20 August, 2010; Week 6-7, Term 3

Tena tatou katoa

Prom

Saturday night is Prom night! Senior students have been looking forward to this event for a long time and our Events Leaders have been working hard to make it a memorable occasion.

This year for the first time the Prom is being held at The Brackenridge resort in Martinborough. I am very glad to see it being held back in our South Wairarapa community for a change.

Parent/Teacher Evening

It was wonderful to see so many parents and caregivers at the parent/teacher evening last week. Most of you came in earlier in the year to the first of the Family Learning Conferences but I am glad that many of you also took the opportunity to meet your child’s subject teachers. I hope you received constructive feedback about your child’s learning and that between us we can help them to lift their achievement levels.

Rotary Club of South Wairarapa Martinborough Fair Trust Bursaries

Year 13 students from the South Wairarapa (Greytown south) who are planning to enter tertiary study in 2010 should consider applying for the Martinborough Fair Bursaries available from the Rotary Club of the South Wairarapa. Each year the club award two and sometimes three, of these very generous bursaries. The details for these applications, which close very soon, are in the daily notices

Barbara Kendall

A small group of Year 13 students travelled with me and Mr Tavernor last week to listen to Olympic gold medal winning windsurfer Barbara Kendall deliver a motivational seminar at St Matthews College. Year 13 students from all of the Wairarapa schools were thoroughly entertained by Barbara who explained that she put her success down to her philosophy of “passion = energy = motivation = success.”

 “In other words,” Barbara said, “Decide what you are passionate about and if you choose to devote your life to this it will motivate you to excel, to want to be successful and perhaps become the best.”

Barbara reinforced this idea by saying, “choice not chance determines your destiny. Don’t sit around and wait for something to come to you. You have to decide what you want and go for it!”

Matharapa Win!

In 2009 our Year 9 team won the regional Matharapa for the first time for many years. Last week the same team consisting of Emily Jamieson, Kayden Saywell and Dan Carlisle easily won the Year 10 competition in Masterton. An outstanding win!

Theatre Sports Win!

Last week teams from the college competed in all levels of the annual intercollegiate theatre sports competitions at the Harlequin Theatre in Masterton. All represented the college with pride but the senior team consisting of Dominic Hawke, Barney Johnson, Louis Gray, Daniel Cameron and James Owens outdid themselves by taking out first place! We have competed in these competitions for many years and usually been placed but this is the first time we have won and brought home the trophy. Outstanding!

Year 10 at Whitireia Polytechnic

This week sixty Year 10 students travelled to Porirua to be shown around Whitireia Polytechnic. The staff at the polytech made the students very welcome and spent the morning showing off the fabulous facilities and courses that they have to offer.

Year 12 at the Career Expo in Wellington

Over seventy Year 12 students spent last Tuesday at the Coca Cola Careers Expo in the Queens Wharf Event centre. One of the highlights of the expo was the guided tour of the navy frigate Canterbury which was moored alongside the events centre. Ex Kuranui student Tambor Hayvice is serving on the Canterbury and some of our students caught up with him on board.

Ski Trips

The two annual ski trips are now very close.

The Year 10 ski trip dates are 20^th – 22^nd September for 10TL, 10BN, 10GV and 22^nd – 24^th September for 10WV and 10BS. Only four weeks to go!

The Year 12 ski trip dates are 13^th – 17^th September, only three weeks to go!

For students going on any of the trips you need to have or hire waterproof pants. This is in addition to the items on the gear list that was given out. All money should be paid in full by now.

2011 Senior Subject Selection Evening

We are currently asking students to make senior subject selections for 2011. Parents; it is vital that you are involved in this process.

Students need to put together a meaningful course of study which will lead them to their career choice, motivate them to learn and achieve and suit their learning style.

To help you to assist your child to make meaningful subject selections for next year and to help you understand the requirements of NCEA at all three levels we are holding an information evening on Wednesday 25th August in the Library.

Representatives from all curriculum areas and the Careers Advisor will be present.

Parents and caregivers of current Year 10, 11 and 12 students are urged to attend.

The meeting begins at 7.00pm.

Board of Trustees Student Representative Nominations

After serving as the student representative on the Board of Trustees for a year, it is nearly time for Kendall Charles to hand over to a new student rep. Kendall has done an outstanding job and represented the college’s students very honestly and reliably.

Nominations for elections for the 2010/11 representative are now open and will close at noon on 2^nd September. Nomination forms are available from my Personal Assistant, Lisa Fairbrother.

Voting will commence on Wednesday 8 September and close on Friday 17 September.

Midterm Break

Parents and caregivers, this is a reminder that the college will be closed on Friday 3 September to give students and staff a mid term break. We are using this opportunity to allow contractors to cut off power and plumbing connections to C Block in readiness for its demolition.

