Issue 2, may 2015

Onslow College Newsletter

Issue 2, May 2015

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Ko Tarikākā te maunga Ko Waipāhīhī te awa Ko Onslow College te kura Tarikākā is the mountain Waipāhīhī is the river Onslow College is the school

From the Principal

Ko Parents Onslow College Dear and Caregivers

te kura

Onslow College is the school

With Peter Leggat on sabbatical for Term 2, I now have a much deeper appreciation of the huge commitment Peter has made to Onslow College and he fully deserves the study and refreshment time that this sabbatical offers! I would like to thank the leadership, teaching and support staff, as well as students and whanau, for the support and feedback that I have received to date.

The Student Centre, OC Café and the Link Foyer are now in full operation and the Student Centre is being well used by students across all levels. We have tables and chairs in place and it is great to see students using them for study in class time and for socialising, eating and having fun at breaks. Soft furniture is due very soon as well as some desktop computers to augment students’ own devices, utilising the wireless access. Stage One of the Mathematics upgrade is all but complete and Stage Two will deliver four more classrooms back to us. The refurbished rooms look, feel and sound great with modern sound and thermal insulation, sliding glass doors, and extra storage. Again, this is an area well utilised by students in break time. Many thanks to the teachers in Mathematics who have coped with major disruptions but have still managed to deliver quality programmes for our students. Open Evening will take place on Thursday 18 June and we plan to showcase both the Student Centre and the Mathematics classrooms during the evening.

Onslow College Students have again recorded noteworthy achievements with Catherine Pot and Matthew Randle (both Year 12) being selected for the New Zealand Young Physicists Team. With the Under 20 FIFA World Cup underway, Noah Billingsley (Year 13) has already graced the playing field for NZ. Alex Rivett (Year 12) won silver and bronze medals competing in Judo for New Zealand at the Oceania Judo Championships. We are also very excited for Chris Sneath who has been selected to attend Space Camp in the USA! Onslow’s Stage Challenge team produced a strong performance to place second to Chilton St James, with Wellington College coming third.

I would like to congratulate former Onslow student Sarah Delahunty for her Queen’s Birthday Honour recognition as Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre. Sarah has continued to work with Onslow College students supporting their achievement in theatre.

May’s weather proved a trial for us, but we managed to keep working through the deluge of 14 May, with only a couple of classrooms affected. School buses coming from the city were delayed with the last bus arriving after 6:00pm. Students stayed in good spirits and all eventually arrived home safely.

We had our own school closure later in May, when an early morning power cut to Northern Suburbs saw us without heating on a very chilly day. We were able to use the any easy messaging system to keep parents informed of the decision to close the school. Bad weather also saw damage to the Cricket Centre roof. This has now been assessed and will be replaced after winter and once the weather becomes warmer.

The Teacher Only Day on May 29 proved an opportunity for teachers to discuss the new requirements for teacher registration including appraisals.

Best wishes Penny Kinsella principal@onslow.school.nz

Term two 2015 – important dates June Friday 5

Senior reports live on Parent Portal

Thursday 11

Inter College debate vs Newlands

Thursday 18

Open Evening

Tuesday 23

PTA Parent Education Evening

July Wednesday 1

Subject Expo – Years 10-12

Wednesday 1

NCEA fees due

Friday 3

End of Term two

Friday 3

Junior reports live on Parent Portal

You can find this newsletter and other information, including a calendar of school events, at: www.onslow.school.nz Please e-mail any success stories for students of Onslow College to: success@onslow.school.nz

NCEA Update NZQA has officially launched the NCEA Student App. It complements the NCEA Guide App launched, last year, by NZQA to assist parents and employers to understand how NCEA works.

The free NCEA Student App has been developed to help students track their NCEA credit progress and set goals for their NCEA achievement. Although there are other apps available to students, the NCEA Student App provides an officially maintained database of standards and a goal-setting function.

We encourage students to look at all the apps available and to use the one that suits them best.

List of other available apps in either the Apple or Google Play stores (including hyperlinks directly to the apps) as at 20 April 2015: NCEA Pal NCEA Credit Tracker Credit Watcher Credit Counter NCEA Stats NCEA Credits NCEA Hub The NCEA Student App will help students, parents, schools and whānau track learning progress and encourage excellence. All content is available in English and Te Reo Māori.

The NCEA Student App functionality makes it possible for students to:   

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Create a record of the subjects and standards that they are studying Select and set their NCEA credit goals and targets See how they are tracking towards NCEA Levels one, two and three, including Literacy, Numeracy and University Entrance (UE) Set reminders for each standard - such as when assignments are due Capture results as they are achieved and cross check with the school or NZQA Personalise with information such as their NSN number or details about a course or standard (such as the teacher’s name or timetabled classroom) Customise with different colour coding options and the ability to add photos Use in English and Te Reo Māori.

