HGHS BULLETIN“A wise woman shapes her own destiny”

TERM 3 / WEEK 6ISSUE #6

Kia ora koutou

I wish to advise parents that a paid union meeting (PUM), an entitlement under Section 26 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, will be held at Claudelands Arena on Monday 12 September 2016, commencing at 9am and concluding at 11am, with the staff expected

to return to school by 11.30am at the latest. The school will be open in the morning on this day and classes will run in the afternoon for those students who come into school. We are asking parents to make other arrangements for your daughter on this morning as almost all staff will be at the PUM and I am unable to provide more than supervised study until 11.30pm. If you have no other options but to send your daughter to school, please e-mail principalsea@hghs.school.nz or contact a member of the frontline reception team to advise. I want to say at this point that I strongly support the holding of this regional meeting (which is not industrial action) for the reasons that follow to you.

Significant points about the proposal:• The Government proposal is for state-funded schools to be

‘globally funded’ for teaching positions, operational activity and property maintenance, with the Ministry having made it quite clear that they are not prepared to talk about the quantity or adequacy of school funding and that education spending is capped – there is no new money. While Government denies that this is effectively bulk funding, there is no doubt that that is exactly what they are proposing.

• The current staffing formula which provides a minimum guaranteed level of staffing in schools and is entirely paid for by the Government, including teachers’ annual additional pay increments and negotiated increased salaries, would be gone under this proposal.

• Schools would also lose the ability to make savings on their Board

funded teachers. Boards currently charge the most expensive teachers against central funding and pay for additional over-staffing themselves from the Operations Grant for teachers whom they employ who are lower on the pay scale. This saves schools a considerable amount of money. Under this proposal the Ministry would significantly reduce their costs immediately and these would be passed on to schools which are currently struggling to live within their limited Operations Grant funding.

• Schools would no longer be able to make decisions to employ additional staffing using funding from the Operations Grant that is provided for and supposed to be used only for buildings maintenance, as many schools, including ours, currently do. We do this because our highest priority is to provide sufficient staffing to give our students the best possible learning opportunities.

• Currently, schools around the country employ the equivalent of 900 additional staff, paid for from either Operations Grant or locally-raised funds, which is an indication that the Government’s staffing formula is simply not enough. Our school overstaffs each year in order to maintain lower numbers in classes, as well as a wider range of subject options.

• Under the current proposal each school’s Board of Trustees will have to make decisions about how they will spend their bulk fund before the end of the preceding year and tell the Ministry how much they will use as cash and how much they will spend in buying staffing credits for teachers and support staff.

There is certainly a lot to think about. The Board Chairperson will write to you in the near future to provide the Board stance.

I do encourage you to familiarise yourself with the proposal.

Marie GordonPrincipal

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

PERFORMANCE, HEALTH & WELLBEING CENTRE (NEW GYMNASIUM)

Hamilton Girls’ High School needs your help to RAISE 5.5 million dollars towards a new Performance, health and Wellbeing centre (new gymnasium). If you are interested in being part of a Parent Supporters group, please e-mail principal@hghs.school.nz.

DIGITAL SMART TIP The tip for this Bulletin is to

THINK before you POST. Before you post a comment, photo or footage go through the THINK acronym of Is it: True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind.Spend a couple seconds re-reading your post, thinking about the photo and running the ‘worse case scenario’ in your head - this can save you a lot of pain in the long run.Remember online communication is instant; wide-reaching and difficult to retract so be sure that’s what you want to send out before you post.

CHARITY WEEKSUPPORTING WOMEN’S REFUGE

Next week is ‘Charity Week’ and we are excited to be supporting Women’s Refuge. We aim to raise funds and collect specific goods (canned food and toiletries) to donate to this wonderful cause. Here is an outline of the daily events; each House is in charge of leading one day. There are House points at stake too, so we encourage everyone to get involved and give generously.

