by Christopher Waugh | Mar 13, 2019 | Notices
We’re very pleased to note that the list of students who have Home Study over the next fortnight has lengthened considerably.
Today’s Year Level meeting was characterised by the theme of communication. There have been some wonderful examples of this from Year 13s in the last fortnight; one of which was Kate’s initiative to communicate Year 13’s concerns about the lack of consultation around the loss of their common room space to the senior leadership of the school. She formulated a letter, consulted with the year level and hand delivered the letter to Mr Sheppard. He has agreed to listen to solutions. Others are communicating directly with us on matters of individual interest – and some of these will result in policy changes that will benefit the entire school. We salute every one of you who speaks up, using constructive channels, for what you believe is right.
Notices:
- Students with special assessment conditions; please contact Mrs Bosley as soon as possible if you have not already done so. Please email bosleyd@mtaspiring.school.nz
- Canterbury University on Thursday 21st @ 1:20 pm in Room 23
- Trades Talk: a no-nonsense look at the pro’s and con’s of becoming a Tradie: Wednesday 27th @ 1:20 pm in the Library
- Gateway Workplace First Aid course Thursday 28th March at LWC
- Otago University Presentation 27th March at year level meeting
- Otago Tertiary Open Day; this has been very popular this year. We’ll send information out during the next week to those who have signed up. Once the deadline for payment has been reached, if there are spaces, we will extend the opportunity to those who are on the Waitlist. You can view this list via the MAC Careers website
- Queenstown Resort College visit to MAC Thursday 29th March for Tourism and Hospitality
Thanks everyone and have a great week Charlotte and Chris
by Christopher Waugh | Mar 6, 2019 | Notices
Phew! Things are starting to accelerate – and today’s Year Level meeting reflected this with so many matters on the agenda.
Debra from the Electoral Commission visited and provided a rationale and opportunity to get yourself on the electoral roll. You can also do this online here. Remember you can register on the roll when you are 17.
Chris made a short announcement about his intention to improve the school’s handling of differences in opinion about the meaning of the term ‘appropriate’ in our policies about students’ clothing and personal grooming. The starting point for this conversation will come in the form of a position document from us as deans. If you’d like to help us write this position, please get in touch.
Liz will be in touch about her offer for you to get involved in supporting the electoral process locally.
Contracts – these were given out at the beginning of the year. There are a number of you who have not yet returned these to the office. If this applies to you, please go to the office and get a new one.
There continue to be many visits from representatives from a number of tertiary institutions. Remember you can check the Careers Website, the Year 13 Calendar and the Notices section of this weekly letter to ensure you don’t miss the moment that may define your future.
The Service Committee presented their plans for the Relay for Life. You can sign up here
Notices
- The Upper Clutha Youth Council is looking for new members!
- If you are interested in creating activities and having a positive influence on the youth of the Clutha Region, then this is the place for you. UCYC is a youth-run organization that runs fun and safe events.
- The Upper Clutha Youth Council would love to have any new members from year 7,8 and 9 but anyone is welcome to join! Our organization helps the young people of our town have fun and safe activities and help give a voice to our peers.
- Please email us or attend one of our meetings for we would love for all of the awesome young members in our community to join us!
- For more information, you can email: uppercluthayouthcouncil@gmail.com or show up to one of our meetings on Tuesdays 3:45 pm at Kahu Youth.
- University Presentations on Friday include:
- Auckland Uni at 8:30am in the Careers Room (urspace)
- Victoria Uni at Lunchtime in Room 23. All welcome.
- First Aid Course #1 will be in the ECR on Saturday starting at 9 am. See you there
by Christopher Waugh | Feb 27, 2019 | Notices
It’s a quick one this week.
We continue to receive very positive feedback about you as a cohort. Your effort to engage in class, to support the ethos of the school and to encourage other students is not going un-noticed.
This week is the Home Study Rollover. View this entry on the Year 13 Website to check you’re on this fortnight’s list:
Notices:
- Borland Youth Youth Adventure Camp. Go HERE for details
- SIC opportunities; go to SIC SITE
- Tertiary Trip Sign Up or Tertiary Presentations and information, click HERE
- Paid jobs at the Wanaka Show. Information Here
- Quad Tournament is fast approaching. Talk to the Sports committee to find out more
- First Aid Course on 9th March – hostellers should all have signed up already. Go to First Aid sign up sheet. You will be sent a link to complete half an hour of prior online course learning.
Letter of concern about common space
Kate Richards has drafted a letter to send to the Senior Leadership of the school about the shift of the Year 13 Common Space. You can read and comment on this before it’s sent, so she can be sure she’s representing everyone.
by Christopher Waugh | Feb 13, 2019 | Notices
Home Study
“Home Study” is offered to students in Year 13 as an acknowledgement of the attainment of high standards in your basic participation in school. Embedded at the bottom of this post on our website is the list of the students who are eligible for Home Study for the next two weeks. You appear on this list if you:
- Have zero unjustified absences for the last fortnight (up until the end of Friday 8 February)
- Have a fortnightly grade for your engagement and attitude of three or better for the same period
Students on this list may leave the school site during any study periods, provided you sign out via the student desk.