Paid Union Meeting

I hope that your children recently brought home my letter informing you of the Post Primary Teachers Association paid union meeting on Wednesday 25 August. Classes will end at 12.15pm and buses will depart at 12.25pm.

NZQA Fees

A reminder that the fee of $75 must be paid by 3 September.  Application forms for financial assistance are available from the office and reduce the fee to $20.  September 1^st is the cut off date for financial assistance applications. Any NZQA fees unpaid by 3 September must be paid direct to NZQA and will incur a $50 late fee. NZQA will not release any official results to candidates who fail to pay entry fees. They will do so when the entry fee and the $50 late fee have been paid.

Andrew Newton

Andrew Newton, world famous hypnotist, is coming to Kuranui College with a 2 hour show on October 10.  This show is a fundraiser for our three sports teams travelling to Secondary Schools tournaments. The show starts at 7pm and tickets are only $20 each.  Get your family and friends together and have a night of laughter.

Tickets will be on sale soon so keep this date free!

Year 9 Garden Design

In Term 1 and 2 the Year 9 horticulture class was involved in a garden design project competition in partnership with Farmlands Greytown to help develop a new garden design for their store front.  The year 9 class had to come up with their own design plans and research what plants/materials they wanted, as well as stick to a $400 budget.  This was an Education for Enterprise project. Last week Farmlands met with the Year 9 class to present the winning designers with a much appreciated $100 cash prize.  Congratulations to Tyla Hart and Alastair Waddell on a winning design which will be built/planted by the Year 9 class on the 9th and 10th of September..  Thank you to Farmlands for being involved with Kuranui College and providing a great opportunity.

Good luck to …

·       The boys 1^st XV rugby team who play Taita College at Kuranui in the Wellington premier 4 semi final on Saturday at 1pm

·       The boys 2^nd XV rugby team who play Wairarapa College Gold at Kuranui on Saturday in the semi final of their competition at 10am

·       Our three sporting teams travelling away to their respective Secondary School tournaments from 30 August – 3 September. Senior A Netball team travel to Wanganui, Boys 1^st  XI Hockey team go to Whakatane and the Girls 1^st XI Hockey team travel to Stratford.

From the Sports Desk…

Girls Netball: The Junior A team are at the top of the table with a couple of games to go in section play with finals day on 11 September.  The other teams are unlikely to make finals playoffs, but are looking forward to finishing the season in a positive fashion.  Go for it girls!

Boys 1^st XI Hockey: Continued their winning form with a 14-2 win over Wellington College with Darren Dingle making his long awaited debut as a kicking fullback and goalie… even our team was confused!

Girls 1^st XI Hockey: Had an excellent win over Tawa, 3-2.

Girls 2^nd XI Hockey:

Rugby 1^st XV: won by default over Newlands College and now play Taita 2 at Kuranui this Saturday for a place in the finals with the kick-off at 1pm. Come along and support the boys!

Rugby 2^nd XV: won by default over Chanel and also gain a semi final spot

Girls Rugby: Under the guidance of Miss Lindsay Turner the girls had 2 wins in the Wairarapa.

Boys Basketball: Two games were played with a win over Wairarapa College in the first game.   Tiredness showed in game 2 with a loss to Rathkeale.

Boys Soccer: Lost their semi-finals match to Rathkeale 2^nd XI, 5-1.

Girls Soccer: Coach Tony Moule was very pleased with the teams 6-0 win over Makoura in their final game of the season.

Sports Subs: There is still a large of amount of money still owing for subs. Your urgent attention to this would be appreciated.

Mr Donald Yee

Sports Co-ordinator

Congratulations to …

·       The following students for their achievements in the UNSW Global Educational Assessments:  Emily Jamieson – High Distinction in Science and Distinction in Computing Skills, Nathan Wride with Distinction in Computing Skills and Dan Carlisle with Credit in Computing Skills.

·       Emily Jamieson who also received a Certificate of Credit in the Australian Mathematics Trust Challenge and a Certificate of Distinction for the Australian Informatics competition.  WOW!  Well done Emily!

·       The senior Theatre Sports team who won the recent Wairarapa intercollegiate theatre sports competition!

·       The Year 10 Matharapa team for blitzing the competition!

·       Lauren Crimp, placed third in the recent Wairarapa Intercollegiate Senior speech competition.

·       The following students who gained merit endorsements to their NCEA Level 1 Certificate qualifications.  These students were awarded Silver Honours badges in assembly last week:

2008:  Bridget Kershaw, Raegan McGregor

2009:  Jason van Zanten, Lauren Crimp, Francesca Silver, Aleisha Bain, Renee Cheeseman, Shaun Collings, Keith Finlayson, Rowan Pemberton, Charlotte Taylor and Daniella Clancy.

