Week 1, Term 1 | 2021

WORD FROM MS ADDISON

What a great week it has been at Whitby Collegiate. It started for some with a mixture of trepidation and excitement as we welcomed the largest intake ever, of new students to the school. It was also wonderful to see the large number of the parent community who joined us at our first assembly, and we look forward to getting to know all the new families over the coming year. Our first opportunity will be the BBQ next week and we have already had a large number of parents confirming they will be attending.

Our exceptional academic results for 2020 got a further boost this week with the announcement of the scholarship exam results. Again we excelled with five scholarships awarded. Mrs Mitchell will provide a further analysis in her part of this newsletter, but enormous congratulations to Luc Hackner who achieved a scholarship in Chemistry and Physics, Roman Avery who was awarded a scholarship in Physics, Aiko Chun in Photography and Kenan Bulmer in English. We are very proud of these results and the staff are so delighted.

We have also been very proud of our current Year 13 students who have hit the ground running this year. They have been instrumental in making the new students feel welcome to our Whitby Collegiate community and have provided activities and opportunities to engage with the new students. They have just completed a camp retreat at Waikanae where they have continued to develop a range of skills with the focus on leadership and in particular the development of the peer support programme. They were very fortunate to have the Chair of the Proprietor’s board, John Fiso, attend the retreat and share some words of encouragement and pass on some vital messages for their roles for the upcoming year.

Students have had the opportunity to register for clubs, sport and cultural activities.  Mr Gledhill has over 40 students registered for volleyball and he hosted his first trial this week. Our Equestrian team has taken a boost this year with some exceptional talent coming through.  For the first time Whitby Collegiate will field a cricket team, and a softball team will be attending Summer Sports Tournament Week. A special mention of Bailey Symons who has just been announced as part of the NZ Developing Sox squad, well done Bailey!! 

Along with sport there was also a wide variety of clubs that the students were able to sign up for, including the environmental/gardening club, the chess club, the science club, choir, the mahjong club, and the debating club to name a few. There are many opportunities for students to be involved and to keep busy, and we look forward to watching these develop.

Another significant milestone this week saw the walls and roof going up on the new classroom buildings. The weather has certainly helped this progress and we are excited to see the rapid progress on this front.

There are many activities on the horizon.  We have the BBQ hosted by the Parents Association on Thursday, and then the following week we have our annual School Athletics.  We would love to see as many of you there as possible. 

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the excellent start of the year and we look forward to continuing to foster the school values of Respect, Resilience and Excellence in everything that we do.

Shelley Addison
Chief Executive

FROM THE ACADEMIC DEAN

I am so proud of our students’ 2020 NCEA results. In such a difficult year students really epitomised our school values of Respect, Resilience, and Excellence. Our provisional results are fantastic, and I expect them to only improve as students apply for Reviews and Reconsiderations.  

All of last year’s Year 13 cohort completed NCEA Level 3 and gained University Entrance; and almost 80% of the group received either a Merit or Excellence Level 3 endorsement. Additionally, announced yesterday, we had five subject scholarships - this is an outstanding accomplishment for these students. Congratulations to Aiko Chun for her Photography Scholarship, Kenan Bulmer for his English Scholarship, Roman Avery (2020 Proxime Accessit) for his Physics Scholarship, and our 2020 Dux Luc Hackner for his Physics and Chemistry Scholarships. Commendation must go to all students who completed a scholarship examination - they are not easy by design, and you should be proud of yourselves. And of course, a special thanks to our fabulous teachers who spent a lot of extra time preparing these students for the scholarship exams.

Our 2020 Year 12 students also had success last year, with 92% getting Level 2 NCEA; we expect this to increase to 100% when final results are published in March. Level 2 Merit or Excellence endorsements were awarded to 52% of that cohort.

And finally, in their first year of full NCEA assessments, 82% of last year’s Year 11 group had their Level 1 certificate endorsed with either Merit or Excellence. NCEA Level 1 was awarded to 94% of that year group.