The App has a standalone database with a powerful search engine which allows students to easily find NCEA courses and standards that they are doing, or would like to do, and to set and track achievement goals.

The NCEA Student App is free to download from the Apple App store and the Google Play Store.

More information for students, teachers, parents and whānau is available on the NZQA website

Staff News This term we have welcomed Rajnesh Prasad as cover for Penny Kinsella and Rachel Parsons as they take on the acting senior manager roles.

We wish Emily Barnes all the best as she begins Maternity Leave. We welcome Katharine de Montalk to the Graphics Department for the time Emily is away.

Farewell Sadly last week we farewelled Jocelyn Maxwell. Jocelyn has been our Relief Coordinator, Relief Teacher and Netball Convenor and Manager at Onslow College for over 20 years.

Joce will be sorely missed for the contribution she has made to the school over this time. We wish her and her husband Russell all the very best for their move to Nelson.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

Onslow College PTA presents Get your facts straight!

An evening with Police Education Officer Constable Duncan Ashton Covering topics such as: Teenagers and alcohol/drugs Driver licensing Cybersafety Babysitting rules and more

Tuesday 23 June 7.30pm – 9.30pm Onslow College Student Centre Gold coin koha appreciated

Parent Portal When you are next in the Parent Portal, please check your contact details and if there are any details that need updating please email changes through to info@onslow.school.nz. This includes telephone numbers and addresses.

Student Successes

CONGRATULATIONS!

Year 13 Student Chris Sneath is heading to Space Camp!

Chris is one of six students from New Zealand selected for the Advanced Space Academy course in Alabama, in the southern United States, in July. During their time at the International Space Camp, the New Zealand students will be joined by over 150 like-minded students from 23 different countries. They will be immersed in a programme that is designed to promote space science and exploration. Activities will include hands-on astronaut training, as well as learning about the mental, emotional and physical demands astronauts must face.

Leadership training is also included and the students will experience scuba diving and four G’s of lift-off force and actual weightlessness in the space simulator!

Hayden at Maadi Cup 2015 with his biggest supporters – Mum and Dad, Elsie and Ross!

Hayden Robertson has been selected in the NZ Junior team to travel to Rio de Janiero for the Junior World Championships taking place on 6 to 9 August.

Congratulations Noah!

Matthew Randle and Catherine Pot have been spending lunchtimes in the physics lab preparing since being selected to compete for New Zealand at the Physics World Cup. Both Matthew and Catherine were a part of the team Onslow College team that won the Junior Young Physicists Tournament last year. Now following on from the National Young Physicists Tournament win and subsequent selection process from that tournament, Catherine and Matthew are training hard in preparation for the 27 June - 4 July event in Thailand.

Year 13 Student Noah Billingsley is in the NZ squad for the FIFA U20 World Cup starting this week.

Congratulations to Emily Jepson and Raquel Abolins-Reid who are members of the Infinite Dance Crew, one of three New Zealand dance groups to qualify for the World Championships in Los Angeles. Check out their performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XwZEymvK-E

Alex Rivett returned from the Oceania Judo Champs with a bronze medal in his weight division and silver in the teams’ events.

2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Training Camp

Onslow College players Ella Wilson and Francesca Grange were named along with four players from the Capital Football region were named to attend the New Zealand Women’s' U17 training camp in July. The camp, which will be overseen by U17s coach Gareth Turnbull, takes place at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland from July 5th to 10th. Fantastic work Ella and Francesca!

Around the School Year 9 Physical Education Starting in week 7, all year 9 Physical Education classes will be completing an Aquatics Module. This module incorporates 4 lessons (once a week for 4 weeks), with the focus being on based on Water Safety New Zealand’s goal that all kiwi kids be able to swim 200meteres non-stop.

Your child will receive a permission letter outlining more detail this week and it should be signed by a parent/caregiver and returned back to their PE teacher ASAP. Any queries contact Kevin Campbell: kevin.campbell@onslow.school.nz

Year 10 Health The Physical Education and Health department would like to inform you that this term all Year 10 Health classes will be starting the Sexuality Unit. Our programme covers: Relationships, Consent, Alcohol and Sex, Gender and Sexual Identity, Contraception, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Decision Making.

If you have any further enquiries contact Anna Hyett: anna.hyett@onslow.school.nz or Kevin Campbell: kevin.campbell@onslow.school.nz Year 13 Crazyman challenge!