Having a “home study” does not exempt you from any of your other commitments in the school, particularly your commitment to Whanau.
This list will be re-set every fortnight.
If you are a hostel student, your ‘home study’ eligibility will be accumulated for the duration of Term One and will be one of the factors governing decisions about exeat and home study in the terms to come.
Here are just some of the amazing up and coming events and opportunities;
Notices
- Coaching clinic; Friday 5th April. Sign up at the Sports Hub
- Youth EnviroLeaders’ Forum (YELF). YELF brings together 55 secondary school students who are passionate about the environment for a week-long leadership development adventure! YELF 2019 is from 12-18 April 2019 and will be in Waikato and Rotorua. Applications close midnight 22 February 2019. For more information, to watch our apply now video, and to send your application, go to: https://sirpeterblaketrust.org/youth-enviroleaders-forum
- The Pacific Project is an annual trip for high school students that educates participants on New Zealand’s relationship with the Pacific. It combines a week at the prestigious UN Youth Australia National Conference with an educational study tour to Vanuatu. You can find out more and apply at https://unyouth.org.nz/event/pacific-project
- Polytechnic and University visits; the first of these presentations will be Otago Polytechnic on Thursday the 28th February at Lunchtime in Room 23. Check out the EVENTS calendar on the Year 13 website for future university visits.
- Careers Info session at lunchtime next Tuesday February 19th: Electrical Training
Keep up the positive momentum in Whanau this week, it is definitely appreciated.
Best of luck to those competing and volunteering tomorrow in the Challenge.
by Christopher Waugh | Jan 30, 2019 | Notices
Greetings to all Year 13 students, families and teachers.
The first week of the academic year is now well underway, and we could not be more pleased with how everyone in Year 13 has started.
On Monday the Year 13 crew were asked to attend school with the primary motive to provide all the students who are new to school with a friendly face and a supportive hand if they needed it. This injunction was responded to with alacrity by many in Year 13. We received some extraordinarily positive feedback from many Whanau teachers about the effort and impact the Year 13s had on the new students.
As we said on the day, it’s easy to under-estimate the impact of those positive first experiences, and we wish to acknowledge with gratitude the excellent job you all did.
Course Selection
For some the process of course selection has been a challenging one. We have not yet finalised the timetable and course placements for all 151 of you yet, but are well on the way. Remember if you are in a position where you’re asking for special dispensation to register for a course for which you may not have all the pre-requisites, it is absolutely in your best interests to take the initiative to speak to the Head of Department or Learning Area concerned and put your case face to face.
Students in the Community Opportunities
To chase up on some of the opportunities that Liz was speaking about in today’s Year Level meeting, hop over to her SIC site: http://sic.mtaspiring.edutronic.net/opportunities/
Study Periods
The study period timetable has now been finalised, so those of you who have a study will see the location and the supervisor in your online timetable. Please remember that for the first two weeks of the term you are expected to attend all periods of school without exception.
The Amazing Race
You certainly got off to an excellent start with your passionate participation in The Amazing Race on Tuesday. You may have lost a little bit of dignity and even not a little body hair by the end of it – but we’re certain that what you gained in getting to know each other was full compensation.
Thanks again to the Year 12 members of the Service Committee for planning and running such an excellent event.
Home Study
After this initial phase, we will begin to introduce the option of taking your study period off-site. This opportunity will only apply to students who meet the following criteria:
- Zero unjustified absences in the prior fortnight
- A “Fortnightly Grade” score of 3 or better
- No “lates” on your record for the prior fortnight
- No recorded discipline issues in the prior fortnight
We will publish a list with this newsletter of all students who meet this criteria every fortnight, and these students will be allowed to sign out of school for the duration of their study period. Study classes will continue to be supervised and available to all students who wish to use this service.
Please note that the Ministry of Education stipulates some very strict criteria for what justifies an absence. Largely these are limited to medical absences with official medical notes, school-based activities, off-site school activities and bereavement. If you are absent for any other reason, we continue to expect your guardian to contact the school, preferably in advance to explain this absence.
House Day
Remember, House Day is a wonderful opportunity for you to develop that esprit de corps that is such a brilliant characteristic of our school and Whanau system. Please let us know if you need help or advice while preparing for your time leading the group. Both you and they will have a wonderful time.
NCEA Handbook.
Attached to this post is a copy of the school’s assessment handbook, which outlines all the practices, rules and regulations that surround the assessment of NCEA in the school. Today you were handed a contract to sign with a number of sections. One of these stipulates that you’ve read and agree to the attached document, so do take the time to read it. It could be a life-saver later in the year.
Until next week!
Chris and Charlotte.
Recent Comments