This year, Mission Heights Junior College finished 18 points clear of the 2017 Champion School in this year’s Education Perfect World Series, emerging victorious for the second time in three years!
Students of Mission Heights Junior College competed with thousands of schools in two dozen countries to be declared the Champion school in Education Perfect Series. Photo supplied.
The school ranked first in social sciences and maths, second in English and science, and 13th in languages while competing against thousands of schools, in more than two dozen countries. Education Perfect is an online learning programme and international academic competition.
Principal Ian Morrison says the win validates the students’ energy and determination.
“Our students have an inherent appetite for learning and have amazing self-belief. They value working hard and have become used to competing regionally, nationally and internationally and succeeding.”
He says that winning the Education Perfect World Series shows how MHJC students have dedicated themselves to learning and achieving across multiple curriculum areas, over five competitions.
“Not only have they shown stamina, strategy and passion for learning but have also been commended by the organisers for their exemplary online behaviour at all times.”
Clevedon School is hosting the official opening of its public sculpture trail on Wednesday featuring unique sculptures designed by students. Photo supplied.
Clevedon School students have been working hard over the last few months creating unique sculptures to enhance their school environment.
Next week they get to proudly show off their creations when their sculpture trail officially opens to the public.
On Wednesday, November 7 from 4.30pm, the community are invited to celebrate the launch of the sculpture trail with an official welcome in the school hall followed by free reign to wander through the trail.
Students and teachers will be there to explain the meaning behind the unique sculptures they were tasked with designing and making.
From Clevedon schools very own multi coloured world traveller signpost, inspired by the Dr Seuss story, Oh the Places You Will Go to an intricately designed taniwha to protect the school, there has been no limit to the students’ creativity.
Some sculptures have been made using recycled materials, while others are interactive to help get passersby involved.
You’ll even spot a kiwi who wishes she was a flamingo.
Official trail booklets will also be on sale on the evening to help you find your way.
The trail will be open until 7pm on Wednesday evening.
Following the launch the community are welcome to come and have a look at the sculptures anytime during school hours.
As primary school teachers threaten another strike on November 12, the Ministry of Education made a recent announcement of their new plan to hire more than 850 additional teachers from overseas.
The plan is to target more than 6000 overseas-based teachers in a new campaign with extra funding, to meet an expected shortfall next year.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says that the Coalition Government is committed to an extra $10.5 million, on top of the $29.5m already announced late last year to ramp up teacher recruitment initiatives and increase funding for schools – bringing funding to $40m this year.
There will be easier access of up to $3000 per teacher finder’s fee to help schools offset recruitment costs, he says.
“We’ve also increased our overseas recruitment target for 2019 from 400 up to 900 and enlisted further recruitment agency support for schools. We’re focused on bringing New Zealand-trained teachers home, while also looking for other teachers from countries with qualifications similar to ours.”
Hipkins says that Immigration NZ is working with the Education Ministry and has directly emailed 6000 overseas teachers (in the UK, Ireland Canada, South Africa, Australia and Fiji) who’ve registered an interest in working here.
The Ministry is working with the Teaching Council to improve the support available to overseas-trained teachers, including a focus on induction that builds the culturally responsive practices needed to work in New Zealand
“A social media campaign targeting these groups is also underway and a campaign targeting New Zealand-trained teachers working overseas will follow soon.”
In August this year primary school teachers observed a black-out Wednesday where they wore black and posted messages on social media, asking local communities to support them. Photo supplied.
David Ellery, principal of Somerville Intermediate, cautions that the quality of the new recruits from overseas will be critical.
“Simply filling numbers won’t enhance the quality of education that our community expects from their schools. There were issues with quality in the last big overseas recruitment drive back in the 1990s,” says Ellery, who has been with the school 23 years.
“I think that new overseas recruits will face the same living cost challenges that other Auckland teachers face so that they may be inclined to go to other regions. This will exacerbate the problem for Auckland even further and provides no guarantee of addressing the acute shortages in Auckland.
“My understanding is that if school use a commercial recruitment agency to source teachers, then they can claim $3000 back from the MoE,” says Ellery.
“The trend for people going into teacher training is on a downward trajectory, which is concerning, especially when the attrition rate in the first five years in significant.
“Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to have been much forward thinking into teacher recruitment, remuneration and conditions, and we are again faced with playing catch-up. The schools and the children are left to face the brunt of the situation.”
However Michael Williams, principal of Pakuranga College and president of Secondary Principals’ Association, doesn’t agree.
