FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

Kia Ora

House Day last Friday was thoroughly enjoyable, with great weather and engaging activities. It was a fantastic way to start off the house competition for the year. Congratulations to all students participating in the Challenge Wānaka. There are a number of students from all year levels who have chosen to take part, but I would like to make a special mention of the Years 7 and 8 students - approximately 200 Years 7 and 8 students competed in the Challenge yesterday.

Congratulations to the following students who achieved Scholarship. The Scholarship examinations are run by the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, and are in addition to the external examinations that students sit at the end of the year. For some of our students, they may have five or six examinations for NCEA, and might also complete up to four additional examinations for Scholarship. Students who achieve NZ Scholarship can receive a monetary award. This ranges from a one-off $500 payment for a single subject award to $10,000 per year for up to 3 years for premier award winners. To achieve Scholarship, you need to be in the top 3%, and to achieve an Outstanding Scholarship, the top 1%. Congratulations to Amy Benson (Scholarship English), Nina-Lee Smith (Scholarship English), and Jackson Duguid (Outstanding Scholarship English).

At junior and senior assemblies this week our Head Students spoke about their experiences at the College and the things that have made a difference for them. They spoke about getting involved, making connections, and trying your best, which are all around our school values of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga. Lottie, Daisy, Tom and Zavier all spoke of different experiences, and how the connections they made to others through those experiences really helped them to find their place at the College. If your child has questions about how to get involved in different things, the Head Students post a ‘week ahead’ on the student instagram feed on a Sunday night. This has an outline of what events are on for students, and the student notices, which can be accessed through the student portal, is where students can find information about how to join teams and activities. You can also view the different activities on offer in the activity timetable on our website. 

Toitū te whenua, toitū te tangata.

The land is strong, the people are fulfilled.

Ngā mihi

Nicola Jacobsen