Tēnā koutou to all of our students for their successes.

Return of examination papers
Students should have received their examination papers back in the post. It is important to check that all papers have been received (digitally assessed papers are available on the NZQA website student log-in), and to notify both me and NZQA should papers be missing, or someone else’s paper is received.

These examination papers are not to be written on in any way, or authenticity concerns may be raised. Students should count the scores in the paper, and check that the total displayed on the front of the booklet is correct. That total can be checked against the cut scores (https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/subjects/cut-scores/), unique for each achievement standard, and then matched against the awarded grade. If there is a discrepancy, then students may apply for a Review, which is essentially a recount of the grading. If a student believes that the marking of a particular paper was too hard, then the first port of call should be with the subject teacher concerned. The teacher will use their professional opinion to advise the student as to whether they should apply for a Reconsideration. This process is $20.40 per paper, and is a complete remark of the paper. Should the grade change, the fee is refunded. 

Any student thinking of applying for a Review or Reconsideration should come and see me to discuss, so I can help with the process. The last day to apply, with papers sent to NZQA, is Friday 26 February. Please go to https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/ncea-results/reviews-and-reconsiderations/ for more information, or send me an email. 

NCEA Information evening
I will be running a short session about NCEA on Tuesday 16 November, at 7pm in the Music Room (room 5). This is aimed at parents unfamiliar with NCEA, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

Debbie Mitchell
Academic Dean
debbie.mitchell@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

FROM THE JUNIOR PASTORAL DEAN

Kia ora Students, Parents & Caregivers,

I have been very impressed by the warm welcome I have received from the students this week. The positivity and openness displayed by our young learners is really something that sets Whitby Collegiate apart. When I was given the opportunity to speak to our junior school, I challenged the students to express our school values by making the most of the opportunities they are offered this year. Perhaps this challenge was unnecessary, as it was amazing to see so many of our young students in the hall on Tuesday signing up for the various sports and cultural activities on offer.

I have also begun speaking to our students about our school’s ongoing journey towards restorative practice. The students have been told that it is important that they take ownership and responsibility over their own behaviour at school. When necessary, teachers will start using restorative conversations or ‘Mini chats’ to help students reflect on the impact their actions may have on themselves or others. I get the sense that Whitby Collegiate students are already very thoughtful and articulate and so I think these types of conversations have the potential to be very effective.

Nga mihi nui

Maurice Atkinson
Pastoral Dean, Junior School

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.

MEET THE TEACHER BBQ

It is with great pleasure that we invite all our families to join us at the Meet the Teacher BBQ at Whitby Collegiate on Thursday 11 February, 5.00pm - 8.00pm. 

From 5.00pm, the Parents’ Association will be hosting a BBQ with food, drinks and nibbles provided. There will also be a raffle to help cover costs, so please bring along some loose change. 

From 6:30pm in the Music/Art room, all parents/caregivers are invited to meet key members of Whitby Collegiate staff, such as the Academic Dean and the Pastoral Team, amongst others. It is also an opportunity to spend time with your son/daughter’s Tutor Teacher, ask any questions you may have and collaborate on ideas for the future of the school.

To ensure we can cater accordingly, please RSVP online here or email communications@whitbycollegiate.school.nz by Wednesday 10 February.

TUCK SHOP

There will be some changes to the tuck shop operation and we are hoping to have this up and running in approximately two weeks time, therefore it will NOT be open at the start of the year. This includes the use of the microwaves which will not be available for heating student’s own food from home at this stage.

REQUEST FOR PARENT HELPERS -
TUCK SHOP

We need volunteers from our wonderful parent community to help run the Tuck Shop at morning tea and lunch. We are hoping to be able to make the School Tuck Shop available for students as soon as possible. Full training will be provided to all parent helpers. There will be no food preparation required. Please contact Angela Taylor on 234 1070 or angela.taylor@whitbycollegiate.school.nz if you are able to help or have any queries regarding what volunteering would entail. Thank you!