He says the only option open to the government is to try and find overseas teachers to fill the gap.
“The ministry now has a planning tool which is helping them quantify the size of the teacher shortage.
“The measures announced are really just an extension and refinement of existing strategies. The data now shows that we will be at least 200 secondary teachers short and 850 primary teachers short for 2019
“The underlying problem is that we don’t train enough teachers in New Zealand, because not enough people want to go into teaching. The MoE’s new TV recruitment campaign is good and a significant pay rise would help,” he says.
Other key changes:
Increasing the number of Overseas Relocation Grants to match the increased recruitment drive.
Expanding the Teacher Education Refresh (TER) subsidy so it can be accessed by overseas teachers to meet certification requirements with the Teaching Council. Further support to teachers required to repeat or re-sit aspects of the TER programme, at no further cost.
Changes to the criteria to enable more schools to access 3R National Fund- making it easier to recruit staff in shortage subject and isolated areas.
Additional funding for agencies to process more overseas teacher applications.
Somerville Intermediate pupils with SVA Founder Sam Johnson, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Councillor Paul Young, and New World Howick owner Brendon Jones.
The Student Volunteer Army’s (SVA) Primary School Programme was officially launched today at Somerville Intermediate by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
The programme will see more than 32,000 school pupils become one of the SVA’s ‘Community Guardians’, by undertaking volunteer projects to improve their local environment, neighbourhood and public spaces – anything they and their teachers have identified as an area in need of action.
Projects include hosting discos for local elderly residents, cleaning beaches, testing tsunami sirens, compiling packs for refugee families, and making blankets and books for foster children.
New World, who support the programme, are also giving each of the 1,000 school-based teams a $50 New World voucher to spend on food and drink, to ensure everyone is well fed and watered.
New World have also donated $50,000 worth of groceries to the SVA’s Spring campaign to help hundreds of communities around New Zealand.
Also providing morning tea for today’s official launch at Somerville Intermediate was Brendon Jones, owner of New World Howick, who says he couldn’t wait to get in behind this project.
“An Army marches on its stomach and little ones especially need good food and healthy drinks to keep energised as they support their local communities. I love how kids are leading the charge and giving up their own time to do something special – we are so proud to be part of this,” says Jones.
Sam Johnson, the inspirational leader of the Student Volunteer Army, says with the Community Guardians initiative now in its second year, it’s heartening to have the additional support of New World stores nationwide.
“In just eight years, the SVA has grown from just a few hundred university students in Canterbury into a national movement involving tens of thousands of Kiwi kids of all ages,” says Johnson.
“All armies need feeding, though, and thanks to New World’s support, our Community Guardians will have the energy they need to make a massive difference during our Spring campaign.”
From left to right, Ann Botha Acting Head of Language Area English, Sean Walton Area Director for Toastmasters, Lily Moore (3rd Equal), Dave Wylie Rotary President, , Ridhi Singh (Winner with Brian Hanlon Trophy, Brooke Scully (3rd Equal), Rob Mouncey Rotary Youth Director, Tom Stacey Organizing Teacher, and Amelia Walmsley (2nd).
Howick Rotary held its annual Brian Hanlon Howick College 4 – Way Test Speech Contest for year 9 and 10 students last Tuesday evening.
Finalists Amelia Walmsley, Brooke Scully, Lily Moore and Ridhi Singh presented some very topical and thought-provoking speeches to a large audience of their families, college organising and supporting teachers and Rotary club guests and members.
Toastmasters organisation members Marlene Krone, Stephen Budai and Sean Walton were on hand to judge the speeches.
The speeches were judged on the basis of points awarded for content, organisation and delivery with the overall winner being the person with the best cumulative ranking.
The winner on the night was year 9 student Ridhi Singh whose subject was “Drink Driving”. Sean, who was lead judge, also provided the contestants with some adjudication comments and remarked on the “very high standard that the girls had achieved”.
He went on to say that of the four years that he has been involved, the standard this year was the highest he had seen.
The contest is held annually and this year was organised by college teachers Tom Stacey and Ann Botha in conjunction with Rotary’s Youth Committee Director Rob Mouncey. It commemorates former long serving Rotarian and past President Brian Hanlon’s contribution to the community and to education.
Rotary President Dave Wylie said, “The contest is one of the highlights of the Rotary year particularly in relation to the many youth support projects that the club undertakes and it is really pleasing to see the confidence that these young women demonstrated in presenting their speeches.”
