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Wellington High School / March 2019

Wellington High School is the only co-educational, non uniform secondary school in Wellington City. Located close to the city centre it has a multi-ethnic student population of 1050 students.

April 2019 | February 2019
    • Weekly Wrap-Up (Term 1 – Week 8)
      • Important Dates NOTE: You can access the school calendar on our website: WHS School Calendar 26 March: FRIDAY timetable runs today 29 March: Learning Conversations all day (with rōpū teachers) 1 April: BoT NZSTA event: Becoming a Trustee (see below) 12 April: End of Term 1 Principal’s message: Support, unity and strength of action It was lovely to see a number of current and past students and teachers at the Basin Reserve last Sunday evening for a chance to grieve and to show strength and unity with our muslim communities. SLT met with WERO leaders on Monday who had a range of ideas for support and these have been actioned this week: the school made available a reflection room with senior staff for students who needed time out and someone to talk to in order to help process the event, a book of condolences is available at reception in which members of our community can write, draw and express their messages for those affected in Christchurch the school came together on the field yesterday at lunch for a unity picnic – it was great to see so many of our students there, particularly senior students – and students took part in impromptu sing-a-longs, football matches, frisbee throwing and hula hooping, to name a few activities, today the school has observed the ‘colour your day’ promotion and have observed the call to prayer at 1.30pm followed by the 2 minute silence at 1.32pm, students have created a chalk wall where anyone can leave a message for our muslim whānau, and, students have been busy creating art works inspired by and in answer to the events. The students through all of this have been wonderful and caring and I hope we can all emerge from this feeling more kinship towards each other. The events last Friday overshadowed what was a wonderful response from our young people in civic square and at parliament in relation to climate change. A large number of our students took part in the climate change march and this was worthy of national focus. We made it very clear at Wellington High School that we supported our students with this action and I was really disappointed to see some principals and teachers in other areas devaluing the students’ initiative. We should all take strength from their actions last Friday and their continuing action this week in unrelated events. They are our future and their actions over the past week have been inspiring. Dominic Killalea Principal Important Information Learning Conversations — 29 March 2019 The Learning Conversation takes place between your student, the student’s rōpū teacher and parent(s) / caregiver(s).  Each learning conversation will take 20 minutes at the most. Students will only be at school on Friday 29 March for their learning conversation. Emails have been sent home. Bookings for learning conversations can be made at https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/ using code xktku. Lift Access: Please note that we have no lift access at the moment and are awaiting a new lift. If you would usually require the lift, please email Alison Jeffery (alison.jeffery@whs.school.nz) to request an accessible room. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Emergency preparation We acknowledge that this has been a difficult week for everyone. We are keen to make sure you are fully informed of how our school would respond in an emergency. We are upgrading our alarm system at present but will conduct a practice lockdown and evacuation soon. We will inform you and the students in advance when we plan to do this. Meanwhile, you can read about our processes here: Emergency preparation.     Viewing disturbing content online This week, we issued a reminder to students that they should not be viewing or sharing disturbing content related to the Christchurch events online. We amended the use of computers in the library in relation to the kinds of games being played and we reviewed our whole school filtering options. We will continue to take this very seriously. Netsafe has issued the following advice: “The footage of the Christchurch attacks is disturbing and will be harmful for people to see. If you or someone you know has viewed the video and are struggling with what you have seen please contact ‘Need to talk’ – free call or text 1737. While the content is online there is some risk that children or young people may come across it. We encourage all parents to proactively discuss with their children what they should do if they come across distressing content online. Further information is available at netsafe.org.nz/upsetting-content/     What’s happening? In support of Christchurch: Unity Picnic At lunchtime on Thursday, several hundred members of the WHS community congregated on the school field for our Unity Picnic. An inspired, inclusive and community-focused idea from our WERO leaders, the picnic gave us all the opportunity to sit, eat, chat and enjoy each others company. Students took the opportunity to play guitar and sing, or get involved with games of frisbee, or even to focus on school work while they ate.            