Parent Newsletter – Term 2 Week 9: Wednesday 26th June, 2019

Tēnā koutou It’s been interesting talking with Year 9 and 10 students this week about their exams. The first time they’ve experienced assessment like this for most of them. They were nervously excited. For years, I thought that exams like I sat at school were going to die a natural death - they generally test recall of knowledge which is at our fingertips now due to technology - then NZQA talked about digital exams with a change in focus, which made sense. Greymouth High School has been at the forefront of working with NZQA to develop such exams. The current national review of NCEA is proposing that about half of all student assessments for NCEA are “external” (marked by someone not at school) and it’s not yet clear whether this will be in traditional exam format. My thinking now is that exams do test other qualities, such as resilience (very few people like exams and they test our ability to deal with a complex challenge) and self-management (mostly independent study, planning and getting to the exam prepared). These are some of the essential skills we value for school leavers. So exams are here to stay; hopefully as a relatively small proportion of students’ assessments of learning, and our junior exams provide a chance to learn the discipline required for success. We have just received our confirmed report from NZQA about the quality of our assessment - our “Managing National Assessment” review report. I’m pleased to say that this was a very positive report, confirming that our assessment procedures and marking are effective and standardised. For example if we give a student a Merit, it is a Merit. There were minor suggestions for improvement which are being acted on. Thanks to Mr Scott Bermingham, Deputy Principal, for his handling of this review and the system he’s leading to ensure ongoing quality of assessment and thanks to our teaching team for their diligence in marking and moderation. Please don’t forget this Thursday’s Paid Union Meeting, 27 June, meaning no classes in the afternoon (but buses will run as usual). Noho ora mai Mr England Principal

Thursday 27th June - PPTA Paid Union Meeting Normal classes periods 1-4. Buses run at start and end of the day as normal. (See Page 2 for more details)

Important Dates Thursday 27th June: PPTA

Paid Union Meeting. See details on Page 2.

What’s inside… Front page: From the

Principal.

Page 2: School Calendar / PPTA Paid Union Meeting details.

Page 3: Student Achievement / GHS PTA Raffle / Drink bottles.

Pages 4-5: School News.

Pages 6-7: Careers Education & Guidance news.

Pages 7-9: Sporting News.

Page 9: Rotary Bookarama.

Page 10: GHS Variety Show / Freaky Friday - last days, 27, 28, 29 June. Don’t miss out.

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School Calendar

Monday 24 – Friday 28 June Junior Exam Week.

Tuesday 2 July LATE START: 9.00am Period 1.

Friday 5 July End of Term 2.

Monday 22 July Start of Term 3.

Tuesday 23 July. LATE START: 9.00am Period 1.

Wednesday 24 July WCSS Badminton.

Thursday 25 July U15 Rugby v John Paul II High School.

Friday 26 July West Coast Science Fair, Greymouth High School Library.

Student Absences: 0800 GREYHIGH (0800 473 944)

Email: attendance@greyhigh.school.nz

Uniform Shop Hours 1.45pm to 4.45pm – Tuesday and Thursday.

Greymouth High School Parent Teacher Association Meetings Come and join us. We warmly welcome and invite our parents/caregivers along to the Greymouth High School PTA meetings. Meetings are held every 2nd Wednesday of each month, except during school holidays, @ 7.00pm in the staffroom.

Dates are as follows unless otherwise advised:

July – No meeting 14 August 11 September October – No meeting 13 November

Thursday 27 June – PPTA Paid Union Meeting

Normal classes periods 1-4.

At lunchtime, students may go home or stay at school to be supervised Period 5

by non-union members.

Period 5, students on site go to the Library to check in.

Buses run at the start and end of the day as normal.

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Student Achievement

Principal’s Awards This is an accumulative list of all students who have achieved Principal’s Awards this year. Recent awards are in bold.