The awards for the night included gift vouchers from Paper Plus in Howick with the winner also receiving the Brian Hanlon Trophy. Katie Treneman, owner of Paper Plus, said she was really happy to support Rotary “in their efforts to encourage the development of young people in the community”.
President Dave Wylie concluded the evening by saying, “Rotary people are involved in many different community projects while having a great social time together so anyone interested in becoming a member should contact membership director Ian Fox (Phone 021 662 896 or email ian@fox.co.nz).
Armed with banners and placards, a good representation of teachers from 32 primary and intermediate schools made their presence felt at different areas in east Auckland. Times photo Wayne Martin.
TTThere were plenty of people tooting in support and cheering local school teachers from east Auckland as they took to the streets to protest at busy crossroads on Monday morning.
It marked the first day of a rolling nationwide strikes this week after teachers voted overwhelmingly to take action in an effort to get smaller class sizes, more resources and significant pay rises.
Armed with banners and placards, a good representation of teachers from 32 primary and intermediate schools made their presence felt in different areas including traffic lights at the corner of Ti Irirangi Dr and Ti Rakau Dr; the intersection of Aviemore Drive and Pakuranga Road; the corner of Gossamer Drive and Pakuranga Road as well as the corner of Ti Rakau Drive and Pakuranga Road by the Plaza.
New Zealand Educational Institute site representative Sandy Good says the offer that the Ministry of Education came up with is “so last minute and not good enough”.
“They have just shuffled the chairs on the deck, it’s not really changing things for us. We are concerned about work load, about recruitment and retention, care for our special needs students. 600 extra teachers do not scratch the surface. We are not happy.
“We have slipped back in salary in the last 25 years. Several teachers don’t even have enough money to have a union affiliation, which is quite sad.”
She says the Government’s offer gives them just $27 a week more.
“It’s not much. We’ve lost two days of pay because of the strike action. People don’t realise that we teachers spend a lot of our own money for so many things that we need in the class,” says Good.
“We have a teacher who is a fresh graduate and now doesn’t want to teach because of the poor salary and the poor working conditions.
“So many teachers are moving out of Auckland, including me, because they can’t afford it. It’s one of the reasons why I am going to move out and give up teaching.”
Louise Condly, a teacher at Somerville Intermediate School, says, “It’s high time we stop being a Cindrella portfolio for ministers. We are losing our best teachers because they are retiring young due to the increasing workload and no increase in pay.”
A young teacher adds, “With the more experienced teachers retiring we don’t have many teachers to look up to or be mentored by.
“Who is going to maintain the high standards of teaching? It gets too hard,” she says before heading to a meeting at Picton Centre in Howick where teachers and principals of local schools discussed their options. Another was held at Bucklands and Eastern Beach Memorial Hall.
The energy at the Picton Centre on Monday morning was contagious with more than 350 local teachers gathered to discuss the possibility of further strike action.
They had all spent the morning waving banners and placards on street corners around east Auckland campaigning for better pay, greater learning support and manageable workloads and class sizes.
Now they had come together to weigh up the pros and cons of the Government’s latest offer.
The offer gives teachers a 3 per cent pay increase over three years, a new top pay step for teachers with degrees from November 2020, removal of the qualifications cap for teachers without degrees from November 2020 and a $500 lump sum for NZEI members only.
The government have also announced an additional 600 learning support staff positions.
However the teachers gathered in the Picton Centre seemed unified in their concern that the offer neglects to address many of the issues that have caused the crisis in primary education.
Teachers said that the offer did not address the issues of recruitment and retention of teachers nor did it address issues of class sizes, workload and classroom release time.
They also said with around 2000 primary and intermediate schools, 600 learning support staff barely scratched the surface.
“When will our schools see the benefits of these learning support staff?” was the burning question on every teacher’s lips.
They also worried that Education Minister Chris Hipkins was misleading the public with comments about a $10,000 pay increase when, in reality, the highest pay scale would only see around a $27 a week increase from this offer straight away.
Teachers were then given the opportunity to share with their fellow teachers how they felt about the strike, about what is being offered by the Government and where they might want to go next.
The passion and unity among the teachers from all the local primary schools was unmistakable.
The energy at the Picton Centre on Monday morning was contagious with more than 350 local teachers gathered to discuss the governments latest offer.
Tom Huskinson, a teacher at Botany Downs Primary School, encouraged the group of teachers to remember that it is “okay to want more than what [govt] are offering”.
He said if they voted to reject the offer, this would mean a quantum leap in their fight.
