here - Whangaparaoa College

Dear Parents
It is the time of the year when our older learners need to make
their choices regarding next year’s subjects. I know it appears early to
be doing that, but it does influence the staff we employ for 2009. When
children make these choices they often feel they need to make choices
based on future careers. It is more important that they make these choices
based on what the future holds rather than the present.
8 August 2008 Term 3 Week 3
1
People who are entering the workforce now will be facing a work
environment hugely different over the next 40 years to what has occurred
over the last 40.
• Skills and qualifications are going to become much more generalised
and less specific.
• Most workers will have many career changes. Not job changes but
whole career changes.
• The significance of qualifications is going to increase. There will be
less chance of ‘working up from the bottom’.
• There will be new industries and careers which don’t exist now. These
careers will be well paid as there will be massive shortages in them.
• The arts and entertainment industries will have considerable growth
and a shortage of talent. These ‘creative’ areas are high growth areas.
• Technology and science areas will still be in huge demand and will
have big skill shortages.
Health and education will be internationally in short supply.
When teenagers are considering their choices I encourage them to make
these decisions:
• Stay at school or in training as long as you can and get the best
qualifications you can.
• If you are capable of University then aim to go there.
• Keep going with English and Mathematics as long as you can.
• Choose science subjects if you are still achieving in them.
• Choose other subjects you enjoy.
Last weekend the first Whangaparaoa College school ball was held. It was
a tremendous occasion and I was gratified to receive from the Harbour
Function Centre an email that commented on the “pleasant and
appreciative behaviour from all” learners. I would like to thank those staff
and learners who made that a considerable success.
Last week I also received an email from Major Jeff Winterburn of the
Salvation Army who wrote regarding the donation we made to the Salvation
Army from a recent mufti day. He stated “We are very grateful for the sup-

port that the students have given and the thinking of those in the community who
are less fortunate than ourselves.” My congratulations to those prefects who
organised the day and the learners for their donations.
It is with sadness that I mention the death of Whero Nahi. Whero has been part
of this college from its establishment being involved in the initial blessing of the
land and the opening of every building. I will be attending his funeral on behalf of
the college. We offer our condolences to his family and especially Richard Nahi
who has been a great supporter of this college.
Yours sincerely
Brian O’Connell
Principal
International Students
On Friday 1 August we farewelled our first visiting Japanese group from
Matsudo High School in Chiba. The performances were very interesting and I
think that learners from Whangaparaoa College and from Japan gained a lot
from the visit. Although the visit was only for two weeks, there were some sad
faces as they said their goodbyes. We look forward to learners from Matsudo
High School visiting us again next year.
This week we still have visitors from Kokugakuin High School in Tokyo. They
have joined some of our learners in classes and have been on various
tours. We will farewell this second group this coming Friday 8 August and look
forward to more learners visiting from Kokugakuin in 2009.
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The Japanese visitors requested a cooking
experience during their stay.
Miss Eddington and some of the yr 9
learners created the opportunity for the
Japanese visitors to make mini quiches
and pavlovas. Some of the Japanese
visitors
had
never
tried
cream or
quiche before.
All involved had a fantastic time in the
kitchen and enjoyed eating the goodies
afterwards. Thanks so much to the year 9
helpers, much of the successful afternoon
was due to their help.
Sci-Tech
During the school holidays a group of 9 year 11 learners travelled into
Auckland to participate in the Sci-Tech Experience. This event was a three
day course where year 11 learners from all over the Auckland region could
spend time with University professors to learn about Science, Technology and
Engineering. This took place at AUT, MIT and Unitec. There were a range of
different choices for us to take part in such as microbiology, chemistry,
audio-visual technology, electronic engineering, and even animal
behaviours. It was a great opportunity to learn about where we could go in the
future with our favourite subjects. We had a lot of fun, learnt a lot and even
made some new friends.
Micayla Wright, Monique Townsend and Kathryn Bolton
3