Year 9 Cohen Blyth Josh Costello Kaede Cowan Kaleb Holdem

Wil Van der Geest x 2 Chassis Wildbore Jessica Boyd x 3 Tyrone Perring

Nikalai Duffell Anya Williams Miller Anderson Caitlin Williams

Emily Ross Jamielee Sanson Isa Shahril Caleb Poulton

Arly Bellis Bryce De Klerk Koda Henderson x 3 Lilly Shuter x 3

Caitlyn Hamilton x 2 Samantha Hoy x 3 Ella Mahuika Caleb Hooper

Jessica Beckford x 2 Charlotte Allison x 3 Liam Belcher Kaine Mallett

Ty Wall x 2 Bridget Fowler Richard Meek x 2 Caitlyn Gallant

Year 10 Jamie Meihana-Whittle Ben Oates Liam Wilson Collin Maritz

Kyle Hsieh Archie Johnstone Jessica Stechman Tierley Wilson

Calib Arneson Tairyn Romana Tasman Cook Dillon Cooksley

Lillie Bennett-Dewhurst Ella Beirne Jayden Topliss Kaylee Stone x 2

Kaley Christie x 2 Matthew Davey Finlay Brown x 3 Adrian Bullimore x 2

Fern Richards Finn Elford x 2 Prakriti Dhakal Sophie Donaldson x 2

Seetai Barrow x 2 Catrin Grant x 3 Siobhan Ellis x 3 Blake Evans

James Crooks Hayley Howard Jimmy Gully MacKenzie Hallberg x 2

James Froom Jack South Paris Jackson-Roberts x 2 Eilish Morgan x 2

Kobe Hewison x 2 Shialla Steel Jahvarn Dunlea Kayne Wall

Liliana Smit x 2

Year 11

Peter Bradley-Kee Courtney Coram Max Fountain Georgia Milne

Hamish Baker Billie-Rayne McMillan

Greymouth High School PTA Raffle The school PTA will be running a raffle next week. If you can spare an hour anytime on any of the three days listed, it will be much appreciated.

Saturday 29th June

Thursday 4th July, and Saturday 6th July

If you are able to help us please add your name by following this link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1202Ar00Hes42AArGmEOsyao0ytL-

xfy58lumMFFNrQo/edit?ts=5d08a445

Thank you for your support Greymouth High School PTA

Drink Bottles Parents, please remind your son/daughter to bring their drink bottles to school. Our heating system is working extra well and classrooms are warmer. The mornings are colder but students still need to bring their drink bottles to school. There are plenty of places that they can refill during the day.

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School News

Senior Te Reo Class

Tēnā koutou, Last week we, the senior Te Reo class, went to Nelson to learn about Taonga Puoro from practitioners in the arts of taonga Puoro (traditional Māori instruments). This included visiting Nelson Provincial Museum with a kōrero from Bob Bickerton and Visiting Brian Flintoff at his studio. It was an incredible opportunity to learn from masters and to see the variety of taonga and also have the chance to play many different taonga, while learning all the history in which taonga puoro came from. It was incredible.

We also took the opportunity to visit NMIT to learn about future pathways for us Māori students. It was a very positive experience and gave us an insight to potential career pathways.

In the future we hope to have more learning opportunities like this. It was the boom diggity. It was like the salt to the boil up and the butter to the fried bread.

Mauri Ora, Senior Te Reo Class

Maths Department The Australian Mathematics Competition, run by the Australian Mathematics Trust, attracts more than 250,000 entries from more than 30 countries each year. This year it will take place on Thursday 1 August and is open to all students, year 9 to 13. Please see your maths teacher or email Mrs Cropp (croppf@greyhigh.school.nz) if you are interested in taking part.

New Zealand Police – 105 Non Emergency NZ Police recently launched a new non-emergency number, 105. We’ve done this to make it easier to get hold of us in the event of non-urgent situations or ‘Things which have Already Happened’, which don’t require Police assistance immediately.

You can call us on 105 for all non-emergencies, or you can go online at105.police.govt.nz to report things like: - Lost property - Theft for a public place or car - Intentional property damage - Or to get an update or add info to a previous report

In the event of an emergency, always call 111 - Things that are Happening Now.

Vast Dance The Australasian Premiere of Disney’s ‘Freaky Friday’ has been showcasing the past week on the dates of 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June by the Operatic Society. In this premiere, Greymouth High School has a range of students that are included in this show with roles of actors, make-up artists, ushers, backstage crew and the orchestra. The opening night of “Freaky Friday” we had additional ushers to escort the invited guests, as they arrived in the classic cars. So far, the show has had a fashionable amount of audience members in the crowd with nearly a full house on some dates! Greymouth High Schools Vast Dance members are fundraising for their Vast Dance Festival held in Nelson on the 14th-16th August 2019 by ushering for the show. Our ushers have been dressed up

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professionally with costumes and make-up to assist the audience members in. The comments from the production, members, assistance of staff at The Regent Theatre Greymouth has been splendid! If you think you have missed out on this premiere… don’t worry because he Australian Premiere of Disney’s ‘Freaky Friday’ is still continuing for another three nights! The dates for the upcoming shows are Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and Saturday 29th of June. Make sure you get your tickets very quickly before they sell out, you don’t want to miss this!

For another fundraiser for our Vast Dance Students we will be holding dance workshops in the Term 2 school holidays for Primary school students. These workshops will be on Wednesday 10th and Wednesday 17th of July, 10:30am - 12:30pm in Coxon Hall. The workshop for the participants are $10 each.

