Week 5, Term 1 | 2023

WORD FROM MS ADDISON

Kia ora, e te whānau - parents, caregivers and families of Whitby Collegiate,

On Tuesday night, we welcomed our parent and caregiver community to the school for the first of many engagement opportunities we anticipate throughout the year. We were delighted with the large turnout, and it was a pleasure to formally welcome everyone to the hall where they were greeted by Mr John Fiso, Chair of the Proprietor’s Board, and Her Worship the Mayor, Anita Baker.

Connecting teachers with families is a crucial strategy to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students, and we are grateful to the parent’s association for doing an amazing job in organizing the refreshments and ensuring the event's success.

We are looking forward to the numerous ways parents can participate in and support the school, and Mr Tim Green from the Whitby Collegiate Foundation outlined the opportunities available.

At assembly today, we acknowledged student achievements and recognised our Athletics Day Champions. This year, a large number of records were broken, and we look forward to these athletes representing our school at inter-school athletics. While summer sports are coming to an end, we are thrilled to see an increase in the number of different codes our students have been involved with this year.

Throughout the year, we will offer a range of academic extension opportunities for our students through our gifted and talented program, including the Otago University Junior Maths Challenge and Problem Solving Challenge, Canterbury University Kiwi Maths Competition, Tournament of Minds, NIWA Science Fair, EPro8 (Engineering), ICAS Exams (Maths, Science, and English), World Scholars Cup, Kiwibots Competition (Robotics), and Education Perfect International Languages Awards, to name a few. Senior students will also have extended opportunities for Scholarship exam preparation from Term 2.

We also value the opportunity for our students to showcase their leadership skills, and we were delighted with the number of both senior and junior students who participated fully in the recent GRIP leadership workshops held in the city. We enjoy seeing how students develop these skills over their time at Whitby Collegiate and how they can make a difference in the school and the community.

Ngā mihi nui,

Shelley Addison
Executive Principal

DEPUTIES’ UPDATES

From the Deputy Principal (Academics)

Kia ora e te whānau o Whitby Collegiate,

As we are now at the middle of Term 1, our senior students are finding themselves beginning their first assessments for the year. While some of these assessments are Internals, others may be formative assessments and practise for the NCEA external examinations at the end of the year. On Monday, all senior students will receive access to the live Assessment Planners for all subjects, copies of which will be found on the school website whitbycollegiate.school.nz/assessment. These planners will help students with their forward planning; however students are still required to meet milestones set by individual teachers in advance of these due dates.

Every year all senior students in Years 10-13, and their parents/caregivers, must read and sign the NCEA Assessment Policy and Procedures. A hard copy of this Policy is found in all Student Planners, and was emailed home today. Please make sure this is completed via this electronic link https://form.jotform.com/whitbyenrol/ncea-assessment-policy as soon as possible. 

Students and Parents/Caregivers are encouraged to ensure they have access to the KAMAR portal, please see instructions here. Our community is able to access our school calendar directly from both the KAMAR web portal and the app. You can also subscribe to our calendar, with the instructions at the end of the newsletter.

Ngā mihi,

Debbie Mitchell
debbie.mitchell@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

From the Deputy Principal (Pastoral and Wellbeing)

Tēnā koutou e te whānau o Whitby Collegiate,

It was lovely to meet members of our Whitby Collegiate whānau on Tuesday evening. It was also humbling to see such a wonderful turnout and a great opportunity to get to know our parent community better. 

Our students continue to represent our school well during extracurricular activities and this week, Miss Ting and I had the privilege of taking students to the annual GRIP Leadership Conference at Pipitea Marae. The event provided a valuable opportunity for our student leaders to exchange ideas and gain insights on effective leadership strategies.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking my Level 2 Biology class to Plimmerton beach for their ecology field study. I appreciate the diligence, hard work ethic and commitment to excellence each of these students showed during their investigative work - It’s moments like these that make me grateful for my role as a teacher.

Next Monday evening, our Pasifika families gather together to gain more of an insight as to how our students are progressing in their overall learning and in the extracurricular activities they participate in. I look forward to catching up with our Pasifika parents and grandparents on Monday.

I will continue to encourage our students to always have an attitude of gratitude, show kindness and genuine care always, and to use their support systems effectively to make the most of every opportunity. Please do feel free to email me if you have any questions or want to give feedback on how your son/daughter is finding school. 

Have a wonderful weekend and God bless.

