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    • New Principal Announcement
      • I am pleased to be able to announce that Jayne-Ann Young has been appointed as the new principal of Queen Margaret College. Jayne-Ann’s thirty-four years of experience in education has seen her teach in a variety of schools throughout New Zealand – co-educational, single sex boys, single sex girls, multi-cultural, high and low socio-economic schools. She has also spent six years in education consulting and a year on secondment with the Ministry of Education. Jayne-Ann is currently based in Abu Dhabi and Auckland and has been consulting with Cognition Education since 2011. Her consulting work has focused on a professional development programme for teachers exploring the creation of innovation in the learning environment and has taken her to a broad range of schools and professional learning providers in Australia, United Arab Emirates, USA, Japan, Laos and the United Kingdom where she has gained strong insights into best practice in schools. Prior to 2011, Jayne-Ann spent six years as Deputy Principal of Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland including, for periods during her tenure, four terms as Acting Principal. This time at Diocesan saw the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the successful adoption of a dual qualification pathway. Prior to Diocesan, Jayne-Ann had spent six years at coeducational state school, Glendowie College, as Head of Faculty for Social Sciences and as Director of Teaching and Learning. As a teacher, Jayne-Ann was twice nominated for New Zealand teacher of the year award and has been a New Zealand delegate in Japan and South Korea, which led to the writing of one of the first Asian studies courses for a New Zealand high school. On a personal note, Jayne-Ann has two adult children, who she refers to as 'the joys of her life'. Her son Matt currently lives and teaches in Spain and her daughter Kate is completing her research year for her Masters in Health Policy. The family has a much loved and spoilt spoodle, Cassie. Jayne-Ann hails from Southland originally and her mountains are the Remarkables and her river the Kawarau. I am confident Jayne-Ann will ably work with the Queen Margaret team to build on the strong culture and foundations at our college as we strive to continue to develop excellent opportunities for our girls. I am also sure you will enjoy her warm and engaging style when she engages with the QMC community during term three and four. I would like to thank all the candidates who put themselves forward for consideration as our principal as well as the members of the college community who contributed their time. Jayne-Ann will commence her role at the College from 7 August and I am sure you will all join me in welcoming Jayne-Ann into our community. Kind Regards, Andrew Knight Chairman of Board

    • New School Principal: Recruitment Process
      • The recruitment process for a new Queen Margaret College principal is well underway with search agents starting to contact potential candidates, as well as placing advertisements in a range of general and specialist publications to ensure awareness of the opportunity. For your information, you can find the advertisement for the role here. Chairman of the Board, Andrew Knight says the smooth transition of the school to a new principal is critical and he would like to take this opportunity to thank Carol Craymer and the staff for their ongoing commitment to ensuring the transition is seamless. “I expect to report back to you on positive progress in a few months’ time,” Andrew adds.

    • Derived grade process for NCEA exams
      • NZQA advised late on Wednesday (16th Nov) that schools can make an application for an emergency bulk derived grade on behalf of students.  This process is used where a number of students have had their performance disrupted by recent events.  At this stage we will be making submissions to cover all NCEA exams held on Monday 14 November and Tuesday 15 November but other dates could be added if there is significant disruption in future sessions.   In the case of students who still sat the examination, the grade that is finally reported for the student will be the “best” grade either recommended by the school or the evidence provided through the examination. The individual derived grade process is explained on the NZQA website http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/providers-partners/assessment-and-moderation/managing-national-assessment-in-schools/derived-grade/information-for-candidates/ This form is used if you need to apply for a derived grade for any other examination during the assessment period.  If you believe that your circumstances meet the criteria outlined on the form, please complete and submit it, along with the appropriate evidence, to our Principal’s Nominee mary.dinsdale@qmc.school.nz   You do not need to complete the form for examinations held on Monday 14 November or Tuesday 15 November as the emergency derived grade process above will cover these exam sessions.  The results that the College sends to NZQA for all derived grade applications must be based on evidence produced in class tests or school examinations during the year.  If the candidate sits the examination and the derived grade application is approved, the better result will be awarded.  

    • QMC Update: Weather and Earthquake
      • Dear Parents   This message was given to students in Period 6 today, following the after shock.   Message to students:   If you live in Petone or further in the valley, or at Mana or beyond then there are road closures.   If you catch a train in any direction, trains have been cancelled since last after shock.   Text your parents and find out what arrangements they want you to follow.  Come and tell Ms Beable in the Old Hall before you leave.   If you can’t get an alternate arrangement, we will look after you in the staffroom. Parents can collect you from there.

