The 75 of you who came with us down to Dunedin for the visit to the Tertiary Open day were a delight to spend time with. Thanks for your company – and we hope the exposure to the University and Polytech gave you a starting point to start to build some plans for next year and beyond.
Remember you don’t have to know what you’re going to be when you grow up. You just have to know who you are now, and what floats your boat.
Notices:
Ballroom dancing will take place next Wednesday afternoon with Mr Nyhof
What’s Your Passion? Career and Life Planning Workshop
An opportunity for 10 students to participate in a series of 4 workshops to help you unlock your passion and purpose. You will work in a small group each Wednesday afternoon during Weeks 5-8 with a trained facilitator who promises it will be dynamic and fun.This free trial has only 10 spaces and you will need to attend all four sessions. Contact Charlotte to sign up or receive further information.
Career meetings: Please be proactive in arranging these if you have not had one already by flicking us an email or swing by the careers office – from next Monday Careers and Guidance will be back in the ‘old’ URSpace.
First Aid Course: The second and final STAR First Aid course is on Saturday the 25th of May. There are still some spaces. Sign up on the careers website Sign up also to receive careers updates; just scroll down the page and add your email
Otago University Law Talk next Friday 17th May, 8:35 am (Room to be confirmed) The presenter is a barrister and solicitor, with research interests in human rights and technology.
Barista Holiday Course Sign up for this course on the Careers website
Workers’ Rights Past students have told us they wanted more information about employment, contracts and their legal rights so we have invited some experts to come and do some workshops here. More info coming soon.
It was brilliant to see you all back this week for the start of Term 2.
The highlight of today’s meeting was being able to hand out the “Get Out of Jail Free” cards to so many of you. To be eligible for one of these, you had to have a perfect attendance record for Term 1, with zero unjustified absences. Just to put this into perspective, only one person in last year’s Year 13 cohort had maintained such an outstanding attendance record in May last year.
As we said today, while it must have become obvious to you by now that this kind of data and metric is a bit of an obsession of ours, this is for good reasons. There is very sound educational research that demonstrates that simply turning up to school has a significant and sustained positive impact on a number of areas of a student’s life.
The List
If we missed you off this list for some reason, please contact us and we’ll rectify this immediately. If you missed out this time around – fear not. The fortnightly system will still operate as it did last term: a perfect attendance for two weeks unlocks home study for the following two weeks. You can then clock up perfect attendance scores for Term 2, earning yourself a Get Out of Jail Free card for Term 3 – when you’ll need it most!
Don’t go it alone
This term is always a challenging one in the life of a Year 13 student. The NCEA assessments will come thick and fast (especially in the last two weeks), the snow hasn’t yet fallen, there can sometimes be an inversion layer of cloud that keeps the sun from shining for up to a month and the cold and dark can just make everything a bit more difficult. If things start getting on top of you – don’t bear it alone. Come and speak to us.
Put it on a plan
Developing a plan will also help a lot in this process. Put all your commitments and deadlines in one place and develop an overview. Plan in your social time too – and rest – and recreation. Share your plan with someone who cares and keep updating it as things change. This simple process can work wonders.
Let us take this moment to reflect on everything you’ve achieved this term. Subjectively, we can state that it has been a delight to work with you so far this year. You have been polite, generous and mature in your interactions with us. Your teachers have frequently commented on your determination and self-discipline. The local community tells us that you are making a real impact through your voluntary work and your engagement with your sport and your cultural life.
There are some numbers we’d like to share with you that underpin this. None of this good reputation comes easily. So far, collectively you have conquered:
49,170 Hours of Learning
11 Year Level Meetings
812 Level 3 Credits
44 Whanau Periods
189 Full-Time Days of Volunteer Work
As we often say to you, it’s the small things that matter – and these aggregates just might illuminate that point. The good feedback you are getting, the results you are achieving and the difference you are making comes from the accumulation of hundreds and thousands of good decisions. We can’t deny: we are proud.