Memorial Wall Students have taken the opportunity to express their respect and support for those affected by the Christchurch shootings creating a colourful memorial wall. Located by the car park near the Science block, the wall is a striking feature at the entrance to the campus.   Board Elections  | A message from the Wellington High School Board of Trustees 2019 is an election year for school trustees.  We understand that asking people to put their hand up and stand for election is difficult, especially if parents aren’t really clear on what the role entails! Find out about becoming a trustee New Zealand School Trustees Association are offering a new programme, Kōrari, which is designed to recognise the experience of existing trustees and help to encourage potential new trustees to come and find out what it really means to serve on a school board. People who want to understand what school governance looks like can come along and find out more. A hui will be facilitated by a regional adviser from NZSTA who will talk about the reality of being a trustee, the support and training that is available and encourage existing trustees to tell their story. The Hui will be held at Wellington High School on Monday 1st April at 6pm. NZSTA will provide refreshments. If you are interested in becoming a school trustee we encourage you to come along. Please RSVP using this link if you ARE attending. Meet Ron Year 10 2018’s second semester sculpture will be taking up residence on the WHS campus very soon.   New Zealand Young Scientists’ Tournament Last week, teams from schools in Auckland, New Plymouth, Lower Hutt and Wellington met to compete in the first New Zealand Young Scientists’  Tournament (NZYST). Over two days, the 9 teams took part in Science Fights, presenting, opposing and reporting on research completed since September.  WHS fielded two teams: the Immovable Concrete Pillars and the Generous Practitioners who are to be congratulated for finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Competitors may now be selected to take part in the International Young Naturalists’ Tournament in Minsk, Belarus later in 2019.                 Sport Futsal New Zealand Secondary School FUTSAL Champs will be held on Wednesday 27, Thursday 28 and Friday 29 March at the ASB Sport Center in Kilbirnie Wellington High School will be represented at the NZSS FUTSAL champs by a Junior Boys and a Senior Boys teams. A list of the students representing us at the Championships are: Junior Futsal (Boys): National Beau Buckley Yusef Idris Ibrahim Arthur Kraemer Ashwin Ellis Ibrahim Idris Ibrahim Hidu Choi Mohammad Mazraeh Senior Futsal (Boys): National Nathan McConnel Willem Rodgers-Rowe Louis Cowan Ruairi Whelan Turbull Leo Clark Jack Ure Seth Mitchell Webster Liam Gillespie Thomas Woodward Cade Kelly Felix Ayland Jibril Abid Yusef Callum Godfrey (Manager)   Waka Ama The CSW Waka Ama championships were held on Saturday 16th March at Onepoto in Porirua.  All of our teams did so well and represented Wellington High School to a high standard. A huge thank you to their coach Matua Whakamarurangi for all his time and expertise.       Lawn Bowls On Tuesday 19 March College Sport Wellington held the Lawn Bowls Championships out at Silverstream.  Theo Sutorius competed at the event for Wellington High School. Theo has played Lawn Bowls for the school for the last four years and has enjoyed every aspect of the sport.  Well done Theo!       Achievements WHS Alumnus wins Gold at Special Olympics Dominic Faherty, one of our alumni, won a GOLD MEDAL in the 200m event, and achieved a personal best, at the Special Olympics in Dubai. Dom is pictured on the podium. Congratulations! Frankie Coup — From Javelin novice to national competitor in 3 weeks! Frankie Coup threw her first javelin at the WHS Athletics day on 1st March 2019. She managed an impressive second in the junior girls’ category. After the competition she threw a few more times, one of which was 4m further than the current Junior Girls WHS record! Unfortunately, as it was out of competition, it wasn’t able to be officially recorded. Frankie was chosen to represent Wellington High at the Western Zone Athletics meet on 6 March 2019. Here she managed to win the Junior Girls’ competition, and earn a spot at the Regional Athletics meet. At the Regionals on 14 March, she won again, making her the best javelineer in Wellington. She has now been selected to represent Wellington at the National Athletics meet in Tauranga on 6 April 2019, a stunning feat for someone who threw their first javelin fewer than three weeks ago!