    • NZQA Examination Update
      • The following is an update on our communications with the school earlier today for parents, students and staff. NZQA has announced that NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams will proceed tomorrow (Tuesday 15 November 2016) as planned. NZQA has been advised by the Ministry of Education that based on the current situation we expect that most schools that are closed today are likely to be to open tomorrow. In the interest of minimising impacts on students across New Zealand, NZQA has therefore decided to proceed with exams, but to provide emergency derived grades for students where necessary. NZQA wish all students well during this exam period and acknowledge that the earthquakes are placing additional pressure on some students. We are confident that proceeding, while providing for emergency derived grades as necessary, is the best way of minimising these impacts. NZQA is working closely with schools and will continue to do so over the coming days to learn more about how schools have been affected and how students are being supported. If students or parents have any questions about NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams, and to discuss students capacity to complete their exams, they should contact their school directly in the first instance. Information for NCEA students: If your school is closed tomorrow, you do not need to go to the exam. You will be eligible for a derived grade. There is an established process that allows students to apply for a derived grade in exceptional circumstances. If you are in an affected area, and you sit the exam and believe your performance is impacted as a result of the earthquakes, you can apply for a derived grade. Information for New Zealand Scholarship students: For New Zealand Scholarship students whose school is closed, NZQA is working with your school to look at options for where you will sit your exam. What is the emergency derived grade process? The purpose of the emergency derived grade is to ensure that no student is disadvantaged in achieving to their full potential due to school, regional or national emergency. If a student is unable to take part in all or some of the national end-of-year NCEA exams, their school can use standard specific work (such as practice exams) they produced during the school year to submit a recommended grade to NZQA. Emergency derived grades are a process to address exceptional circumstances such as Monday mornings events. Applications for emergency derived grades are made to NZQA by schools.

    • Peace in the World
      • Year 13 students Sarah Kmet and Katherine Lopez gave an empowering speech at the recent Hiroshima and Nagasaki Commemoration. The Queen Margaret College students spoke about peace and learning from the past at the commemoration held this month at the Wellington Botanic Gardens. They were joined by a host of different schools, international ambassadors and the Wellington mayor, all reflecting on the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sarah and Katharine said in their speech that approximately 80,000 people in Hiroshima and 40,000 people in Nagasaki died instantly while tens of thousands of people died later from the effects of the radiation. “Sadako’s story has touched the lives of many – she was only two when the Hiroshima bomb was dropped and nine years later she was diagnosed with leukemia,” Sarah said. “Sadako’s story has been commemorated through a statue of herself holding a golden crane with a plaque which reads, This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.” Katharine said there are things we can learn from the past. “No one could predict that the bomb would cause such devastation,” she said. “When we hold such power, we automatically have the responsibility to learn how it affects people and how it can affect the world.” Sarah argued it is not enough to just accept the past. “We must also learn from these events if we are to stop anymore suffering,” Sarah said. “During President Obama’s visit to Japan, he addressed the people saying, ‘We have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history, and ask what we must do differently, to curb such suffering again’.” Sarah and Katharine concluded nuclear warfare has done more harm than good and war is never justified.

    • Award winning essay writer
      • Year 8 student Hayley Marsh has won a certificate for her essay exploring the topic of difference in society. For the second year in a row the young writer was awarded a Bronze Award Certificate in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition. Open to all Commonwealth citizens aged under 18, the essay competition offers young people the opportunity to initiate discussion on important global issues. Hayley had a few subjects to choose from but she chose to write about the topic, Are we really so different. “This subject appealed to me the most because it is very relevant to what is happening today,” Hayley explains. “I wrote about the differences and similarities between people around the world.”  Hayley's poetic essay compares the rich and poor to dancers in a ballet and highlighted that regardless of wealth, the needs and wants of people are the same.  “The earth is spinning like a ballerina. There is one ballerina on centre stage, everyone is looking at her. There are many other ballerinas in the corners, barely being seen.”  “The ballerinas on the stage are from different countries, speak different languages and have different skin colour. Some are from China and other parts of Asia. Others are from halfway across the world in New Zealand.”  She discusses many of the concepts that divide society including race, culture, gender, wealth and religion.  “But what is the meaning of these words spoken like fire? Why does it all matter?” Hayley says.  “We all have the same wishes for the planet, people around us and ourselves. We share this planet. This is why we are the same and not so different after all.”  Hayley enjoys writing in her spare time and hopes to continue in the future.  “I love writing because it can make a person cry in one sentence and make a person laugh in another sentence.”

