Science

This year has been an interesting, and at times complicated, journey for our kura. As new teachers here, this has corresponded with an interesting and complicated year for us professionally, but it has been an absolute joy to experience this time with the staff and students of Avonside. The school community has been warm and welcoming, and it has been a blessing to work alongside our incredible students as they navigated this year. Watching them take each new challenge in their stride has given us a huge sense of pride and I hope that they also feel proud of how far they have come despite these challenges this year. 

This year has also allowed us to build connections with students, something we haven’t had as much opportunity to do due to short placements during training and prior to teaching here. Already, it has been such a privilege to work with students across the span of the year and we are really excited to have the opportunity to continue to see their progress next year. We’ve all learnt a huge amount this year and are grateful to have developed teaching skills with such a welcoming department and cohort of students. 

2022 has also seen the return of many of the exciting opportunities from pre-pandemic times – this year we have been fortunate to have guest speakers come in to speak to our students as well as go on field trips and engage in other educational opportunities. Guest speakers included a midwife coming in to share experiences with the Year 10 Health Science students, something that was well received and encouraged students to think about their possible future careers in science. From the Year 10 He Puna Pūtaiao programme that introduces students to science through mātauranga Māori to the Year 13 Orana Park Field trip to learn about hominin evolution, students across the year levels have learnt through a range of offsite opportunities this year. Our level 2 and 3 Chemistry students both went on trips to the University of Canterbury to use the laboratories there and explore further study options. 

This year also saw the introduction of the Semester courses, with students choosing from a range of options for their Year 10 and second semester of Year 9. The redesign of content was also a great opportunity to include more organic incorporation of mātauranga Māori, which has been a valuable development for our staff and students alike. 2023 is posed to continue this and bring more exciting new opportunities to our department. We are offering new subjects in 2023, including a Level 2 citizen science and Psychology with the social science department. We have taken on board the Year 10 student feedback from the semester programs to develop the courses further for next year. Year 9 will be returning to a whole-year course in science, incorporating parts from each of the semester courses from this year into this course. 

On a more personal note, we have also welcomed two new ‘junior scientists’ to our team – congratulations to Mrs Love and Ms Foote on the arrival of their little ones! As a department, we’re excited to head into 2023 with exciting new opportunities and want to wish all students a safe and happy summer break – all the best to the NCEA students sitting their exams and awaiting results! He toka tū moana, arā he toa rongonui - Your strength is like a rock standing in the raging waters. 

 Ms Lilley and Mr Millar 

on behalf of the Science Department of 2022