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Term 3 Issue 4

Kia ora e te whanau,

It certainly has been a busy few weeks at Whangaparāoa College, inside and outside the classroom.

This week (and next) our senior learners are busy writing their school end of year exams. This is vital for all learners to see where they are at, what gaps there are in their learning, and ensure they get the appropriate feedback for their NCEA Exams in November. Please continue to encourage your learner to complete each assessment or exam to the best of their ability. Additionally, if for some reason a learner is sick or absent with good reason from their NCEA exams, their grades will be derived from these school practice exams, so even more incentive for each learner to do their best.

Last week was Winter Sports Tournament week. Congratulations to all our premier sports teams that competed, particularly Netball, Rugby League, and Basketball. I enjoyed getting along to your fixtures and seeing you represent the school so well. A particular mention to our Premier 1 Netball team. They made the UNISS B Grade final for only the second time in the school's history, and the first time since 2017. Finishing second overall and qualifying for the A grade in 2025 is a wonderful achievement. A special highlight was having Jessica Washer and Noelani Roberts make the Tournament Team.

This week we have over 120 Year 7 and 8 learners in Tauranga at the AIMS Games. There have already been some fantastic results with Huw Robinson finishing 3rd in New Zealand in the Cross Country, and Raeann Nee finishing 4th in the Open Novice Gymnastics. The team events continue all week and we will update you with results through our social media pages as they come through.

Thank you to our whole community who support our extracurricular programme. We can’t give our learners the opportunities they have without your ongoing support and commitment.

2025 is just around the corner for our school. We have our penultimate enrolment evening for new learners to our school on 17 September. Please get the message out to your friends, neighbours, and members of our community who still need to enrol, to complete their enrolments online through our website and make an appointment to attend an enrolment evening.

Ngātahi, Whakapono, Tutuki - Together, Believe, Achieve

Ngā mihi

Steve McCracken
Tumuaki | Principal

Recent News

Literacy Week

To finish off our Literacy week, we held a Book Character Dress Up Day, it was fantastic seeing all our learners coming up with creative ways to dress as one of their favourite book characters.

Photolife

Parents have been emailed their child’s unique Key Code to go online to view and purchase their child's 2024 Team photos.

Free delivery expires midnight Sunday, 22 September.

Board Student Representative

Please remind your Year 9 - 13 learners the Board Student Representative voting closes on Thursday, 19 September.

Learners Leaving School

Lateness and Signing In

If a Learner is late, whatever the reason or time of day, they MUST sign in at reception.

Leaving School Early / Leaving Early Pass

All Learners (Years 7 – 13 inclusive) must sign out at reception, before leaving the school grounds, where a Leaving Early Pass will be issued.

The College requires an email or phone call from home outlining the reason the Learner is leaving the school grounds early. Without either of these we cannot release your Learner, nor issue a Leaving Early Pass.

Learners Leaving Early Due to Illness

Should a Learner suddenly take ill while at school they are required to visit the Health Centre, where the school nurse will assess their need to go home and ensure that their attendance is marked to reflect this. A Leaving Early Pass will be issued if arrangements have been made for the Learner to leave the school grounds.

School TV

How to handle exam anxiety

"It would be weirder to have zero nerves and be totally relaxed."

Dr. Richard Keegan, Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Canberra, wants you to know "some degree of tension or anxiety is natural and necessary" leading up to exams.
In fact, that tension can be used to help you study and even improve your performance.

To read the article, click here

UNISS 2024

Congratulations to our Premier Netball Girls for bringing home SILVER in the Upper North Island Secondary School tournament last Friday.
They played an outstanding 10 games in B Grade over 5 days, winning 9 out of the 10.

Special congratulations to Year 12 learner Jessica Washer and Year 13 learner Noelani Roberts for being named in the tournament team.

World Record

Congratulations to our learner Zoe Pedersen who set a new Youth World Record in the heats in the 100m Rescue Medley in a time of 1:09.10 at the 2024 Life Saving World Championships.