    • New Boarding School Announced
      • We are delighted to announce an exciting project which the College has been working on for the past five years. At its August meeting, the Board agreed to the building of a forty-four room boarding house to be located onsite in the area of our car park by Katherine Avenue. As you will be aware, the only boarding accommodation for school students in the capital is for boys but there is no equivalent for girls. This gap in the market is an opportunity for us to provide high quality accommodation for our international students and also New Zealand girls living outside Wellington who would like to experience our educational offering. Over the past decade, we have strategically developed our buildings (Click here for an overview of the College development) and now, after much research, we believe the time is right to advance this initiative. Prospective parents often ask whether we offer boarding and this project will see us being the first school in Wellington in current times to provide this as an option. As well as the hostel development, the existing junior playground and courtyard will be re-developed. The much loved Neptune playground, provided by the Parents’ Association in 2009, will be refurbished, a modular playground structure built and a long slide and stepping stones equipment installed. With the addition of new decks, paving, outdoor furniture and planting, the area will be transformed into an inviting recreational space as illustrated in these drawings and landscape architect’s description. Our goal is to have the playground and courtyard finished by the start of the 2017 school year as the first stage of the overall development.As you know, the College was founded in 1919 as a day school with a small number of girls boarding. In 1950, according to our school history, ‘with great reluctance, the Board decided that it must close the hostel’ as at that time boarding had gone out of favour. However, today the situation is quite different as demonstrated by the strong demand from international and domestic students for boarding at similar independent schools in New Zealand.  Because of this we are reinstating a boarding establishment onsite to be called Queen Margaret House (Click here to see some images of the building).The extensive business case that was developed to support this initiative showed that the boarding house will: be self-funding and will not impact on school fees provide further financial resilience to the College as it will contribute another important dimension to the quality independent education we offer provide opportunities for the school to access new facilities such as the large dining room and laundry The completion date for construction of Queen Margaret House is set for late 2017 so it will be ready in 2018 to accommodate students at the start of the year. The project has been designed by McKenzie Higham Architects and will be built by Maycroft Construction Ltd who were involved in the construction of the Pre-school. Carol Weston, former Chair of the Development Committee who worked on both the Hobson Development and Preschool builds, will be the Project Manager of the boarding facility construction.That the school is in a sound position to continue to develop the College’s future is testament to the strong parental and community support that we receive and for that we thank you. Building will begin early in September and we will regularly update you via our regular Friday newsletter as to how the project is progressing. 

    • Top spellers off to Nationals
      • Wordsmiths Laura Snell and Isabella Eftimov are heading to Auckland to put their spelling skills to the test in the National Spelling Bee Finals. The two Queen Margaret College students have qualified for the National Final after battling it out against 57 other top spellers at the Wellington Regional Semi-Final Competition. “Having been through the most nerve-wracking experience of my life, I was euphoric when I get into the top eight,” Laura says. “We feel very proud and lucky to have made it to the finals, especially because there were so many other good spellers,” Isabella adds. The final will be held in Auckland from Wednesday 24 August to Friday 26 August. Year 9 students Laura and Isabella will be competing against some of the strongest spellers around the country for a $5,000 prize and the much coveted title of New Zealand Spelling Bee winner. Queen Margaret College is the only school this year to have two contestants reach the National Finals from the lower North Island region. Fellow Queen Margaret College students Gwenn Rivoallan-Jones and Lauren Pemberton also qualified for and competed in the Wellington Regional Competition with Isabella and Laura. They were among the 200 top spellers from around the country. Laura and Isabella are excited about the upcoming final but in the meantime they are practising new words at every opportunity. To prepare for the competition, the girls have been learning and reviewing difficult words every day and reading articles for new vocabulary. Isabella finds words that come from different languages are the most difficult. “I find German words in particular quite difficult, like schadenfreude and blitzkrieg,” she says. Laura says she faced some challenging words in the regionals, including Hodiernal, Chanticleer and Trenchant. “To prepare I’ve found lists of words from different languages on the internet and practise with my parents whenever I can,” Laura comments. She has dreamed of competing in the Spelling Bee since she was eight years old and is looking forward to the finals.