“We need to be clear that the Government has said there is no more money. To win, we will need to force the Government to change the fiscal rules that it has committed to,” he said.
“It will take a quantum jump in our fight, a tougher, harder campaign next year that is likely to require further and more intensive industrial action.”
He encouraged the group to weigh up the pros and cons of both options and listen to what one another had to say.
“We may not agree but every member’s point of view is valid. I encourage you all to consider and respect every view from every teacher here. It’s up to us what happens next.”
Clevedon School got a little brighter last week with the official launch of its sculpture trail.
Students, parents and community members gathered to celebrate the opening with food and drinks and free reign to explore the trail.
Earlier this year Clevedon School looked at their grey buildings, plain walls and stretches of concrete and grass and felt they could do better.
The goal was simple – to enhance the school environment and make the school grounds more inviting to visitors.
And the result was a school-wide project to build a public sculpture trail filled with colourful creations that each told a unique story.
Helped by teachers, parents, and school management, each class came up with a design and created their own permanent sculpture for display in the school grounds.
On Wednesday evening the students got to proudly show off their hard work for the first time.
The hope is that the students’ legacy in the form of this sculpture trail will be there for many years to come.
LTR: Sienna Pallin-Simmonds, Lily Chisholm & Erika van TonderLTR: Alana Kelly, Lily Barrett & Brooke Barrett
Zara Khan and Alannah Sila giving the making of `aloo paratha’ a go. Photo supplied.
For KiNZ Mission Heights Early Learning Centre, cultural celebrations are a time of close connection between people, where children, teachers, families and whanau come together. The communal practice gives children a sense of belonging and boosts their morale and self-confidence.
This week was all about celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights where teachers collaborated with parents and whanau to plan and participate in activities and events with children.
Moulding oil lamps with clay was a therapeutic activity which attracted lots of children as they took time to decorate them with paint and patterns.
Colourful rangoli art created with turmeric and fresh flower petals adorned the entrance of KiNZ Mission Heights. Photo supplied.
Ayaan’s mother, Sheetal, did henna art on the palms of little children. Young Kelly had the theory that henna art can be done with felt pens too, as she did some on Kaiako Sucheta’s hand.
Traditional dances and Indian music added more flavour to the celebration as older siblings performed for the young ones.
Adding a special flavour to the festive celebration was ‘gulab jamun’, an Indian desert and ‘aloo paratha’, flat bread with potato filling, which was cooked over two days. Budding little chefs joined hands with grandmas and mothers for an Indian culinary experience.
There was an assortment of mini samosas and Indian snacks as few families joined the tamariki (children) for lunch.
Busy bees at work in beehives at Botany Downs Primary School. Times photo Wayne Martin.
To bee or not to bee?
It took a lot of convincing and almost four years to happen and now Botany Downs Primary School is a buzzing hive of activity. Literally! The school has just got two new beehives!
Teacher Tom Huskinson was keen that children make a connection with nature and learn how integrated the ecosystem is.
“I wanted to motivate the children to have real world experiences with garden bees and how we get honey.
“Unfortunately a lot of parents from overseas were worried that their children may get stung by the bees and so there was some opposition, but now it’s all come to be,” he says.
“I wanted the kids to get rid of their fear of bees and learn how they are critical pollinators.
“The idea behind it is also to collect honey for fundraising and for them to be able to spot the queen bee, to know about drones-the male bees that have a big stomach and don’t do much,” he laughs.
Botany Downs Primary School teacher Tom Huskinson (back row) says he is keen that students get rid of the fear of bees. Pictured with students and local beekeeper Matthew Brajkovich. Times photo Wayne Martin
The school contacted social entrepreneur and activist Matthew Brajkovich from Mr B’s Bees whose family has been bee-keeping for 200 years.
Along with Ceracell, suppliers of bee-ware, he set up two wooden boxes that house bee frames, an essential part of a modern day movable hives in any colony. These are what the bees use to build combs for honey and their young.
Breaking away from the traditional beehive, the idea of hosting a hive is catching on fast – anyone can host a hive on their property and have it managed by experienced and professional beekeepers.
The bonus is having the sweetest and pure honey straight off the honeycomb.
“If bees die, we die,” says Matthew.
“There will be no backyard tomatoes, lemon trees or any vegetable gardens if you don’t have bees to pollinate,” he tells a group of youngsters.
“I had inspected the new frames a week ago and am now rearranging them so that they have a better order to pollinate. They want to swarm if they don’t have enough space. It’s like inviting people for dinner and not having enough to eat,” he says.
