Ashburton Courier: September 30, 2021

Ashburton College
Individual Excellence in aSupportive Learning Environment
News
Issue 32
30 September 2021
DeputyPrincipal Message
Variety
Who said ‘Variety isthe Spice of Life?’ Idon’t know,
but Ihave always been infavour of avaried and
exciting lifestyle andhavecertainly had my moments.
It keepsthe mind active, helps stave off the effects of
boredom and all that comes with it, and ‘they’ say it
keepsyou young –not sureabout that!
Uncertainty
What Idofind atiring battleisuncertainty and alack
of direction. In our current times we are all handling
uncertainty inour own way, asthe goal posts around Covid 19 change,
and we must alter course yetagain.
It has beengood to get backtoschool,evenwith its challenges,but there
is still much that wemiss and still much hesitation around events that
mayormay not happen.Wehavehad to put several events on ice, largely
because of group sizes.The recent move to larger numbersatgatherings
has helpedalittle in thatspace.
In our learning areas, things are moving along nicely, and everyone is
working hardtomake up the lost ground.
On the widersocial side of things,weare cautiously moving on with some
events in aslightly differentformat, cautiously putting them back ‘onthe
board’in the hope that we continue to keep this pandemic under control.
Junior Pastoral Team –2022 NewEntrant Students
The Junior Pastoral team is working tirelessly, onthe mahi that goes on
behind the scenes,totransition this year’s Year 8studentstothe College
at the startof2022.This is aprocess that takesseveral weeks to administer
effectively. and involves great liaison between ourselves and the junior
schools.The process has been somewhat compressed this year and that
has thrown extra pressures on the team.This can be an anxious timefor
young people and parents alike and, at AshColl,wetry andanticipate this,
and prepare well tomake sure that these understandable concerns are
minimisedand oftendispelled.
College Values
Our College Values of Quality, Pride and Respect, continue to be afocus
for all, and these were chosen in away that enable all members of our
College community -students, and staff -tobe good citizens. It’s really
encouraging when we hearthatthey aremodelled at home by caregivers
and whānau.Thatlink really helpslock them in place.
MidCanterburyBoxing Academy
Alongside this Ihave, of late, had the privilege of being inanother
environment where ‘values are king’ and that is the Mid Canterbury
Boxing Academy (MCBA). Some months ago, wewere approached by
EionJohnson from theMCBAtosee if we would be keen to be partofthe
Billy Graham Youth Foundation. We grabbed the opportunity with both
hands.
Thisisaschemethatisaimedatall young peopleand is designed to:
·turn youngpeopleintohealthyyoungadults;
·workonattitudes and self-control;
·motivate each person to personalexcellence;
·teach them to respect their family and those aroundthem;
·understand and carefor their ownbodiesand increase fitness.
Everythingwestrivefor at College! We currently have fiveCollege groups
attending this on aweeklybasis andithasbeen brilliant!
It is set up as anon-contact programme and the focus is on fitness and
personalvalues.The sessions arerun by HeadCoach,Cornelius Grobler,a
former New Zealandboxingchampion.
This young man isone of the most motivational people Ihave had the
pleasure tomeet. His ability to link with our students is phenomenal.
He has theskill and understanding of youngpeople that enables him to
connect immediately, and begin the transfer of life values –they line up
so well with whatweare all aboutatthe College.
He makes thestudents proud of who they areand wherethey come from,
and Isee them modellinghis lifemessages aroundCollege.
The man is alegend. For me, being there myself can be the highlight of
my week.Ialways leave pleased that Ihad beenincluded.
TheMid CanterburyBoxing Academyisonly one of themanyinstitutions
in our district thatfoster and growgood citizens andstrengthenlifeskills.
We really are fortunate tohave somuch going onand it should be our
mission to belong to agroup thatisabletodeliver this into our lives.
Preparation and Success
As always,atthis time of theyear Iencourage our students, especially our
seniors,tolook afterthemselvesasthe academicyear gallops towards a
close.
Preparation is the keytosuccess,and my message is
‘planthe work andthen work the plan’.
Very best wishes go to all our students for the upcoming exams and
assessments, and sincere thanks to the College staff who have tirelessly
battled to keep things close to normal. And of course, without parents
and caregivers,none of this would have been possible.
Cananyone remind me what normalisplease?
RonCresswell
Deputy Principal •TumuakiTuarua
Forthcoming Public HolidayDates:
Labour DayHoliday Monday25October
CanterburyAnniversary Day Friday12November
Additional College Date foryour Diaries:
Thursday 25 November ACCORD Teacher Only Day(MoE/PPTA/NZEI)
(Collegeclosed forinstruction)
Staff –Welcome
Ashleigh Arras
Learning SupportAssistant,
Te WhareManaaki.
Information
COVID Level2Arrangements:
Reminders re College Protocols
Illness –Students Must Stay at HomePlease:
Level 2Guidelines are being followed. If your child has acold or is
unwell theyshouldnot be attendingCollege.
Where astudent comes to school sick, beadvised wewill contact you
to ask youtocollectthemfromCollege.
Events
Murran Buller
ReturnedtoCollege as a
Learning Support Assistant,
in Mainstream classes.
Reminders:
NCEA and College Internal Exams –
Please Note Datesand Arrangements
NCEA External Exams
• End of Year external exams will now start two weeks later, commencing
Monday22Novemberand running through until Tuesday14December.
• External Portfolios in Art, and Design and Visual communication
deadlineswill alsobe pushed out by twoweeks.