    • Netball Champion
      •   Skilled netballer Tiuana-Marie Aiono has won her first national title at the Netball New Zealand U17 Championships. It was a tight game but Tiuana’s team, Wellington A Black seized victory defeating Auckland 1 27 – 21 in the National Champs grand final. Year 11 student Tiuana-Marie and her team feel amazing to come away with the coveted title. “As a team we spent around four months together training twice a week and played tournaments every weekend in June as preparation so it feels great knowing that all of the hard work and intense trainings paid off,” she says. Forty teams from across the country went head to head at the four-day competition held in Rangiora from Monday 18 July to Thursday 21 July. Wellington A Black was on fine form throughout the competition winning every one of its games before facing off with Auckland 1 for the final. Tiuana-Marie says the team treated the final as any another, preparing for the showdown with its normal pre-game routine and warm up. “It was important for us to play for each other and our families,” she explains. Wellington A Black began the game strongly and gained an impressive 11 goal lead over Auckland 1 after halftime. Auckland 1 redeemed itself clawing its way back onto the scoreboard in the final quarter but it was too late with Wellington taking a six-goal win. “The final was great - the atmosphere was so positive and we had a huge amount of support from our family, teammates and other teams from around New Zealand,” Tiuana-Marie says. Year 12 student Grace McLean played in the U17 Championships as part of the Wellington B Gold team and placed a commendable third in the competition. One of our younger Netball players also impressed on the courts these school holidays. Year 10 student Paris Lokotui captained Wellington Black in the North Island Netball U15 Championships in New Plymouth from Sunday 10 July and Tuesday, 12 July. The team not only finished a proud fourth but Paris was named Defender of the Tournament and was selected for the A Tournament team.

    • Japanese language learners on top
      • Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Wellington regional Japanese Speech Competition. Jessie Rongen (Year 10) came second in her age group. Antonia King (Year 11) came first in her age group. Jiaru Lin (Year 12) came second in her age group and won the Japanese Ambassador Cup. Rebekah MacPherson and Mya Bergin received certificates for participation.   Mya Bergin, Kaitlyn Davidson, Emma Jolly and Eden Woodrow were awarded the Japanese Embassy Cup at the New Zealand Schools Japanese Trivia Championships. The team came first in Wellington and third in New Zealand.

    • A Slam Dunk for QMC
      • 2016 is set to be a strong year for sport as our Senior A Basketball, Football and Hockey teams all qualified for the College Sport Wellington Premier 1 Division. Senior A Basketball Team Captain Rachel Ngan Kee says the team is very proud to make it back into the Premier 1 Division and is looking forward to the season ahead. The team has been training hard in the build up to the Basketball season supported by our Sports Director Deslea Wrathall, who has coached New Zealand Tall Blacks (NZ U19 Boys), BBNZ Under 18 Boys, BBNZ Under 16 Girls. She has been mentoring coach Mike Lucas and running a couple of sessions on game strategies. "The team is building and developing itself with some goals in mind for the future," Deslea says. Our Senior A Hockey team is also optimistic for the Hockey season after winning the College Sport Wellington Cup for the grading round. Next year our senior Hockey players will have the opportunity to attend a pre-season sports camp in Canberra, Australia at the acclaimed Australian Institute of Sport. Sports Director Deslea Wrathall says the players will work with experienced coaches and sports scientists in an elite, athlete training environment. “It will be an invaluable experience for the team to develop their skills,” Deslea comments.

    • Chinese Speech Success
      • Chinese speaking novice Olivia Morphew took out third place in the Junior Category of the Regional Chinese Bridge Speech Competition. The Year 8 student was very surprised to not only win third place but to qualify to speak at the National Competition. “I really was not expecting to actually get a placing at all, so I feel very proud of myself,” Olivia says. The regional competition was held on Saturday 15 May at Victoria University, Wellington by the Confucius Institute. Olivia was encouraged to enter the competition by her Chinese teacher Ms Wan. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to improve my Chinese language,” Olivia explains. She started learning Chinese last year and it quickly became her favourite subject. Olivia had only two weeks to work on her speech, which she formatted as a phone conversation with her mother about going to China. "I based the idea around me wanting to become a dancer and joining the National Ballet of China,” Olivia says. She admits some nerves leading up to the competition but was reassured by meeting all the other speakers. “There were many good speakers. A lot of them spoke about their previous experiences in China but I talked about my future.” The judges were very impressed with Olivia and flew her to Auckland to speak at the National competition, where she was given a Merit Award. The experience has been extremely worthwhile for Olivia. “I have not only improved my Chinese language skills but I have also learnt a lot about public speaking,” she explains. Olivia says learning a second language has expanded her vision of the world and encouraged her to think about the world globally. “Being able to communicate with another culture makes you think a lot more about your own life and what you can learn from each other.”