“These are small Italian bees that are not as big or aggressive as the African ones.”
While Matthew doesn’t charge the schools for his services, part of the proceeds from the sale of honey goes to him to help with the maintenance costs and licence fee.
The hobbyist has been visiting schools like Riverina, Howick Intermediate, Baverstock Oaks and Sancta Maria College to educate students on `beeing right’.
The International Food Festival at Baverstock Oaks was a complete feast for the senses. Photos supplied.
The aroma of global cuisine wafted through Baverstock Oaks School as the annual International Food Festival came alive on Saturday.
The popular event was organised by the Friends at Baverstock (FAB) group run by Kylie Lipscombe and a team of dedicated parents.
Ten different cuisines on offer gave everyone a chance to take off on a culinary adventure.
There were plenty of performances including kapa haka, students playing the ukulele, junior and senior dance, and choir groups. The winners of the 2018 Talent Quest also kept everyone entertained.
The International Food Festival had a carnival vibe with activities such as an X-Shot Battle, parkour obstacle course, book sale, golf putting and more.
The school opened this event to the wider community for the first time, the idea behind it being to celebrate diversity.
Constable Nick Cockerel, Braxtyn, Tristan, Jayden and Riverina School principal Carol Dickinson. Photo supplied.
This morning one lucky Riverina School student got the school carpool of a lifetime.
Tristan MacCauley, 6, was the winner of this year’s Everyday Heroes ‘Win a Ride to School’ competition and was chosen out of more than 300 entrants to win a ride to school in a police car.
The object of the competition was to teach kids and their parents to remove all items that could be stolen from the inside of a vehicle.
In order to win, Tristan had to identify items left visible in a car that made it a target for theft and identify ways to minimise the risk of theft.
Tristan chose his brother Jayden, 10, and best friend Braxtyn, 6, to accompany him on his ride in a police car.
Bright and early this morning the three boys loaded their school bags into the police cat and were driven to school by Constable Nick Cockerell.
He also showed them everything they needed to know about police cars.
Waiting for them when they arrived at Riverina School was their principal Carol Dickinson and their fellow classmates.
The boys loved the trip and were calling out to their friends as they drove in the school gates.
Not only did the boys have an exciting Tuesday morning, they also learnt an important lesson on how to prevent car break-ins by removing any valuable items from the car.
Point View School’s team, ‘Little Einsteins’ which took part in the Wonder Project Rocket Challenge pilot; and won the ‘Final Blast Off’ video competition. Photo supplied.
Point View School has won a nationwide trial involving more than 20 schools.
In terms 1 and 2, Engineering New Zealand (ENZ) trialed the Wonder Project Rocket Challenge in seven schools, and in term 2, this was extended to 22.
Schools were located from Auckland to Marlborough and more than 1000 children took part. To celebrate the conclusion of pilot 2, students were tasked with creating a short video to showcase their STEM learnings from the six-week challenge.
Winners Point View School were closely followed by Roscommon School and Pukekohe Intermediate, both awarded Highly Commended.
ENZ’s new in-school programme – The Wonder Project – is set to blast off to New Zealand schools next year.
The Wonder Project is all about getting young Kiwis excited about a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). It’s designed to spark wonder in these subjects among students from all backgrounds, build confidence, and have them believe they achieve amazing things.
With the announcement comes the call-out for schools and professionals to be involved in 2019. Chief executive of Engineering New Zealand Susan Freeman-Greene says now is a better time than ever to sign up.
“In New Zealand, there is a massive skills shortfall in STEM – we simply don’t have enough young people pursuing careers in these fields. The Wonder Project aims to change that – taking our Kiwi kids on a creative, dynamic and, most importantly, fun STEM journey.”
The Wonder Project includes three successive programmes that knit seamlessly into the school curriculum. Each school is supported by a team of industry professionals, from the likes of Rocket Lab, Air New Zealand and various engineering organisations around New Zealand.
STEM professionals and school representatives can register their interest at www.wonderproject.nz. ENZ has a goal of reaching more than 200 schools across the country in the Wonder Project’s inaugural year.
Become a Wonder Project Ambassador or Wonder School today – register interest at wonderproject.nz
A 137-year-old Pakuranga College bell was recently discovered by head of technology faculty Gary Brinsden. Photos supplied.
It once rang loud and clear. The Pakuranga College School bell that dates back to 1881 was recently found covered in dirt, lying in a school shed.
The Head of Technology Faculty Gary Brinsden was intrigued and excited when he accidentally discovered a piece of precious history that had once commanded a lot of attention.
He immediately got in touch with local historian Alan La Roche before he restored the copper bell to its former glory.
It now has a place of pride in the College staff room.
“I have included on the plaque (placed below the bell) a very condensed version of the bell’s origin but I thought we should perhaps expand on this using the QR code. Being a technology teacher I couldn’t resist using a QR code, which is placed on the plaque,” he laughs.
“The school was built at the cost of $420. The bell was ordered previous to that and hung around September 1881,” he says.
When contacted by Brinsden, La Roche had an interesting story to tell about the bell which is more than 100 years old.
According to the historian, the bell started life at the original Pakuranga School site, which was originally standing at the current St John Ambulance Station.
The original building is now stationed at the Howick Historical Village, although Pakuranga College still has the headmaster’s house at its present location – now Wairoa House.
“The bell then travelled to the school’s temporary location in the Howick District High School buildings, where Howick Intermediate School is today,” says Brinsden.
“When the students moved to the new Pakuranga College campus at the end of Term 1 in 1960, they carried the bell with them.
Pakuranga College still has the headmaster’s house at its present location – now Wairoa House. Photo supplied.
An email from La Roche says the Pakuranga School’s headmaster’s house was built in about 1879 for William Woodward, the first headmaster in Pakuranga School.
“He and his wife Laura were teachers at the school. Their children are well known. Alice was the first woman doctor in Auckland. William became Chief Justice in Samoa, and Constance married Lloyd Mandeno who invented the modern hot water cylinder. A hydro dam on the Waikato is named after him,” says La Roche.
“William Green lived in the headmasters House 1893 to 1914. The house was donated to the Howick Historical Society and when our secretary, Mrs. Karen Mirams, also on Pakuranga College Board managed to get the college to take it, we were relieved as we did not want it for our Howick Historical Village.”
Targeted at Years 7 to 10, students, Friday’s hackathon was aimed at inspiring young and budding technologists, young designers and entrepreneurs. Photo supplied
Teachers, industry experts, volunteers and more than 160 students from different colleges participated in the annual BizTech Labs Competition at the Botany Downs Secondary College.
Targeted at Years 7 to 10, students, Friday’s hackathon (technology competition) was aimed at inspiring young and budding technologists, designers and entrepreneurs to solve current social issues by integrating technology with different domains of interests.
The interschool competition was organised by enterprising 19-year-old Wei-Yen Chan, president of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Scholars Society and BizTech’S founder.
The BizTech hackathon provided an avenue for students to learn new skills and think outside the box.
Students were immersed in ideas, design, business and technological prototyping while being mentored by industry experts and volunteers from different universities.
Some of the areas that students explored while marrying social issues with technology were mental health and wellbeing, traffic congestion around schools and educating young children on financial literacy.
BizTech hackathon at Botany Downs Secondary College was organised by 19- year- old Jackie Chann along with other volunteers. Photos supplied
“It was incredible to see so many students from various schools interested in this event where they contributed to fresh ideas on applying technology across different domains,” says Wei-Yen former head girl of Botany Downs Secondary College.
Wei-Yen, also known as Jackie Chann to her friends, says she initially targeted low-decile schools in the south-east Auckland area.
“The event promoted gender and cultural diversity, where participants from various communities learnt to collaborate in the technological field and STEM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math)-related studies and future careers,” she says.
With no entry fee, news quickly spread through the school network and there were participants from as far afield as Taupol.
Teachers who accompanied students had the opportunity to hone their skills and develop their knowledge on Microsoft’s Microbit where they learnt how to programme a robotic hand.
Hackathon results:
1st: Team Tree-Kelston Girls’ College & St Cuthbert’s College for an app that addresses mental health and wellbeing.
2nd: Team Dinero – Ormiston Junior College & Pakuranga College for creating a financial assistance app, a game that educates children on financial literacy skills.
3rd: Team Budget Buddy- Botany Downs Secondary College for a user-friendly app that teaches children about budgeting.
The Oranga Tamariki investigation into a bullying and sexual assault allegation at Macleans Primary has found no evidence to support the claims. Photo: Public Facebook page.
Oranga Tamariki – the children’s ministry – says it hasn’t found any evidence to support claims of bullying and sexual assault at a local primary school.
The finding has angered one parent.
Macleans Primary School came under fire recently after a parent went to police to report an incident of sexual assault on her young son by another student.
It was alleged that a group of senior school students had threatened four junior school students – ‘Pull down your pants or we will kill you”.
One of the students is then claimed to have sexually assaulted a younger student.
A parent who asked not to be named said her son told her about the bullying and said his friend had been touched inappropriately by one of the bullies.
She said when the incident was reported to the school, nothing was done and the bullying continued.
“We took all this information to the headmaster, horrified obviously, and all the school did was ask my son to identify the older students involved, which he did. The headmaster spoke to the older boys and asked, ‘did you do it?’ and they said ‘no’ and the school considered the matter closed.”
The case was passed on to Oranga Tamariki who launched an investigation into the allegations.
Oranga Tamariki has looked into the claims and found no supporting evidence of bullying or sexual assault, says Dee McManus-Emery, Oranga Tamariki Regional Manager, south Auckland.
Macleans Primary principal Brian Bayly says, “The safety and wellbeing of our children and young people is our top priority. Oranga Tamariki has completed an assessment of concerns raised with them and has found no evidence of bullying or sexual assault.
“As a school we work very hard to address matters in line with best practice. We also work very hard to equip our students with a broad range of knowledge and skills – including social and educational – to give them excellent foundations that will enable them to be ‘the best that they can be’, as citizens of our school, this community and in their future lives. We thank our school community for their continued support.”
The parent who asked not to be named was approached for comment on the findings.
“My son was bullied daily at Macleans Primary and was very distressed. The school failed to take my concerns seriously and after he identified the children responsible, the bullying intensified,” she told the Times.
“Due to the lack of support from the school, I moved my son to another school and am very happy with my decision. Neither my son nor I have been contacted to discuss what happened and so their conclusion that nothing occurred is farcical.”
Yolande Franke, principal of Howick Intermediate. Times photo Wayne Martin
Yolande Franke, principal of Howick Intermediate School is one of the 15 inspirational educators nominated from 2000 applications for the Australian Scholarship Grant (ASG) National Excellence in Teaching Award.
An email informing her that she has been shortlisted as one of the inspirational educators on a regional level, took her by surprise.
She soon discovered that it was one of the school parents who had nominated her.
“It’s great to be acknowledged by a parent for the regional award and it is an opportunity to be considered a finalist,” she says.
For 24 years the National Excellence in Teaching Awards has provided communities with the opportunity to formally recognise and thank outstanding teachers and leaders across for categories-early learning centres, primary schools, secondary schools and special school.
The official recommendation reads: ‘Yolande is passionate about giving every student the very best possible education by adopting a personalised approach. As school principal Yolande is committed to creating a school tone and culture that fosters high expectations, positive values and character development as this is critical to a safe, happy and supportive learning environment’.
Ian Fox who was appointed by the Ministry of Education prior to Yolande’s appointment when the school was in strife, says that he has watched Yolande progress since that time and has been witness to just how much she has done to lift the school.
“Yolande well deserves this award as since her appointment at Howick Intermediate School she has taken it from a school with many problems, where local in-zone parents were choosing any school but Howick Intermediate, to one now that is certainly the school of choice for local children.
“Yolande has made this turnaround in a very short period of time through her energy and hard work. I believe both she and the school deserve some recognition as this is a wonderful achievement.”
Subash Chandar K, curriculum leader of Mathematics at Ormiston Senior College. Photo supplied
Subash Chandar K, curriculum leader of Mathematics at Ormiston Senior College has also been shortlisted for the ASG National Excellence in Teaching Award.
The citation for the award-winning educator reads: `Subash became a teacher to inspire the next generation of creators and innovators. At the same time he says his students inspire him to constantly question his teaching pedagogies and push himself towards the future, though he admits to often falling behind.
`He is in constant pursuit of meaningful and contextual tasks to increase student engagement because of the variety of learning styles among the students in his class. He is driven by the thought that he needs to prepare students for the future’.
The shortlisted educators now have to submit a 1200 word essay and responses to five questions on education and teaching in video format.
Fifteen year old Solana Carpenter is researching dyslexia-friendly fonts that can assist students to access learning materials. Times photo Wayne Martin
Solana Carpenter has won the `My Future’ project award aimed at assisting students who struggle to learn at school due to dyslexia.
The prize includes a grant of $1000 and a gift card of $500 to help her kick-start her project.
The Year 11 Ormiston College student was surprised when she heard that from the four finalists judged by a panel of industry specialists,she was the overall winner of the Auckland-wide community campaign by Sylvia Park.
