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Term 1 Issue 5

Kia ora e te whānau o Whangaparāoa

I trust you all had a good Easter weekend and are enjoying the last patch of summer.

With only seven school days left of Term 1, we took the time today in our full school assembly to remind learners of the need to finish the term positively. Specifically, learners were reminded to respect each other and adults, be ready to learn and allow others to learn, and expect our teaching staff to reinforce these expectations during each lesson. Please discuss these with your learners to triangulate the messages between learner, school and home.

You may have seen recent media headlines and articles about learners' behaviour, particularly at secondary schools. We are not exempt from a small number of learners not meeting our behaviour standards. Unfortunately, we have had to use some of the more serious consequences we can, being stand-downs and suspensions, far too often this term. Learners know and are reminded of our expectations regularly. If learners do not meet these, we take action and make no apologies for this. We expect that school is a safe place for all learners to be able to learn.

Next Friday we have a whole school House Event Day. School will start at the normal time, but finish at 2:00pm. Learners are encouraged to come to school dressed in their house colours ready to represent their house in the events arranged. This day is being organised as part of our schools strategic plan to develop a sense of belonging for our learners and utilise the unique character of our school. Additionally, it is a positive way to end a very busy term.

At the end of this term, we say farewell to a small number of staff that have earned promotions to other schools. Wiri Warriner is leaving Whangaparāoa College to take up the position of Principal at Ōrewa College from the start of Term 2. Wiri has been with us a short time, but has made a significant impact on our school and community. While he will remain living in Manly, we wish him all the best for his first foray into principalship at Ōrewa College.

Looking ahead, Term 2 is traditionally a very busy one. Sport and Performing Arts start and are in full swing, the weather deteriorates, and days get shorter. It's not all doom and gloom though, as we will continue to ensure learners are engaged fully in their learning after the term break. I regularly say that for each learner a new term is a bit like a fresh start and also the most important term for learning in their lives to date.

I hope the term finishes well for all our learners and they look forward to returning positively in Term 2.

Ngā mihi

Steve McCracken
Tumuaki | Principal

April
4 Open Night / Information evening
10 2025 Enrolment Interview Evening
12 Full School House Event - Non uniform day
12 Last day of Term 1 - School finishes at 2pm
29 Term 2 Starts

Recent News

Information Evening & Tours

Tomorrow, 4 April we are hosting our annual information evening and tour.
This is an opportunity for families who will be enrolling their children in 2025 to learn more about Whangaparāoa College.

EnviroGroup

The Envirogroup trapping team is getting on top of the introduced predators in the bush areas around school through the 2 traplines that contain bait boxes and humane rat and possum traps. Our next job is to start working on eradicating the many pest plants that take over the bush, outcompeting native plants that our birds and insects depend on. In addition, many of these plants are toxic or irritating to people and animals.

On Sunday, 7 April from 9am to 11am, there will be the second of our monthly community weeding bees happening at school. During the first one, we dealt to a huge moth plant and woolly nightshade infestation along the boundary of the school field. If you can spare an hour or 2, we’d love to see you. Just turn up at the front office dressed in appropriate clothing eg long sleeves and closed in shoes, with a hat, drink bottle, sunscreen and a pair of gardening gloves. Everything else will be provided, including kai after the mahi, and everyone is welcome.

We also meet weekly after school Thursdays in S12. Again, all equipment and a bit of kai are provided.

Duke of Edinburgh

Bronze Qualifying Expedition

Last weekend, 9 learners and 2 teachers made the short ferry ride across to Rangitoto Island from Devonport for the start of the qualifying journey for last year’s Bronze Duke of Ed group. This was postponed from November last year due to stormy weather. The trip up the volcano to the lava caves was a good warmup for the muscles. After exploring the caves for about an hour, we traipsed up the short, steep track to the summit, where we had a well earned lunch break, and enjoyed the spectacular views. We then had a 3-4 hour walk to our destination for the night - lovely Home Bay on Motutapu Island.