Ellie Brown Year 12

Hospitality Thank you to the group of year 11 hospitality students who produced a meal for their parents/ caregivers and whanau. Last Tuesday night, 18 June, a group pf parents experienced an evening meal in the Technology block. Thank you to all who came and enjoyed the evening; your students and I appreciate your support.

Whaea Erin

2019 Junior Exam Arrangements and Timetable - Monday 24 - Friday 28 June ● P1 exams: Go straight to the Hall. You need to be there by 8.40am lined up in your mentor classes (do not

go to mentor). ● P2+4 Exams: You will walk to the Hall with your P1/3 teacher 10 minutes before the start of the exam. ● P3 Exams: You need to be at the Hall by 11.05am lined up in your mentor classes ● P5 Exams: You need to be at the Hall by 1.50pm lined up in your mentor classes ● There will be no assembly in Week 9. ● Chromebooks must be fully charged. Please bring pens. Cellphones are to stay in bags at the front of the

room.

Year 9

Day Period Subject Notes

Wednesday 26th June 2 English Reading Digital Exam - Charged Chromebooks required

Wednesday 26th June 3 Maths Pen, pencil, ruler, calculator required

Thursday 27th June 1 NZL (2) Digital Exam - Charged Chromebooks required

Friday 28th June 4 Science Pen, pencil, ruler required

Year 10

Day Period Subject Notes

Wednesday 26th June 4 English Reading Digital Exam - Charged Chromebooks required

Wednesday 26th June 5 Maths Pen, pencil, ruler, calculator required

Thursday 27th June 5 Science Pen, pencil, ruler required

Friday 28th June 1 GBL (2) Digital Exam - Charged Chromebooks required

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Careers Education & Guidance

Applications are open!

Applications for Year 13 students to apply for University of Canterbury 2020 scholarships are now open.

Even with the fees-free scheme, there are still a lot of costs students and their whānau need to cover when it comes to tertiary education. Please encourage your students to apply for the scholarships, grants, and awards we have on offer.

The closing date for most scholarship applications is 15 August 2019.

Our range of scholarships can be found either on our website or by downloading a copy of our Fund Your Studies brochure. If you would like copies of this brochure please let us know and we will get some in the post for you.

Each scholarship has different eligibility criteria (eg, subject/course, level, citizenship, age, gender, ethnicity, school, region, etc), so it's important that your students check the details to see if they meet the criteria.

Steps to help your students apply

1. Create a myUC account This is our online portal and the entry point for anyone considering studying at UC. Click here to create an account.

2. Go to the UC Prospective Students Scholarships Portal Click here to be taken to the portal. From there they need to click the red 'Apply' button which takes them back to myUC.

3. Log back into their myUC account They'll now be directed to the scholarships application page.

Our advice

Students should apply for all the scholarships they are eligible for as it's often possible to hold more than one scholarship. Scholarships are very competitive so it's important they stand out from the crowd. Encourage them to take the time to write an application that reflects all of their achievements and involvement.

If you have any questions or have students needing assitance please do not heistate to get in contact by either replying to this email or calling 0800 VARSITY (0800 827 748). Ngā mihi UC Liaison Team | Te Rōpū Takawaenga University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140 New Zealand Free call: 0800 VARSITY or phone: +64 3 364 2555

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Careers - 2019 Liaison Visits and other Activities of interest

Date Provider Venue Time Monday 9th September University of

Canterbury – Course Planning

Library 9.50 am (P2)

Models required for training purposes – Cuts/Blow waves. Must have time on their hands. Contact Artico Hair Ltd, Phone: 768 5427.

Sporting News

U15s Rugby vs Darfield High School - Wednesday 19th June On almost the shortest day of the year, the Greymouth High School U15s boys’ rugby team travelled over the passes to Darfield High School to take on their opposite numbers. The weather was fine, although chilly and ground conditions were dry, which allowed for very fast open rugby. The game started at a fast pace with both teams scoring until the very well drilled Darfield team hit their straps and began to control the play. Our team held out numerous attacks but eventually the pressure and structure of the Darfield team broke down our defences and the flood gates opened up. FINAL SCORE: 10 - 55 to Darfield. Although the scoreline was large there were many positives for our side. We had gone to a very strong rugby region and player for player they were a match for the Darfield boys. It was just the structure, set piece and control of the game that let our team down at times. With more training in the set piece, and with a better understanding of how to win the battles within the game our team will be very competitive against the traditional rugby stronghold teams.

Player of the day was difficult to pick with so many players who never gave an inch, but this went to Reuben Taylor who played very well on attack and defence. All in all it was a pretty good second outing for the U15 Team. They will be looking forward to getting more games under their belts in the build up to the South Island Secondary Schools’ Rural Livestock Tournament with the Tri Series against Westland High and John Paul II Schools.

