Week 6, Term 1 | 2021

WORD FROM MS ADDISON

This week we recognised our student leaders at the formal commissioning assembly and were delighted at the number of parents who joined us in the celebration, along with special guest Mr John Fiso the Chair of the Proprietor’s Board who addressed the students, and Danielle Leslie representing the Parents Advisory Board. It is the aim of Whitby Collegiate to develop students to lead with excellence and integrity while they build community, personally flourish and act in a positive and socially responsible manner. We want to see students taking an active role in their education and wider school life and develop positive skills in the process.

Through a robust process of application, interview, public address, staff and student validation, we are confident that the group of student leaders for 2020 will importantly uphold the values of Whitby Collegiate. We further developed their roles and responsibilities at the Year 13 Camp and have implemented a "portfolio" approach to the leadership roles. 

We congratulate the 2020 student leadership team of:

Prefects

Sport Captains - Jorja-Mae Knight and Joseph Sime
Jorja-Mae and Joseph have the sport portfolio and have been actively engaged in promoting the opportunities for students to be involved in a wide range of sports and activities at lunchtimes. We have the largest number of sports teams ever involved at Whitby Collegiate and look forward to seeing sport at the school continue to grow.

House Leaders - Daniel Grieve (Resolution), Ethan Makay (Discovery), Thomina Mackay-Freeman (Endeavour), Jorja-Mae Knight (Adventure)
This group of prefects are charged with developing the schoolwide House system and running the process to select their House Captains. This included for the first time the inclusion of Intermediate and Junior House Captains. The house system is continuing to grow and flourish with healthy rivalry and competition and importantly developing a sense of belonging and spirit within the Houses. 

Head of House Leaders - Ethan Mackay
Ethan has the responsibility of ensuring the House competitions are managed in a structured manner and we already have a full programme of House activities outlined for the whole year.

Wellness Portfolio - Thomina Mackay-Freeman
This newly created portfolio recognises the importance of health and well being in the school environment. Thomina is looking forward to encouraging students through a range of activities to develop strategies for their personal well being.

IT Portfolio - Fraser Waugh
Whitby Collegiate has an active number of students interested in all things IT and Fraser will be working with a range of groups including our Techsperts, E-Sport development and looking at ways that we can build on the use of the digital platform at the school.

Sacristan - Alexis Wilson
Alexis will be working closely with Rev Chris Darnell and plays an important role in leading the spiritual side of the school and working with students in this very important area of pastoral care. 

I want to make special mention of Year 13 student, Rajveer Patel who promoted the role of Finance Leader to the leadership team, and who will work across all the prefect portfolios and ensure that there are robust financial processes in place for any of the events and programme initiatives that the students are looking to run.

We also recognised those who are involved in the various portfolio subcommittees and the House Captains, senior, intermediate and junior. This has provided a further opportunity for student leadership and to pick up roles that are able to contribute to the wider school life. 

Once again we congratulate our student leaders and are looking forward to their continued contribution to school life.

Shelley Addison
Chief Executive

House Captains

Resolution 

• Senior – Ben Vickers/Amelie Innocente-Jones

• Intermediate – Josh Morris/Aifili Patelesio

• Junior – Ishaan Badiyani/Louisa Egley-Turner

Discovery 

• Senior – Sam Sexton/Lara Zampese

• Intermediate – Nikolai Baird/Ana Sexton

• Junior – Jed Sexton/Isabella McLean

Endeavour 

• Senior – Jordan Hemopo/Meg Kelly

• Intermediate – Abigail Dawson/Nathan Exley

• Junior – Darcie Skidmore-Stone/Jack Friggens

Adventure 

• Senior – Ciaran Bailey/Sheila Tui

• Intermediate – Hannah Kansara/Nadia Roach

• Junior – Casey Teasdale/Alma Steinfeld

FROM THE SENIOR PASTORAL DEAN

Tenā koutou e te whānau o Whitby Collegiate,

Let me begin by sharing how wonderful it was to see our Science Club (led by Mr Vowles), helping to look after our school environment by cleaning the stream during their lunchtimes this week. One of the Science Club members, Marko Walsh had the following to say:

“Hi all, my name is Marko Walsh. I’m a year 8 student and I am a member of the Whitby Collegiate Science Club. 

For the last 3 weeks our cool little club has been keeping the tradition of cleaning the stream here on the grounds. The club does this to improve the health of the stream to allow better water flow. This helps flush the unwanted things in the stream down and out to sea. This helps with the native eels that also live in the stream so they can grow and be healthy as well. We enjoy being part of this group as we have our wonderful leader to encourage and joke with us Mr Vowles.  If you would like to join our group please feel free to ask Mr Vowles or myself for details.  We meet every Tuesday in Science Lab 1. Love to see you there.