We had the whole campsite almost to ourselves, and the light rain that had cooled us down for much of the day disappeared, so we had a lovely, quiet evening setting up the tents, cooking dinner and exploring the beach and wharf. Everyone was fast asleep by 10pm, except for the kiwi and ruru, which were just waking up. Next morning, we were determined to catch the 2.20pm ferry, so we had breakfast, packed up and were gone by 8.30am - pretty impressive for a Sunday morning! We explored the war tunnels and gunneries before heading back to Rangitoto Island. A pretty (but hot) 3 hour walk around the edge of the island across the lava fields and past the historic baches, and we had made it - 26km walked over 2 days! We even had time for a cup of tea and a debrief before jumping on the ferry back to Devonport.

If this sounds like you, it’s not too late to sign up for Duke of Ed for 2024! Silver and Gold start in Term 2, and Bronze can start any time during the year you turn 14. The 2 Bronze expeditions (journeys) are in early November and December this year. See Mrs Sinclair in S12 for more details

Waiting for the ferry at Devonport

Lava Cavers

Motutapu from Rangitoto on day 2

26kms completed

ARTS AWARDS

Amelie Che

At the end of last year Amelie was awarded the Daphne Gretta Mary Stevens Community Music Scholarship for 2024. This annual music scholarship looks to assist an individual or group who wants to develop their skills and contribute towards promoting music in the South Kaipara community each year. The Daphne Gretta Mary Stevens Community Music Scholarship includes a $3,000 scholarship award which will go towards further music studies at university and this year Amelie plans to compose piano pieces as part of this scholarship award and to perform her piano compositions at local schools in the community .

Lily Stiven

At the end of last year, Lily was in the final stages of recording her song High and Dry. This was funded by the Play it strange Lion foundation songwriting competition she entered, and became a finalist in. Lily Stiven and Phodiso, who was our NZ Music commission music mentor last year, were accepted for the NZ music on air artist development fund to the value of $6,000. You can catch Lily’s song, High and Dry and some of her other work on Spotify.

Hosting an International Student

Kia Ora Whānau

We have had a fantastic return to welcoming our wonderful international students to the coast.
Welcome to all our new families who have joined our hosting whānau and hello to future homestays.

We are asking for expressions of interest for hosting 2024 and beyond.

This is a great opportunity for you to experience hosting a student from another country and share with them your family and community.

If you would like to be considered for this opportunity please email Sue McKay [email protected] to discuss further. Alternatively, you are welcome to visit our college website and explore the information listed in the International tab.

We would love to hear from you.

What we help with
NO ISSUE IS TOO BIG OR TOO
SMALL

disrespectful and out-of-control behaviour
sibling rivalry
solo parenting
refusing to go to school
blended families
posting on social media
boundaries
agression and anger issues
sexting
tehchnology and device use
abuse
anxiety and depression
bullying
tantrums
self-harming

and a lot more...
https://www.parenthelp.org.nz/helpline/

Public transport fares are changing for under 25’s from Wednesday 01 May

Free travel for 5 to 12 year olds and half-price travel for 13 to 24 year olds on AT bus, train and ferry services will end on 30 April 2024, in line with the government’s decision to withdraw funding for these concessions.

This means that from Wednesday 1 May:
5 to 12 year olds will no longer travel for free on weekdays and will instead pay a child concession (at least 40% off adult fares). They will continue to travel for free on weekends. The child concession will apply to anyone aged 5 to 15, who has a registered AT HOP card with their correct date of birth.
13 to 15 year olds will stop receiving the half-price child fares discount and instead switch to paying full child fares (at least 40% off an adult fare during weekdays, and free travel on weekends) from 1 May. The child concession will apply to anyone aged 5 to 15, who has a registered AT HOP card with their correct date of birth.
16 to 19 year olds with a secondary student concession will stop receiving the half-price secondary fares discount and instead switch to paying full secondary fares (at least 40% off an adult fare). Students aged 16-19 should apply for the secondary student concession to ensure they are paying the cheapest fare possible.
More information about the discounts and what you may need to do next can be found at AT.govt.nz/farechanges