·       Rebecca Holden who had her NCEA Level 2 Certificate endorsed with merit in 2009.

G Shepherd

PRINCIPAL

6 August, 2010; Week 4 - 5, Term 3

Tena tatou katoa

You will be only too aware from the media that Wairarapa schools are currently being hit hard by influenza. Kuranui College has not been spared and our absentee rate for both students and staff has soared in the last week. I have not yet been informed that any of our students have actually contracted swine flu but because it is confirmed in our region, it is likely that some will have.

I have included with this edition of Korero a letter from the DHB for your information. If you have sick children please heed the advice and keep them home until 48 hours after their flu symptoms have abated.

Excellence and Merit NCEA Endorsements

Since 2004 we have encouraged senior college students to strive toward gold or silver academic honours. We developed the honours system because there seemed little incentive in the NCEA system for high achieving students to aim as high as possible. Now NZQA are endorsing NCEA with excellence or merit and it seems that we no longer need our own honours system.

To be endorsed with excellence in Level 1, for example, a student needs to achieve 50 or more credits at excellence level. To be endorsed with merit they need 50 credits at merit or better. In 2011 students will also be able to earn an endorsement for individual courses if, over a single year, they achieve 14 or more credits at merit or excellence. At least 3 of these credits must be from internal and 3 from externally assessed standards.

From 2011 the college will recognise the achievements of students who attain endorsements on their NCEA by awarding gold badges for excellence and silver badges for merit.

Health Clinic

With the recent spate of illness in the college, it is timely to remind parents of the availability of health professionals here at the college.  To make an appointment, students leave their name and who they want to see in the drop boxes outside the Health Clinic and in the waiting room and the nurse or doctor will contact students with an appointment time. 

The school nurse is here 12 – 3:15 pm on Mondays and 10am – 1:15pm on Fridays and Dr James is here on Tuesdays from 9am – 12 midday.

NCEA credit reports

Shortly we will be publishing another NCEA credit progress report for all senior college students. Parents please discuss the report with your child. Even though there is only seven weeks of this term left and a mere five in term four for senior students it is not too late for them to boost their efforts and achieve their NCEA goal.

Uniform

The Board of Trustees has decided to sell all of the college’s uniform from the college from the end of this year. The BOT believes that this decision will make uniform shopping more convenient for families and it will allow the college to maintain more control over the quality and design of the uniform.

Postie Plus in Masterton will however, continue to sell all uniform items until at least mid term four.

We are establishing a new uniform shop in the foyer of the college auditorium where both new and used uniform will be sold.

I will publish a full price list of uniform items when it becomes available.

Building Update

Rigg Zschokke have almost completed our new computer room and learning centre. We will take possession and move in within a fortnight and work will begin on the demolition of C Block almost immediately after that.

University graduates

Victoria and Massey Universities have just released the list of graduates for 2010 who attended Kuranui College.

Victoria

Diane Batchelor - Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Research

Rebekka Bell – Bachelor of Education (teaching) early childhood

Carley Bird – Graduate Diploma in Teaching (secondary)

Christina Cameron-Jones – Doctor of Philosophy

Wendell Cooke - Master of Arts

Cherie Craig – Postgraduate Diploma in Education and Professional Development

Andrew Fauvel – Bachelor of Information Technology

Melinda Hall – Master of Arts

Daniel McKnight – Graduate Diploma in Teaching (primary)

Amanda McRae - Bachelor of Arts

Louisa Ross – Bachelor of Commerce and Administration and Bachelor of Commerce and Administration with Honours

Sarah Stier – Graduate Diploma in Teaching (secondary)

David Sutton – Master of Commerce and Administration

Trung Tran - Bachelor of Building Science

Massey

Wendy Moran, 1971, Bachelor of Arts

Sandra Bayliss, 1987, Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing

Robyn Dewhurst, 2006, Bachelor of Science

Rebecca Roseingrave, 1991, Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Years 0-8

Phillipa Rimene, 1986, Bachelor of Arts

Noelle Finlayson, 2002, Bachelor of Applied Science

Linnet Magnus, 2005, Bachelor of Nursing (Student Nurses)

Keryn Rowe, 1973, Bachelor of Social Work

Jesse Workman, 2002, Bachelor of Sport and Exercise

Ivor De Vries, 1988, Bachelor of Arts

Gail De Malmanche, 1986, Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Years 0-8

Dion O'Neale, 1997, Doctor of Philosophy (Sciences)

Christina Johnson, 2006, Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Years 0-8

