by Katrina Ferguson

Year 8 Ako

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8Ako celebrates success with our first Celebration Assembly!

The 8Ako cohort kicked off the week with our first Celebration Assembly. We have been focussing on the RISE values of Respect and Integrity this term, and students who have been demonstrating these values were rewarded with certificates and prizes.

The 8Ako teachers have been really pleased with the improvement in the standard of uniform being displayed by our akonga, and all students were entered into a lucky dip wheel to recognise this.

Our certificate winners during this assembly were

RISE Wise Award - continually demonstrating the RISE values

Inigo and Hunter - always demonstrate the RISE values in everything they do, and encourage others to do the same.

Rising Phoenix Award

Mabel - for making positive changes to her self management and attitude towards her learning.

Fair Play Award - displaying good sportsmanship during PE and sporting events

Lincoln - for being a fantastic sportsman and encourager during PE.

Rangatiratanga Award - displaying leadership / chieftainship

Ethan and Charlotte - for demonstrating leadership in many aspects of school life, and allowing others to shine.

Kaitiakitanga Award - caught caring for the environment

Oliver - for taking care of the classroom environment, and for his work with the Environment Committee.

Striving for Success - striving for excellence in academic life

Payton, Nicolas and Jether - for showing grit and determination in maths (Payton) and ESOL (Nicolas and Jether).

The Upstander Award

Sophia and Damien - for showing integrity and bravery when looking out for others, and for taking care of our new students.

In addition to these awards, two other awards will be presented during the year:

  • The Purposefully Positive Trophy - for the best Hapori class

  • Overall Winning Student - this will be judged at the end of the year from all those who have received certificates during the year.


The 8Ako teachers would like to congratulate all of our winners and thank the 8Ako akonga for their continued commitment to their learning at Ellesmere College.

Our next Celebration Assembly will be in Week 9.

After the assembly, we completed our whānau challenge for this week - the great paper plane fly-by! Rata got 1st, 2nd and 4th, Totara achieved 3rd place.