May the force be with you all.”

Thank you Marko, Cassidy, Fraser, Caelan and Joseph for the great work you’re all doing to help make our school environment a positive and healthy one! 

I also had the privilege of watching our school hockey team on Tuesday evening and what a spectacle! Everyone on the hockey pitch deserved an MVP mention, particularly our two Year 7 students, Dhilan Patel and Casey Teasdale. Here’s what Dhilan had to share:

Mentoring Day - 1 April
Online bookings for this will go live from next Friday afternoon so please be sure to book in a time to see your son/daughter’s Tutor Teacher to discuss goal setting and any other important issues.

Servant-leadership
During our Commissioning assembly this week, it was great to see a number of our junior students step up to take on leadership roles within their Houses. Our students were very lucky to have such inspiring student leaders in 2020 and this year is no different. Our current student leadership team has achieved a lot already in the first 6 weeks of school. They are a big part of why our new junior students are enjoying their experience at Whitby Collegiate so much. 

I encourage all our students to take up opportunities to lead by example especially in the way we uphold our school values of genuine care, positive connections, hard work, manaakitanga, manawaroa and hiranga. Our staff will continue to work hard to cultivate a sense of community and belonging with all our students that encapsulate these values.

Finally, I have appreciated very much the support and time parents have given up to assist with sport, Open Days and Year 9 camp. I wish to thank Tai and Ken Roach, Maria Lolo, Arlaina Loibl, Tia Vanilau, Jono Sellar, Arno Reichanvater and Katie Gardner for making time to prepare meals for our upcoming Year 9 camp.

Thank you also to those parents who have made contact with Mr Atkinson and I to share positive news about their son/daughter’s learning and overall experience at Whitby Collegiate. Have a restful weekend and God bless.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Ainslie Sauvao
Senior Pastoral Dean

FROM THE ACADEMIC DEAN

Kia ora e te whānau o Whitby Collegiate,

NCEA information evening
We are pleased to inform you of the rescheduled date for the NCEA Information evening. It will be at 7pm on Tuesday 16 March in Room 5 (the Music Room). Hopefully it will be a case of third time lucky, and there will be no change in the Covid-19 Alert Levels.While all parents of students in Years 10-13 are invited, we particularly encourage parents of Year 11 students to attend, and anyone who is completely new to the NCEA system. If you are unable to attend, please see this pdf of the information that I will present. 

Assessment Policy and Procedures
All students in Years 10 - 13 who will complete NCEA assessments this year must read and sign the Assessment Policy. Parents and Caregivers must also read and sign in support of their child/ren. This year we are able to have you complete this form electronically, so please complete via this link before the end of March. The Policy is also in the Student Planner pages 15-19 for your reference. Tutor Teachers have gone over the Assessment Policy during tutor time, and I spoke with all Year 11s during Rotation this week. Year 10 students will have the opportunity to hear from me later in the year.

A change to NCEA this year is the way we are able to conduct resubmissions, and it is important that students understand this change. Resubmissions can only be offered to students who are at Not Achieved and could make minor alterations to their work to increase their grade to Achieved. This means the highest grade for a student who has completed a resubmission will be Achieved.

It is also of particular note that should a student have a medical reason for an absence that affects an internal assessment, the student must provide a medical certificate. Attendance at school for internal assessments is required. If a student needs to apply for an extension to a due date, they must complete the Request for an Extension form from the school website, and present it to me for consideration at least one week before the due date.

Itinerant lesson clashes with assessment
For all students from Years 7 -13, if there is an assessment scheduled at the same time as an itinerant music or speech session, students are expected to be present at the assessment. Because all assessments are indicated in advance, students should be able to contact their itinerant teacher to reschedule their session.

As always, if there is any way I can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to send me an email.

Ngā mihi

Debbie Mitchell
debbie.mitchell@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

2021 TERM DATES

• Term 1 Monday 1 Feb – Friday 16 April

• Term 2 Monday 3 May – Friday 9 July

• Term 3 Monday 2 August – Friday 1 October

• Term 4 Tuesday 19 October – Tuesday 7 December

TERM 1 KEY ACTIVITIES/EVENTS

Key dates are located on the website calendar. Please check for your activities.

WELLINGTON CRICKET VISIT

On Monday at lunchtime, Wellington Cricket came and delivered their ‘School Yard Smash’ programme. It involved the opportunity to have a go and play backyard cricket, bat down and catching competitions. Prizes were being handed out left, right and centre as students put their bodies on the line to get each other out! This programme is running again during the next 2 Monday lunchtimes so come and unleash your flair, skills and enthusiasm for all things cricket!

Mrs Parish 

Y12 GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO WAIKAWA STREAM

The Y12 Geography students spent yesterday exploring the Waikawa Stream in Horowhenua. They stopped at 3 different locations along the stream from its source to mouth. Fieldwork was undertaken and the group got some interesting results. A BBQ lunch made the beach stop even more fun.