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        • Wellington High School, Taranaki Street, Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Weekly Wrap-Up (Term 1 – Week 7)
      • Important Dates NOTE: You can access the school calendar on our website: WHS School Calendar 26 March: FRIDAY timetable runs today 29 March: Learning Conversations all day (with rōpū teachers) 12 April: End of Term 1 Important Information Learning Conversations — 29 March 2019 The Learning Conversation takes place between your student, the student’s rōpū teacher and parent(s) / caregiver(s).  Each learning conversation will take 20 minutes at the most. Students will only be at school on Friday 29 March for their learning conversation. Emails have been sent home. Bookings for learning conversations can be made at https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/ using code xktku NCEA Internal Assessment calendars online Students and their families can access the NCEA Levels 1—3 assessment calendars via our website.  On the calendars, you can see all the assessment deadline for the year. Go to Students > Calendars and choose the one that applies to you. You can add the appropriate calendar to your own via the Google button at the bottom left.         Measles Outbreak — Advice to schools As you are likely aware, there is a large and ongoing outbreak of measles in Christchurch, with 26 cases as at 14 March. Auckland and Dunedin now also have measles cases. While there are currently no reported cases in the greater Wellington region, people will move around NZ during the school holiday period of 13 – 28 April, which includes Easter (19 April –22 April), and ANZAC Day (25 April), and it is likely measles will spread. Accordingly, attached is an information sheet and FAQs regarding measles for primary, intermediate and secondary schools.  Regional Public Health – www.rph.org.nz Ministry of Health – www.health.govt.nz Immunisation Advisory Centre – www.immune.org.nz What’s happening? Focus on Climate Change At the time of writing, a large number of our students are in town for the Climate Change Strike, part of a global movement of youth protest.  In the build up to this, Wellington High’s Molly Doyle in Year 13, took part in a panel with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the Green Party’s James Shaw, and student leaders from other schools. You can read more about the event here.             World Vision Youth Conference Stop Press: While many of our students have been out at the Strike4Climate this morning, four students have been representing WHS at the World Vision Youth Conference. Abishkar Palma, Emily Brooke, Liberty McIntyre-Reet, and Jack Davies have been learning and sharing their ideas and vision of how they can be change makers in our community.           Talking Books with Jacinda Ardern Johanna Christ, Alex Buyck, Otis Brown and Em Flux attended a fundraiser for the Katherine Mansfield House and Garden on the evening of Wednesday 13 March to hear Jacinda Ardern talk about her love of books. The Prime Minister shared advice for teenagers, “Know yourself. Know when you are feeling fragile and get off social media. Don’t live life on a screen.” She also talked about the importance of reading saying, “In order to give children the gift of reading, we need to give parents and caregivers the gift of time.” The students came away feeling very lucky to have had the opportunity to attend the event.       Farewell to Chrissy Laing We reluctantly said goodbye to Chrissy Laing on Thursday 14 March after four and a half years of outstanding service as our Gateway coordinator. Chrissy brought enormous positive energy to this important role and she will be greatly missed. Chrissy is embarking on a new journey much closer to home and we wish her well in her new role.       French Club trip to view a French Film Festival  On Thursday members of the French film club, joined with other French students in Wellington to view the view Au Bout des Doigts.       Tongariro Crossing On Monday the GEO223 and ESS223 classes left for the long bus ride up to Tongariro. We journeyed up to the mountains and on Tuesday did the long 19.4km Tongariro Crossing. The 22 students and 3 staff made it over in just under 8 hours, some more adventurous students choosing to run the final 3km downhill. Everyone did a great job an had a great time, and the warm hot pools straight afterward were welcomed by us all. The weather was fantastic – a number of us were sporting pink noses by the afternoon. Thank you to Kerry Parker and Kyle West who accompanied and made it possible to do the Crossing for the first time in many years. Drama Camp Last week Year 13 Drama went on camp to Riversdale in the Wairarapa. The purpose of the camp was to have an extended rehearsal period for two upcoming performance assessments. While they were away students worked on their acting technique for an assessment which finished yesterday, and started drafting self-devised character-based solos for presentation in week 11 (9-11 April).       