Thank you to Coach Tom McGirr and Manager Matt Belcher for their great work with this team; and to the few supporters we had on the sideline. It is always lovely to have some home support for you when playing away.

1st XV Rugby vs Darfield High School - Wednesday 19th June Once again it was on the bus for the 1st XV Rugby Team, this time travelling with the U15s side to Darfield. This trip we played our last game in the Brockbank Graves Series which included Westland, Buller, Ellesmere, Kaikoura and Darfield High Schools. Kickoff was at 1.00pm that followed the U15 game. It started off with a great amount of excitement with Levi Pascoe running through tackles like his usual powerful self to get the first points of the game. Jack Coleman (JPII student) was not to be outdone by his forward pack team mate, he also proved to be too strong and quick getting in for our second pushing use out to an early 10 point lead. Darfield came back strong getting in three tries, all converted by their accurate kicker. Connor Howe, after playing in the U15 game was straight on the pitch for the 1st XV and was a quick runner on the right wing taken some heavy hits but had the great

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mind set to center grubber kicks for the team to pick up. Aiden Rihari had the last say of the half, getting in for Greymouth’s third try and Pascoe added the extras. HALF TIME: 17 - 21 Pascoe was in once again to make it a double shrugging off at least 5 defenders to go in at the corner. He had multiple powerful runs throughout the game. Darfield dug deep and again went in for another three tries, two of which were converted. However, our boys weren’t quite finished - Riley Pascoe put in a huge punt from within our 22. Rihari chased hard and with a favourable bounce he picked up a great ball which put Brett Rees (JPII student) into a great gap; but he did have a bit of work to do to get across that line! FINAL SCORE: 29 - 40 to Darfield. The 1st XV had the game for the taking but a few errors allowed Darfield right back in and ultimately taking the win. This was a great final hit out for the 1st XV in what was an excellent series of games. The team was self-motivated and committed which made life for our Coach Scott Bermingham easy, having so many players wanting to be in the mix. A huge thank you to Rob Maitland who came in many of lunchtimes to train the boys, especially around the set piece and breakdowns. The improvements were seen both on and off the field from the team. Their final game of 2019 will be against the Senior Nelson College Boarders team in October where we have the annual Matt Gunter Memorial. The U15 team will also be in action on this day allowing for a great double fixture to celebrate Matt’s life - more details to follow closer to the time.

West Coast Secondary Schools’ Junior Netball Tournament - Thursday 20th June A freezing cold day down at the ANZAC Netball Courts greeted our Junior Netball Team to take on Westland, John Paul, Buller and the Combined Reefton and South Westland Area Schools teams. The wind was not kind and for those who play indoor each weekend it was a rude awakening to the outdoor conditions that we could face at the Junior South Island Secondary Schools’ Tournament. The tournament was a round robin format that had 7 minute quarters which made for some quick fast action! Our first game was against Westland, in super windy and cold conditions, Yana Latta shot at 86%, Ella Mahuika 74% and Shialla Steel who came on for a quarter shot at 100% - this was a very impressive from these young ladies! We took the win convincingly 29 - 11. Game 2 we took on old foes John Paul II, we had a blinder of a first quarter 7 - 1, second made for a lot of back and forth 3 - 3, third we capitalised on possession winning 5 - 2 and the final quarter was a tight 5 - 5. It was a great start that allowed for the girls to hold the lead, Final score 20 - 11. Game 3 we took on the combined Reefton and South Westland team, an outstanding start with Latta scoring 12 in a row and only missing one in that quarter allowed for us to take an impressive Final score win 30 - 3. Game 4 was against Buller. We had a large break between the third and fourth games which may have been to our detriment with the girls cooling down a lot and testing their concentration. We started off with a bang going out to a 5 - 2 lead and Buller just pulled it back within one point going into the break. Second quarter Buller came out strong winning 3 - 7, third quarter we equalised 5 - 5 then against Buller put on the afterburners 3 - 7. Buller took the win 16 - 23. Final places came down to point differential with Greymouth, Buller and John Paul II all sitting on 3 wins, 1 loss. John Paul took the top spot, followed by Greymouth, 3rd Buller, 4th Westland and 5th Reefton/South Westland. Full results below. Thank you to Miss Dickson for assisting me today managing the team while I coached, also to our student umpires from Greymouth High School: Jenna Williams, Jessie Trevathan and Zahne Nel, and to the other volunteer umpires on the day. It was a great day of netball minus the freezing cold, the team was in good spirits and it was a fantastic lead into the Junior South Island Secondary Schools’

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Netball Tournament that will be happening on the first week of the school holidays. Looking forward to seeing how you go team.

Maddy Crawford Sports Coordinator

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