
Alex Mason, 15, is a youth representative on the Martinborough Community Board. Alex, who goes to Kuranui College, is one of four young people who advise our three local community boards. His aim is to be the voice of those who aren’t always heard. Like others, he believes more activities and better public transport would make his town a better place for young people. The best thing the board had done this year was support a local bike and pump park proposal. “It’ll be awesome for kids in Martinborough to enjoy and hang out at.”
Greytown Wheels Park
A $3m skate park and playground area in Greytown is making solid progress towards reality, with a $1m contribution from the Council. Formal public consultation on the design will begin soon. Community fundraising will be needed but once work begins, it might only take a few months to complete.