Level3Visual Art; Levels 1-3 Technology andLevel 1DVC –
ChangedSubmission Dates
With the extendedlockdown and subsequentdisruption to learning,NZQA
has extended the time availableto schools to develop and collect relevant
candidate evidence requiredfor external assessmentfor subjects/standards
where evidence is submitted.
Thedeadline forthis is 10 November 2021.
Donations to HospiceMid Canterbury
Year 13 students Sam Holland and Jacob Bruce, as part ofthe Student
Executive Community Services Committee, which Sam is leader of, are
the key instigators and organisersofdonations to HospiceMid Canterbury.
Operating from Monday 13 September, soon after the return toschool
following lock-down, this initiativecontinues through until the end of term
tomorrow.
The call has gone out to the College community, via Instagram, Facebook
and posters around the school for second-hand items in good, clean
condition, including clothing,books andtoys.
Collection boxes inthe Student Office and the Upstairs Study Room have
been filling, with items delivered to Hospice Mid Canterbury atthe end of
eachweek. The donations have been much appreciated.
Forthcoming Events
Please note: dates are as at the time of publishing. Alterations, due to
COVID-level restrictions will be advised torelevant groups as soon as
details areknown.
October
01 Aoraki SecondarySchools’ Table Tennis,Timaru
Year 13 PED Golf,Lake Hood (Period 5)
01-17 Term Holidaybreak
End-of-Year and Senior Prize-GivingDates
We remind families that, due to the startofNCEA exams being pushed
back,ithas beendecided to also move back the following dates:
Senior StudentPrize-giving Dates2021
• Year 13 -Wednesday10November,7:30pm,
AshburtonTrustEvent Centre
• Year 11 and 12 -Monday15November,7:00pm,
AshburtonTrustEvent Centre
Last dayofschoolattendancefor Senior Students as follows:
• Year 13 last dayofschool Thursday11November
• Years 11 and 12 last dayofschool Wednesday17November
Last dayofschoolattendanceand Prize-givings forJunior Students:
Please noteslightchanges to these dates, and achange from previous
prize-giving times.
• Year 9 Thursday09December:Prize-giving5:30pm,
College Auditorium
• Year 10 Thursday09December:Prize-giving 7:30pm,
College Auditorium
Events
StudentWriters’Club
This is an initiative operating for aspiring student writers, which
operates onFriday lunchtimes inEnglish teacher and Co-ordinator of
this programme Rebecca Jeffery-Jones’classroom.
Working with Rebecca has been Year 13 student Harrison McKee, in a
leadershiprole.
Amotivating factorfor Harrison’s involvementand leadership is his passion
for writing but also the fact that hewould have relished such aclub when
he was ajuniorstudent.
Rebecca advised,withappreciation,thatHarrisonhas alsoworked hardon
further developing awebsite started by herself, aswell as preparing topics
and facilitating thesewith the group. Thewebsitewillprovide avehicle for
students to share and upload work, offering links for information helpful
forcreativewriting and providingone/two formal writing pieces. Harrison’s
plan istohave available astring
of exercisesfor future use.
(Pictured right): Harrison
commencing the sessionon
Character Writing.
As advised by both Rebecca
and Harrison, the club suffered
something of an hiatus, due
to lockdown restrictions and
related interruptions, but being
on-site again had enabled some
revitalisation. Approximately a
dozen students have accessed
the Club during the year, across
year groups but, latterly, mainly
Year 9 students which augers
well for the development of this
skill.
Additionally, of value, is development towardsCreativeWriting whichisan
NCEA Standard in English.
Writers’Group Processes
Harrisonoutlined thefocusofthe groupasmainly being writingexercises,
arising from various prompts which could be writing ashort story based
on asentence, covering differentgenresatdifferenttimes,within atwenty
minuteperiodof time.
Anotherapproach is usingavisualwriting prompt by fillinginacircleand,
forexample,creating afictionalcity, drawing simple shapes, applyingvalues
andthen preparing aback storyfromthis information.
Legacy
AgoalofHarrison’s, throughthe club, hasbeen to buildupanaudienceof
participants to ensure continuityof theclub afterhe leaves College, and to
leavealegacyfor younger students including the skills of self-management
and motivation.
CharacterProfiles
On Friday 17September, the day ofvisiting the Writers’ Club, Harrison
was, very ably, facilitating asession onCharacter Profiles, emphasising the
importanceofdevelopingatypeofcharacter, its purpose anddescriptions
of. Henoted astory withoutcharacters is only but bland.
Encouragement was that it is easier to compose astory if characters are
already established in awriter's brain. Harrison shared techniques hehad
used.
Covered indiscussion were the key prompts of Purpose, Personality and
Profile; andpersonalitytypes,asking what type of characterdoesan author
want as the maincharacter. Aninteresting discussionwas held on types of
personality and the benefits and drawbacks of certain personality types in
certain situations.
Covered were courage and types of; what roles might akind person be
found in; whatare the pros and cons of an energetic character andcan they
become afanatic; if alaid-back character –might they become lazy; what
does acharacterwith ‘cool’energymean –might they become self-centred,
not abletobecome‘cool’without others’input; while astubborn personality
may have their own mind-set, driven by ideals without which they can’t
exist; an ‘air-headed’person may befunny but also attract‘dumb’luck, can
they exist without accidentally killing themselves; acautious character is
likely to succeed, but slowly, asthey overly build aprotective base, can be
overly prepared, always planning.
Highlighted was the fact that every character inhistory exhibits the traits
attachedtocertainpersonalitytypes. Ascertaining characters and knowing
howthey will reactcan be the mostchallenging partofwriting.
(Pictured above, left and right): Two ofthe Year 9Writers’ Club regulars –
Aiden Nicolson and Lachlan Storey.