JustSpeak lunchtime lecture The lunchtime lecture on Friday 8 March was delivered by Tania Sawiki Mead.  Tania is the Director of JustSpeak: a movement of young people who are speaking up and speaking out about criminal justice, aspiring for a thriving Aotearoa. JustSpeak develops  youth-led tools, resources, spaces and support to facilitate public conversation on criminal justice informed by evidence and experience. Thank you to the Library for hosting another fascinating talk, and to Kathryn Hutchinson  for organizing the lecture and visit.       Achievements Talented footballer and former WHS student featured in Sunday Star Times The Sunday Star Times on 10 March featured the story of former WHS student, Athman Othman. Athman is remembered by many of his teachers for his sporting talent and we were glad to read of his success on the field playing for Tasman United. Read the full article here. NZYPT – New Zealand Young Physicists’ Tournament take silver On the 9th March, two teams of WHS physicists competed in the Wellington regional heat of the 14th New Zealand Young Physicists’ Tournament (NZYPT). Held at Victoria University, the teams took part in science fights defending their research into seven pre-determined problems, and challenging that of their opponents. The team of Millie Rea, Sophie Mance and Khalid Adam are to be congratulated for finishing second. They will head to Auckland next weekend to take part in the national finals.       Sport Futsal We have had another busy week sport wise.  On Wednesday 13 March we had a Junior Boys and Senior Boys team compete in the College Sport Wellington Futsal Competition held at the ASB Sport Centre in Kilbirnie.  The teams had a great day with some very close results. Big thanks goes to Mr Junca for coaching the boys. Junior vs St Patrick Town, 6-3 lost vs Hutt International, 4-2 lost (draw until last 3 minutes!) vs Hutt Valley High, 8-3 win vs Scots College, 4 all draw (excellent game!!!) vs Tawa College, 6-1 win Senior: vs Wellington College, 7 nil lost vs Aotea College, 2 all draw vs Hutt International, 7-3 lost vs St Patrick Town, 3-2 win vs Onslow College, 3 nil lost Regional Athletics On Thursday 14 March a team of six from Wellington High School competed in the College Sport Wellington Regional Athletics meet at Newtown Park. Competing were: Fynn Hutson Senior Boys High Jump Thomas Woodward Senior Boys 100m and 200m Liberty McIntyre-Reet Senior Girls 800m Tiopira Mulholland Intermediate Boys High Jump Ari Koed-Chang Intermediate Boys Long Jump Frankie Coup Junior Girls Javelin All athletes participated extremely well.  Thomas reached the final of Senior Boys 100m and Frankie  won the Junior Girls Javelin with a throw of 24.97m (which beats our school record). Netball Reminder: Junior and Senior Netball Trials take place on Saturday 16 March (tomorrow) and Saturday 23 March here at school in the Tindall Gym. Juniors 9.00-11.30am Seniors 1.00-3.30pm Players must bring the correct shoes and a drink bottle.  If you cannot make both trial dates please let Ms McIntyre (Sports Office) know. Football Trials for all Junior Boys wishing to compete in the Junior Boys Football team take place on Tuesday 19 March from 3.30-5.00pm. Players must bring their football boots and correct clothing for the trials.  Also on Tuesday 19th March, trials for Senior students (Year 11-13) wanting to compete in the 2nd and 3rd XI Football teams, should meet at Wakefield Park, Adelaide Road, Berhampore, from 3.45-5.00pm. They will need their football boots and correct clothing for the trials.  Upcoming Sporting Events Summer Tournament week is quickly approaching!  From 25-31 March, we have the following teams away competing in the NZ Secondary Schools National Sporting Events. Floorball – ASB Sports Centre 30-31 March Ultimate Frisbee – Owen Delaney Park in Taupo 25-26 March Wake Ama –  Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lakes) Rotorua 25-29 March Futsal (Senior and Junior Boys only)- ASB Sports Centre 27-29 March Mountain Biking – Waiu Trail Park, Wainuiomata 30-31 March Sports Exchange For the 2nd year running we have our Sports Exchange with Newlands College.  This year Wellington High School are hosting the exchange and we are looking forward to yet another great battle on the sports field.  The following team will be competing: Badminton – Boys and Girls Basketball – Boys and Girls Hockey – Boys Football – Boys and Girls Netball – Girls  
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        • Wellington High School, Taranaki Street, Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Weekly Wrap-Up (Term 1 – Week 6)
      • Important Dates NOTE: You can access the school calendar on our website: WHS School Calendar  26 March: FRIDAY timetable runs today 29 March: Learning Conversations all day (with rōpū teachers) 12 April: End of Term 1 Important Information Learning Conversations: Friday 29 March An email has been sent to all caregivers this afternoon about our first Learning Conversations of the year.
