Students are actively engaging in hands-on learning experiences, from exciting trips to new lunchtime clubs, with many more activities and events on the horizon.

It’s been a busy few weeks in the College here at Horizon. Year 12 and 13 students were lucky enough to partake in two curriculum trips over the last couple of weeks: visiting the Auckland Art Gallery for Art and attending a Young Enterprise day at Long Bay College for Business. In both instances, our students impressed, and it was noted at Long Bay College how professional their presentations were.

Teaching and learning is very much the focus at the moment. Most classes are gearing up for assessments, and some of these are already underway for our senior students. We soon have our common testing for Years 9 and 10 in literacy and numeracy, designed to help us see where students are at and identify next steps, so we can support them in the best way possible. You can help prepare your child by having a conversation about the importance of giving these assessments their best shot, without becoming stressed about them. We want our ākonga to be as relaxed as possible, while balancing the ability to present an accurate picture of their skills so far.

This week, we have also been running the Barista Course for students taking part in Gateway and Pathways. Barista skills are a valuable asset and will increase the range of options for employment, particularly for travel opportunities and part-time jobs. We look forward to seeing what they can accomplish with this qualification in their kete. Thank you to Mrs. Karen Daniel for organising this course.

There is much excitement from the ākonga at the moment in the College, as we have started our lunchtime clubs. There are so many options to choose from, including the David Attenborough Club, the Chess Club, the Performing Arts Club, and Table Tennis. Lunchtimes are now looking very full, and it’s lovely to see how engaged students are in these clubs.

Coming up in the next few weeks, we have more curriculum-related activities outside the classroom, as well as our first Tribal Event: a Basketball match and Dance-off. The College Student Leaders have been busy preparing for this, and we’re looking forward to getting our tribal colours on and supporting our Tribe teams.

Nga mihi nui,
Deborah Steele
College Deputy Principal