The Star: July 07, 2016

16 Thursday July 7 2016
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Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka
Hillmorton High School
Much on the agenda mid
way through the year
The Star
Planting for the future
As we reach the middle of
the school year it is a time for
reflection.
I am pleased to see
the vast majority of
students arriving at
school on time and
getting to classes on
time throughout the
day. The atmosphere in
classrooms is positive
with both students and
teachers working hard.
Our teachers have
continued to take
the many learning
opportunities offered to
them as they work to
transform the learning
Ann
Brokenshire
for students using digital devices.
It is great to see teachers as well as
students excited through learning.
Learning has taken place in an
array of venues including the
city itself, Victoria Park, Halswell
Quarry, Arthur’s
Pass National Park,
Banks Peninsula, in
various businesses,
in universities and
Ara Institute, and of
course, here on our
school campus. We
are indeed fortunate
to live in Christchurch
with such an array of
learning opportunities
within close proximity.
We are also busy
writing our Education
Brief which will be a
foundation document
for the modernisation of our
buildings. Once completed we
then work with our architects to
complete a “master plan” for the
Year 6 students
enjoyed a
morning visit
to Hillmorton
where they had
the opportunity
to experience
a taste of what
life is like in the
Year 7 and 8
programmes.
Time spent in Base Camp was followed by
trying some activities that are part of the
Explore programme.
The students enjoyed their time making their own
pizza lunch, making icecream and working in teams to
build billy carts that they then raced with great gusto!
www.hillmorton.school.nz
school which looks well into the
future.
The recent Board of Trustees
election brings us a new Board
with two previous members having
been re-elected along with three
new parent representatives and
a change of staff representative.
Having a strong Board which is
willing and able to critique and
review policy will see the school
continuing to look forward with
positivity.
The future is bright as we all work
together to ensure our students
leave school being open-minded,
self-aware, civically minded
and successful, confident and
optimistic.
Ann Brokenshire
PRINCIPAL
Year 6 pupils enjoy visit to Hillmorton
Activities impress crowd on Open Night
A large crowd
of parents and
prospective students
took the opportunity
recently to attend our
Open Night and really
see what Hillmorton
is about! They
couldn’t help but be
impressed!
Many myths
surround schools
and misinformation
abounds, so we
always encourage
people to come and
see for themselves,
all that Hillmorton has to offer.
Large numbers of people were taken on tours
by students with many commenting on the
friendly atmosphere and really positive aspects
such as school size and opportunities, the small
class sizes and support available for those with
learning needs.
As always, we also encourage people to avail
themselves of the invitation to come and visit at
any time!
If you wish to visit any school day, please make
a time with the Principal’s Executive Assistant or
call the School Office.
Year 9 students recently took time
out of their in-class programmes
to spend a day learning at Halswell
Quarry.
To coincide with Matariki and
Arbor Day, students were involved
in assisting with the planting
programme that is taking place,
planting a range of natives in the
conservation area.
The opportunity was also taken
for a range of learning to take
place in this context – learning
about the history of the quarry
and its significance to the area,
undertaking the crater rim walk and
completing some Health and PE
activities and learning about some
of the flora of the area.
The students also undertook
some photography and creative
Congratulations to Perez
Tariu, who came first in the
Seniors’ Samoan Speech
competition at the recent
SPAC PAC Polyfest Speech
Competition.
Congratulations also to Siline
Tivalu who was placed first
in the Year 9 and 10 Samoan
Speech Competition at the
same event, which was held
at Papanui High School.
Languages represented at
the contest include Fijian,
Cook Islands, Tongan,
Samoan and English.
Perez and Siline will now
travel to Auckland for the
national competition at the
beginning of August.
writing as part of Art and English
programmes. The Middle School,
Years 7 to 10, continues to
develop a range of cross-curricular
activities as they seek to provide
engaging learning programmes for
these students.
Students come first in
Samoan speech contests
Top speech makers: Perez Tariu, left,
and Siline Tivalu.