DAY & HOUSE EVENT

MONDAY CAN DRIVE

TUESDAY TOILETRY COLLECTION

WEDNESDAY MUFTI DAY

THURSDAY WALK-A-THON

FRIDAY CHOP THE MOP

WEEK 7

HOUSE CHARITY WEEK

-GET INVOLVED- -GIVE HOPE-

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WAIKATO TRADES ACADEMY

Our WTA Girls in Engineering students recently attended their work placement, where the girls had an opportunity to experience a ‘typical day’ in the workshop at Hamilton based engineering and stainlesssteel manufacturer, Longveld.This work experience is part of a Wintec/WTA programme launched in 2015. Young women at year 11 and 12 level from WTA partnership schools attend one day a week at Wintec’s Trades and Engineeringworkshops where they build a fuel powered mini-bike,while gaining credits towards their NCEA Level 2.The work experience at Longveld is another step towards helping these young women determine what a career in engineering might mean for them; while gaining valuable insight into both a workshop environment and project engineering office. We have enjoyed seeing the Girls in Engineering students come into their own at this work placement, and look forward to seeing what they decide to do as a result.

COOK ISLAND LANGUAGE 31st July - 6th August The theme for Cook Island Language Week was: Kia āriki au i tōku tupuranga, ka ora uatu rai tōku reo, To embrace my heritage, my language lives on.• Staff were shown Mrs Nathan’s Tivaivai that her Grandmother

gifted her for her wedding and were given an insight to it’s cultural significance.

• Our Cook Island PBN girls performed during a lunchtime and had a good turn out. They proudly displayed their culture beautifully through dance; Myana Tuakana has a special mention as she performed a superb Solo. The final dance involved students and staff from the crowd and This provided great entertainment.

• We finished the week with a Pasifika Shared lunch and it was well received and appreciated by all.

Two Hamilton Girls’ High students – Katie Hunia and Indiana Bixley participate in the Waikato Trades Academy Girls in Engineering programme.

JESSICA GOLDSACK AND MEGAN CLEMENT WIN NATIONAL RECIPE COMPETITION

As part of the Level One Food Technology programme the students worked hard to develop innovative, affordable and nutritious family meal recipes for the NZ Nutrition Foundation 2016 Create a Family Meal Recipe Competition. There were four categories that students could enter: Sanitarium Plant Based Meals, Tegel Chicken Meals, I Love Eggs Meals and Beef and Lamb NZ Meals.

We were very excited to receive the news that two HGHS Technology students had won first place in two of the four categories. Congratulations to Jessica Goldsack who won first place in the Beef and Lamb NZ category with her recipe “Lamb and Vegetable Meatballs, with Roast Vegetables on Crispy Wraps”. And congratulations to Megan Clement who was the winner of the Sanitarium Plant Based Family Meals category with her vegetarian meal recipe “Corn Fritters with Chickpea Salad and Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce”. Niki Bezzant from the Healthy Food Guide magazine was the judge and she liked the inclusion of plenty of vegetables in both Jessica’s and Megan’s meals, the use of pulses and the great presentation. She also commented that, “Both the meals also looked delicious.”

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES WEEK

Niihau -Bonjour - Konnichiwa - Ciao - Guten Tag - Kia Ora - Namaste - Hola

International week was celebrated last week with a number of different activities, including students and staff dressing up in a national costume on mufti day. Led by Multicultural Captain, Ritika Mala and International languages Prefect, Sapna Pandaram, it was great to see many of our students supporting the week.

NZSS WINTER TOURNAMENT BRIEFAt the time of writing, we have the following results:• 1st XI Football have made Top 4 in Nelson• !st XI Hockey are in the semi finals of the Marie Fry Tournament

in Auckland• Premier Netball have won 6 out of 8 games, and have gained

promotion into the UNISS A Grade• Junior A Basketball came runner up at the Junior Nationals in

Rotorua• Premier Basketball are competing in Rotorua and will finish on

Saturday• 1st XV Rugby are competing in Top 4 in Palmerston North.