Bronwyne Strawbridge, 1977, Bachelor of Nursing (Registered Nurses)

Ann Shepherd, 2004, Bachelor of Nursing (Student Nurses)

Alistair Payne, 2005, Bachelor of Education (Secondary Teaching)

Environmental Group News

The Kuranui College Environmental Group has been involved for two days planting native trees along the Papawai Stream with the Papawai Stream Restoration Project.  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has awarded this restoration project a $10,000 grant for the work to be completed and commended the group on the work that has so far been accomplished.  Kuranui students were interviewed for a National Radio programme on environmental restoration projects that are occurring throughout New Zealand. Kuranui students are the first group to be involved. The college Envirogroup which is lead by Mr Clausen, includes, Sarah Hall, Lexie Fleming, Blair Lyster, Tom Locke, Aleisha Bain and Keith Finlayson.

If you would like to be involved see Mr Clausen.

Outdoor Education

Last week our Year 11 Outdoor Education class ventured out to test themselves caving and abseiling.  “An awesome experience” was the verdict from supervisor, Mr Yee.  It appears the girls pictured agree!

Natasha Mills, Natasha Campbell and Annika Coveney

2011 Student Leaders

Even though 2011 seems a long way away, Year 12 students should be thinking about putting themselves forward for leadership roles in the new year.

Outward Bound, the outdoor training school in the Marlborough Sounds, is offering an exciting customised leadership course over the summer holidays. Students who are interested should see Mr Shepherd or Mr Tavernor. A few years back Head Girl, Christina Johnson, went on this course and described it as life changing.

Conjunctivitis

We have noticed an increased occurrence of this condition within the school.  We have sought medical advice and been advised that conjunctivitis is highly infectious and that students with the condition should not be at school.  Generally if the infection affects both eyes, it is likely to be viral and will come right in time.  However if it is only one eye, it is more likely to be bacterial in origin and antibiotics may be required.

To prevent its spread… avoid touching your eyes directly, wash hands regularly, do not use or share makeup, and gently wipe any discharge with disposable tissues.  Eye bathing in 1% saline solution may also be helpful.

Car Boot and Garage Sale

On Sunday 5 September we are having a "Spring Cleanout Garage and Car Boot Sale" here at Kuranui College from 10am -12noon.  We will charge you $10 for a car or ute from which you can sell your goodies. If you do not want to sell items but would like to get rid of them you can drop them off and we will sell them in our garage sale. If you have items but cannot bring them in, contact us and we will pick them up for you. 

All proceeds go towards the end of year Junior Activities Week. If you are interested in the car boot sale, registration forms are available from the administration office at the college. 

Any Year 9 and 10 students who know they are going to need funds for Activities Week may find this a great opportunity to fundraise for themselves.  This is a great chance to have a good clean up as well!

From the Sports Desk…

Netball – the Senior A team is now in the Premier Reserve grade and is struggling to find a win though the team remains in good spirits.  The Senior B team are lying in 6^th place in their grade, and when they play well, are capable of beating the best. The Junior A team is also strong, currently 3^rd, and vying for a place in the semis.  The Junior B team is very short on players but continue to give every game their best and should be proud of themselves for sticking it out and still playing with enthusiasm.

Boys 1^st XI Hockey – won 8-0 over HVHS

Girls 1^st XI Hockey (nick-named the All Whites) - drew again, this time with Paraparaumu College.

Girls 2^nd XI - drew with SMS 3rd

Rugby 1^st XV: Kuranui won 29 -17 versus Otaki in a top of the table clash.  Great effort boys!

Rugby 2^nd XV: won 78-0 over Wairarapa College Blue. Player of the day was Anthony Prince, who played half-back for the first time year and showed

Girls Rugby: lost 60-27 to Wellington Girls and was to play off against Sacred Heart in the semi-finals this week.

Boys Basketball: led by Keith Finlayson, our boys had a great tussle winning 43- 37 over St Matthews girls. Thanks to Lorraine and Dr Nathan for sponsoring this team in the competition.

Boys Soccer: Kuranui had a 3-0 win over Rathkeale 3rd XI.              

Girls Soccer: An all round team effort saw Kuranui score a 4-0 win over St Matthews Year 11 team.

Sports Gear: If you have any soccer or rugby boots that are too small or no longer used, they can be dropped to the Sports Office.

Sports Subs: There is still a large of amount of subs still owing, your urgent attention to this would be appreciated.

Mr Donald Yee

Sports Co-ordinator

                 

Congratulations to …

§       Nuku Harmon, Finn Shepherd, Wiremu Aitken, and Josh Rowlands who have been selected in the Wairarapa Under 15 rugby team. 

G Shepherd

PRINCIPAL