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<strong>Ashburton</strong> College<br />
Individual Excellence in aSupportive Learning Environment<br />
News<br />
Issue 17<br />
9<strong>June</strong> <strong>2022</strong><br />
DeputyPrincipal Message<br />
AshColl Ball<br />
Thursday 23 <strong>June</strong> will be the highlight ofthe year<br />
formany, as the AshColl Balltakes place.<br />
This year thetheme is ‘Welcome to the Decades’.<br />
Planning for this started atthe beginning ofthe<br />
year with the Ball Committee,led by CaendalHarris<br />
and Henry Wallis. Each committee member has<br />
aresponsibility for an area and updates progress<br />
at weekly meetings. The committee has been<br />
enthusiastic andlooking forwardtoanother great<br />
nightatthe Braided Rivers CommunityTrust<strong>Ashburton</strong>Event Centre.<br />
Doors Open –8:00pm<br />
If you want tobrave the cold and view the students walking down the<br />
redcarpet,the doors open at 8:00pm and therewill be tiered seating in<br />
frontofthe EventCentre.<br />
Appreciation<br />
Iwould like to take this opportunity tothank the people behind the<br />
scenes who help make this event run as smoothly as it does -Roger,<br />
Casey and James from the Event Centre; Denise and her team from<br />
Balloons and Flowers for the decorations; DJ Boogie Beats; the team<br />
at the Somerset Grocer for the food; photographer Tony Stewart from<br />
Photoshots, Christchurch; SprayMarks traffic management ofthe event;<br />
NeumannsTyres forallowingtheiryardtobethe right-of-wayfor the Ball<br />
attendees’vehicles, and the many AshColl staff who give their time to<br />
supervise theevent.<br />
NewBuild Progress<br />
AProject Manager has been engaged and the main contract work has<br />
been tendered, with the contractor scheduled for confirmation next<br />
week. With the new Phoenix Pre-school Inc building now completed,<br />
plans are underway for the pre-school tomake the move to the new<br />
building. Followingthis, we can themove to demolish theold pre-school<br />
building in readiness forastartonBlock 1mid-August.<br />
This block will accommodate Science, Agriculture, Art, Drama and<br />
Maths classes; and the Te Whare Manaaki. Additionally, there will be<br />
renovations in Menorlue,and anew gym changing shed built with astaff<br />
officeonthe end.<br />
The design for Block 2and the Technology Block are still progressing.<br />
Block 2will accommodate theSocial Sciences,English, Physical Education<br />
theoryclasses,Library,Canteen andavarietyofoffices.<br />
COVID -Reminder<br />
Hereisareminder of what TrafficLightOrangesettingsmeanfor our<br />
school:<br />
• AtOrange, face masks are nolonger required at school. However<br />
- public health advice is that masks continue to be STRONGLY<br />
ENCOURAGED WHEN INDOORS.<br />
• Westrongly encourage the continued useoffacemasks by students at<br />
school.<br />
• Wearing amask is akey health measure that slows the spread of<br />
COVID-19 in indoor settings.For that reason, we encourage visitors to<br />
the school -includingparents,caregivers andwhānau,towear amask<br />
whenever theyare indoors on school grounds.<br />
• Buses and School Vans: At Orange, students are still REQUIRED to<br />
wear afacemask on school or public transport.<br />
We will continue to keep all the other health measures inplace at<br />
school. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated,<br />
maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette and<br />
appropriate physical distancing whenever we can.<br />
And, most importantly,staying homeifweare sick.<br />
Thank you for your understanding aswemanage through the COVID<br />
situation.<br />
Helen Shore-Taylor<br />
DeputyPrincipal •TumuakiTuarua<br />
Information<br />
Consultation Process–NCEALevel 1:<br />
Hui specifically forEmployers and Business<br />
CommunityStakeholders<br />
We are very interested in our community’s employer/stakeholder<br />
thoughts and perspectivewith regardtothe placeofNCEA Level1.<br />
At College we are focused on producing graduates who can thrive inthe<br />
future, and we know that there are adifferent set of skills and dispositions<br />
required forfutureemploymentthan in the past.<br />
If you would like input into this process, which we would welcome,<br />
or want to hear more; we invite you to attend either of the employerfocused<br />
sessions in the College Auditorium, on:<br />
• Wednesday08<strong>June</strong>,9.30am -or<br />
• Wednesday08<strong>June</strong>,7:30pm<br />
Allinterested communitybusiness members welcome.<br />
TheAshColl<br />
Way<br />
Acknowledgement<br />
Meet Jimu Robot! -With Appreciation to<br />
HarveyNorman<br />
Meet the Jimu (Joint Insolvency Monitoring Unit) Robot! This awesome<br />
interactivebuilding block roboticskit wasdonatedto <strong>Ashburton</strong>Collegeby<br />
HarveyNorman, mid-May.<br />
Head ofScience Marg Jones, and Head of Technology Rob Isaacs, were<br />