    • Lights, Camera, Action
      • Rising star Madeleine Knowles hit the small screen last month after landing a role on the New Zealand soap, Shortland Street. The Queen Margaret College student received a special belated Christmas present when she found out she had won an acting role on the popular television programme. “I was lost for words. Mum and I were jumping up and down in the living room,” Madeleine says. Although she has previously appeared in ads and small television roles, Madeleine was ecstatic to land the role of teenager, Lottie. The storyline follows Lottie as she meets Harry Warner, played by Reid Walker, at a study camp. “Lottie means well but ends up getting herself stuck in some sticky situations and has to face the consequences,” Madeleine explains. The young actor describes her first day on set as a blur. “The show has a very quick turnaround so it was a bit of shock to see how fast it worked,” she comments. “They set up two or three cameras at once from different angles, filmed the scene and if the first take has no technical glitches, then they wrap the scene. It is that fast!”  Madeleine says her time on set has been a great learning experience, particularly in the importance of time management. “It is a lot of work to learn a new script everyday as well as do all of my school work,” she comments. The best part of filming for Madeleine was meeting the cast and crew. “I watch Shortland St religiously so it was very exciting to meet the people behind and in front of the camera.” “I particularly enjoyed meeting Kerry-Lee Dewing (Kylie Brown) and Michael Galvin (Chris Warner). Everyone was so nice and welcoming.” If the opportunity came up once more, Madeleine would jump at the chance. “At the moment I do not have anything planned because I'm focusing on my school work but if i was offered another contract, I would do it again in a heartbeat.” On the stage Madeleine Knowles recently won Best Performance in a Comedy for her piece from A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the regional Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival. Queen Margaret College won multiple awards that evening with Rosaria Murray and Phoebe Brown winning Best Directed Student Piece for Much Ado About Nothing and Rachel Kemp Whimp’s Richard III qualifying for the national competition. Madeleine, who is a College Prefect, is studying Theatre as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma but says theatre is very different to film work. “In my IB Diploma theatre performance I focus on movement and how to use movement as a tool of communication,” Madeleine explains. Queen Margaret College is the only girls secondary school in Wellington to offer the IB Diploma as part of its dual qualification pathway for senior students. Taught in over 2,700 schools in 143 different countries worldwide, the IB Diploma is an internationally recognised qualification, which covers a wide range of subjects, emphasises cultural, sporting and service participation, and teaches students to be global citizens. Madeleine says the IB Diploma Theatre course has been very beneficial and has given her a holistic view of theatre. “It is an amazing course that is really opening my mind to different types of theatre,” she comments. Madeleine plans to audition for NIDA (The National Institute of Dramatic Arts) in Australia this year and will also apply for a scholarship to an American Drama School through TVNZ. “I want to pursue a career in performing arts and later open up my own performing arts school.”    

    • No Ordinary Tour Guide
      • Isabella Barber is bringing the magic of DreamWorks animation to life working as a junior curator at Te Papa. Isabella was one of eight Wellington students selected to become a Te Papa junior curator for DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition. The young curators were specially trained to host children through this popular exhibition on Twilight Tours for Kids. Year 9 student Isabella heard about this exciting opportunity through her teacher and thought it would be an interesting experience. “I had taken people on tours of Queen Margaret College as an ambassador, so I thought this would be fun,” she explains. Isabella had to audition for the role by creating a two minute video about why she would make a good curator and what was her favourite DreamWorks character. “I chose Eep from The Croods because she is a very brave and determined character.” In her audition video, Isabella explained the qualities she had that would make a good junior curator using the character Eep as a comparison, which impressed Te Papa judges. “I was very excited to be chosen – I rang Mum straight away,” Isabella says. Paired off in groups of two, the junior curators underwent training so they could answer any question that might arise on their tour. “One of the challenges has been retaining all the information – it is a very large exhibition,” Isabella comments. “You need to have enough information and make sure you keep it interesting.” Highlights of the exhibition include an immersive dragon flight experience from How To Train Your Dragon and a zone for children and adults to get creative using professional animation tools. Isabella’s role as junior curator is voluntary but she is happy just to be chosen in the first place and says it has been very rewarding. “I have enjoyed doing something for the local community and I have grown in confidence from the experience,” she explains. “It has been a privilege to be a part of it.” After the exhibition finishes, Isabella hopes to continue being an ambassador for the College and would like to take on future junior curator roles at Te Papa. Tours start with Isabella Saturday 12 March. The exhibition closes Monday 28 March and is exclusive to Te Papa in New Zealand.