Maidment Theatre
Performance
On Thursday the 24 July the Year
11 Drama class attended a
performance of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin
Room’ by the Auckland Theatre
Company.
Viewing such a high standard of
Theatre will help them immensely
when preparing for their end of
year examination.
The cast included members of ‘Shortland Street’ who gave very convincing
portrayals of dramatic characters.
Year 11 Learners thought the following:
“We really enjoyed how the lighting bounced off the plastic sheeting used to
create the performance space. It helped create the effect of ‘living in a gold fish
bowl’ and therefore showed how the characters felt about their lives.”
“The use of lighting colours was eye catching and symbolised the emotions of
characters and highlighted the tension and climax of the plot.”
“The costumes really stood out. They revealed the inner personalities of the
characters. For instance ‘Big Daddy’ was the most open minded of all the
characters and he wore grey. This contrasted with ‘Brick’ who wore black and
white.”
It was an amazing trip and a great learning experience for us and it will really
benefit us when we sit our end of year exam.
Danielle Parker, Luke Cochrane, Rebekah Warning
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5
2008 School Ball

Cheerleaders Take First Place
Earlier this month, Georgia Clasby (7STEE) and her cheerleading team the
All Star Cheerleaders represented New Zealand in the Down Under Spirit
Championship held on the Gold Coast. They have been training for six hours
a week to be ready for the competition, doing full on routines including high
jumps, tumbles, pyramids and basket tosses. All their hard work and
determination certainly paid off as the team came first in their division.
The girls also got to visit Movie World, Wet’n’Wild and Sea World while they
were there. “It was really exciting. It was great to be there competing and
getting to see all the other teams. Of course the best thing of all was
winning.” says Georgia.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday 12th August Information Afternoon Auditorium 2.00pm
Thursday 14th August Options Evening 7pm for Yrs 11,12, 13 in 2009
Saturday 16th August Jubilation Concert
Tues 19th August ENROLMENTS 4 - 7pm
Wed 20th August ENROLMENTS 4 - 7pm
Thurs 21st August ENROLMENTS 4 - 7pm
1st—5th September Year 8 Science Fair
Friday 26th September End of Term 3
Unitec in Schools, through
the STEP UP secondary
school revision programme,
is offering senior students the
opportunity to help prepare
for their end of year external
exams, by attending
intensive revision courses in the September school holidays. Classes are held
at the Mt Albert or North Shore campuses and have a maximum of 16 students
in each class. Brochures are available from the Deans, teachers and Careers
Department. Check out the STEP UP website for further details and to enrol
online. http://stepup.unitec.ac.nz or call 0508 STEP UP.
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Cultural Exchange
This week Year 7 had an exciting opportunity to meet with students from other
countries as part of their studies into other cultures. Students from our ESOL
department came to tell them all about life in their own countries. Alex and
Mario told their group all about their country of Macedonia and about the
famous Alexander the Great. From Korea, Seung Taek, Ryan and Ted had
plenty to tell the year 7’s about how different their country is – including the fact
that one of them lives in the tallest building in the capital Seoul, a staggering 64
storeys tall!
Ayaka told her group all about her life in Japan. Renada, Josh, Roman, Daniela
and Maegan were particularly fascinated to hear about the high tech toilets!
Fluke had a captivated audience when he told them all about life in Thailand.
“He told us all about spicy Thai food, that Thai people love basketball,
swimming and football and that the money is the baht.” Said Lucy.
All in all, it was a really fun afternoon and the children learnt a lot.
40 Hour Famine ‘08
Well done to all learners who took part. This year, Whangaparaoa College
raised $2874.30, so a fabulous effort from all the participants. The money will
go toward providing care for orphans in Malawi, an education project in
Cambodia and a housing project to improve health and well being in Honduras.
Special congratulations go to Mikayla Bayly who raised $271 and Bethan
Powell who raised $150.
8