Mrs Bradley and Mr Atkinson

Y11 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DESIGN WORKSHOP

The Level 1 Digital Technology is currently working on a project to design and publish a "How To" booklet. We attended a Design Workshop with Graphic Designer and Marketing Specialist Hillary Smith with the Fiso Group. She led us through producing a design brief, brainstorming key ideas and storyboarding. We then learned how to implement our booklets using Adobe Indesign. The workshop ended with a trip to Nikau cafe and a hot chocolate and scone. Thank you, Miss Smith!

Mr Powell

SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Unfortunately, we have to report that we have received a complaint from a member of the local community regarding dangerous driving and parking outside the school by members of our parent community. 

We would like to remind everyone to drive and to park legally and with the safety of our students, and the students of local primary schools, in mind. Please do not park on the corner of Starboard Lane and Discovery Drive, and not on the grass verges or footpaths. There is ample parking along Discovery Drive and even in Adventure Park car park. Students can walk safely to Adventure Park by using the underpass under Discovery Drive.

SPORTS INFORMATION

CRICKET

WC vs Aotea – Saturday 6 March
Fielder of the Day: Luka O’Hara
Batsman of the Day: Yogesh Gavini
Bowler of the Day: Conor Sellar
Player of the Day: Garv Arora

NETBALL TRIALS – MONDAY 15 MARCH

Netball trials will be held in the WC gym from 3:30 – 5:30pm on Monday 15 March.  Please wear you PE uniform and trainers.  If you have not registered and still want to play, please put your name down with Mrs Rose in Room 4 on Monday.  

FOOTBALL PRE-SEASON TRAINING – MONDAY 15 MARCH

Senior football pre-season training begins on Monday 15 March.  Players are to meet outside the gym at 3:30pm.  Please wear your PE uniform and football boots and shin pads.  

WESTERN ZONE ATHLETICS & CSW GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Best of luck to Lonasei Lolo who will be competing in the CSW Individual Golf Championships at the Royal Wellington Golf Club; and our athletes participating in the Western Zone Athletics meeting at Newtown Park; on Tuesday

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

TRAIL RUNNING:  ALMA STEINFELD
Year 7 student Alma Steinfeld participated in the Xterra Festival 6k trail run and came in 2nd in the female U14 category and 3rd place female overall. Congratulations Alma! 

We love to celebrate our students’ achievements. Please forward your sporting results for inclusion in the Whitby Collegiate newsletter and Facebook page to the Sports Coordinator, Sally Rose: sally.rose@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

DEBATING

Senior Certificate Debate

Our Whitby Collegiate Senior Certificate Debating Team competed against Newlands College on Thursday afternoon. The debate was centred around the following moot "That we should not allow people to enter New Zealand until they have been vaccinated against COVID-19".

As the affirming team, Farrah Zakaria, Ruby Scott and Sam Cribb laid out a strong case in favour of vaccination. They made it clear that vaccination was necessary to ensure the health and economic security of New Zealand citizens. The opposing team questioned how realistic the vaccination requirement was and how it could be enforced. It was a very close debate but in the end the win was given to Newlands College. All our debaters put in a good effort. A special thanks needs to be given to Cassidy Abbot who expertly adjudicated the debate and to Hudson Weight who chaired the debate in style.

Maurice Atkinson
Coach

COMMUNITY NOTICES

GOPI Photographic Competition - Youth Workshop
The 2021 Photographic Competition is underway with planning well on track. All current details can be found on their website here. 

The annual Youth Photographic Workshop will take place as usual. It is run by Destina Munro of the Kapiti Camera Club and will be held as normal at the cottage on the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve.

Date: Sunday 21 March, 4:15pm to 7:15pm

An entry form for this workshop, open to anyone under 18yrs old, is also available from the website.

Neuroscience Talks with Nathan Wallis
Nathan Wallis, New Zealand's favourite Neuroscience Educator (and host of the documentary “All in the Mind”, and co-host of the TV Series “The Secret life of Girls”) is coming back to Kāpiti for another of his sell-out talks about brain development from childhood to adulthood. He will be presenting at Te Raukura ki Kāpiti – Coastlands Theatre on Monday 22 March 2021 at 7.30pm-9.00pm.

Nathan's talks are very popular with parents, teachers, coaches, leaders and anyone else who is interested in learning about the workings of the brain. Nathan has a profound reputation as a lively and engaging speaker. He uses humour and plain language to condense 25 years of neuroscience research into his unique ‘tell you how it is’ style. You’ll be absolutely captivated and walk away jam-packed with more than a few “ah-ha” moments.

More information can be found by following this link

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