    • QMC National Tennis Champs
      • Tennis stars Ivy McLean and Jourdan Craig won a national title at the recent. This talented pair played in the National Junior Team Event tennis tournament as part of the Central 14s team and came home with a gold medal. The girls travelled to Auckland for the four day competition held at the Scarbro Tennis Centre to face some tough competition. Junior tennis players from around the country came and represented one of the six New Zealand Regions. The combined boys and girls Central 14s team played a mixture of singles and doubles and won all five rounds and their overall age grade. Ivy, who was the first ranked female player for Central, played five singles and four doubles games. She was particularly strong in the doubles winning four from four with team mate George Stoupe. Central itself did exceptionally well at the competition and were ranked second overall. Jourdan, who was reserve for the Central 14s team, enjoyed the opportunity to play against some of the top junior players in New Zealand. “Our team faced some tough matches but everyone was on top of their game.” Jourdan says. Jourdan and Ivy are proving a formidable pair on the tennis court with a host of recent achievements. Ivy won the 2015 College Sport Wellington Junior Singles Championships while Jourdan, hot on her heels, placed second. In 2015 Ivy also won the Wanganui Junior Open for her age group and Jourdan placed second at the Central region RPC tournament. More recently, after winning the gold with the Central 14s this month, Jourdan and Ivy both played in the 2016 16U New Zealand Junior Championships and Jourdan won her round of the 16 & U Mixed Doubles Tier 4 with team mate Hamish Arbuckle. At only 14 years of age, these young tennis players will be worth watching for in the future.  

    • 2015 Academic Results
      • We have now received the confirmed results. In both the IB Diploma and NCEA these are outstanding once again this year. I look forward to travelling to Auckland in a couple of weeks to join four of our students who will be receiving awards from the Governor General for achieving marks of 40 plus in the IB Diploma.  

    • Top Sports Stars Celebrated
      • Our talented sports teams were recognised for their 2015 successes at the College Sport Wellington Awards. Queen Margaret College was awarded pennants for Tennis, Triathlon and Floorball after its top teams won the Premier Divisions. Triathlete Emma Stewart was thrilled the College Triathlon team had won first overall. “The College has never really won at Triathlon before but we have had some amazing results this year,” Emma explains. “The sport has been growing in popularity – it is very encouraging for the future of Triathlon.” At the College Sport Wellington Triathlon Championships, Prajna Baskar was on top form, placing first in the U14 Girls Individual Division followed closely by Molly Newton Smith, who placed second. Sophia Hitchins and Tallulah Nemet-Sargent placed second and third respectively in the Year 7 and 8 Girls, Lucy Newton Smith placed fifth in U16 Girls, while seasoned triathlete Emma Stewart placed a commendable fifth in U19. The combined efforts of the eight girls who competed resulted in Queen Margaret College being ranked first by a wide margin. This year, Emma also qualified for the ITU Age Group World Championships for the second year in row. Tennis has been a consistently popular sport at Queen Margaret College, but 2015 has been a particularly excellent season for Tennis players Charlotte van Boheemen, Grace McLean, Ivy McLean, Jourdan Craig and Kate Bolton had an excellent season. In addition to winning the College Sport Wellington Premier Grade, Charlotte, Grace and Ivy won the Pryde Cup, a tournament between the best players from Samuel Marsden, St Mary’s and Wellington Girls’ Colleges. Charlotte says sisters Grace and Ivy proved to be a tough combo to beat also winning the doubles title in the open division of the College Sport Wellington Championships. The College Tennis team narrowly missed out on qualifying for the National Secondary Schools Championships, after convincingly beating teams in the early qualifying rounds, but losing in the final play-off. The Senior Floorball team showed skill and teamwork on the court throughout the year. Team members Estelle Macadre, Zara van der Wilt, Orianne Macadre, Ashley Chandra, Mia Uluilelata, Matisse Uluilelata, Shweta Iyer, Grace Beedell and Emily Register played exceptionally well not only winning the Premier Division but also placing second at the Secondary School National Floorball Championships in September. “Floorball is a relatively new sport at Queen Margaret College but our teams have had great success on the courts over recent years,” Floorball fanatic Shweta Iyer comments. One of our dedicated coaches, Gail Donaldson was also acknowledged at this year’s awards as a finalist for the College Sport Wellington Coach of the Year. Sports Director Deslea Wrathall is extremely proud of all students and thanks everyone for their time and dedication throughout the year.