Gateway Applications 2009
Gateway supports senior students undertaking learning and
assessment in the workplace. Schools are funded to co-ordinate
this activity to ensure the educational and subsequent employment needs of
learners are met. Gateway is offered across more than 50 industries and
hundreds of businesses around New Zealand.
Learners pursue individual learning programmes, which allow them to gain new
skills and knowledge in a workplace in their local community. The learning is
hands-on and practical. Learners are assessed in the workplace for unit and
achievement standards, which contribute to the National Certificate of
Educational Achievement (NCEA), as well as industry specific qualifications.
Gateway is scheduled on the timetable.
Learners will complete a core set of unit standards, Occupational, Health and
Safety units, First Aid units and the remaining will be work related in the career
of their choice in consultation with the Employer, Co-ordinator and Careers
Advisor.
The Gateway programme provides opportunities for students to explore
careers they may be interested in before actually leaving school. Gateway is
for ALL senior learners at Whangaparaoa College to apply for – our
programme is not targeted at one specific group of learners. It is
recommended that you arrange an appointment with Mr Davies, Careers
Advisor if you require guidance in your Career Pathway choice/s before you
apply for Gateway.
We have limited placements for 2009:
20 places for Year 12
20 places for Year 13
Request a 2009 Application Pack
Email: Gateway@wgpcollege.school.nz
Phone: 09 428 4724 xtn 250
Application Close: Monday, 22 nd September 2008
Rachael Wilson
Peter Davies
Gateway Co-ordinator
Careers Advisor
Ph: 09 428 4724 xtn: 250
Mb 021 250 1075 Ph: 09 428 4724 xtn: 250
Email Gateway@wgpcollege.school.nz
Careers@wgpcollege.school.nz
Web www.wgpcollege.school.nz
9

Congratulations to the girls Junior A soccer team who have defeated Baradene
College 6-0 in the first round of the APC Knock Out Cup. The girls advance now
to the 2nd round vs. Mt Albert. Good luck girls!
Sport in Term 3 at Whangaparaoa College continues at full speed and we are
starting this week with……………
• The cycling team competed in the North Island competition over the
holidays and have more road races coming up this term
• Hockey, boys start round 2 of the North Harbour competition
2008 North Island Secondary School Cycling
Championships
Saturday
16 Km Team Time Trial
This year the weather was not great but better than last year. The rain did stay
away for all the Time Trials.
First off the line were the Junior A girls. Remember, they finished 13th last year.
The team of Racquel, Caitlin, Laura, Sally and Hannah as reserve, put it out
there to finish 6th out of 20 teams with a time of 30 minutes 08 seconds.
Unfortunately Sally had a mechanical problem.
Junior B Boys - Remember the little tacklers Reon, Callum, Brody and Alister
tried hard for the whole distance finishing 24th out of 40 with a race time of 29
11