ACHIEVEMENTS

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MAATANGI WHENUA GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION

On Tuesday 16th August, two teams of 3 from the Year 11 Geography classes went to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Maatangi Whenua Geography competition. It was held at Sacred Heart Girls’ College in Hamilton. The evening was a lot of fun with teams competing against schools from all over the Waikato and BOP region. Students who competed from Miss Campus’ class included Kayla Waudby, Katie Osborne and Zeba Nisa. The students from Mrs Weir’s class were Breanna Edwards, Emelia Gaudin and Baylee Luttrell. The teams participated in several rounds made up of general knowledge questions, mapping skills, visual interpretations and play dough work. They were very proud when they placed 5th and 6th out of all the schools that participated. Well done girls!

DANCE

On Friday the 26th of August St Peter’s School in Cambridge hosted the annual Dance NZ Made interschool regional competition. What a day!!! Filled with with a variety of dance workshops from three professional dance teachers the thirty five girls represented the school with enthusiasm, flare and professionalism. Lyrical, contemporary and jazz funk movements flowed throughout the day in between dress rehearsals in preparation for the competition that commenced that evening. Eight soloists and two groups competed in the Waikato regional Dance NZ Made competition in hope of gaining a spot at Nationals on the 17th of September.

The Junior Dance Troupe lead and choreographed by Aimee Stringer and the Hip Hop Group lead and choreographed by Darien Lee put up some fierce competition in eams the Year 9 and 10 category and the open division. The Junior Dance Troupe had a small set back on the night just before their performance of Salute but with a few minor adjustments performed with confidence and energy. They gained a second runner up award in the Year 9 and 10 division. Our Hip Hop

group of fourteen students competed in the Open Division against a wide variety of different pieces of Dance from different genres. They also finished with a second runner up award and were selected to compete at the National Dance NZ Made competition in Palmerston North on the 17th of September.

There were also eight soloists that competed from year 9 to year 12. These performances were all students choreographed and ranged from lyrical contemporary to street style hiphop. Kayla Rewi gained a top place in the Year 9 Solo, Joeleen Chapman came second runner up in the Year 10 Solo and Cyvarn Potter came first runner up. In the Year 12 Solo Tyla Robinson was awarded the first runner up.

Over all this was a positive experience for students and teachers alike and we will continue to build our participation in this event in the future through more extra curricular Dance Groups and Solo entries.

TECHNOLOGY DESIGN AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION ARTS SCHOLARSHIP WIN FOR DESIGN STUDENT Congratulations to former student of Hamilton Girls High School Hennessy Kear for winning the $1000 Youth Arts Scholarship for 2016. After being awarded Scholarship for Design and Visual Communication in 2014, Hennessy is now in her second year studying Spatial Design at Massey University. Ruth Port who coordinates the scholarship says that her application “provided excellent images of projects from student course work and showed her huge talent and potential’. For the current Design and Visual Communication students at HGHS, she was an inspirational guest speaker who was able to showcase the numerous opportunities that this subject has to offer. We wish Hennessy the best for her future endeavours.