    • Three ICAS Gold Medals
      • Three Queen Margaret College students, Jaskiran Rahi, Nishka Parekh and Divya Srinivasa, were top of a subject in New Zealand for Year 4 in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). Nishka was awarded High Distinction in English, Writing, Mathematics, Digital Technology and Science, and Distinction in Spelling. Jaskiran was awarded High Distinction in Writing and Mathematics, and Distinction in Science. Divya was awarded High Distinction in Digital Technology and Distinction in English, Spelling, Writing and Science. Students earn High Distinction if they are within the top one percent of participants followed by Distinction Certificates if they are in the next top ten percent of participants. These Year 4 girls did so well they each earned a Gold Medal with the top score in their year. Jaskiran received a Gold Medal for Writing, Nishka received a Gold Medal for Mathematics and Divya received a Gold for Digital Technology. Nishka, Jaskiran and Divya say they were hoping to win a Gold Medal but were still very surprised when they did. “We prepared for the tests by practising with past papers. Some of the questions were very hard,” Jaskiran explains. The young polymaths have also demonstrated their abilities outside of the classroom by taking part in the College Learning Enrichment and Acceleration Programme (LEAP). Through LEAP, the girls have taken part in Writing Workshops, Art Enrichment sessions and the Junior School Writers Group. Divya and Jaskiran also competed in the Tournament of Minds Competition. Divya’s Language/Literature team received Honours and Jaskiran’s Social Sciences team placed first in the Regional Wellington Competition. Queen Margaret College had exceptional ICAS results in 2015 with 21 High Distinctions and 94 Distinctions.

    • Ero Report 2015
      • Every three years, the Education Reviewers (ERO) inspect independent schools to check that the expected standards for a private school are being met. Towards the end of last term, an ERO team visited the College as part of this audit process and I have now received their report. Their findings were highly positive and affirming of the strategic direction of the College and the high quality of our educational offering. Below are some extracts from their report: The curriculum is guided by a clear vision focused on promoting passionate learners, resilient women and future leaders within an inclusive Christian environment. Key learning outcomes of the IB programmes, such as inquiry, communication, reflection and caring behaviours are evident throughout the school. The foundations for successful learning which are established in the early years and extended throughout the middle school contribute to a highly effective curriculum. Virtually all school leavers achieve university entrance. Many students gain excellence and merit endorsements in NCEA. In 2014, 13 New Zealand Scholarships Awards were achieved. Since 2011 all IB Diploma candidates have gained the qualification, with many receiving high scores. A range of teaching strategies and conditions contribute to high levels of student engagement and support students to understand, and take responsibility for, their learning. A high proportion of students are involved in the many opportunities available for leadership, performance and sporting activities. Respectful and positive interactions between teachers and students are evident. The full report is published on the ERO website and available to you and the general public. Click to View Full Report

    • QMC eGala
      • Auctioning donated goods 8 Nov – 15 Nov on Trade Me Time to Get Involved How can you help? We need things to auction. Do you have a product, service, tickets to an event, a great experience or things that sit in your back cupboard, like a toy or gift? Click to Donate Online The form class that raises the most amount from their combined auction items win a class treat. (there is a prize at Junior, Middle and Senior School). Check How Your Class Is Going  