As part of the Y13 Physical Education course students participated in the 2015 Crazyman multipsort event. Students competed in parts of the race which includes a 13k Kayak, 30k Mountain Bike and 13k trail run! Well done to our multisporters, including Mr Neilson and Ms Hyett!

Hui Ling Vong came back to New Zealand with large collection of medals from the Oceania Junior Championships & Cadet Challenge (Table Tennis). From the Table Tennis NZ website “It was Hui Ling's turn to shine in the individual events finishing with 3 gold medals. A fantastic achievement in her first international competition. Hui-Ling overcame Katherine Li and Georgina Newton from Australia on her way to the final against team mate Zhiying and then partnered with Zhiying to take the Gold in the girls doubles against Rebekah Stanley and Katherine Li and together with Yang Lun overcame their Aussie opponents (Benjamin Gould and Rebekah Stanley) 11-2 in the 5th set in the final of the cadet mixed doubles.”

Year 10 textiles In the last newsletter we made a request for the donation of fabrics for the class to make cot quilts for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Wellington hospital. Thank you to everyone who made the donations, the class created some beautiful quilts that quilts were given as gifts to the families of babies in the unit on

During the week, the library arranged various quizzes identifying authors, first lines and other competitions such as book review tweets. Congratulations to all competitors, especially those who achieved high scores. Special congratulations to Isaac BennettSmith for being the winner of the prize draw for the extreme outdoor speaker

Pictures of the quilts will be on the website this week.

Year 11 Business and Economics students mix business with pleasure.

This year 104 students took part in 2 market days as part of their internal assessment for the 11BEC course. Students formed companies, produced a business plan, and then carried out a sale of their product.

Both days were a success with a variety of food based products such as smoothies, fudge and wraps to origami, pet rocks, phone speakers and necklaces on offer. Partly thanks to the weather and some smooth advertising there was a large turnout. Company takings from both days was due to be donated to the school's community garden, however recent events in Nepal meant a slight change. Takings from the 7th of May, $141.50, will be donated to the community garden and the takings from the 11th of May, $182.70, will be donated to World Vision for Nepal.

A big congratulations to all 11BEC students and a big thank you to their families for all their patience and support over the duration of the business activity.

Library week Author visit - Kate de Goldi Onslow College was very privileged in having the author Kate de Goldi present a talk and workshop in the library on Tuesday 12 May. Kate has won numerous prestigious awards for her short stories and children's books, including the NZ Post Book Award (2008) for her Young adult novel, "The 10pm question." Kate also presents book reviews regularly on radio and television. Feedback from the Yr9 and 10 students who attended the session was very positive, some sharing with their English classes later that day what they had learnt from her.

Congratulations to the 2015 OC Stage Challenge team! Not only did they come second they collected a large haul of excellence awards including for costuming and concept.

Fundraising

ONSLOW COLLEGE ROWING BOOK FAIR 10.00am–3.00pm SAT 4th & SUN 5th July

We are excited to be selling Entertainment™ Books and the Entertainment™ Digital Memberships in 2015-2016!

Hui Room, (beside the KARAKA CAFÉ), TARANAKI STREET WHARF Fiction Non-Fiction Children’s Books Magazines CDs DVDs

Order your new 2015-2016 Wellington Entertainment™ Membership from Onslow College – Canoe Polo and 20% of your Membership purchase goes towards maintaining the boats and equipment used by Canoe Polo, Adventure Racing, PE and Outdoor Education.

If you have books to donate, please give us a call and we will come and collect them. Thanks!!

Warrick 027 4595812 Ann 021 2501291 Deepti 021 2501291 Elsie 027 339 7276 or 479 5139

For only $60 Entertainment™ Memberships are packed with hundreds of up to 50% off and 2-for-1 offers for the best local restaurants, cafés, attractions, hotel accommodation, travel, and much more!

Available as a traditional Entertainment™ Book -or- Digital Membership on your smartphone, your Membership gives you over $20,000 worth of valuable offers valid through to 1 June 2016!

ONSLOW COLLEGE HOCKEY and

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Order either Membership before 20 April 2015, and you'll receive over $150 worth of Early Bird Offers which you can use straight away!

Further information available from: Kathie.stobbs@onslow.school.nz

Olive Oil Fundraiser By purchasing from this offer you know you are buying award winning olive oils at unbeatable prices and The Village Press will donate $4.00 (incl GST) per unit sold back to the fundraising group to assist with their costs. Superb value!

Order through Onslow College Hockey, more details are on the fundraising pages of our website http://www.onslow.school.nz/community/fundraising