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Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up (Weeks 9 & 10, Term 1)

We are delighted to report news of stellar successes at the National Youth Jazz Competition in Tauranga, and selection for the Wellington Regional Debating teams. In addition we have news from He Kākano, Food Technology and Design and Visual Communication. Students are reminded of the need to register any motorbikes/scooters on campus.

Important Dates

  • Monday 12 April – Board meeting (6pm)
  • Friday 16 April – End of Term 1
  • Monday 3 May — Term 2 starts
  • Wednesday 5 May, 2pm-6pm — Year 11-13 Parent-Teacher conversations. Invitations will be sent out before the holidays. Note that lessons will finish at 1.20pm on this day.
  • Monday 24 May, 2.30pm-6pm — Year 9-10 Parent-Teacher conversations.
  • Friday 4 June — Teacher-Only Day. 

Important Information 

Students’ use of scooters/motorbikes

If senior students ride a scooter/motorbike to school, they must have it registered with us. They need to see Alison Jeffery (Principal’s EA) at school reception to do this, with their licence and vehicle registration details. Students are reminded that it is a privilege to be able to do this and we expect responsible driving. Scooters should stay at school all day unless students have a legitimate reason for leaving school early. Unregistered scooters will receive parking tickets from next term.


What’s happening?

He Tohu for Design and Visual Communication

On Thursday year 12 and 13 DVC classes went to experience He Tohu, the exhibition space housing the Te Tiriti, The Declaration of Independence and the Women’s Suffrage Petition. It was amazing to not only see the original documents but also to experience what Manaakitanga and Wairuatanga can look and feel like in a well considered piece of architecture. We also took a stroll down to Whairepo Lagoon to do our site analysis for our upcoming architecture project and also to have a look at a great local example of Contemporary Māori Architecture, Te Wharewaka o Pōneke.


Food Technology

Year 10 Food Technology have been finishing off their Kai projects which involved designing their own dishes. Tahaawai and Will decided to blend Italian and Māori cuisine, they came up with a very decadent Lemon and Kawakawa Ice cream served with meringue, it was delicious! We have also been learning about the many functions of eggs and creating some very popular chocolate hot cross easter buns! A busy few weeks!


Ugly Shakespeare

Last week some year 9 and 10 students enjoyed a great performance of ‘Romeo and Jules’ courtesy of the Ugly Shakespeare Company. The audience participation was brilliant!


He Kākano

One of our students attended a high ropes course for NZQA credits. He really enjoyed being supported by his peers and learning how to belay and climb safely. The regional AWD event was all go this week with two of our students representing WHS and placing in the running categories. In class, we learned place value in Maths: it’s always great to have an ‘aha’ moment! 


E2E Day 

On 30 March students from schools across Wellington visited WHS for the Employment Careers Event (E2E Day). More than 45 workers from 15 government agencies came on site. This video summarises the event. If interested, the next E2E day takes place at the Michael Fowler Centre on 26 May.


From the Garden

This is the start of the school apple harvest from the tree in the school horticulture garden. The cultivar is ‘Teachers Pet’ and it is on a dwarfing rootstock. Also pictured are the shallots drying for the winter in the tool shed.


Achievements

National Youth Jazz Competition multiple award winners

Two WHS jazz bands took out 8 of the 22 awards on offer at the National Youth Jazz Competition in Tauranga last weekend. This is a phenomenal achievement borne of talent, dedication and a passion for jazz. Congratulations to all involved.

  • Best combo (Mel Stevenson joint winner with Crumply Jack)
  • Best composition (written by the group) 
  • Nico Buhne – best keyboard player
  • Miro Holland – best trumpet player
  • Louis Holland – best trombone player
  • Louis Holland – best overall musician

Crumply Jack are:

  • Jack Harris –  Bass 
  • Louis Holland – Drums 
  • Theo Thompson – Piano (Hutt Valley High School)
  • Eden Brown – Vocals (Palmerston North Girls)

Mel Stevenson are:

  • Louis Holland – Trombone
  • Miro Holland – Trumpet
  • Jack Harris – Saxophone
  • Harry Lentell – Drums
  • Max Ware – Bass
  • Nico Buhne – Piano
  • Theo Thompson (Hutt Valley High School)

Crumply Jack  won best in Festival, arrangement and vocalist

For more information see https://www.nationalyouthjazz.org.nz/


Regional Debating success

WHS debaters have proudly represented at the Wellington Regional competition. The team (Julia Randerson, Corwin Heath-Cameron and Alex Buyck) came second to Onslow in a 4-1 split decision. Julia was named best speaker of the competition and has been selected for a place in one the Wellington Black regional team. For further details see: https://www.facebook.com/nzschoolsdebating/


48Hour Film Festival finalists

In the 2021 48Hour Film Festival, three of our teams have reached the Wellington Finals.

Best School Nominee: Team: Lost Wood Productions (Hazel Perigo-Blackburn, Elsie McAlpine, Sophie Jackson, Ossian Lynch, Billy Healy and Matthew Wood) for their film “Marum Checil”

Best Under 18 Nominee: Team:You be good. I love you. (Brooke McCloy, Leo Wilson, Lee Stanton Barnett and Lewis Thomson) for their film “Erloesung”

Best Under 18 Nominees: team: Bagelhead (Kaia Patton, Violet Cowan, Claire Lynch, Meg Hardie-Boys) for their film “Criminal Activity”.


Sports

WHS volleyball has completed another season! We had 8 teams this year and had a successful season with a few teams coming in the top 3 of their division. It was great to see the senior girls coaching and supporting the junior girls and for the first time in years we have had a junior boys team compete in the Wellington schools league. Well done to all those involved! I look forward to seeing volleyball develop in term 4! 


From the Careers Desk ….

Over this term, we have undertaken a wide range of activities …

  • Seniors – career Quiz to identify areas and jobs of interest – to also have a small conversation point for learning Conversations
  • Engineering visit to Weltec – we took 10 students for the morning to see the range of Engineering options available (trades to degree level options)
  • Government Agencies at WHS – 18 Govt Agencies came to talk about opportunities and pathways in their agencies – many of those who attended, found it really interesting and awareness raising.
  • University visits to WHS from almost all 8 universities – 2 more in early Term 2 (also a visit from Weltec/Whitireia polytechnics about a wide range of trades, pre apprenticeship courses)
  • 1-1 conversations with students

Polytech options

Just a quick reminder that Polytech and many other private providers have courses on offer throughout much of the year and often starting at different times during the year.

The main Polytechnics have many courses starting in June/July that are FREE under either the Fees Free policy or the TTAF scheme (Targetted Training Apprenticeship Fund) which can offer up to 2 years of free training in areas of shortage. Please note that to gain places in these courses, you need to apply in May/June as they are “popular” with young people and many new adults who are looking for a new direction after possibly losing jobs during the height of Covid. For more info, check out ….

https://www.tec.govt.nz/funding/funding-and-performance/funding/fund-finder/targeted-training-and-apprenticeship-fund/

For many of these courses, the entry requirements are either L1 (LIT/NUM) for L2/3 courses or L2 for L3/4 courses.

Students or families interested in finding out more about options could check out …

If you are interested in other options, please contact CHUNI BHIKHA (Careers Advisor)

bac@whs.school.nz