    • National Win For Smart Minds
      • Queen Margaret College has won the Applied Technology section of the National Tournament of Minds Competition. Year 7 and 8 students Isabella Barber, Amelia Taylor, Phoebe Wood, Emily Brown, Teneka Te Moananui and Emma Sillay impressed judges in both the regional and national problem solving competition to win 1st place this weekend. This talented group of thinkers will now travel to Sydney, Australia to compete against international teams. “We are all ecstatic – just over the moon. All of our hard work had finally paid off,” Isabella comments. The Tournament of Minds is a competition for teams of students in which they solve challenges in the disciplines of Applied Technology, Language/Literature, Maths/Engineering and Social Sciences. The girls had to grapple with a number of tasks in the Applied Technology section, including a long term challenge and a spontaneous challenge. For the regional Wellington competition, the girls were set a six week task to build an original design from a Meccano Multimodel Set and program their design to clean a classroom by itself. As well as build and program their robot, they had to create a digital presentation with coding, pictures, information and video of their creation the Greener Cleaner 2000 and devise a skit to perform to the judges. At the National competition, the team then had to deconstruct their work to create and program a new robot in three hours – without the help of an instruction manual. Isabella says competition was fierce throughout the Tournament of Minds with all teams giving it 100 percent. “The tasks have been very challenging – it has made us stronger as a team.” The experience has taught the girls how important it is to work together and listen to each other’s ideas. “Not everyone will have their way all the time, but we have learnt to compromise and incorporate each other’s ideas,” Isabella comments. “Tournament of Minds has been incredible and is an experience we will never forget.” Queen Margaret College, which offers Tournament of Minds as part of its LEAP extension programme, has also had success in both the Social Sciences and Literature sections of the Regional Wellington Tournament of Minds. Year 4 – 6 students Charlotte-Jane Mears, Rishika Khera, Florence Bygraves, Rebecca Hockley, Amelia Taylor, Jaskiran Rahi and Beatrice Fordham Duncan came first in the Junior Social Sciences section. Year 4 – 6 students Imogen Turnbull, Sofia Pippos, Imogen Bilbrough, Daisy Carter, Anna Schofield-Matthews, Divya Srinivasa and Molly Davis also received Honours in the Junior Literature section.

    • Wowing the Wellington Streets
      • Year 13 Materials Technology students are once again WOWing Wellingtonians and visitors to the capital with their Wearable Art window displays. Check out Fiona Curtis’ project ‘Celebrating 150 years of Alice in Wonderland,’ displayed in the front windows of the Wellington City Library. Or Brittany Eng, Caitlin Ritchie, Gabriella Shea and Bridgette Midgley using the theme World War One Remembrance on display in the Te Papa front foyer.

    • Paris Lokotui Storming the Courts
      • Paris Lokotui is one to watch after being selected for the 2016 U16 New Zealand Development Basketball Team (Korus). At only 13 years of age and the only player from Wellington City, the selection is particularly significant for the Queen Margaret College student, who is excited to be representing New Zealand.

    • Fantastic Tournaments of Minds Results
      • Middle School Placed First in Applied Technology Team Isabella BarberAmelia TaylorPhoebe WoodEmily BrownTeneka Te MoananuiEmma Sillay Junior School Team Placed First in Social Sciences Charlotte-Jane MearsRishika KheraFlorence BygravesRebecca HockleyAmelia TaylorJaskiran RahiBeatrice Forham-Duncan Junior School Team Placed Second in Language/Literature Imogen TurnbullSofia PipposImogen BilbroughDaisy CarterAnna Schofield-MatthewsDivya SrinivasaMolly Davis

    • The Olympic Ticket
      • Congratulations Ruby Tew (2011 graduate) who won silver at the Rowing World Championships last night in France. Ruby has qualified for the Olympics as part of the Women's eight boat! © Rowing New Zealand all rights reserved  

    • Gold At Tournament Week!
      • Congratulations to the 1st X1 Hockey team and Coach Gail Donaldson, Manager Rhondha van der Wilt, who won the Audrey Timlin tournament in Invercargill amidst sleet and hail!

    • NIWA Science Fair
      • Jemma Smith won the NumberWorks’nWords prize, the New Zealand Statistical Association and Statistics New Zealand prize and the ESR prize in Class 5. Antonina Smolnicki won the Measurement Standards Laboratory; Callaghan Innovation prize in Class 5. Jessica Yule won the Sociological Association of Aotearoa; New Zealand prize and a Highly Commended prize in Class 5. Olivia Kelly won the Hugh D Gordon Memorial Prize and a Highly Commended prize in Class 5. Anamika Nampoothiry won the Wellington City Libraries Prize in Class 5. Freya Crestani won the NZ Institute of Chemistry prize and a Highly Commended prize in Class 5. Isobel Scherf won a Highly Commended prize in Class 2. Laura Snell won the Wellington Medical Research Foundation prize and the ESR prize in Class 2.

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