Taihape Area School Monday 18 th June 2012 Term 2 – Newsletter Number 9 Phone - 06 3880130 Email – [email protected][email protected]Website - http://tas.spikeatschool.co.nz Tena koutou katoa Welcome back - week 9 and only 2 weeks until the holidays. The term has absolutely flown past, with a large number of extra- curricular activities featuring – these included the Year 12 Leadership Camp, the Year 10 Noho Marae, the Senior Cross Country, Celebration Conferences, and Winter Sport. The Winter Sports Season has a huge impact on the School with practices scheduled most days, and a mixture of weekday and weekend competition. All this means is that the days fly as one activity follows closely on the heels of another. We are very fortunate with the staff we have here at Taihape Area School. The staff is friendly, welcoming, and committed to providing a quality and rounded education for all our students. Teachers these days work huge hours, including many in the weekends and holidays. The staff here is no exception, and it is not by accident that a bell rings at 5.00pm each night to remind them they have responsibilities elsewhere. Nevertheless this is often ignored by most as they continue to work hard to ensure a worthy education for our students. Staff are also highly involved in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, in particular sport. It is great that so many teachers are involved in coaching and managing teams, as well as providing ongoing assistance and support. As well the students here are friendly, outgoing, full of energy, and very talented. I celebrate the fact that increasing numbers of students poke their heads into my office to say hello, or visit for a catch-up. They are all generally eager to please, and celebrate their successes. Teaching places us in a privileged position and enables us to witness at close hand the personal growth and development of our young people. The changes that occur from the time they take their first unsteady steps as a New Entrant, until they leave as adults at the end of Year 13, are remarkable - in some cases a real metamorphosis has taken place. All schools have local heroes, and often they are unheralded. In that capacity, at TAS, I place our Office Administration Personnel Janice Hawira, Cathy Gregory, and Jenny Peace, as well as our Caretaker Ian Somerville. Other central members of our Team are Robyn Somerville (Library), Rita Martin (Star/Gateway/ Careers), Jude Hardwidge (Alternative Education), Ann
End of Term School finishes for the holidays next Friday
(29th
), at 2.45 pm.
This Term June
Wednesday 27th Celebration Assembly
Friday 29th Red Socks Day
End of Term
Next Term July
Monday 16th Term 3 Begins
Thursday 26th School Photos
Saturday 28th School Ball
Hockey Last week TAS played the strong
Horowhenua Mixed Hockey Team, losing
0-5 in what was a disappointing
performance. Although injuries and
illness proved disruptive to our team, the
final result was a real wake-up call, and
showed that there is much to work on –
which at this stage of the season isn’t
necessarily a bad thing.
TAS started the game very well and
dominated the first quarter, creating a
number a clear opportunities. However
poor marking allowed Horowhenau to
score two quick goals, followed by
another brace in the period before
halftime - halftime 0-4.
A determined effort in the second half
keep the opposition scoreless until the
last 5 minutes when Horowhenua scored
after a goal mouth melee. Final score 0-
5.
Credit in particular to Max and Johnny
Sage, Luke Smith, Lauren Donne-
Gregory, Nicole Rees, Eden Scott, Gina
Swanson, and Kayla Tapu for trying hard.
Max and Johnny have huge
determination, and as their skills improve
will develop into formidable players.
Draw
Tonight (18th June)
TAS v Awatapu, on turf 2, at 4.15pm.
Next Week
TAS v SPC (St. Peters College) Mixed on
turf 1, at 4.15 pm.
Rugby Winter in the
Hinterland
Northern Rebels 27 – High School
Panthers 12
Welcome to the winter wonderland;
with an arctic chill in the air and
rain turning to snow this was the
conditions for the day and it wasn’t
going to get any better than that.
For Northern Rebels these are
conditions we are all too familiar
with but none the least even the
hardest of us would stay indoors
preferring to be planted beside a
blazing fire.
Even
with the
chill
winds
cutting through every layer of
Marino and ice break a person could
done a fantastic amount of whanau
and friends came out to support the
home team Northern Rebels.
First half saw the Panthers start
fast, hitting out hard and scoring
the first converted points of the
game this was replied by the Rebels
with a 50 meter sprint from fullback
Jesse Theobald who put the ball
down over the line to put Rebels on
the board. The Rebels loose forward
trio of Tavake Misi, Kamryn Mosen
and Shakarn Brown got through a
load of tackling and tight forwards
and competing well in the scrums,
line outs and loose play. Ten
minutes before the half break Rebels
lose their full back who was taken to
hospital by ambulance with a
fractured collar bone. At the half
break the Panthers were leading 12
-5.
Second half saw the Rebels come
out strong with a few encouraging
words from Co-Coach Colin
McFarlane they struck back in the
first 5 minutes of the second half
with a try to the big no.8 Tavake
Misi and quickly converted put the
Rebels at a draw with the Panthers
12 all.
Another 3 tries and a conversion put
the Rebels well out in front and with
a massive defensive game by the
Rebels in the second half they
managed to keep the Panthers
scoreless.
