UPPER HUTT COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

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Upper Hutt

College Newsletter

MARCH 2018

Kia ora Parents and Caregivers It’s a pleasure to welcome our students back to the College for another eventful year. A very special welcome to those students and their families/whanau who are new to the college, and especially our Year 9 students. We hope the first few weeks have gone well, and we look forward to watching you grow and flourish at UHC. It’s exciting to welcome a number of new staff to the college: Nick Booth HOF Technology Rachel Clark HOD Art Ashley Thomson Asst. HOF Social Sciences May McFarlane Science Stephanie Fourie Art Catherine Bowles English Vishan Appanna Maths teacher-trainee Chris Campbell Sports Activator Kirsten Hicks Administration Officer We have several important events on this year’s calendar. The opening of Te Manawa Atea is scheduled for Matariki (mid-June), and the dedication of the Memorial Garden will occur when we have finished gathering information from our community. Inside the classroom, teachers are working within a new structure for professional learning, and this will bring changes into how teachers teach (and students learn). We will also be working with the Ministry to develop a 10 Year Property Plan to ensure we have, and are able to use, the full range of resources needed in a modern learning environment. We are all looking forward to an exciting year, focussing on our students and ensuring they are engaged and enjoying their time at college. Judith Taylor Principal

Upcoming Events Tuesday 6 March - GEO101 Fieldtrip to Martinborough Wednesday 7 March - 9OED Water Safety Course Friday 9 March - Youth Responder Course Monday 12 March Attitude Presentations - Health Thursday 15 March GEO301 Fieldtrip to Hutt River Monday 19 March 10JPN Fieldtrip to Wellington Zoo Tuesday 20 March - Academic Assembly Wednesday 21 March – OED201 Tramp Thursday 22 March - BIO201 Fieldtrip Friday 23 March - OED201 Tramp 1 Friday 30 March - Good Friday, Easter Break Wednesday 4 April - Return to school after Easter break Friday 13 April - End of Term 1 Monday 30 April – Teacher Only Day Tuesday 1 May – Start of Term 2

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NCEA Results – 2017 Congratulations to the senior students for their excellent results in NCEA. The NCEA results for 2017 continued the overall pattern of improvement that has been evident for the last few years. Most pleasing were the results for NCEA Level 1, where the pass rate of 84% was the highest it has ever been. At Level 1, our Numeracy and Literacy pass rates were also very pleasing, with at least 93% of students achieving these. At NCEA Level 2, 84% of students seeking this qualification achieved it, and 65% of students who were eligible for NCEA Level 3 achieved it. We were very pleased with the numbers of students who gained Excellence and Merit Endorsements in NCEA Level 1, 2 or 3. NCEA Level 1 with Merit: Simran Ahluwalia, Ana Alves, Ruby Bartlett, Rachel Bennett, Mheiajn Brooks, Alexis Burns, Maxin Cabug, Emily Carr, Maia Coker, Jessica Coombes, Bridget Cummings, Michael Elms, Keenan Fincham, Jared Fisher Van der Veen, Connor Fisk, Samantha Galyer, Zyan Gillies, Hannah Gratkowski, Jacoba Gurney, Sophie Holden, Samuel Huntsman, Mya Johnstone, Benjamin Lamb, Bridget Lindsay, Riomh Marsh, Oliver McMahon, Ben Millin, Shantala Mitchell, Kishan Modi, Paige Phear, Grace Richards, Emily Rodgers, Dakota Scott, Tineesha Smith, Lydia Stewart, Israel Sua-Taulelei, Daline Taing, Liam Toner, Caleb Twist, Indy Van der Mespel, Zoe Ward. NCEA Level 1 with Excellence Jacobus Boshoff, Dean Braun, Kieran Edwards, Victoria Edwards, Nikita Farmer, Isabella Fink, Tiana Fisk, Olivia Healey, Ryan Hooper-Smith, Aria Leader-Fiamatai, Alexander Maitland, Georgina Morgan, Amanda Nato, Annabel Parkinson, Daniel Rickerby, Trinita Sampurno, Aimee Strawbridge, Hannah Tollison, Steven Tran, Sophie Walker. NCEA Level 2 with Merit Louise Afele, Kendra Bennett, Alexis Burgess, Jennifer Cooley, Hayley Cooper, Emma Dawson, Riley Dick, Finnlay Fraser, Abigail Godfrey, Ryan Goldsworthy, Jenna Hadley, Haylee Hailwood-Maddock, Alyssa Hawkins, Kelly Hoong, Jessica Hurren, Philip Joplin, Dayna Lindsay, Claire McCrum, Duart McPhail, Amy Reynecke, Shayla Ritchie, Caitlin Teague, Sarah Thomson, Naomi Tong, Cassidy Venter, Ella Wagstaff, Darcy Walker, Wan Iqbal Wan Ismail. NCEA Level 2 with Excellence Regan Braun, Ryan Cox, Anthony Delaney, Nicholas Elzenaar, Kimberlea Fowke, Katilena Giles, Christie Grocott, Shannyn Harris, Reuben Johnson, Caleb Madgwick, Pravin Modotholi, Hannah Morgan, Piper Morrison, Lochlan Noble, Ameesha Patel, Thomas Rowley, Ryan Thomson, Devin Tonkin, Phoebe Turner, Alexandra Votyakova, Alan Wheatley, Laura Wills. NCEA Level 3 with Merit Emma Browne, Sarah Cooley, Harry Cosslett, Jessica Dillon, Brody Gestro-Peri, Stephanie Hawkins, Hannah Lee, Ambah Lintern, Lauren May, Anna Smart, Rebecca Stewart, Rebecca Thompson, Caroline Young. NCEA Level 3 with Excellence McKenzie Anderson, Abigail Crozier-Evans, Caiden Jacobson, Minnie Kim, Larissa Posthuma.

