BULLER HIGH SCHOOL Te Kura Tuarua-o-Kawatiri 33 Derby Street, Telephone: (03) 789 7299, Fax: (03) 789 6790, Email: [email protected], Website: www.buller.ac.nz, PO Box 87, WESTPORT 7866 Issue 9 October 2020 FROM THE PRINCIPAL: [email protected]Term 4 has started with the knowledge that for seniors, there is more time to hone their skills prior to the external exams due to the extension of the senior school year. The last official day for our senior students for 2020 is Thursday 12 November. On the Thursday we will be farewelling our Year 13/14 Graduate class of 2020 for the last time. It is always an emotional time, but one that signals the end of one chapter and the start of another for these students – exciting times! During the evening, we will be holding the annual Senior Prizegiving at the NBS Theatre. This event recognises the outstanding achievements of our students in class, on the sports field, in the arts and culturally. The successes are many and varied and we welcome you all to share these achievements with us during the evening. The Prize giving begins at 7pm – see you there. NCEA exams commence on Monday 16 November and we wish all our students the best for those. These exams for many, are the culmination of the year’s work and also the platform for further learning in 2021. These exams contribute to: Overall NCEA Achievement NCEA Level endorsement NCEA Subject endorsement and Pride in performance – finishing the year by completing ALL assessment work It is essential that all students turn up to every exam. The Deputy Principal Mr Forsyth, has met with senior students to confirm exam entries and distribute timetables, so they all know when exams are being held. Attendance is the key to success always, and the exams are no different. I would be disappointed if any student lets him/herself and their teacher down by not turning up. The Senior Ball was a success and provided an opportunity for students to dust off their glad rags and enjoy a night of glamour, music and fun. The Ball Committee did a great job in decorating the hall in line with the theme “in with the old”. The photo in the Westport News was an indication of the formal wear that was on display. I want to thank all of the staff who supported this evening and contributed to its success. The Junior Dance will be held on Friday 13 November. This event is organised by the outgoing prefects. Miss Wells, our Assistant Principal, has just returned from study leave. It is great to see her back at school after her time away. I want to acknowledge Mrs Comeskey who stepped into the Assistant Principal role for the majority of the year. She did a fantastic job in wearing many hats over this time and I know that our staff appreciated the work she has done – tau kē e hoa! For our junior school, there is still a lot of learning to take place. The junior exams, which will run from Monday, 16 November to Friday, 20 November are not far away. These exams give students a taste of what a formal exam is, plus it gives them the chance to demonstrate the learning that has taken place this year. For the Year 9 students, they will shortly be deciding on their options for Year 10 and for the Year 10 students, they are setting the platform from which to launch next year as a Year 11 NCEA student. Kei ōu ringaringa te ao “The world is yours”
Term 4 has started with the knowledge that for seniors, there is more time to hone their skills prior to the external exams due to the extension of the senior school year. The last official day for our senior students for 2020 is Thursday 12 November. On the Thursday we will be farewelling our Year 13/14 Graduate class of 2020 for the last time. It is always an emotional time, but one that signals the end of one chapter and the start of another for these students – exciting times! During the evening, we will be holding the annual Senior
Prizegiving at the NBS Theatre. This event recognises the outstanding achievements of our students in class, on the sports field, in the arts and culturally. The successes are many and varied and we welcome you all to share these achievements with us during the evening. The Prize giving begins at 7pm – see you there. NCEA exams commence on Monday 16 November and we wish all our students the best for those. These exams for many, are the culmination of the year’s work and also the platform for further learning in 2021. These exams contribute to:
Overall NCEA Achievement
NCEA Level endorsement
NCEA Subject endorsement and
Pride in performance – finishing the year by completing ALL assessment work It is essential that all students turn up to every exam. The Deputy Principal Mr Forsyth, has met with senior students to confirm exam entries and distribute timetables, so they all know when exams are being held. Attendance is the key to success always, and the exams are no different. I would be disappointed if any student lets him/herself and their teacher down by not turning up. The Senior Ball was a success and provided an opportunity for students to dust off their glad rags and enjoy a night of glamour, music and fun. The Ball Committee did a great job in decorating the hall in line with the theme “in with the old”. The photo in the Westport News was an indication of the formal wear that was on display. I want to thank all of the staff who supported this evening and contributed to its success. The Junior Dance will be held on Friday 13 November. This event is organised by the outgoing prefects. Miss Wells, our Assistant Principal, has just returned from study leave. It is great to see her back at school after her time away. I want to acknowledge Mrs Comeskey who stepped into the Assistant Principal role for the majority of the year. She did a fantastic job in wearing many hats over this time and I know that our staff appreciated the work she has done – tau kē e hoa! For our junior school, there is still a lot of learning to take place. The junior exams, which will run from Monday, 16 November to Friday, 20 November are not far away. These exams give students a taste of what a formal exam is, plus it gives them the chance to demonstrate the learning that has taken place this year. For the Year 9 students, they will shortly be deciding on their options for Year 10 and for the Year 10 students, they are setting the platform from which to launch next year as a Year 11 NCEA student.