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        • Wellington High School, Taranaki Street, Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Weekly Wrap-Up (Term 1 – Week 5)
      • Important Dates NOTE: You can access the school calendar on our website: WHS School Calendar 4-6 March: 9Royal Noho Marae 6-8 March:  9Howell Noho Marae 26 March: FRIDAY timetable runs today 29 March: Learning Conversations all day (with rōpū teachers) 12 April: End of Term 1 Message from the Principal I hope your young person is settled into their classes and school routine and that they are setting themselves up for success this year. Our Year 9 cohort is the largest in many years with the roll nearing 1300 for the first time since I joined WHS. It is fantastic to see the community embracing coeducation at secondary level. Your increased support is an endorsement that a school should be a reflection of the society we live in. The increased roll places some pressures on us all, not least with some larger junior classes, and it is satisfying to see students settled well into the new academic year. At the start of the year, we acquaint/reacquaint ourselves with WHS’s cornerstone priorities based around the māori word WERO. WERO means ‘challenge’. Its letters represent our core strategic priorities. W is for Whānau. Education is a partnership between the school and family. We have the greatest success when we are all working together. When we speak of whānau we mean this in the broadest community sense: we are looking after all of our students to ensure everyone is given a fair, even chance of success and that no one is left behind. E represents Excellence. Excellence is not confined to academic achievement but represents everyone giving their best and achieving to their own personal level of excellence. Excellence is not confined to academic areas and includes sporting, cultural, social and personal excellence. R is for Respect. Respectful relationships should be at the core of everything we do and want our young people to acquire. R can also represent relational teaching practice and how this shows the importance of good relationships. And R can represent restorative practice because when things go wrong it is important to try and repair harm that may have been caused. O stands for Ora representing physical and emotional wellbeing. We all need quality of life and we need to actively take steps to look after ourselves and others. When I think of Ora I think of the airline safety videos that talk about looking after ourselves first before helping others when the oxygen mask drops down from overhead. It is the same with Ora. We need to look after our own wellbeing to be in a position to look after others. On 14 February our WERO leaders and DP Megan Southwell, ran ‘Aroha Day’: an opportunity for students to find out about sporting and cultural activities and sign up to something that interested them. It was great to see students signing up for so many opportunities enthusiastically. I hope that these initial commitments turn into enjoyable and rewarding experiences throughout the year. As you read this, our students will have just be finishing competing in our annual Athletics Day. I hope this provides a positive fun day for all of those who compete and helps to engender a stronger sense of pride in our great school. You will be able to read about the event in next week’s Wrap Up. On Friday 29 March we will run our first learning conversations for the year. The emphasis will be on how students can gain the requisite learning competencies to build success. These key competencies are an important part of our NZ curriculum and are: thinking; using language, symbols and text; managing self; relating to others; and participating and contributing. They all contribute to how a student prepares for and engages in learning. Through the media you may have heard that a student strike in support of a worldwide day of action over global warming is planned for Friday 15 March. Some of our students have expressed an interest in attending and publicity material has been circulating at school and online. The action is a global initiative expected to bring thousands of students onto the streets worldwide. In Wellington students will be meeting in Civic Square at 10am and marching to Parliament. We anticipate that students who participate will be out of school for the day. If your young person wants to support this action please notify us as soon as possible. Although the school supports students who wish to use this day to take this action, we do not support those that may use this issue as an excuse for a day off with no intention of being involved in the positive action being planned. Ngā mihi nui Dominic Killalea Important Information Thank you to the WF Anderson Educational Foundation Wellington High School has received a grant of $5000 from the WF Anderson Educational Foundation. This money will be used to assist students in financial need. We are deeply appreciative of the Foundation’s support. Board Elections  | A message from the Wellington High School Board of Trustees 2019 is an election year for school trustees.  