HVHS Newsletter

Kia ora koutou,

As you can appreciate, staffing a large school in the current conditions is challenging. We have 200 staff with 120 teaching staff and over 80 Learning Support Assistants and support staff.

However, we are fully staffed for next year, and the timetable is nearly complete. Our timetable is based on student choice, so it differs from year to year, and it is an incredibly complex puzzle for our timetabler to put together. Students will get their 2024 timetables early next year.

We invited some of our new staff to school yesterday - they are graduates and therefore first-year teachers next year. What an impressive group of people. They come with various interests and experiences and will fit well with this school. We also have a PE teacher joining us from Canada and a Maths/Science teacher and a Technology teacher coming from the UK. They are excited to be moving to New Zealand. Each new person that joins this staff brings something special. Our staff are as diverse as our student body, which is how it should be.

We say goodbye very soon to our Year 13 students and staff moving on to new challenges.

• Eve Martin is moving to Ōtāne in Central Hawkes Bay and will teach at Havelock North High School. Eve has made an enormous impact on our successful Science Learning Area, as well as supported the girls’ football programme.

• Whaea Patricia Mareikura is moving to Australia with her family. We will miss her work ethic, wit and expertise (and her gorgeous daughter). Whaea has also coached netball for us.

• Aimee Francois has been promoted and will begin as Head of the PE Department at Queen Margaret College. I will miss her so much - we have spent many weekends on the sidelines coaching netball together. QMC is very lucky to have her.

• Nicola Blacklaws is resuming her overseas adventures and will teach at an Australian school in Bali. Nicola has contributed a lot to the sporting and outdoor education life of HVHS. She recently did a 10-day overnight stint helping Josh Nicholls lead Year 9 camp. Mark Oates and the football girls will also miss her support and encouragement from the sideline.

• Teri McMullan is moving to Tawa College to teach Media. I thank Teri for her years of commitment to Deaning, leading Media and, in particular, introducing The Hoscars as a night of celebration of film creativity.

• Jordan Haig is off to teach in Melbourne. His expertise and creativity in DVCO will be missed.

• Rajnesh Prasad is moving back to Naenae College to teach Maths.

• Rose Barraclough is taking a small break from teaching next year, but we will hopefully see her as a relief teacher.

• Steven Huckfield is moving to Wellington High School to teach Music, where he can walk to work.

• Ollie Croft is off travelling overseas. Bon Voyage!

• Lucy Vannisselroy, one of our Learning Support Assistants, is also off travelling overseas. Bon Voyage as well!

In addition to this, we have a few babies on the way. We wish all the very best to Esther Cardwell, Brooke Hall-Jones and Kat Thomsen.

We are making one significant change to the Year 9 timetable for the next two years. 9Tikanga will be replaced by 9Literacy. There are a couple of reasons - one, we need to rebuild staff capacity to deliver the Te Ao Māori Year 9 programme; and secondly, for the next two years, we want to support our students so that they are prepared for the new high-stakes Literacy tests required to achieve NCEA. The programme is being designed by our literacy and learning support specialists. In addition to this, we have employed several numeracy specialists who will help run tutorials in small groups for some students.

Year-level prizegivings are coming up. Invitations will be sent to prize winners. I look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi nui

Denise Johnson, Principal

Are you interested in learning about another culture? Do you have a spare room? Homestay families are still needed for our International students arriving in January 2024 and staying for one or two terms. Students are arriving from Germany, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Austria, France and Thailand.

An in-zone address is preferred and students need to have their own bedroom. Homestay families are remunerated at $320 per week.

If you are interested and would like some more information, please email our Homestay Coordinator, Anna Kingsford at anna.kingsford@hvhs.school.nz with a short bio about your family and your contact phone number.

Image: Earlier in the week, our international students walked the Orongorongo Track and stayed overnight. Many wonderful memories were made while enjoying this beautiful part of New Zealand.

On Wednesday, HVHS hosted its first Youth United Nations Day, led by the President of United Nations (UN) Youth New Zealand, Charlie Mudgway and his university volunteer team.

UN Youth New Zealand is one of the country's largest youth-for-youth organisations, operating as a charitable organisation dedicated to increasing civic engagement for young people. They form the youth arm of the United Nations Association of New Zealand (UNANZ), delivering on the many United Nations youth programmes around the world.

The civic simulation-based event was designed to showcase the role of international and domestic civic bodies in shaping a range of different policy areas. The focus of the 2023 event was the question of youth disenfranchisement. The event at HVHS simulated the United Nations General Assembly. Fifty students from Years 9 and 10 represented their allocated countries, within the procedural elements of the actual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

We hope our students at Youth UN Day explored a range of perspectives on sustainable development issues, gained new negotiation skills and had fun!

Read below for student feedback on the Youth UN Day.

"Model United Nations was really fun because we got to engage and work together to come to a cohesive decision and we got to talk about some really interesting topics such as youth disenfranchisement and ancient history".

"I really enjoyed the experience of going to the UN meeting. I loved how patient everyone was with others and it felt like everyone could raise their hand and say something. I know my friends and I that went to the meeting will be looking to join future ones".

"The UN meeting was really fun, I enjoyed all of us debating and how we were all kind to each other. It was one of the most enjoyable things I've done this year".

"Model UN was extremely fun and the debates were super interesting to watch. It was super interactive and easy to follow along".

"The debates were interesting to watch and it was cool to see how everyone had different views on everything. The workshop was awesome too. Model UN was a good learning experience. I would recommend it to people".

"Model UN is one of those things where you have no idea what will happen until you actually try it. From a fun workshop where we role-played an attempt to create a peace treaty between Rome and Pathia to a very engaging debate on amendments made to the resolution".

If you don’t know, the Coffee House is a small student-run shop in the middle of the school that makes great coffee (of all types) plus milkshakes/thick shakes in season. We also provide a barista training programme to a commercial standard for fellow students that runs for 6 weeks and, on graduation, generates a certificate for their CVs.

The six of us in the Coffee House take pride in what we do and the service we provide. An outside assessor is invited in to appraise our standards and we have consistently received very positive feedback - our customers love us too, especially for the great deals.

Profits that we make go towards supporting a charity. This year we've supported KidsCan and will donate around $3,000. This is obviously a highlight and ‘feel good’ moment! Other highlights include improving the quality of our service, being open for special events at odd hours (not!) and seeing our barista grads getting part-time employment in customer service.

So, if you haven’t tried a coffee house mocha or flat white or lime thick shake with ice cream, come on down, we’ll make you welcome!!

Ngā mihi nui,

Jacob Oliver (one of the six students running the HVHS Coffee House)

Image: Morgan Harvey (12PF), Ethan Poynter (12ME) & Jacob Oliver (12BQ)

Fourteen Year 10 students from across the cohort were invited to present at the Year 10 Speech Competition, held in our beautiful library on Thursday 23 November.

The students, one from each mentor class, presented the speeches they had been working on during English in Term 4. It was an excellent opportunity to celebrate the participants and their hard work, as each student was selected by their classroom teacher to participate.

Topics ranged from chickens being the best pets you could possibly have, to the importance of gratitude, to arguments against light pollution, and how teenagers are judged (alongside judging each other).

Congratulations to Vinuki Abeyrathna (10SAWL) who placed 3rd with her speech about accents, Kaitoro Walker (10LMMO) who placed 2nd with his spoken word poem on the silencing of Māori culture, and Ella Bruce and Livi McElhinney (10CRWD) who placed 1st with an incredibly polished and performative double act on why we shouldn’t do speeches in English.

A virtual round of applause for the other speakers: Siân Roberts (10BKBN), Tess Gendall (10INJA), Priya Kumar (10KTIC), Yusra Aung (10OAKS), Amy Gerber (10HTMS), Connor Cameron-Jones (10BRBU), Andrés Cartwright-Salinas (10BAPS), Sanne Kiddle (10TWOH), Racquel Premraj (10MKTJ), and Myumi Peris (10BHPL).

This event was an excellent way for students to tautoko one another, gain a sense of shared success, and live the school values. We can’t wait to see what else students do in the years to come. Ka rawe!

Congratulations to the following students:

• Mikayla Sola (12SP) represented the Samoan Team at this week's Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games. Mikayla placed 6th in the hammer throw (with a throw of 42.76m), 11th in the shotput (10.54m) and narrowly missed a bronze medal in the discus, placing 4th (39.12m). Pictured with her Dad (Shaka) at the event.
• Bree James (13LR) for her selection to the Wellington U19 Women's Cricket team. The team is heading to the Nationals Tournament in Lincoln from 6-11 January 2024.

Keeping in Touch

Help us celebrate our students' sporting successes by emailing sport@hvhs.school.nz with any information and results. We can share any photos on our social media pages. For reminders, news and results follow HVHS Sports on Facebook and Instagram.

Te Kura Summer School is designed to help students who are:

• worried they may need more credits to make up a packet of 14 credits in a subject for University Entrance
• require additional literacy credits to ensure NCEA Level 3
• require up to 12 NCEA credits to progress to further study, training, or employment.
  

Te Kura accepts short-term registrations over the summer break and ākonga can register now. Find out more here or contact the Te Kura team on 0800 65 99 88 or email summerschool@tekura.school.nz

Students can help themselves to two packets of period products per month. We also encourage students to take products home for the school holidays to cover their full menstrual cycle.

Period products are located in the tall white cupboard outside the First Aid Room (Sick Bay). Available to students are pads and tampons in sizes regular and super, and also liners.