Ainslie Sauvao

UPCOMING EVENTS

Term 1 Activities/Events (Week 6)

Key dates are located on the website calendar. Please check for your activities. Subscribe to the Whitby Collegiate calendar from the school website calendar page here by clicking the button that reads “subscribe to this calendar”.

SCHOOL NEWS

GRIP Leadership Conferences

JUNIOR
"On Tuesday, some of our junior students went to the GRIP Leadership Conference. The event had lots of fun games, challenges and quizzes. The winners and participants were rewarded with cool badges! Through all the fun, we had the great opportunity to learn and experience how to become better and more effective leaders. The conference taught us how to be confident, how to help others and how to implement our ideas. They taught us how great leaders listened to their peers and put them first. We really enjoyed the opportunity and other students would be lucky to go. This was a really enjoyable and educational experience!"

Written by Siddhi, Bella, Isabela and Faith

SENIOR
A group of senior students had the opportunity to participate in the GRIP Student Leadership Conference on Monday, joining over 200 other student leaders from various schools throughout the North Island. The event provided a valuable opportunity for these students to exchange ideas and gain insights on effective leadership strategies. The students expressed their enthusiasm about implementing new initiatives and organising exciting school events in the upcoming academic year, inspired by what they learned at the conference. Overall, it was a productive and fulfilling experience for everyone involved!

ALUMNI NEWS

On the back of 100% NCEA results and 100% University Entrance rates, Sam Sexton, Head Boy at Whitby Collegiate in 2022, has achieved outstanding academic success at the Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania. Sam is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Maritime Energy and has been awarded the Australian Maritime College Outstanding Achiever Scholarship.

Sam's academic achievements are truly remarkable, having achieved an outstanding 104 excellent credits at NCEA Level 3, and an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) of 99.25. His results place him in the top 0.75% of high school students across Australia, making him an exceptional achiever in his field of study.

The Australian Maritime College Outstanding Achiever Scholarship is awarded to students who have achieved exceptional academic results and demonstrated a strong commitment to the maritime industry. The scholarship provides financial assistance to support Sam's studies and will help him achieve his career goals.

Sam is a testament to the value of hard work, dedication and perseverance, and his academic achievements reflect his unwavering commitment to excellence. His success is a testament to the quality of education provided by Whitby Collegiate, and the support and guidance he received from his teachers and mentors. He is an inspiration to young people everywhere, demonstrating that with hard work and determination, anything is possible. His achievement is a source of pride for his family, friends, and the entire community of Whitby Collegiate.

Thanks from the Parents’ Association

It was wonderful to see so many parents and caregivers enjoy the great weather and beautiful surroundings of Whitby Collegiate on Tuesday night for our Parents Meet and Greet BBQ.  

I would like to thank the Parents’ Association team and other parents of our school community who volunteered their time into making the evening such a success. Special thanks to Arlaina Loibl for the hours of work she put in behind the scenes to bring the evening together.

Sue Payne
Chair, Parents’ Association

From the Whitby Collegiate Foundation

Kia ora parent community

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the school BBQ this week. As we said on Tuesday, we are always looking out for parents who can make a contribution to the school, and one avenue for that is the Whitby Collegiate Foundation. The Foundation aims to provide funding for the school building programme and other innovations, as well as scholarships and bursaries so that more children are able to benefit from the Whitby Collegiate experience.

If you have expertise that could be of benefit to the school, we’d love you to let us know. This could be by way of “in kind” support through your business or profession; by volunteering to join the Foundation Board; or by suggesting businesses and other organisations in our community who may want to become financial sponsors.

We’d love to hear from those who are happy to help, and have attached an expression of interest form below so you can let us know your interest.

We very much look forward to hearing from you.

Tim Green
Chair, Foundation Board

Get involved with the Whitby Collegiate Foundation or Parents’ Association

Fill out the online forms to express your interest to get involved with the Whitby Collegiate Foundation or Parents' Association.

• Foundation

• Parents' Association

SPORTS UPDATE

Join the Whitby Collegiate Sport Facebook Group

Keep up to date with all Whitby Collegiate sport news, draws & results, achievements, and LIVE updates at facebook.com/groups/whitbycollegiatesport

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

We love to celebrate our students’ achievements. For inclusion in the Whitby Collegiate newsletter or on our Facebook page, please forward student achievements to communications@whitbycollegiate.school.nz and sporting results to the Sports Coordinator, sally.rose@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

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