We understand that asking people to put their hand up and stand for election is difficult, especially if parents aren’t really clear on what the role entails! Find out about becoming a trustee New Zealand School Trustees Association are offering a new programme, Kōrari, which is designed to recognise the experience of existing trustees and help to encourage potential new trustees to come and find out what it really means to serve on a school board. People who want to understand what school governance looks like can come along and find out more. A hui will be facilitated by a regional adviser from NZSTA who will talk about the reality of being a trustee, the support and training that is available and encourage existing trustees to tell their story. The Hui will be held at Wellington High School on Monday 1st April at 6pm. NZSTA will provided refreshments. If you are interested in becoming a school trustee we encourage you to come along. Please RSVP using this link if you ARE attending: https://goo.gl/forms/MBa8fFYExKC1N7YS2 What’s happening? The first Capital City Kāhui Ako Super Hui! On Monday this week, teachers from our Kāhui Ako/Community of Learning schools gathered together for the first time. Wellington High is part of a Ministry-funded collective with seven of its feeder schools (SWIS, Brooklyn School, Owhiro Bay, Island Bay, Newtown Primary, Houghton Valley, and Ridgway School). We are committed to working closely together around challenges related to wellbeing, cultural identity and capabilities for lifelong learning. The staff met, talked and shared their first thoughts about the direction and potential outcomes of our collective. It was great for staff to begin to ‘reach across’ to connect with colleagues in other local schools. The next step is to complete and submit our action plan to the Ministry of Education for approval.   John Minto visits WHS As part of the Thursday Library lunchtime lecture series for 2019, John Minto spoke to a group of WHS staff and students on Thursday. For the past 72 days the veteran activist has been walking the length of the North Island, partly to fulfil a personal ambition but also to advocate for Human Rights equality for Palestinians in Israel. John spoke thoughtfully, starting with the aims of his Te Araroa walk and gave the floor to students and staff to ask questions and extend their own understanding about activism, issues in the Middle East and his own actions during the SpringBok Tour. In a session that looked at both sides of the debate, John responded to the audience’s desire to better understand the complex and politically divisive struggles between Israel and Palestine.   Earth and Space Science students visit Island Bay Earth and Space Science NCEA level 2 students enjoyed a beautiful afternoon carrying out field work at Island Bay and Princess Bay. They practised sketching, photographing and observing the rock formations. Students learned how the rocks were formed as layers of sand 200 million years ago which became buried under an ocean that was maybe 2 km deep. Within the sedimentary rock a volcano left a layer of basalt that is now visible just east of the Bait shed as purple/red rock.  At Princess Bay there are traces of the sea creatures that lived on the ocean floor.   Overseas exchange scholarship information evening Is your student interested in spending a semester overseas? Student Exchange will be running an information session at Victoria University to provide further details.  FREE STUDENT EXCHANGE INFORMATION EVENING IN WELLINGTON Hear from returned students, find out more about discounts and scholarships available and ask questions. Thursday, 7th March – 7.00pm Victoria University of Wellington, Pipitea Campus Room GBG04, Old Government Buildings 23 Lambton Quay PIPITEA Visit www.studentexchange.org.nz or call 0800 440 077  for more information. Achievements WHS students Eli Martin (Year 11) and John Shea (Year 12) took place in the first round of NZOI (New Zealand Olympiad in Informatics) last weekend. 70 students, of all ages, and from across the country took part. Congratulations to Eli, who placed 18th, and John, who placed 11th.  
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        • Wellington High School, Taranaki Street, Mount Cook, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


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