place, this is a real credit to them, with Duane suffering a medical problem. The
other 3 battled hard for each other. Their time of 25 minutes 39 seconds was
the fastest recorded at the North Island’s for any Whangaparaoa College team.
Sunday
Sunday turned out to be a brilliant day although a little cold.
First up was the Under 17 Men.
Kane, Trent and Adam. They all stayed with the peloton, which was fantastic,
well done. Sprint finish with all staying on their bikes.
Trent 8 th Place 54 Min 20 sec
Adam 19 th Place 54 Min 22 sec
Kane 16 th Place 54 Min 21 sec
Under 16 girls
Sally was our sole entry into this demanding race, she stuck with the leaders
until the sprint finish, showing determination and the ability that she could be a
threat to the top guns in the future.
Sally 23 rd Place 1 Hour 1 Min 2 sec
Under 16 Boys
With a really large field with 95 entries, representing Whangaparaoa were
Patrick, Reece and Duane. The first crash of about 50 riders occurred within 5
km of the start. Wiping out 2 of the top 3 seeds as well as Patrick, Reece and
Duane. Our riders, back on their bikes stayed with the 2 nd peloton until about
400 meters from the finish, where Patrick crashed again and fractured his
thumb. Duane and Reece completed the race.
Reece 25 th Place 54 Min 44 Sec
Duane 26 th Place 54 Min 50 sec
Under 15 Girls
Racquel, the top seed in this field showed why, remained cool at all times,
controlled the race, and won the final sprint. Gold medal to Whangaparaoa.
Racquel 1 st Place 26 Min 54 sec
Under 15 Boys
This was a huge field, stacked with a National Track Champion. The pace was
frenetic, Thomas and Brody representing Whangaparaoa. The race soon was
blown apart by Alec Stancliffe from Kristin as he and his schoolmate broke
away from a group of about 7 riders. Whho was in there smiling and keeping
up- THOMAS !!!! He rode the race of his life, caught the 2nd place rider and
then they spat him out the back! So here was Thomas in a group fighting for
2nd and 3rd. Thomas tried to make a break before the finish line, and was
caught by the chasing riders. Brody showed the determination that we knew he
had, but the pace was hot and his lack of race experience showed.
Thomas: 10 th Place 32 Min 12 sec
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Under 14 Girls
Hannah was our only
representative and did she try! She gave it everything
that she possibly has against the older opposition,
remember she is only 12 racing under 14. Hannah
showed determination till the finish line, well done for
an excellent effort.
Hanna 14 th Place 29 Min 20 sec
Under 14 boys
Representing Whangaparaoa were the young guys, Reon and Callum. Reon
being the youngest in the race and Callum, being not much older. Did they let
the cycle world they will be a force in the future! With the both of them sticking
to each other like Velcro, they lead the race for numerous laps before
succumbing in the final sprint.
Reon 6 th Place 25 Min 27 sec
Cullam 11 th Place 26 Min 16 sec
Congratulations to all the Pupils for their outstanding effort and dedication to
the sport. It proves that hard work does pay. Many of the team train 6 – 7 days
a week and sometimes twice a day. The next big school race will be the North
Island Individual Championships at Mt Wellington on the 5 – 7 September
consisting of a Hill Climb, Time trial and a Criterium.
Following Mt Wellington is the School National Championships in Levin on the
27 – 29 th September consisting of a Team Time trail, Road race and Criterium.
Ray Sheath (Whangaparaoa College Cycling Coach) and Martin Ruddy (Team
Manager)
13

Winter Sports are coming to an end and what a great term it has been; we
have been able to field more teams in all of our winter sports this year;
Rugby 3 rd /4 th & 6 th Grade ,Hockey 1stX1 Boys 1 st X1 Girls, lacrosse Senior
Girls & Jnr Girls, Soccer 1 st X1& U15 Boys, Jnr A & Jnr B Girls, Cycling,
Basketball two U17 Boys and one U17 Girls team and 21 Netball teams.
Whangaparaoa College continues to develop sporting opportunities for all
students in the college to participate and develop their skills and succeed in
chosen sport.
NIKE + Challenge 8 th – 31 st
August
Whangaparaoa College students will be running like crazy for 24 days to try to
become the fittest school in New Zealand every Kilometre you run will register
against the colleges overall total on the nikeplus.com website, and the school
that runs the furthest by the end of the challenge wins.
Indoor Bowls
Whangaparaoa College Student Kyle Peters North Harbours Champion will be
travelling to Wellington to represent North Harbour in the NZI Indoor Bowls
tournament.
Hockey
1 st X1 Boys continue on their winning season after having last Wednesday’s
game cancelled due to the weather. This Wednesday they are playing at
crown 3 against Westlake.
Whangaparaoa 14 Takapuna 1
Whangaparaoa 4 Rangitoto 0
Term 3 Events
Coming Up for the rest of the term we have:
• NIKE + Challenge 8 th August
• Basketball Zone Day Boys – 13 th August
• Basketball Zone Day Girls – 20 th August
• AKSS Lacrosse Tournament 15 th August
• Interschool Cross country 18 th August
• UNISS Tournament 31 st August -5 th September
• AIMS Tournament 7 th – 12 th September
• Volleyball Zone Day Girls 18 th September
• Volleyball Zone Day Girls 25 th September
• Aims Tournament – 7 th – 12 th September
• Sports Prize giving Dinner 23 rd September
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Netball
Netball Zone Day
The year 7 and 8's played in the netball zone day, held
at North Harbour. Three year 8 teams and three year 7
teams travelled down to participate. Our Year 7 blue
team made it all the way through to the final.
Even though they did not manage to secure that top
place, they certainly put their heart and soul into the
game. Each team had to play 5 games, so for this
team to have energy to play a final, was exceptional.
Thank you to the coaches, umpires and parents that
came along and helped make this such a great day.
Well done to the netballers who all showed great skill,
team spirit and fair play.
Dianne Conn
15