Kei ōu ringaringa te ao
“The world is yours”
The Buller High School Boys Football Team took out first place for Tier 2 in the 15th to 17
th Grade Tasman District
Club Championships held in Nelson from 27 to 28 September. These were their first games for the season, but they played impressively to beat the established Tasman District Club teams in their division. We have been told that this was the first time that Buller Football has had a win outside the West Coast (EVER!), and we will proudly take that title. The boys were great ambassadors for the School and had a lot of the other teams cheering for us to win. The organiser was impressed with our team and their performance and has invited us back for future years.
They achieved decisive scores against a number of the teams with an impressive record of 25 goals scored for, and only three against them. Devin headed the goal count with 9, Karl was close behind with 6, Karta with 4, Michael with 3, Julian Guppy 2, and Oliver 1. However, all the players contributed to the wins, with the back line and Jamie in goal successfully fighting off a number of attacks. It was great that Jack Newman and Julian Guppy from Karamea Area School joined the Buller High School Team for this tournament, and their skills were really appreciated in the match, with Julian scoring one of the winning goals in the final.
Photo from Left back: Eamon Ginley, Guiseppe Scanlon, Kane Steenhauer, Charlie Weaver, Blake Potter, Blake Cunneen, Karl Yap, Jordaan Harris, Jamie Holland, Kelvin Simpson, Coach. Front from left: Michael Suleman, Riley Simpson, Oliver Hamilton, Devin Signal, Karta Ginley, Julian Guppy, Jack Newman.
The results for matches were:
BHS v Blenheim Valley 13 - 1
BHS v FC Nelson Falcons 2 - 0
BHS v Nelson Suburbs FC Rangers 5 - 1
BHS v Richmond Red Devil Ninjas 3 - 0
BHS v Richmond Red Devil Ninjas (Final) 2 - 1
Boys Football Team Wins 17th Grade, Tier 2, Tasman Club Reps 2020
On the last day, the boys also had some fun on the Cable Bay zip line followed by a fierce paint ball battle. It was pretty cold up on the zip line, but luckily some of the boys had brought their own warm hats. The boys did extensive fundraising for the HEY Tournament in Australia, so they were really glad to get to this tournament and win their Division, so they could finish off an unusual year on such a high!
During Term 2, the 10E Social Studies class completed a project on littering in our school and in the wider community. Students undertook a survey for a week around the school and along some of our local streets. All data was collated and a presentation to staff and students was given outlining the students’ findings. Students also wrote letters to the Buller District Council outlining their concerns about the lack of bins along Lyndhurst, Pakington, Hen-ley, Cobden and Brougham Streets and also suggested that bins needed clearer signage so they would be used more effectively. The students who wrote to Council received personalised letters of response from the Mayor and the students were invited to present their findings to the Council. A number of students delivered their presentation on Wednesday 30 September.
Photo at left: Sam Manning, Turlough Bennett and Louella Prasad presenting their litter findings to Council. Seated, is Casey Anderson who was our technology support person. Arryn Duston was also in attendance and he collated the statistical data for the presentation. A huge thank you to all the students of the 10E Social Studies class for their fantastic effort with this project. We are now awaiting a reciprocal visit from Buller District Council who will let us know what Council are currently doing regarding waste management in the Buller region. Photo at Right: Arryn Duston, Turlough Bennett, Sam Manning, Louella Prasad, Casey Anderson.
Congratulations to our YES business team Aromafix, who have been selected as regional finalists. Jorja Brazil, Venus Valibia and Ashleigh Manning have successfully created and managed a business during the course of the year, producing and selling aromatherapy infused heat packs for pain relief. They participated in five challenges during the course of the year, including Validation, Pitch, Promotion, Sales and Annual Review, and will once again pitch their business at the finals at the end of October to a panel of business judges. We wish them all the best – we are very proud of you.