A very strong game from the Rebels
in some very trying conditions and
with players having to be moved out
of positions to accommodate for
injuries showed how well this young
side have come together and with
only one training session together a
week the belief in themselves and
each other is becoming more
apparent with each game.
Players of the
day for Northern
Rebels are
Shairone Wood,
Robbie
McFarlane and
Tavake Misi
Tries: Jesse Theobald, Tavake Misi,
Shakarn Brown, Quade Ponga and
Jerome MacLean.
Netball
Junior
Another cold and frosty morning at netball but spirits were high. The TAS Swaggers had their first win of the season with a convincing 18-12 win over the Tactix. It was a whole team effort and Kiri was very pleased with them and awarded the whole team as MVP. The R&R Rebels played our Torpedos and whilst they won 9-1 the Torpedos played a very good game, especially on defence, getting lots of ball flowing up and down the court. MVPs were Karizmah for Rebels and Kierah for Torpedos. I umpired this game and it was a pleasure to see how far the girls are coming in their skills and development. The TAS Ferns defaulted unfortunately but there were enough keen players around that we pulled together a fun game versus the All Stars. Congratulations to Brooklyn
Walker, Georgia Adams, Shaquita Robinson-King and Charlie McLean for making Year 7&8 reps. They have a big tournament in Palmerston North in the holidays and I know they can make the Association and TAS very proud of them.
Keep working hard at practices girls, be nice to your coaches and play hard on Staurdays. There is netball for the next 2 weekends and then you get 2 weeks off in the holidays.
Happy Netballing.......
Mrs Adams (Junior Manager)
Senior
TAS BLUE
The girls played exceptionally well on
Saturday against Palmerston North
10B3, playing with just six players!
They held their heads high through
the game and didn’t let their situation
affect their play.
Unfortunately the girls came out
second best but thry still showed
great sportsmanship and fairplay on
the court.
A big thank you goes out to Tiana
Nepe for the time she puts into
coaching the girls outside of her own
netball.
Thanks to Tiana and well done girls
TAS GOLD
TAS Gold played Palmerston North
9A3 on Saturday unfortunately going
down11-17 at full time.
Some great holds and Teresa Sumich
put her training into the game by
putting pressure over every pass and
getting great tips.
Captain Jess Elwin did a great job
supporting her team throughout the
game.
Well done girls for your efforts.
TAS Senior A
On Saturday the girls were playing
top of the table. After going through
the round unbeaten, the girls were
hoping to continue this streak taking
on Palmerston North Girls High School
team who are first equal with TAS A.
From the first whistle to the last the
game was goal for goal and the
intensity of both teams did not drop.
In the third quarter a few words from
the coach, Shar Sincock, at quarter
time saw the girls pick up their game
and go on to push a two goal lead.
The fourth quarter was just as
intense with Palmy pulling back to
make the score even.
But by the end the TAS girls took the
win 30-29 making them top of the
table.
Well done
Matariki Celebrations Last Tuesday Room 3 went to the Matariki
Expo at Winiata Marae.
We attended five workshops. We learnt
how to make stars with flax with Aunty Kuia
and Aunty Maurini,and lots of interesting
things about the night sky in the
cosmodome. Awhina told us about the
different things the Maori do during
Matariki. She was funny when she told us
about her great great grandfather being an
Irishman and she sounded like an Irishman
when she spoke. She said it was important
to know who your grandparents are and
where they came from so that you can tell
your children and your grandchildren.
We then had a lunchbreak and then weht to
Jamie Maata. She taught us a new game.
You have to try and get the feather out of
your partners hair. The one rule is that you
are not allowed to touch your partner. It
was lots of fun and Quayarn and Timothy
were the best at it.
Our last workshop was with Matua Jerome.
He showed us how to make a porotiti.
When he was spinning his porotiti behind us
it sounded like a motor. We made a porotiti
each and Matua Jerome showed us how to
make it spin. Mitchel was really good. He
made it look easy.
Before we left the marae we had karakia
and sang Te Aroha. The day was a fun filled
learning day from powhiri to poroporoaki.
We can’t wait to do it again.
Job Vacancy Job Vacancy: Truancy Officer –
Northern Rangitikei
Purpose: To ensure the attendance of
students enrolled in the schools of
the Northern Rangitikei.
Qualities:
Able to work with families and children from all social, economic and ethnic backgrounds
Knowledge of support networks and social welfare organisations.
Must maintain confidentiality
Be able to keep true and accurate records.
The pay rate is $20 an hour based on working from TAS
Mileage is to be paid at .58c/km from TAS
Contact: Richard Baker at TAS ph3880130
ext: 753 for details.
Taihape Schools Art
Display Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th
Taihape Town Hall
Come along and check out the
artist talents of our young people
Quality Teachers Lead
To High Performing
Education System Before the recent announcement by the
Minister on class sizes, we received a press
release about New Zealand's high
performing education system, and in
particular, how the results from a 2012
OECD evaluation report and PISA rankings
reflect the absolute quality of New Zealand
teachers.
MEDIA RELEASE
"New Zealand parents should be assured
that our education system is high
performing", according to Dr Peter Lind, the
Director of the New Zealand Teachers
Council.
The latest OECD Report (2012): OECD
Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in
Education: New Zealand has confirmed this
view.