Contacting the College Phone 527 8749 Email office@upperhutt.school.nz Sports sports@upperhutt.school.nz Absences absences@upperhutt.school.nz College website: www.upperhutt.school.nz Sports website: www.sporty.co.nz/upperhutt Download the Upper Hutt College App - click here or visit the Android or Apple App Store.

Communications Please let us know if you have changed your email address or any other aspect of your contact details. As a lot of information is now emailed home, we want to ensure you receive it. Please contact the office – 04 527 8749 email office@upperhutt.school.nz to help us update our records.

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Student Leaders 2018

Our student leaders for 2018 are:

Phoebe Turner Ryan Thomson Ryan Hooper-Smith Head Girl Head Boy Student Rep on BOT Blake House AJ Wheatley (Head of House), Emma Dawson (Deputy Head of House), Ryan Hooper-Smith, Sophie Dawson, Kishan Modi, Arnia Toheriri, Anna Alves; Year 11 – Ashlee Devaroe, Emoni Falepapalangi, Nathan Bennett; Year 10 – Lil Coslett, Abbie Giles, Jamie Watson, Connor Hume Hillary House Shannyn Harris (Co- Head of House), Darcy Walker (Co-Head of House), Tim Millington, Tane Puru, Nathan Cameron, Mya Johnstone, Indy van der Mespel; Year 11 – Nicholas Estreich, Danica Patterson, Katie Hoffman; Year 10 – Jess Weaver, Shakira Khan, Mackenzie Brewer, Dhanraj Soni Jackson House Piper Morrison (Co-Head of House), Cameron Stevens (Co-Head of House), Zoe Brown, Tiana Fisk, Jovan Jeffries, Dakota Scott, Leiana Rees-Malloch; Year 11 - Wico Botha, Jordan Hammond, Alex Hewitt, Kaitlyn Tapuai; Year 10 - Lydia Johnson-Walker, Caeshlyn Murdoch, Noah Palelei Te Kanawa House Kate Sommers (Co-Head of House), Boston Oliver (Co-Head of House), Dallas Nukunuku, Rochelle Brown, Louise Afele, Aimee Strawbridge, Callie McGregor; Year 11 – Jess Garner, Hollie Hunter, Makenzie Loveridge, Isaiah Mansell; Year 10 – Ashlee McEnirney, Tamzin Richards, Lucy Schofield The student leaders gathered for the 2017 SALT (Service and Leadership Training) Day at the beginning of February. They participated in different workshops where they could think about their leadership and service as school leaders, and how they could develop, plan and implement different projects around the school. This was a very successful day, and the start of a year-long programme aimed at developing their leadership skills.

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Athletics Day 2018 A successful and colourful Athletics Day was enjoyed by students and staff on Friday 23 February (postponed as a result of the tail end of ex-Cyclone Gita). As usual, competition was fierce between the four Houses and after all points were tallied for results and participation, Blake House came out the winners on the day. Top performers were chosen to represent the college at the upcoming Regional Athletics Meet.