6 th Grade Rugby
Rosmini B 0, Whangaparaoa College 24
In the “perfect” storm the 6 th grade rugby team played Rosmini and produced
the “perfect” try. In very wet conditions the forwards drove the ball from the ½
way line into the Rosmini 22 with a series of pick and drives. There was
excellent inter-passing by James Sokolich-Beatson and Jordan Ngan before
Brandon Fowlie stepped two players to dive over the line.
The other tries were scored by Rory O’Brien and two from James Sokolich-
Beatson; both players had several powerful runs and gained their just
rewards by driving through several Rosmini players to touch down. Eamon
Borer kicked two conversions which were bonuses considering the
conditions. Tim Ross was man of the match for his control of the ball and his
tenacious work-rate. The front row of Matt Sanders, Vinay Reddy and
Captain Jack Woodward had good games against a big pack.
This was another fine performance by a team that continues to improve and
grow with each game. They have completed the C league championship and
were undefeated in their five games. Well done to this year’s Band of
Brothers!
Rangitoto College PTA presents:
Drugs in New Zealand
What Parents Need To Know
Colin Bramfitt
Executive Director of FADE (Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Education)
7.30 pm Wednesday 20 th August
Rangitoto College Auditorium
Entry by Gold Coin
Find out about the drug scene, how it is changing,
and how drugs are affecting us all. Learn what to
look for, techniques for coping, and resources to
help. Colin has 22 years experience in alcohol
and drug education.
Printing sponsored by:
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DRAMA DEVELOPS KIDS
We teach children to act confidently, speak clearly and develop life skills. Our
enthusiastic teachers make learning fun at all levels. Our in depth curriculum is
recognised by Trinity College, London. Classes held weekly. Phone principals
on (09) 444 7457. HELEN O'GRADY DRAMA ACADEMY.
SPINEWORKS
Do you have injuries from sport or a previous accident that
you are neglecting Do you suffer from back pain, neck pain
or headaches
Maybe we can help you. Call Janette at Spineworks
Chiropractic on 426-5467 to see if Chiropractic can help you.
Don’t put up with the pain—do something about it today!
Whangaparaoa
Tennis Club
Junior Interclub
enrolments at the
Club, Edith Hopper
Park
Thursday 21 August 2008,
3.30pm to 6.00pm
And Sunday 24th August,
1.00—2.00pm
Ph Clubrooms 424-0933
You can also enquire about
enrolment by phoning
Nigel Varey 021-644-358
Fax 424-7568
nogely@clear.net.nz
Payment is to be made by
Sunday 24th August 2008,
$135.00
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KIDS
TALK
TEEN
TALK
YOU
PARENT
TALK
‘ Parenting through Conscious Communication ‘
Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, unsupported or alone
Do you often feel stuck as to what to do next
Do you sometimes wonder why you ever chose to be a parent
How are YOU affecting your childs life
As a parent you are at the centre of your childs world. By learning how to
communicate consciously, your family can live in harmony.
This half day workshop is informative, profoundly healing and is designed to
give you the tools to take home with you and apply to family life.
It’s not too late to make a difference!
Guided by Sheree Carbery, Holistic Coach, Counsellor, Journey Therapist,
Group Facilitator and mother of 3 year old Braydon
12.30 – 4.30 Sunday 9 August at Whangaparaoa Library
Cost $120 per person - $200 per couple - $90 for group of 5 or more
Subsidy provided for beneficiaries
Register NOW by contacting Sheree at Butterfly House on 09 428 5711