Emeritus Professor Warwick Elley was
reported recently as saying, "the reason it
should provide us assurance is because the
authors of this report are top experts from
other OECD countries... Using a set of rich
data, they are able to provide an
independent, comparative perspective and
are ideally placed to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of the New Zealand education
system".
This view is confirmed by our rankings on
The Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA). It is a worldwide study
by the OECD of 15-year-old school pupils'
scholastic performance on mathematics,
science, and reading. New Zealand
consistently scores in the top half dozen
OECD countries, even though, according to
the evidence gathered by the OECD, we
spend far less per student than nearly all of
the other 34 OECD nations.
The great majority of our students are
repeatedly up with the best in the world. In
the latest survey, New Zealand students
were ranked fourth in reading literacy,
fourth in scientific literacy and seventh in
mathematical literacy.
"It is not easy to maintain these rankings and
New Zealand has consistently maintained its
overall ranking on these measures since they
were first introduced in 2000," said Dr.
Lind.
Three examples illustrate the significance of
New Zealand's achievement:-
1. Australia has recorded a significant
decline since 2000 on all the skills
measured;
2. England has slipped from seventh in
2000 to 25th in reading, eighth to 28th
in math’s, and fourth to 16th in
science;
3. The United States only rates around
the average of all OECD countries.
"This reflects very favourably on the quality
of New Zealand teachers."
However, it is true that the latest PISA
survey still shows a wide dispersion of
scores among New Zealand students.
"Lifting the performance of those New
Zealand students that are underachieving
must be a priority for our education system,
but without allowing the slippage in our
overall rankings as has recently occurred in
Australia.
"To achieve this requires a strong
commitment from the teaching profession
and the Government in partnership. There
are no silver bullets and a focus on a single
variable will not achieve the goal intended.
It will require dialogue and detailed
consideration of any initiatives proposed,"
said Dr. Lind (New Zealand Teachers
Council).
Quotes of the week: “There was no respect for youth when I was
young, and now that I am old, there is no
respect for age - I missed it coming and
going” ~ J.B. Priestly.
“People who don't cherish their elderly have
forgotten whence they came and whither
they go” ~ Ramsey Clark.
Sir Peter Blake liked to wear his red socks for good luck, and during the America's Cup challenge of 1995 New Zealanders supported the boat by putting on their own red socks.
Today, Sir Peter's lucky red socks have become a symbol of kiwi spirit and Red Socks Day is a chance to celebrate leadership in action, what it means to be a New Zealander, and to remember a kiwi legend.
Sir Peter Blake was tragically killed on December 5th2001, and the on the Trust strives to keep his memory, spirit and values alive for future generations of New Zealanders.
Red Socks Day is an opportunity to remember this fallen hero and the contribution he made to our nation and our planet, and to re-tell his story for those who were too young to remember.
Every year, hundreds of schools, businesses, organisations and community groups around New Zealand honour Sir Peter's life and legacy on Red Socks Day, and use the day as an opportunity to celebrate their leaders, and what it means to be a member of their communities.
This year the Young Blake Expedition is off to the Kermadec Islands and after a
lot of hard work one of our Year 13’s Rhiannon Scott has been selected to attend
this prestigious trip. One of the tasks Rhi gets to do is to tag sharks!!
We have many great leaders here at TAS and wish to support the Sir Peter Blake
Trust. One way is to purchase RED SOCKS.
The socks cost $4.00 a pair and come in two sizes - a child’s pair (Size 3 – 5) and an
adult pair (Size 6- 10). Socks can be ordered and paid for at the school office by
filling in a form like the one on the top of the next page.
Name: Class Room (Year 1 – 8) or Year Group
(Year9/13)
I would like to order:
Pair (s) of Red Socks – Adult (Size 6 -10) $4.00 a pair
Pair (s) of Red Socks – Child (Size 3-5) $4.00 a pair
Pair (s) of Red Socks – Toddler (Size 1-2) $4.00 a pair
Red Socks Lapel Pin $2.00 each
Thank you for supporting the Sir Peter Blake Trust
Purchase your RED SOCKS
Only $4.00 a pair
And support the Sir Peter Blake Trust
Be wearing a pair of Sir Peter Blake Red Socks on Friday
29th June and pay nothing to wear mufti to school that
day.
NCEA Financial Assistance ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
To be eligible for financial assistance the applicant (normally the parent or guardian of the candidate) must be
the fee payer and meet at least one of the following criteria:
a. Be receiving a Work and Income or Study Link benefit (benefit-based applications)
b. Have a joint family income that would entitle the applicant to receive a Community Services Card from
Work and Income (income-based applications).
c. Where the total fees to pay would otherwise exceed $200.00, a fee payer with two or more children who
are candidates is entitled to partial remission of fees, irrespective of family income.
Financial assistance is applicable only to domestic students. International fee paying students are not eligible
for financial assistance.
Fee payers in families applying for beneficiary or income-related financial assistance are required to pay a
processing fee to offset costs of entries, administration and certification.
Applications for financial assistance must be made through the school.
Please see Janice or Cathy at the office.
The fee structure for financial assistance in 2012 is:
