Nau mai haere mai, welcome to our second pānui for Term 4!

Prize Giving Successes

We proudly celebrated the successes of our Year 11-13 cohort last week at the Holy Trinity Church. Thank you to all our parents and caregivers who could share in the celebration. Special congratulations to all of our prizewinners and those who committed to learning and contributed to the success of our school. Everyone can make a difference for themselves, their peers, and for our school. It is always special for our staff to see the successes of their commitment to their subjects and your young person/daughter being realised. Details of our prizewinners can be found on our Social Media platforms.

University Scholarship

Congratulations to all of our students who have been offered university scholarships. These are always strongly contested, and winning halls of residence or scholarships from Canterbury University this year was particularly challenging. Despite this, Tauranga Girls’ College students were awarded over $500,000.00 in scholarships this year! This is outstanding.

Those students who are leaving us

To those students who have come to the end of their schooling, including our international students, we wish you an incredible journey ahead. At Tauranga Girls’ College, we have engaged in deliberate acts of learning in the classroom, providing a broad range of curriculum options and an enormous range of extracurricular pathways for every student to capture. All of these we know contribute to your wellbeing, IQ, EQ, and connection to our kura and now beyond. Go well, you fabulous Tauranga Girls’ College alums!

NZQA External Examinations

These are now underway. A reminder to all students: the learning year ends not when classes end but when you put your mind to the final examination to reap the rewards of your classroom learning. Thanks to Mrs Talbot and our Centre Manager, Mrs Corney, for their continued mahi in this space. If you have any questions, see Mrs Talbot.

Attendance Matters

Thank you to all our parents and caregivers who continue encouraging and supporting school attendance. With a wide range of curriculum and extracurricular activities, there is something for everyone to realise their passion. Learning is not always easy, but we all have to give things a good go, stick with it and persevere. If your daughter or young person is going to be away for any reason, please let us know so we can keep her attendance up to date. Please ensure that your young person/daughter has also signed up for one of our end-of-year camp activities, which concludes our learning year. Details were emailed.

J Block Construction

C3, the construction company that won the contract to bring a newly refurbished and fit-for-purpose block, continues to progress with J Block. Students will see the work being done, with large walls removed and solid foundation work to meet earthquake standards well underway. The site is a dangerous work hazard, so only those with permission can enter. The completion date is still sometime in Sept/Oct 2024.

Parking HELP

We acknowledge parking is a problem, especially as more senior students travel to school by vehicle. Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient car parking for staff and students. The matter will only worsen as the Tauranga City Council looks to remove more car parking spaces off Cameron Rd. We are already in talks with them regarding this challenge, and one of the solutions is better bike/scooter/cycle parking for students. We would appreciate your help by sharing your thoughts about the loss of car parking for our girls. Parking on side streets around our college where students cannot be seen or are highly visible to moving traffic poses risks, and students cannot always be moving to their vehicles with other students (safety in numbers). Your voicing our concern to the TCC is appreciated.

NCEA in 2024

As you will be aware, some schools have opted out of offering the national qualification of NCEA in 2024. Tauranga Girls’ College supports this qualification and will continue to provide a rigorous academic programme that supports NCEA. High-stakes qualifications like this are known to motivate students, and without them, there is a tendency for some students not to be as fully engaged in learning for learning’s sake. Whilst this is disappointing, we believe that the four levels of judgement (Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit and Excellence) offer rigour and challenge for all students and provide the pathway into Levels 2 and 3 of the same qualification. A qualification that is accepted around the world. Tauranga Girls’ College will continue to offer opportunities for students to engage and excel in competitions like those celebrated in this newsletter - Writing, Poetry, Music and in other areas as celebrated previously, STEM-based Epro8, Debating, University Papers and Maths, Science and English competitions as well as those in different subject disciplines like Technology. Academic success continues to be at the forefront of what we do, but so too do opportunities for all learners to experience success in terms of belonging, academic and extracurricular success and leadership. We believe in our inclusive approach and our passion to hear and grow the voice of wahine. Our dedicated Board of Trustees supports this vision and view, realised through our Strategic Plan.

News from the Ministry of Education

I was in attendance at a Secondary Principals hui this week. These hui are great networking opportunities, sharing ideas, seeking solutions to shared challenges and a chance to have the time to have face-to-face discussions. Two Leadership Advisors from the MoE shared with us news from head office. This included initial preparations for the phone ban as shared by Mr Christopher Luxon and the National Party, reductions in the Ministry of Education office and a review into what reading, writing and maths for students up to Yr 8. Whilst these are not given to happen, most of which has already been publicly available pre-election, these three points show further development in these areas as work continues behind the scenes.

Phone Ban

As mentioned in our last email, the school is working towards a phone ban for 2024. The overwhelming number of wellbeing/hauroa challenges associated with phone screen time has meant that we, too, need to listen to this evidence, including parents and teachers. While phones are great tools, and most of us use and rely on them, they are not ideal as learning tools. Phones have not been allowed in the classroom for some time at TGC. Our device of choice is a Chromebook. Tauranga Girls’ College will now join other secondary schools in Tauranga and Aotearoa to no longer have phones visible during the school day. Tools for recording information in curriculum areas will be provided for learning areas to share.

Expectations whilst at school

As we conclude the last five weeks of the term, please ensure your daughter or young person respects our schools' values, maintains their high standards and our expectations in and around the school and is respectful (quiet) around NCEA exam venues.

Do not hesitate to contact the school should you need any support.

Tara Kanji