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Pink Shirt Day On 1st March, Upper Hutt College celebrated Pink Shirt Day. This day has been a worldwide event throughout schools since 2007, and was inspired by a group of students who stood up for someone. In America, a ninth grader boy wore a pink shirt on the first day of school, and was bullied and ridiculed for it. Two seniors found out about it and decided to take action. The next day a large group of students wore pink shirts to support him. Since then UHC and other schools have celebrated this day every year to support a bully-free environment. On Pink Shirt Day our Year 13’s came dressed up in pink and each brought some food, inviting our Year 9’s to a shared lunch. It was great to see the Year 13’s acknowledging this day and what it meant, as well as getting to know the Year 9’s and making them feel a part of our community. This year, Head Girl Phoebe Turner led a group of students in the Year 13 Pink Shirt Day Flash Mob.

Check out this link: Year 13 Pink Shirt Day Flash Mob 2018

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Sporting Successes Congratulations to the following students for their recent sporting successes:

Brad Carson (Year 13) who has been selected Tamatoa Te Wano (Year 13) has been in the New Zealand Junior Black Sox (Softball) selected to trial for the New Zealand team to attend the World Series in Canada Under 18 Touch team. He is also a this year. Member of the Wellington Under 18 Boys Touch team.

Rakkhan Chalmers-Miller (Year 12) (Wellington Under 16 boys) and Lucy Sommers (Year 13) (Wellington Under 18 girls) competed in their various Wellington Touch Tournaments over the holidays

Important Information – Late start on Fridays The Board of Trustees has reinstated a late start on Friday mornings to give time for teacher professional learning (TPL). One of the key focus areas of our Strategic Plan is around teacher quality and capability, and we are building on the work of the last few years in improving teacher practice and therefore improving student outcomes. In order for teachers to have the time to work on key identified areas, an hour on Friday mornings will be used for TPL and school will start one hour later. Details are:

Starting time on Fridays will be 10am. All other days remain the same. There will be 4 periods in the day – no formtime.

There will be 4 periods on Fridays and no formtime; a rotation system will operate so that no subject is disadvantaged in terms of subjects being missed. Students will know well in advance which period would not be operating on any particular Friday.

Due to changes in the buses, we are unable to modify the school bus timetable in the morning. It will run at the same time as every other day, and students who arrive will be able to use the Library for early morning study. We encourage students to use the public bus system.

The Late starts will begin on Friday 16 March and will run through terms 1 – 3, excluding exam periods and other specific days. Late starts will not occur in Term 4.

We thank you in advance for your assistance and understanding.

Moulin Rouge

This year the Dance Department is branching out into the world of musical theatre! Forming the framework for our Year 13 senior dancers, we are proud to announce that this year we will be putting on a condensed version of ‘Moulin Rouge’! Mr Ed Blunden has fortunately agreed to come on as director and many other staff have offered up their time and talent to this performance. We have already held auditions for acting and singing roles and have moved into choreographic rehearsals. Soon the actors will begin to rehearse their key scenes and work will commence on our ‘spectacular’ set!

Our dancers, actors, singers and all the teachers who have banded together to make this happen are keen to see as many supporters as we can at the production. Tickets will be made available closer to the end of the term.

Moulin Rouge will be presented on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 May, in the College Hall. Due to the content of the musical itself, it is not really advisable that small children attend but we would love to see parents, grandparents, friends and extended family coming to see our performance. It is guaranteed to be a magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzlement. It will be a Spectacular Spectacular!

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PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) Positive Behaviour for Learning Schoolwide (PB4L) was launched at Upper Hutt College last year. This exciting programme focusses on the promotion and celebration of our four key values of Respect, Resilience, Manaakitanga, and Responsibility. One crucial element to the programme is the recognition of students through a stamp and card system. For parents and caregivers of students new to the school, it would be great if you could speak to your child and ask them to explain this. At the end of the first week of the programme a number of students had their superb efforts recognised through a voucher distributed by their Head of House. Feel free to discuss this

programme with any staff member.

Upper Hutt City Council Youth Ambassador Exchange Programme to Mesa, Arizona, USA. Upper Hutt City Council is offering two Year 12 or 13 students the opportunity to participate in an exchange to Upper Hutt's sister city, Mesa in Arizona, USA. Two Upper Hutt students will host two students from Mesa, for three weeks in June 2018. The Upper Hutt students will then travel to Mesa and be hosted by the same students – a true exchange. This exchange is the opportunity of a lifetime, allowing students to experience life in the third largest city in Arizona, visit local attractions and spend 3 weeks with an American family. During their time in Mesa, schools will be on their summer break. The exchange is designed to enable any Upper Hutt student who meets the selection criteria, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances, to participate. As a consequence of this accessibility, it is necessary that the applicant has the full support of their family, and that their family is prepared to invest time and effort into the hosting. Two applicants will be selected, and they and their families will work together as a group, with the guidance of the Upper Hutt City Co-coordinator and Upper Hutt College, to organise a programme for the Mesa students when they arrive in Upper Hutt. It is anticipated that the Mesa students may attend Upper College classes for up to 10 days with their host student. If you would like further information, please email Karen Huaki-Feaver, the Principal’s PA, huaki-feaverk@upperhutt.school.nz IMPORTANT DATES Sunday 27 May: American students arrive. Sunday 17 June: American students depart. Sunday 24 June: Two Upper Hutt College students depart for Mesa, Arizona. Sunday 15 July: Upper Hutt College students begin the return trip to New Zealand