‘My Future’ involved the public nominating an outstanding high school student that they think deserves recognition for their exceptional work and is an extraordinary leader in the community.
The 15-year old, who is mildly dyslexic, has dedicated a lot of time in researching dyslexia-friendly fonts that can assist students to access learning materials.
Solana says fonts like Verdana, Helvetica, Arial and Courier work best for those with learning disorders.
“For high functioning dyslexic students it helps when the fonts are bigger, on a non-glossy paper, preferably cream and not white.
“So many students struggle to read the question paper during exams and cannot make sense of the question, not because they are stupid but because they are mildly dyslexic. Unfortunately a lot of them are not even aware of it because they have not been tested,” she says.
Solana believes that there is a lot more reading and writing to be done in Years 11, 12 and 13, which is a huge challenge for a lot of students.
“We use SciPAD, have Maths work books and worksheets which involve a lot of reading and writing that students struggle with. And it’s too late by then to learn how to read or write,” she points out.
“While the dyslexia spectrum is very vast, taking all these elements together makes the fonts more user-friendly, inclusive and works for both dyslexic and non dyslexic people.”
What started out as a Science project with the help of her coach Robin Wills, from Wymondly Primary School, has now taken a life of its own as Solana has continued working on it over the years.
She now intends to use the $1000 grant money to connect with Auckland University and find out how she can conduct research on a larger scale.
Once she has gathered more data she plans to contact NZQA,Scholastic Books and companies that publish School journals and advice them on how to make books and question papers more student friendly and do her bit to help those who are severely dyslexic.
Outlook for Someday winning MHJC film makers: (left to right) Farhaan Mohammed, Raiyan Khan and Andrew Ma. Photo supplied
Mission Heights Junior College young filmmakers Farhaan Muhammed, Andrew Ma and Raiyan Khan have won the Auckland Council Film-maker award for their short film Gaming Addiction in this year’s Outlook for Someday New Zealand Challenge.
Competing against 40 films shortlisted, (five of which came from Mission Heights Junior College student teams), Gaming Addiction addresses the question: What happens when you get so involved that the game is playing you?
As young people, they added their voices to awareness of mental health through this film.
The challenge was to make a short film (up to five minutes) about sustainability, to help grow a generating of sustainability storytellers. Students from ages seven to 24 were allowed to interpret sustainability the way they wanted to.
A panel of 12 judges from media, government and business agencies judged the best from 133 entries.
During their acceptance speech, the winning team spoke of their love for technology and the desire to create awareness of mental well-being for a past-time, they all enjoy.
“Winning is amazing. We are often in turmoil with balancing the demands of a technological world…. and gaming addiction is one issue confronting many of us today,” they said.
They quoted Barack Obama saying: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We’re the change we seek.”
They said embracing the MHJC motto: Kia Mana Ake – Growing Greatness, allowed them, to achieve greatness with their film.
Ben Fraser is the deputy chair of the Howick Youth Council.
Local high school student Ben Fraser’s petition to the Minister of Education has reached almost 1100 signatures.
Started on Change.org and over social media, the campaign picked up support after it was featured on media networks including Radio New Zealand, TVNZ Breakfast and Stuff.
The petition calls for greater student engagement in the education system through the appointment of a student to the NZQA Board. This would give students a voice in the future of their assessment system.
“Student voice is paramount in the governance of our education system,” said Ben, 16.
“Young people are the future of our society and the decisions we make today will have the greatest impact on them. By allowing us to share our views on education we can engage with NZQA and the education sector.”
The petition has received broad support from both youth and adults with people signing from Kerikeri in the north to Invercargill in the south.
Some of those who have signed the petition shared their thoughts, commenting “NCEA needs help”, “there should be student voice” and“very important to have students influencing the system”.
“I’ve been inspired by the passion of people around the country. We all believe that young people’s voices matter and that change is needed,” said Ben.
“I’m optimistic that the Minister of Education will listen as the government has a record of supporting youth voice.”
Ben is entering Year 13 and is the deputy chair of the Howick Youth Council.
Louise Condly, a teacher at Somerville Intermediate School, says, “It’s high time we stop being a Cindrella portfolio for ministers. We are losing our best teachers because they are retiring young due to the increasing workload and no increase in pay.”
The energy at the Picton Centre on Monday morning was contagious with more than 350 local teachers gathered to discuss the possibility of further strike action.
Clevedon School got a little brighter last week with the official launch of its sculpture trail.
