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Riccarton High School

May 2017 Newsletter

Kia Ora Koutou

We are well into the winter term and the colder days are certainly upon us. Inside Riccarton High School however, things are ‘hotting up’ with a wide range of things happening; our senior students are are finding themselves deep in assessment territory with a number of short and long term assignments in progress, a large group of committed students and staff are currently spending long hours preparing for our major production, the ‘Lion King’ which will be performed in late June (don’t forget your tickets!), and then of course, there are our amazingly talented musicians who had practiced for hours, and who delighted a large audience at the Musical Extravaganza last Thursday evening.

We have also begun the process of transitioning our community’s Year 8 students to High School. In a new initiative, we recently hosted our first Year 8 Day, where we invited 180 Year 8 students from our five contributing schools, and offered them a taste of what it is like to be at High School.

Following on from our successful Year 8 Day, we have also had our Information Evening and school tours for prospective students and parents. Once again, we experienced large numbers at both events who heard from very passionate and committed staff members and from confident, articulate and positive Riccarton High School students. The message that we receive from our visitors at these gatherings is consistent and reassuring- Riccarton has a great ‘feel’ to it- they are amazed by the rapport that exists between students and staff and that the school feels more like a family home. This I think is one of our key points of difference.

Keep warm and keep well! I hope to catch up with you at one of the many events at school before the end of term.

Neil Haywood

Principal

Contents

Christchurch Pasifika Speech Competition Results

by Angela Bland

Congratulations to our students who participated in the Christchurch Pasifika Speech Competition held recently.

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Board News

by Alan Aitken

RHS is looking to co-opt new members to the Board of Trustees. Alan Aitken, our Board Chair, tells of the qualities we are looking for...

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Important dates and upcoming events

by RHS

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Year 8 Day

by Neil Haywood

In a new initiative, we recently hosted 180 Year 8 students from five of our in-zone contributing schools, as a way of giving them a taste of what it is like to be at High School. 

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Library News

by Sally Blake

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Life-long learning in action

by Shane Morrow

Riccarton High School’s teaching and support staff are learners too. Our teaching staff have a regular professional learning session after school each Thursday. 

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Dear parents / guardians / whanau

by Zeinab Al-Hasani (11HC) and Leo He (12GN), on behalf of the Riccarton High School Student Wellbeing team.

It has come to our attention that there recently has been a lot of talk surrounding a popular new Netflix series called 13 reasons why

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Are your children consuming…sugar?

by Ashleigh Snowdon (13BW), Beth Godsell (13EM), Harry Wright (13BW), Zanna McCleary (13EM)

The year 13 food and nutrition class is investigating the over-consumption of sugar in young adults. They are concerned about the large amount of sugar teenagers are consuming daily. Here is their report.

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ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE

by Abbey Meiritz-Reid (12CS)

A couple of weeks ago, the Environment Committee as well as other Riccarton students and staff took part in another public volunteer opportunity, based near Victoria Park in the Port Hills.

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International Food Day

by Lisa Patmore (13BW) and Sasha Komiyama-O’Keefe (13IT)

On the Friday of Week 3, the International Committee held their first big event of the year which was International Food Day. With a variety of foods on offer from geographically diverse  countries such as the rich Italian panna cotta, to the fiery tteokbokki rice cake of Korea, they were able to achieve success in this event.

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Careers Expo

by Vanessa Kidd

On Thursday 11th May all of the year 12 and 13 students at Riccarton High School attended the Christchurch Careers Expo at Horncastle Arena and had the opportunity for students to talk face to face with a wide range of employers, industry, government departments, and training providers from all around New Zealand. Students were able to find about new courses and possible career paths that they can take when they leave school, as well as, discovering how their current studies relate to different industries.

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Orana Park Field Trip

by Remco Baars

On Sunday 14 and Monday 15 May, the 3Bio classes were out at Orana Park collecting data for their investigations into animal behaviour patterns.

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Waka Ama

by Kathryn Lee

The Waka Ama team were back on the water, on the 6th of May at the Caroline Bay Regatta. Mavis Togia (13BW), Alana Hillary (13SN), Shonny Jones (11DN), Chany Brenssell (12GA), Kathryn Lee (13HW)and Mr Harlow all represented Riccarton High School in the novice race as Pūtaringamotu Te Waka Pounamu. 

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The University of Auckland parent information seminar

by RHS

13 June 2017, 7:00pm-8:30pm, at the Addington Raceway, 75 Jack Hinton Drive.

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Kohanga Ako blends their learning

by Annie King

Education is personalised for our learners in the Kohanga Ako, and students use a plethora of digital devices to suit their learning needs: chrome books, laptops, iPads, tablets, phones etc. 

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Riccarton International

by Frances Couling

We have a fantastic International Committee every year at Riccarton High School. This year’s leaders are Sasha Komiyama-O’Keefe and Ozzy Yamit and they are helped by their fellow committee members and a number of extras, who have an interest in all things international.

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We're fundraising with Entertainment

by RHS PTA

Riccarton High School PTA is raising funds. Here's how you can help...

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Farm Experience Programme

by Jack Goodgame

Jack Goodgame (13GD)and Kasey Hilary (12VA) were chosen for the Rabobank FX Programme and spent six days experiencing life and work on a farm in Canterbury.

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Leah Albrow

Future Problem Solver

by Joel Hammond

Leah Albrow (11JR) has continued to do well in Future Problem Solving. At the Nationals last year, Leah was placed second in the Middle Division of the FPS scenario writing competition. 

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Gifted and Talented

by Tania Hawes

Term 2 has started with much excitement for our GATE students. Ms Tania Hawes, keeps us up-to-date with what's been happening.

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UC: 3D Design is the Limitation

by Evan Ting, Miriam McFie, Jade McConnell and Catherine Marshall

From the 26th - 28th of April 2017, Riccarton High School was one of ten schools invited to the event that featured a lot of cool and awesome things such as building simple engines that demonstrates combustion, making a custom flywheel so a crankshaft rotates more smoothly, going on field trips to see real engineers at work, and so much more!

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Board representative wanted

by RHS

We are looking for a representative to be co-opted onto our Board of Trustees.

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Masterclasses

by RHS

Come along and experience Ara with a masterclass for Years 11-13. Masterclasses are a great way to learn about a subject you're interested in from expert tutors. 

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Astronomy Camp

by Kate Stedman, 13SN

During the April school holidays, Kate Stedman (13SN) was one of 20 secondary school students from around New Zealand who had the good fortune of attending the Elaine P. Snowden Astronomy School. She tells of her time at Astronomy camp.

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US Volleyball Scholarship

by Mary Edmondson

Former student, Carla Butler, has just signed up for a Volleyball scholarship at Central Wyoming College, in the US.

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