Mr W. Te PaniaDesign and Visual Communications Teacher

KEY DATES THIS FORTNIGHT

29 AUG- 3 SEPT31 AUG- 3 SEPT

1-4 SEPT2-4 SEPT3-4 SEPT5-9 SEPT

7 SEPT7 SEPT8 SEPT

9-11 SEPT10 SEPT

12-16 SEPT12-16 SEPT12-15 SEPT

12 SEPT13-16 SEPT

13 SEPT14 SEPT - 7 OCT

14 SEPT14 SEPT16 SEPT

19-23 SEPT20 SEPT

21 SEPT-11 OCT21 SEPT - 8 OCT

21 SEPT22 SEPT

NZSS Hockey Girls Federation Cup/Marie Fry TrophyNZSS Basketball ‘A’ Premiership Zone 1 & 2NZSS Rugby - 1st XV Finals SeriesNZSS Girls Top 4 1st XV Rugby FinalsNZSS Individual Cycling ChampionshipsCharity WeekVision Testing - Yr 10Y13 Biology Zoo Trip to AucklandOption Evening 4pm-6:30pmNZSS Swimming ChampionshipsRobocup National Competition11 SOS Social Action WeekPE and Sports WeekStar LabPPTA Paid Union Meeting 9am-11amBarbershop finals. WellingtonGATE - Y10 Extension TripFrench TripVision Testing - Yr 10 Catch up2PTR fitness dayOption Forms dueScience Week2APO MTB all daySpain TripJapan TripSenior Parent-Teacher Meetings3APO/3APS 3.4 duathlon practice day

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LEADERSHIP: team leader; time manager

EXPERIENCE: teamwork and cooperation

OPPORTUNITY: Friendships and rewarding experiences

This is a reminder that the current Leo Club will meet via face time in Week 6, as arranged by Gemma. However, Monday 12 September is when we will hold the full club meeting and we invite everyone who has indicated they are interested in participating in Leo to join us. All meetings are held in V2 during the lunchbreak.

UP AND COMING EVENTS

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NZQA

COURSE ENDORSEMENT Students will be able to have their strengths in individual courses recognised with a course endorsement at Merit or Excellence. Students will gain an endorsement for a course where they achieve:1. 14 or more credits at Merit or Excellence at the lower level

that supports the endorsement2. at least 3 credits from externally assessed standards and 3

credits from internally assessed standards (Physical Education, Religious Studies and level 3 Visual Arts will be exempt from this)

3. sufficient credits in a single school year.

CERTIFICATE ENDORSEMENT

Students studying for NCEA Levels 1, 2, and 3 certificates will be able to achieve these qualifications with Merit or Excellence endorsements.1. Merit endorsement = 50 credits at Merit (or Excellence) at the

same level, or higher.2. Excellence endorsement = 50 credits at Excellence at the

same level, or higher.3. Credits can be accumulated over more than one year for the

purposes of certificate endorsement.4. In any one year a learner will be awarded an endorsed certificate

only at the highest level of endorsement recognised that year except when a learner has achieved two or three NCEA qualifications in a single year.

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION TIMETABLE

NZQA KEY DATES Start checking your results on the NZQA Database 5th April (Updated on the 5th day of each Month)

NZQA FeesSchool has stopped accepting payment.

All NZQA fees must be paid directly to NZQA.You can download a Payment form from the NZQA website.

Financial Assistance (Will receive late applications) School’s deadline – 10th June 2016

Last Date to Withdraw from External Exams School’s deadline – 12th August 2016Students can no longer withdraw from external exams

Last Date to Withdraw from Internal Standard(Unless you have been given an adequate assessment opportunity)

School’s deadline – 18th November 2016

School contactMr Mitchell is the Principal’s Nominee (NZQA Liaison) at the school.You can contact him by: E-mail: mitchellm@hghs.school.nz

Phone: 07 839 1304 EXT 839Mail: Mr Mitchell Principal’s Nominee PO Box 4082 Hamilton

At Waikato, we understand that starting University can be daunting so we’re here to support you along the way.

Our Pacific Information Evening is an opportunity for you and your family to join us on campus and meet some of our Pacific staff and students.

Find out about study options, entry requirements, scholarships, Pacific student support services, accommodation, what it’s like to be a Waikato student and more.

DATE: Tuesday 27 September

TIME: 5.30pm – 7.30pm

VENUE: The Buttery Room, Bryant Hall, Hamilton Campus

PARKING: Gate 1 Carpark, Knighton Road

Register at waikato.ac.nz/go/info

Pacific Student

Information Evening

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