YES Business Team
Year 10E Social Studies
Why Attendance is Important at School There is a strong link between attendance and achievement. This is probably not surprising. However, the strength of that relationship was not known until we took part in a pilot project with the Ministry of Education, beginning in 2019. Firstly, we looked at NZ data as a whole for Year 11 students. Looking at the graph below it is clear that those students attending almost every day put themselves in a very good position to achieve NCEA Level 1 by the end of that year. What was also clear, is that attendance in Year 10 also had an impact on NCEA achievement.
The Education Act is clear for those students yet to turn 16. Schooling is compulsory and only sickness or permission from the Principal can excuse attendance for any time. We would rather rely on the support of parents to encourage students to attend as much as possible because it will improve their chances of success. Secondly, we looked at the newer method of recording overall attendance, called ‘Regular Attendance’. A student who attends regularly, attends over 90% of the time. This is pretty reasonable as it means essentially one day per fortnight away from school, much more generous than a workplace. As a school, our regular attendance was 50% in 2019; over half of our stu-dents were absent for more than one day every fortnight. It is very difficult to reach your potential in these circumstances. Thirdly, how can we address this with our students in order to give them the best chance to succeed? Thus far we have: Provided attendance awards for those with near 100% attendance Given regular reminders at assembly of the importance of attendance and the link to
achievement (80% means that they are away one year in five!!) Tidied up our processes for recording attendance so that correct codes are recorded Placed attendance requirements on participation in all school teams, groups and events
(90% attendance plus justified). What difference has this made to date? In Term 3 2019, average attendance was at 82.4%. In 2020 for Term 3, average attendance sat at 85.5%. This is a positive change. Students and parents are more aware and conscious of why students need to attend regularly. We look forward to continuing to work with parents on maintaining high attendance for all students.
Red Blue Green
TRINITY COLLEGE LONDON MUSIC RESULTS
With the uncertainties surrounding Covid-19, its different levels resulting in date extensions, and the subsequent unavailability of our London-based Music examiners, it was a relief to have Trinity examiners living in New Zealand willing to tour the country’s centres, enabling candidates to complete their practical examination programmes. The following successful candidates were examined recently in their instruments by Trinity College London examiner Mr David Adlam MPhil, FTCL,LTCL, Pianist and Clarinettist, Music Educator, Composer and Conductor, from Auckland. Mrs Tina Taylor Grade 4 Guitar Scarlett Hamilton Distinction Flute Kaitlin Gower Merit Grade 5 Guitar Samantha Manning Pass Singing Isabella White Pass Grade 6 Guitar Jessica Roche Pass Rev’d Rona M Halsall ONZM LTCL FIRMT Grade 2 Singing Charlotte Jennings Merit Grade 3 Singing Leonie Wieczorek Merit Grade 4 Singing Gemma Steenhauer Merit Grade 6 Singing Zena Harding Merit Singing Lily Meadowcroft Pass Grade 7 Piano Mr Gavin Haussmann Pass Grade 8 Singing Claudia Halsall-Rae Pass Well done everyone! Rona M Halsall Trinity College London Representative Music Department of Performing Arts Buller High School
Buller High School
2020 Yearbook
This year’s memories captured forever…
in full colour
Don’t miss this opportunity to pre-order your copy of the
2020 Yearbook.
Orders taken at the School Office
$25 collected or $30 posted
Junior Dance 2020
DATE: Friday 13 November
TIME: 7.00pm – 10.00pm
VENUE: School Hall
DRESS: Semi Formal
COST: $5.00
Tickets on sale from Monday 9 November, at lunchtimes from the foyer outside the School Hall.
27 October: Senior Reports 28 October: Junior Netball, Hokitika 28 October: Year 8 Parent Night 6 November: Junior Touch, Reefton 11 November: Volleyball, Westport 12 November: Graduation in the Buller
High School Hall and Senior Prizegiving at the NBS Theatre
2020 Senior Prizegiving
All Parents/Caregivers are cordially invited to
attend our Senior Prizegiving
Thursday 12 November
7pm NBS Theatre
Year 13 Graduation Ceremony
WHEN: Thursday 12 November
TIME: 11.20am
WHERE: Buller High School Hall
All Parents/Caregivers and family members
are invited to attend this very special
ceremony as we honour
our graduating Senior students
13 November: Junior Dance 16 November: NZQA Exams Begin 16-20 November: Junior Exams 23 November: Teacher Only Day 6 December: Year 10 Camp, Whenua Iti 7-9 December: Activity Week 10 December: Junior Prizegiving