Memorial Garden Work has nearly been completed on the Memorial Garden, a joint project between the Board and the Student Council. The Gardening Club has been instrumental in developing the Garden, spending many hours in planting, tending and maintaining the area. The Garden has long been a part of the School’s Development Plan, and it will commemorate students and staff who passed away while still at school, or shortly after leaving. If you have any information that could help us develop a list of such names, please contact Karen Huaki-Feaver, Principal’s PA.

Te Manawa Atea Work continues on preparing for the opening of Te Manawa Atea, scheduled for Matariki. Shortly we will be starting the development of the inside of Te Manawa while we wait for Upper Hutt City Council consent for work on the kitchen and bathroom areas.

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General Information

Parent Parking & Vehicle Access We would like to remind parents who enter the school grounds to drop off or pick up their children, that the main school driveway is ONE-WAY ONLY, travelling from Moonshine Road to Hikurangi Street.

There are specially marked visitor parks and a Mobility carpark outside the A Block Office area

Other carparks are available for visitors in this carpark area

PLEASE NOTE – A number of buses use this area to drop off and pick up students before and after school. If you are in this area at this time, you are likely to experience delays in waiting for the buses. At this time, please be mindful of the safety of students who are using the buses, and do NOT pass the buses, which are required to wait in the middle of this road area.

Thank you for your assistance with this.

Supporting your student To ensure that a strong start is made to the beginning of the year, there are several things that parents can do.

Make sure that your son/daughter is at school, on time, every day, in their correct uniform and with the books and equipment they need for learning that day. Our own results show that students who have even 10% of time away from the classroom are unlikely to be successful with NCEA.

Encourage and show an interest in what they are doing – talk about how things are going at school, make sure that homework is completed and that due dates for assessments are noted and worked towards. Come along to events at school – Parent-Teacher Evenings, Learning Conferences etc

Discuss and encourage them to get involved in sports and cultural activities and come along to support and cheer them along.

If you have any concerns or queries about your son/daughter’s progress, please don’t hesitate to contact the college. The first point of contact is usually the form teacher - please ensure that you know their name. All teachers can be contacted by email, in the form: surname.initial@upperhutt.school.nz eg taylorj@upperhutt.school.nz

Students working We know that many students have jobs – after school, in the evenings and holidays – and we recognise the importance of this as part of developing skills, earning money and learning responsibility. Please note though, that students under 16 are not permitted (by law) to work during school hours, and all students enrolled at school are required to be at school during the school day. Working, or travelling to an after-school job, should not take place during school time. Communicating with the college The Upper Hutt College App is a great tool we use to give quick and up-to-date notifications about activities at school. It allows parents/caregivers to notify absences and with a link to the Kamar portal, parents/caregivers and students can track NCEA credits. You can also sign up for alerts for as many sports groups and school events as needed, and then you’ll receive sports notifications, cancellation notices and reminders of events at school. Download it for free at your Apple iTunes store or Google Apps store or click here for quick access.

School Emergency Procedures The school has procedures in place in the event of emergencies such as fires, lock-downs, and earthquakes. We regularly practise for these various scenarios. If such an emergency were to occur:

Students and staff will assemble on the tennis courts by Moonshine Road

The school is able to provide short term shelter, water, food, and toileting facilities from the tennis courts location.

If students are still at school in the evening, all remaining students and staff will relocate to Trentham School, 400 metres down Moonshine Road, as this is a Civil Defence Centre.

The Principal and Senior Leadership team will remain until all students are collected.

Information will be made available on the school website if possible, or by ‘push notification’ through the Upper Hutt College App.

All parents of Year 9 or new students sign a Civil Defence form upon enrolment, either granting permission for their child to be released or requiring them to stay at school until they are collected. If you would like to update your preference, please contact the school. Please talk with your children about what they are to do in an emergency – your Family Emergency Plan. As family circumstances change and your children get older, the Plan will also change. Make sure everyone knows what to do if a major event occurs during the school day