Ashburton Courier: September 09, 2021

Ashburton College
Individual Excellence in aSupportive Learning Environment
News
Issue 29
9September 2021
Message From ThePrincipal
COVID Impacts
We on the Mainland areall hoping that, as youare
reading this,weare in Covid Level2(which,indeed,
we noware).
TheDelta variantshowedhow quickly it can spread,
as shown by the explosion of cases in Auckland. Our
authorities responded quickly and are determined
to stamp itout. Mybrother lives in Sydney and his
family is well aware ofthe disruption caused bya
Delta outbreak that wasn’t dealt with effectively.
However, all of New Zealand I think acknowledges that further disruptions
duetoCOVID arepossible.
AcknowledgementtoParents
CanIacknowledge the wisdom of our parents when we returned to Level
3, as we had no students attending College. Parents have done agreat
job of making alternativearrangements and, becausethe lockdownwas
laterinthe year than 2020, far fewerofour students are13years old.
PositiveSupportFor StudentAchievement
There have been acouple ofdecisions made that will have apositive
impactonstudent achievement.
The first of these is the one by School Sport NZwho made the call that
all regional and national sports tournaments are cancelled. This was a
decision supportedbythe West Coast-CanterburyPrincipals’Association.
In effect, this means thatwintersports have ceased in mostcodes.
Thesecond of these wasthe decision by NZQA to pushthe NCEAexternal
exams back by twoweeks.This will give our senior students fiveweeks in
Term Four beforethey facethesefinal exams.
Future-2023 and beyond
Looking well into our future, wehave made adecision in regards to the
structureofour Year 9and 10 classes in 2023 andbeyond.
Currently we have offered either the Innovation Model (of subjects
collaborating with each other) or the SingleSubjectModel (the traditional
silo subjectstructure).
However, there is increasing recognition that any future employment will
require creative problem-solvers who can collaborate and communicate
effectively with others.They also need to be resilient and entrepreneurial.
The traditional educational model is very good atimparting knowledge
but, of course, this is becoming less important with information being
available anytime and anywhere. With this change of emphasis in mind
then the Innovation Model isbetter able tooffer development ofthese
desired attributes.
Therewill,ofcourse,still be explicit teaching of subjectcontent,plusan
emphasis on literacyand numeracy.
Our changes mirror changes that all education systems are undertaking
or considering fortheir futures. Therehas beenanincreasing recognition
thatthe requirements forsuccess in the future willbedifferent. Therefore,
the traditional model of schooling based on the acquisition of knowledge
needs to change.
We,ofcourse,havebeenworking anddevelopingthe Innovation Model
for the last four years and weare comfortable that itismore suited to
equippingour graduatesfor adifferentfuture.
Thereare exciting timesahead.
Information
Ross Preece
Principal •Tumuaki
COVID Level2Arrangements:
Schools Re-opened Today
As advised by the Prime Minister, schools re-opened today at
Level2,Thursday 09 September,for face-to-facelearning.
TodayCollege is operating on Wednesday’stimetable,and is beginning
with Ako Class in Period 1asanopportunity for Ako teachers and
students to touch basefirst thing this morning.
Fridaywill run on Friday's timetable.
Keypoints for returningtoschool are:
Masks: As per the Government’s guidelines, masks are highly
recommended within schools, but are not mandatory.
Please, though, supply your ownmask.
Year 13 Students/Study Periods:
Year 13 students, during study periods, are required tobe
in the Library, Common Room or Classroom if they are on
College grounds. Otherwise they are required tosign out
and leave the campus.
Illness –Students Must,Please,StayatHome:
Level 2Guidelines are being followed. If your child has acold or is
unwell they should not be attending College.
Where astudentcomestoschool sick,beadvised wewill contactyou
to ask youtocollectthemfromCollege.
Important date changes:
Duetothe startofNCEA exams beingpushed backithas beendecided
to also move back the last day ofschool attendance for senior
studentsasfollows:
• Year 13 lastdayofschoolThursday 11 November
• Years11and 12 lastdayofschoolWednesday17November
Please note: these dates do not reflect when Prize-givings will be
held.Thesedates willbeconfirmed at alater time.
Year 9option subjects -will changeonTuesday 14 September.
AshCollWay Reports – will resume, for all stuents, onWednesday 22
September.
Information
NCEA and College Internal Exams –
Please Note Dates
NCEA External Exams
• End of Year external exams will now start two weeks later,
commencing Monday 22November and running through until
Tuesday14December.
• External Portfolios in Art, and Design and Visual communication
deadlineswill alsobepushedout by twoweeks.
Internal College Examinations–PushedBack OneWeek
These will now beheld from Monday 20September through to
Tuesday28September,inclusive, forYear11, 12 and 13 students.
Details have been emailedtofamilies.
ImportanceofIn-College Exams
These examinations aresignificant as not only arethey able to provide
students with averyaccurate gauge as to their current performance,but
the result may beused as evidence ofthe standard oftheir work should
they,for somereason, not be abletosit the NCEA examination laterinthe
year and therefore have to apply fora‘derived grade’.
This year we areoffering someEnglish classesthe opportunitytocomplete
theirexam online. They will alsohave apapercopyduring the examsand
can switch between the two mediums. This hopefully will also eliminate
the anxietyaround internet or batteryand powerfailure.
Events
Year 13 StudentVolunteer/Service Projects
As outlined in last week’s newsletter this year, aspart ofthe Year 13
Ako programme, College aimed for every Year 13 student totake part
in avolunteering/serviceproject. Aprojectcould be within or outside
of school.