introduced to the possibilities that robotics could play intheir respective<br />
curriculumareas.<br />
These kits arecompatiblewith Lego Technics andcome with their ownApp<br />
for teaching staff and students how to build and programme itthrough<br />
the Blocky Coding Language. The Jimu Robot system supports teachers<br />
and students to expand their robotics and STEM (Science, Technology,<br />
Engineering and Mathematics) learning.<br />
Ahuge thanks is giventoHarveyNorman forthis generous gift.<br />
(Pictured above, leftand right): HeadofScience Faculty Marg Jonesreceiving<br />
the Robot gift from Harvey Norman's South Island Business Development<br />
Manager, Commercial Division, Stephen Chapman.<br />
Information<br />
NewDate–SecondDay of Parent/Student/<br />
SubjectTeacher Interviews and Early Closure<br />
Second day–rescheduled fornextTuesday14<strong>June</strong><br />
(transferredfromTuesday 24 May)<br />
2:30pm–8:00pm,Hotel <strong>Ashburton</strong>.<br />
Theinterviews arefor all year levels.<br />
ForYear9students,interviews arewith subjectteachersonly,<br />
(notoption teachers).<br />
Thelengthofeach interview is fiveminutes.<br />
It is expected that students attend withtheir parents/caregivers,<br />
in order to be partofthe three-way conversation.<br />
Bookings:will be automatically transferred over from<br />
those made for24May.<br />
If your previousbooking time no longersuits<br />
youcan alter your appointmenttime/s in SchoolPoint<br />
or,alternatively,pleasecontactthe College Office.<br />
As previously,ifyou do not have an onlinefacility,<br />
youare able to book by contacting the College Office on 3084193, Ext0.<br />
Collegewill close early,onthis day-from1:20pm.<br />
TheclosureisBoardofTrustees approved.<br />
Consultation Process–NCEA Level1:<br />
Remaining HuiDate<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> College is undertaking a comprehensive consultation<br />
process to consider if our College will retain NCEA Level1asaprimary<br />
focus forour Year 11 students.<br />
As part ofthis process, weare seeking the input of current and former<br />
students,whānau,employers and our staff.<br />
We are reviewing the role that this qualification plays insupporting the<br />
best outcomes for our students,and asking relatedquestions like:<br />
• Whatare the benefits and limitations of NCEA Level1?<br />
• Doall of our students need to completeNCEA Level1?<br />
• Are we supporting studentwell-being?<br />
• How does NCEA Level1supportour Vision?<br />
While our focus is very much on <strong>Ashburton</strong> College, this is aconversation<br />
which is taking place insecondary schools and their communities around<br />
New Zealand.<br />
We haveone remaining communityhui date:<br />
• Saturday11<strong>June</strong> 2:00pm College Auditorium<br />
If youare interested in hearing more, we inviteand strongly encourage<br />
youtoattend to gain information<br />
and to provide feedback to us at College.<br />
It is anticipatedthe hui will be forapproximately one hour.<br />
An opportunitytoshareyour thoughts will also be made available<br />
via asurveyinthe near future.<br />
Events<br />
Cultural Programme EventReturns<br />
PutLip Sync in your calendar,ifyou can join us in the audience<br />
to enjoythe talents of Collegestudents.<br />
Note:Ash Dancecancellation but Lip Sync is still scheduled.<br />
CANCELLED<br />
Bullying-FreeNew Zealand Week<br />
TheCollege’s StudentExecutivecontinuestospearheadtheirinitiatives,<br />
and focusing on arange of importantaspects whichaffectmanylives.<br />
During the week of 16-20May the emphasis wasonBullying-Free, and<br />
activities to promotewellness.<br />
To bring awareness they ran aseries of<br />
events,including Appreciation Bags.This<br />
event had students scan the supplied<br />
QR code to nominate astaff member<br />
or student they appreciate. On the<br />
Friday ofthe week, Executive members<br />
delivered Appreciation Lollie Bags to the<br />
nominatedstudentsand staff,uptotheir<br />
maximum supply of 100 bags.<br />
Various posts were also placed onthe Student Executive Facebook and<br />
Instagram. When the weatherwas dry, positivechalk messages were placed<br />
aroundthe campus.<br />
Wednesday lunchtime saw aPink Heart on the chessboard, for students to<br />
place pink post-it notes affirming and encouraging students to feel good<br />
about themselves,and to saysomething theylikedaboutthemselves.<br />
(Pictured above, clockwise from the left): Henry Wallis (Ball Committee Co-<br />
Head), Jed Amos,Campbell McBride (Head of StudentWelfareCommittee),<br />
Jorja Roulston (Head Student).<br />
Friday saw the week out with Pink Shirt Day for the staff. ‘Judging’ took<br />
place by the Student Executive inthe staffroom at8:40am, with credit to<br />
the Executivemembers forcoming in on their home-studying rostered day.<br />
Therewerecoffee andchocolate prizes forthe best pink outfit!
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