Period products are supplied as part of Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata (period products in schools), which aims to:

• reduce barriers to school attendance and sports involvement

• improve youth wellbeing

• reduce financial strain on families and whānau, and

• promote positive gender norms and reduce stigmatisation of menstruation.

To learn more about Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata click here

Lost property is bursting at the seams with unnamed items we'd like to return to their student owners, including:

• basketballs
• caps
  
• glasses (a huge number!)
  
• hoodies (many black non-uniform ones)
  
• jackets (lots of branded ones e.g. Kathmandu, Macpac and Torpedo7)
  
• jewellery
  
• pencil cases
  
• school shoes & sneakers
• sweatshirts
  
• t-shirts
  
• umbrellas
  
• water bottles
  

For students that need to check for a lost item, please visit the Student Counter in the Main Office between 8:45am-3:30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Any lost property not claimed by the end of the school year will be donated to a local charity.

If you have an unused scientific calculator at home or your student no longer needs their calculator, consider donating it to HVHS. We'll get it in the hands of a student who needs one.

We're not worried about the brand/model of the calculator - all donations are greatly received. You can drop off your old calculators at the Main Office at HVHS. It's open Monday to Friday from 8am-4pm during term time.

We're currently running low on donated uniforms. If your student has outgrown their uniform or no longer needs it, please consider donating it back to HVHS.

We'll ensure it is passed on to a student who needs it or loaned to a student who needs a replacement uniform item for a couple of days.

Any uniform items you wish to donate can be dropped to the HVHS Office, open Monday to Friday from 8am-4pm during term time.

A casual vacancy has occurred on the HVHS school board for an elected parent representative. The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection. If 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy within 28 days of this notice being published, then a by-election will be held.

To request a by-election, please email the HVHS Board Secretary, Lana Goddard at lana.goddard@hvhs.school.nz by Friday 29 December 2023.

Enrolments for 2024 in-zone students are open. We ask that parents/caregivers enrol now so that we can plan for their child's learning needs for 2024 and ensure a smooth transition to high school. Please note, out-of-zone applications for 2024 for Years 9-13 have now closed.

Once your child is enrolled you'll receive a booking time for an Enrolment Conversation. Enrolling now also helps ensure families and students are notified of sports trials, as many summer teams trial and start training in December.

All enrolments are completed online. Please click on the link above to start your online application. For enrolment enquiries, please contact Lesley Mackay at lesley.mackay@hvhs.school.nz or visit the HVHS website for more information.

We've changed to a new school app called SchoolBridge. Downloading the new SchoolBridge app will help keep you informed with alerts & notifications. Parents/caregivers can also report a student's absence using the app, and students can use the app to access their student ID card.

Download the new SchoolBridge App by searching for 'SchoolBridge' on the App Store or Google Play. If you need more information on signing in for the first time, please visit the HVHS website. Please also delete the old SchoolAppsNZ app, which is no longer used.

2023

Friday 1 December

• 'Big 10' PE Event for Year 10 Students

Monday 4 December

• Tautoko, Supported Learning Centre Production, 3:30-5:00pm

Wednesday 6 December

• Year 13 Prizegiving, 6:30-8:30pm (New Start Time of 6:30pm)

Thursday 7 December

• Year 11 Prizegiving, 10:00-11:00am
• Year 12 Prizegiving, 11:30am-12:30pm

Monday 11 December

• Last Day of Classes for Year 9 & 10 Students

Tuesday 12 December

• Year 10 Prizegiving, 9:30-10:30am
• Year 9 Prizegiving, 11:00am-12:00pm

2024

Monday 29 January

• First Day for New Staff & Year 13 Student Leaders

Tuesday 30 January

• Teacher Only Day (no classes for students)

Wednesday 31 January

• Pastoral Meetings and Student Leadership Day

Thursday 1 February

• First Day for Year 9 Students (school day starts at 9am)

Friday 2 February

• Second Day for Year 9 Students (school day starts at 9am)
• First Day for Students in Years 10-13 (school day starts at 11.30am)

Tuesday 6 February

• Waitangi Day (public holiday, school closed)

Wednesday 7 February

• School ID Photos (runs till Friday 9 February)

Thursday 8 February

• Year 9 Meet n Greet, 6:00-8:00pm in the Hall

Wednesday 14 February

• Athletics Day (all year levels)

Friday 29 March

• Good Friday (public holiday, school closed)

Monday 1 April

• Easter Monday (public holiday, school closed)

Tuesday 2 April

• Easter Tuesday (school holiday, school closed)

Friday 12 April

• Last Day of Term One

Email: office@hvhs.school.nz
Website: hvhs.school.nz
Location: Hutt Valley High School Woburn Road, Woburn, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Phone: 04 566 4584