Newsletter 2 (Term 4) – 7 November 2014 Dear Parents and Caregivers Last Friday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural Huanui College Sports Prizegiving at the Northland Hockey Pavilion. It was a great opportunity to reflect on what has been a successful sporting year at Huanui College and to recognise some of the outstanding sporting performances by some of our students. The evening was a great success and I am sure the start of a tradition at the College. Thanks must go to Messrs Mather and Redfearn and Mrs Codlin on a well organised event. Reflecting on the level of sport participation at the College in 2014, 89% of students participated in at least one interschool sporting event this year as verified by Sport Northland. This compares to a Northland school-wide average of 66%. We have steadily increased our participation in both individual and team sports. 2014 was also a successful year result-wise with outstanding achievements by our hockey, netball, basketball, rowing and football teams. In individual sports like athletics, swimming, cross country, triathlon, tennis and squash, there were also some excellent performances. Huanui College continues to punch above its weight in sport and I can only see sport prospering at the College in the future. Next week the junior exams start and the whole school will be in examination mode. Junior students should be well into their revision programme before now. This can be a daunting challenge for some students and it is important that all students are as well prepared as they can be for these exams. Looking forward to next year - with the improvement in the weather, the building work on the new block is progressing quickly and students and staff alike are excited about using the new class rooms. Enrolments for 2015 have been strong and some year levels are reaching their limit, so if you know of a family that is looking at Huanui College they should be encouraged to contact the school as soon as possible. I will finish with a quote from General Colin Powell which can be applied to all our students sitting their exams: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” Peter Ackers – PRINCIPAL 2014 Huanui College Sports Prizegiving: Leigh Prisk of imagesnaturallyphotography was on hand to record Huanui College’s first Sports Prizegiving and she has kindly allowed all parents to download the photos from the night at no expense. To view the photos for the 2014 HC Sports Prizegiving event click the link below. http://imagesnaturallyphotography.shootproof.com/HCsport Password: HC Sport And speaking of prizegiving........ If you would like to donate a trophy to the school for the Annual Prizegiving, please give Phi a call. Students love earning trophies and we enjoy their enthusiasm. Family & Friends Huanui College – are holding a barbeque at the College on Sunday 30 November commencing at 4.00pm. This barbeque is held to introduce new families (2015 enrolees) to our community and we welcome our existing families to participate and help them feel at home. As you know, it is a hugely popular event and well supported, so we hope you are able to come along on the night. More info will be sent out to families nearer the event. There will be music! 1 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS: Congratulations to...... ... Zoe DYKZEUL is one of only eight girls who have been selected into the NZ Squash Junior Development Squad for 2015. ...Liam MORTIMER and Aaron GREENHALGH represented northland at the U 15 hockey nationals in Wellington in the holidays where their team finished 7 th. James was awarded the Maungakaramea Senior Mens Player of the year at their prize giving , as well as the School Boy cup , Liam was awarded the Most Improved Collegiate Boy. ...Ella RANKIN recently enjoyed a great exam result for NZ Speech and Drama being awarded Honours for the Final Module of Grade Six. ...Ethan LEWIS who was part of the crew of Mischief which came first on handicap – Div 8 - in the Coastal Classic Sailing race – Auckland to Russell Yacht Race ...Pippa BENTON who has successfully earned a finalist placing in the Northland Sports Awards for Gymsports which will be decided on 5/12/14. ...Monica BOOTH sang with Opera North, and sang a solo accompanied by the hand-carved Maori-designed red piano which was lent to Whangarei from Te Papa as part of the 50th Celebrations of Whangarei becoming a city. Not many people will have had this experience! ASB AWARDS These students won their codes: …Ashlee GREENHALGH & Lucy JOHNSTON - Rowing ...Lorenzo EAR – Karate ...Dylan CODLIN – Hockey Official ...Richard YOUNG – Cycling ...Tia HOLYOAKE – Polocrosse ASB Sports Awards: Successful Huanui College students in their individual codes: L-R: Richard Young (Cycling), Lucy Johnston and Ashlee Greenhalgh (Rowing), Brett Plant (Finalist in Football), Lorenzo Ear (Karate), Dylan Codlin (Sports Official) COMMUNITY SERVICE: Students from Huanui College attended the de-consecration of the Rose Street War Memorial Cenotaph on Sunday 19th October at 3pm. This was a solemn occasion where Past President of the RSA, Archie Dixon and Whangarei Mayor, Cheryl Mai spoke about the significance of the memorial to our district. The Cenotaph was blessed and will now be repaired and stored until it is relocated to its’ new home in Laurie Hall Park. The new memorial will include a large central area in the park, adjacent to the waterfall. This memorial serves to remind us of all service men and women who died in active service during the foreign wars. It was good to see our students involved in this ceremony. Left – right: Sophie Short (Head Girl), Malcolm Young, Mayor Mai, Keegan Prisk, Kelsey Eaton. (Photo courtesy of Images Naturally Photography) WIDER COMMUNITY Zoe Dykzeul is having a giant garage sale at the Whangarei Squash Club, Tarewa Road on the 22nd November to fundraise for a trip to the USA in December, she is part of a 5 person squad that are travelling to Boston to attend a squash academy there before playing in the Canadian and US Junior Squash Opens. This is an amazing opportunity for Zoe to experience junior squash on a world stage. Zoe is asking if anyone at the school has anything to donate to the garage sale and if so it would be greatly appreciated. You can contact Zoe’s mum Karen on 021 437956 if you have anything that needs collecting. YEAR 7 & 8 MIXED TOUCH TOURNAMENT – Kaikohe 6/11/14) Huanui College sent its first Year 7 & 8 Mixed Touch team to this tournament and surprised everyone by cleaning up the 2nd Division solidly! This means that they automatically qualify for 1st Division in 2015. Thanks to parents who helped and transported our students, particularly Damian Manahi who has been coaching them. They played teams from Ruawai to Whangaroa and soon learnt that size does not matter – skills and coaching do! Most of the time, the weather was atrocious – squally wind and rain which took its toll on our gazebo which eventually succumbed to the gale force winds. (see right) The team with their Coach Damian Manahi – ‘the calm before the storm.’ 2015 Term Dates: Term 1: Starting Date Finish Date 29 January 1 April Term 2: Starting Date Finish Date 20 April 3 July Term 3: Starting Date Finish Date 27 July 25 September Term 4: Starting Date Finish Date 12 October 10 December Teacher Only Days: 28 January, 2 April, 11 December SPANISH – Srta Karen Peredo – TiC Pinatas in Huanui Y7-8 created amazing Piñatas Week 2 of Term. Piñatas are found at almost every Latin American celebration. Birthday parties, traditional ceremonies and other fiestas. At our Español fiesta, the piñatas were hung in the school’s trees, the kids were blind-folded, counted to diez and then each group took turns swinging at the piñatas full of yummy lollies. Our students enjoyed every minute of the whole tradition. It was a very entertaining experience and incredible to watch. The main ingredients to a successful Piñata fiesta is that the Piñata be very colourful, hand made and brimming full of lollies of all varieties. The students excelled themselves in constructing these Piñatas! The Y9 Spanish Class researched different countries that speak the language. They presented their findings in creative and fun ways. They brought yummy traditional dishes and dressed in beautiful costumes. IMPORTANT CALENDAR DATES – TERM 4, 2014 (Please be aware that some dates may be amended or added to, as required.) November 3 Senior Exams continue to 28 November 2015 4 Junior (Yrs 7, 8, 9) Subject Option Evening 12 – 14 Junior Exams 15 – 21 Duke of Edinburgh Silver (Cape Reinga) 21 Five Year Celebration dinner 24 – 25 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze (Northland) 24 – 27 Year 9 camp – Whangarei Heads 28 – 30 Duke of Ed Gold Qualifier @ Mt Ruapehu 30 Friends & Family BBQ at Huanui College December 3 Senior Students Clearance day/Interhouse Quiz/Talent Quest 3 Year 13 Leavers Dinner 4 Last day for students. Clearance. Prizegiving for All Students and parents starting at 10am. 5 Teacher Only Day HUANUI COLLEGE CONTACT EMAILS: Apart from sending emails to admin@hc.school.nz, probably the easiest way to contact a staff member is by email: Principal: peter.ackers@hc.school.nz Admin/Finance/Enrolments: phi.wilson@hc.school.nz Assistant Principal: vernice.young@hc.school.nz Head of Languages Faculty: Y13 Form room viv.smith@hc.school.nz Head of Science: fiona.boorer@hc.school.nz Head of Humanities Y11U Form room steven.gardiner@hc.school.nz Head of Junior English: Y7U Form room denise.irwin@hc.school.nz Head of Phys Ed: Junior Dean callum.mather@hc.school.nz Head of Commerce: vernice.young@hc.school.nz Joint Head of Mathematics: Y9H Form room mark.waenink@hc.school.nz Joint Head of Mathematics: Y8H Form room patrick.dodd@hc.school.nz Year 7/8 Specialist: Y7H Form room sarah.topper@hc.school.nz TIC Art Y12 Form room carolyn.evans@hc.school.nz TIC Computing: Y9U Form room chris.lewis@hc.school.nz TIC Graphics: sharon.cole@hc.school.nz TIC Music: Y8U Form room Stefan.seitzer@hc.school.nz TIC Spanish karen.peredo@hc.school.nz TIC Technology: margaret.crichton@hc.school.nz Assistant Teachers: English Maori Lang. Science Science Science Student Liaison Office Staff: Vynka Short Jan Bull Sports Staff: Sports Coordinator Sports Administrator Senior Dean Y10U Form room Y10H Form room Y11H Form room mark.copeland@hc.school.nz cathy.senescall@hc.school.nz erica.lyons@hc.school.nz; stephen.towey@hc.school.nz; Andy.thomas@hc.school.nz Ashlee.cebalo@hc.school.nz office@hc.school.nz vynka.short@hc.school.nz jan.bull@hc.school.nz richard.redfearn@hc.school.nz Michelle.codlin@hc.school.nz