Year 13 Attire and Self-Representation
Charlotte and I have been developing a document that outlines our proposed approach to this contested area for some weeks now. We’ve received some feedback from some individual students, and passed this document past the powers that be, and now seek your feedback before it’s formalised. Please take the time to read it and let us know to what extent we speak for you – and if not, what you would have us say.
Please be invited to either comment on this document at the bottom of its website page – or to email us directly with your response.
Look After Yourself
Last week we discussed the importance of taking care of yourself. No doubt you’ll already be glazing over as you read yet another self-evident statement, but trust us, as you progress through this year (and those to come) the pressures are going to pile up. You’ve got your school workload, which comes in surges. You’ve got an expanded social life. You have the added complication of a drivers license. You have changing relationships with your family. Your volunteer work. Your part time job. On top of all this you have your exciting future looming, and all manner of decisions imposed upon you as to what direction you’re going to take yourself. It’s big.
We encourage you to focus on three things and promise us one thing:
Focus on eating well
Focus on getting enough sleep
Focus on organisation. Write down your plans
Promise us that you will seek help if everything gets too much. We are here. You pay us through your taxes so we can be here to help. Use the service. Whoever went to a buffet, paid the charge, and didn’t eat?
Get Out Of Jail Free
At the beginning of Term 2, as promised, all students who have a perfect attendance record, a Fortnightly Grade average over 3 and some Students in the Community hours registered from Term 1 will be given a Get Out Of Jail Free card. This will entitle those students to exempting themselves from all supervised study classes for the entirety of Term 2.
Our fortnightly system will still operate next term, so be assured that your strong, if not perfect, records will still be recognised – and you can always try for a card in Term 3!
Weekly Notices, Diary and Opportunities:
Firstly remember the trio of sites that have been designed to support your needs this year:
You can subscribe to these sites individually (use the follow button at the bottom right of every page) and then you’ll receive notifications when new information is added.
Job Opportunity: Looking for one or two students to set up desks in classrooms and do some lifting at the College for the Wanaka Autumn Art School on Easter Monday. Two –three hours work. $20/hour. Please contact Robyn van Reenen 027 443 1812.
Free Tickets Available: “Her Voice” Public Lectures: https://theweavinghouse.nz/ – Contact Chris or Charlotte if you’re keen.
Kahu Youth ran a massive survey at MAC, asking all the students what they’d like to do during their holidays and in their free time. According to their most popular interests, they have put together a Holiday Program including activities like Wild Wire, Virtual Reality Outdoor Rock Climbing, Paintball, Horse Riding in Cardrona, etc. Check out their websitewww.kahuyouth.org to sign up online! Spaces are limited!
Diary Dates
Otago Tertiary Trip from 5th-6th May
Year 13 Hostel First Aid course Saturday 25th May
Ara Polytechnic Presentation Wednesday 29th May
School Formal Saturday 18th May
We wish you all the very best for a rejuvenating Easter break – and we look forward to seeing you all
Bronson spoke to everyone asking for your support in making this week’s mufti day something special. On the day everyone will be wearing white, yellow and/or orange (no red). It will set a really strong example if Year 13 comes to school in full mufti. There are a number of other events this week to extend support to people affected by the Christchurch terrorist attack – you’re invited to get involved in any or all of these.
Uniform
Chris communicated the developing ideas he, Charlotte and Liz want to present to the school at large. A document outlining these ideas will be shared with you all in the coming days and your feedback is invited.
Notices:
Gateway Health and safety course is Wednesday 20th of March
Canterbury University on Thursday 21st @ 1:15 pm in Room 23
AUT University talk on Friday 22nd March @8:30 am in “T-Town” Room 10
Trades Talk; Plumbing on Wednesday 28th @ 1:20 pm in the Library
Gateway Workplace First Aid course Tuesday 26th March at LWC
Queenstown Resort College Tues- Fri 26th March in L2 and 3 Tourism classes
Otago University Visit on 27th March 2:10 pm in the Science Break Out
Best wishes to everyone involved in the Relay for Life this weekend!
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