BUS PASSES

If you travel to and from school via one of our dedicated school buses, you should have already collected a bus pass from the office this week. Passes will be required on all buses from the start of next week. If you have not yet collected your pass please ensure you come to the office before school or during morning tea on Tuesday.

SCHOOL PARKING

Could parents please remember not to drive into Starboard Lane as traffic is a health and safety risk for our students as they arrive or leave school. The school buses turn around in Starboard Lane and the turning space is very limited. Please watch out for buses when crossing the road and remind students not to cross between the parked buses.

The staff car park is strictly limited to staff only. Parking is available for parents on Discovery Drive. There is a subway under Discovery Drive for students to safely enter the school grounds if you have parked on the far side of the road. Please do not park on the corner and grass verge in front of the school wall at the intersection of Starboard Lane and Discovery Drive, these are not legal parking spaces and impact on the visibility of the buses pulling out of Starboard Lane.

USING THE EDGE CAREGIVER PORTAL & MOBILE APP

The Edge Caregiver Portal/App allows you to view school information about your child(ren), and to pay school bills online. The portal/app gives you quick and easy access to the information for students in your household, and keeps you up to date with important announcements and reminders. Instructions on how to download and login to the portal/app is available on our website here.

We recommend that all parents and students download the school app to their phones. In the event of emergencies, the app will provide a useful source of information from the school.

UNIFORM BUY & SELL PAGE

We now have an official Whitby Collegiate Uniform Buy and Sell page on Facebook. Feel free to invite parents/caregivers of current/past/forthcoming students for items that you wish to buy, or sell.

SCHOOL HOODIES

Whitby Collegiate now has its own school hoodie! This is an optional uniform item that can be worn for PE or sports events/activities. Sample size sets can be tried on at the sports office and are now available to purchase and personalise (first or last name added). Fill in the order form here

Priority orders taken from now until Friday 12 Feb can expect these to arrive approximately 2 weeks from this date.  

SPORTS INFORMATION

SUMMER SPORT REGISTRATIONS
Students registered for summer sports on Tuesday and match/practice information will be emailed to all teams by the end of the day.   
Please note that once you have registered for a sport, and included in a team, you must see out the season. School sport operates on a no default policy. 

We are still looking for managers and coaches for the following sports:

• CRICKET:  Coach & Manager for YR 9/10 boys T20 team;

• VOLLEYBALL: Managers needed for Junior Girls & Senior Girls and Boys teams;

Below is a list of the sports available at sports registration day on Tuesday, if you have not signed up for a summer sport and still wish too, please email: sally.rose@whitbycollegiate.school.nz

All students are encouraged to participate in at least 1 summer sport and 1 winter sport during the course of the year.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

NZ Developing Sox - Girls Wider Squad
Congratulations to Bailey Symons who has been named in the 2021 New Zealand Girls Developing Sox programme. 

The squad of 39 young female athletes was announced by Head Coach Anthea Stringer this week. Bailey will join the 2021 programme's camp late March and tour from Wellington up the North Island, ending at the Easter Classic Tournament in Auckland.  The group will take advantage of the amazing facilities and facilitators many of the smaller associations have, as well as offering their members the opportunity to play against the young development squad.  The squad will also run fun interactive clinics along the way.

Stringer says, "This will allow them to play, learn and compete against other likeminded athletes they haven't yet had the opportunity to meet.

We were excited to see the caliber coming through and can't wait to get started with them".

NZ Maori Basketball Nationals - Gold Winners
Decodah Silva (Y8) and PJ Lalaga (Y7) both represented the local iwi Ngati Toa at the NZ Maori Basketball Nationals held in Rotorua last week. This tournament hauls in thousands of athletes across the country to represent their iwi from ages 6 - 65.

They both played instrumental roles in the U13 boys final against Ngati Maru and both contributed points helping their team run away with a convincing win. The final score was 59-37 securing them gold.

Congratulations boys!

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

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