This week we continue to outline anumber of these projects, where
students give back to the school and/or local community, mainly by
students in 13GBD –Teacher, Clair Bedward’s AkoClass.
Georgia Moke-Harvey–
Choreographed forAshburton College Showquest
Georgia said thatfor her Volunteer Projectshe choreographed forthe
Ashburton College Showquest performance, working alongside the
studentcreativeteam as well as PerformanceCo-ordinatorClaireBubb
and Head of Drama Kylie Backhouse-Smith.
For the preparation of Showquest, students and staff had at-College
practices most lunch times throughout Term One, where Georgia taught
the dancechoreography. Theteamhad also held meetings during the April
school holidays and afterschool.
Georgiasaid it took her approximately four-fiveweeks to choreograph. This
work was solely Georgia’s, without teacher input until they were actually
teaching the dancetothe students. She said her inspiration came from the
film Moulin Rouge, with the music for the dance being what was used in
this musical.
During this experience Georgia took on aleadership role teaching and
organising her peers,which she said wasgood personal development.
The performance was held on Tuesday 18May, in the Christchurch Town
Hall where College competed with different schools from around the
Christchurch region. Georgia said this was agreat experience, as not only
was she given the opportunity tounleash her creativity for dance and
performance and watch itcome alive as agroup dance but, she said, she
also got to help herschool by doingthis forthem and contributing to their
overall performanceand success at Showquest.
(Pictured above): Part of the College performance.
Georgia’s diary of her Volunteer Project showed that, by the start ofMay,
full rehearsals were taking placeonMondays,Wednesdays and Fridays;with
dancers practising on Tuesdays and Thursdays also. Wewouldall agreethat
this is asignificanttime commitment.
By 12 Mayafull costume rehearsal wasscheduledfor Sunday16May,from
2:00pm-6:00pm, and open to family members and teachers to view.
At the performanceinChristchurch, Georgiawas able to help manage props
and backstage crew
in addition to doing
make-up and helping
the performers get
organised into their
costumes.
(Pictured right,
leftand right):
GeorgiaMoke-Harvey
applying make-up to
LaraShierlaw
Events
Georgia concluded by saying ‘although we did not take home any prizes,
this was still an amazing opportunity for all students involved to perform
and create something of our ownthatweare proud of’.
She also noted that this experience has definitely inspired her to try
choreographing other dance pieces in the future, acknowledging
Kylie Backhouse-Smith’s support and help with formations and dance
teaching.
(Pictured left, back row
lefttoright):
LaraShierlaw, ZoeAyers,
RubyRobinson
(Front row, lefttoright):
John Magyaya,
Brooke Cornish-
Madden, Jessica Wilson.
Acknowledgement:
In this article we enjoy
three of the professional
photos which were
released.
Victoria Pupuke–Helping Jayne Cornelius
(Withdrawal Room Supervisor)
Victoria’s Volunteer Project was helping (invaluable) staff member
Jayne Cornelius in T14, College’s Withdrawal Room. For the duration of
her Volunteer ProjectVictoriawas on-siteatCollege,volunteering alongside
RangaikoreMakutu.
Every Period 4onaWednesday, during Ako time, they helped Jayne with
whatever tasks were needed on the day. Victoria said that volunteering
there helped free-up some time for Jayne to focus on more important
matters,including emails and finding students or teachers.
Victoria outlined some of the tasks they undertook,including: watching the
students while Jayne went to the
Office;emptyingre-cycling; tidying
the room, and the side storage
room; sorting papers and books;
cleaning the chalkboard; helping
prepare for the Junior House
Basketball lunchtime games which
Jayne organises; and delivering
notices tovarious students.
Victoria said they were pleased with
how the room spaces looked after
their tidying efforts.
(Pictured right, clockwise from the
front): RangaikoreMakutu,
JayneCornelius and
Victoria Pupuke,inT14.
ZoeKenny–Helping Year 10 Students in their Maths Class
Zoesaid that, at the startofher project, the
class was just beginning anew topic. She
also noted that, as they were learning, it
wasall coming back to her as to howtodo
it so she wasable to help the students who
weren'tquiteunderstanding.
This projecthelpedher to connecttojunior
studentsand trytokeep them on track with
their work,pluskeeping her ownmaths up
and, inaway, testing her memory tosee
how much she remembered from her Year
9and 10 Maths.
Zoe was working in Maths teacher
YinChua’s class and said,while Ms Chua was
helping some students Zoecould help others and,mainly,was helping one
studentwith explanations and examples.Zoe acknowledged it wasagood
feeling being able to help morethan she expectedtobeable to.
As the weeks in class increased, more students asked for help as they got
to know Zoe, and she said it wasgood to be thanked at the end of the class
time. She was pleased tohave been able to help, and enjoys seeing the
same students around school and having them sayhello –and asking if she
is coming in to the next lesson.
By Week 4, she was able to help Yin Chua with marking some work and,
again explaining the activity they were working on as arecap oftheir
first explanation. Afew students who had finished their work asked Zoe
questions about life asaYear 13 student and being asenior student at
College. This provided an opportunitytoexplain her experiences,and give
some adviceonhow importantfocus and education is.
Week 4evolved into Week 5and preparation time foranassessment, which
meant revision assistance, ready for their assessment the following week.
This week Zoe wasn’t needed in class but did pop in at the start towish
themgood luck!
In summary Zoesaid working with this group of Year 10 students wasquite
fun, and it was good getting to know them and talking with them about
subjects available at College.
Towards the end of the ten-week programme there was less to help with
in the Maths class and no Volunteer Projects by Week 9, so Zoe continued
helping out in the College Library, where she had also been doing some
work,saying she washappytobehelping around the College‘in adifferent
way’.