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Centenary Year Edition Wellesley College Newsletter # 7 4 August 2014

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Page 1: Principal's Pen 7 2014

Centenary Year Edition

Wellesley College Newsletter # 7 4 August 2014

Page 2: Principal's Pen 7 2014

Dear Parents

At the end of Term Two we had a number of big occasions including the opening of the hall and Grandparents‟ and Friends‟ day. This required a lot of parent help so thank you for your support of these special functions. The boys are well „into their stride‟ and we are anticipating another very full and productive term. The calendar has been updated on our intranet. It has been a very successful year to date and it was particularly heartening to read all the boys‟ reports at the end of last term. Most boys have had personal best outcomes while many have achieved „across the board‟ improvements. The standardised New Zealand Speech Board results (100% pass rate) are a credit to the staff and to the boys who took part. The results can be viewed further on in the newsletter. The boys impressed the assessor (Mrs Christine Nash) with their skill, enthusiasm for learning and confidence. Special congratulations to Year 8 boys Dominic Coffin and Sage Shaw-Tait who have won a scholarships to Scots College in 2015. A few other highlights from the end of term - congratulations to:

Bede Brown who won our Y7+8 Science Fair over tough competition.

Our Senior Choir who have impressed everyone with their performances.

Our Junior basketball team who made the finals of their league.

Our Cross Country runners who did very well at the Regional Championships.

All the boys who took part in the World Vision Famine. $9,581 was raised, so thank you to the wider

community who supported this as well.

The Centennial Hall

The opening of the Centennial hall went off extremely well and we managed to avoid the weather bomb including the downpour of hail by about half an hour. The Minister of Education, the Hon Hekia Parata was particularly good with the boys sincerely engaging with them. We gave her a quick tour of the school after the official part of the ceremony (speeches, ribbon cutting and unveiling of the plaque) and the Minister was suitably impressed with what she saw. Our guest speaker, Trevor Taylor (CEO of Outward Bound and past Chairman of the Board of Trustees) spoke extremely well and was a bit emotional as he recalled the brave strategic planning by the staff and the Board that took place back in the mid-1990s setting in motion the four stage plan. The completion of the hall marked the last stage of this plan. We are delighted with the Centennial Hall and although the contractors have a few finishing touches to complete, we can get on and use it. The landscaping planted and designed by Makin Gardens looks fabulous. Thank you to Leacroft Nurseries who have been very generous and supportive.

Rev. Ellie with Callum, Will, Hugh,

Jake, Rahul and Kristian Hail just after the opening The boys love the balloons

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Grandparents’ and Friends’ Day

What a fabulous day and many thanks to everyone involved. This is always a highlight on the school calendar and the boys just love hosting the occasion. We had 450 visitors attend. Special thanks to Laurel Makowem who coordinated the event.

Science and Technology Exhibition

Congratulations to all the boys right across the whole school who completed their science investigations. We‟ve had a really busy term and the wonderful results were shared at our Science afternoon and evening. It was really great to have so many parents turn up to view the work. There has been a lot of effort and work put in by the students, the teachers and the parents. I‟m sure you‟d agree, the efforts paid off and the boys can feel very proud of their work. An extra special congratulations to Bede Brown in Year 8 who won the Senior Science Fair. We had 91 entries and will be sending 19 of these to represent Wellesley at the Wellington Regional Science and Technology Fair in August. Bede‟s investigation looked into the differences the Wellington Marine Reserve has had on paua and compared them with paua living outside of the reserve. In 2

nd place was Andrew Sutcliffe and sharing third place

were Alex McKenna and Louis Stevens. The following is a complete list of our other Finalists who will all go on to represent Wellesley at the Wellington Regional Science Fair in August. Josh Kemp Whimp and Sam Paviour-Smith, Charles Erasmus, Rahul Vijayasenan, Oliver Fernyhough, James Cameron and Kasimir Krupski, Thomas Hoskin and Joseph Hewson, Henry Chandler and Hugh Morrison, Edward Dunne, Ben Ross and Harry Williams, Hamish Hutton, Toby Marks and Tim Harris, Ethan Henry, Kyle Foo, Tom Green and Arie Renner, Ollie Hershon and Jacob Madigan. At the science night I launched our science data base and asked for parents to help out with our upcoming lunchtime Science Club. Please see the science and technology blog http://wellesleyscienceandtechnology.blogspot.co.nz/ for more details or email me [email protected] with any questions. For the science room, we are after any old x-rays, old medical anatomy models such as an ear, a foot etc. If you could please help out or know someone who might have these things that they don‟t mind parting with, then we would be very grateful. Jo Hawthorne

Mr Jorna and I had fun making concrete with the Y2s as part of their mixtures study. James with his concrete. Cooper and Mr Jorna Adjudicator Sandy Lang quizzing Wills and Kristian on their science

Science Fair place getters (Louis, Alex, Bede winner and Andrew) Science Fair Finalists with guest speaker Megan

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Staffing News

We welcome our new Gap tutor Seb Morton. Seb is staying with the Ross family (Jake and Ben). We will do a feature story on Seb in the next Principal‟s Pen.

Reports

Reports for Year 4 - 8 went out at the end of last term. Please be aware that the A-E grade is for effort. It is sometimes difficult to reconcile a child‟s perception of their effort with that of the teacher. While children benefit from having good work acknowledged, they also need realistic expectations set in areas where they are not achieving their potential. If you ever have concerns about your child, please feel free to make an appointment with your son‟s teacher. Thank you for taking the time to fill out the parent interview feedback forms. Not only can they provide acknowledgement for the teacher, but they may also highlight points of concern which can be addressed.

NEW ZEALAND SPEECH BOARD 2014

During the last 2 weeks of Term 2, Mrs. Christine Nash from the NZ Speech Board was at Wellesley evaluating the oral presentations of boys. Almost one hundred and seventy boys prepared for this assessment. Areas of work included drama, speeches, poetry, demonstrations, discussions, reading and impromptu role-plays. All boys passed their assessments and the feedback from the assessor was extremely positive. She was full of praise for the boys‟ preparation, confidence, cooperation and enthusiasm. Christine Nash made the following comments in her report:

All levels were responsive and displayed fluent discussion skills.

Book Extract: In-depth knowledge and enjoyment of the books they read. Mrs. Nash passes on her congratulations to all students for producing such enthusiastic and interesting work. “The Wellesley students are a huge credit to the school‟s Oral Assessment Programme,” she commented. “If communication skills are our goal, our future is in good hands.” Well done boys!

NZSB RESULTS Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Distinction 19 18 23 24

Highly Commended 7 11 12 18

We also had 29 boys receive commended passes. All passed.

Junior School Hosting

Teachers, parents and children from East Harbour Kindergarten, Point Howard Kindergarten and Barnardos visited us last term. Our Junior boys are always superb hosts and an enjoyable time is had by all. The feedback we have received from the pre-schools is always very complimentary. Thank you to the Junior staff for facilitating these visits.

Winter Ills There is a lot of sickness about with colds and flu so do keep children home if they are sick so the „bugs‟ are not passed on. Thank you

Marcus Y3 presenting. Jay, Finley, James and Anish. Jeremy, Tom, Flynn and Arthur

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Performing Arts Report

Year 6 and Senior choirs, orchestra and rock band performing at Grandparents’ and Friends’ day. Ollie playing piano supporting Arlo’s singing at our Centennial Hall opening.

Sun and light filled the hall for Arlo Doak and Ollie Hershon‟s moving performance of „I see Fire‟ at the opening of the new hall. Soon afterwards a huge hailstorm pelted the school grounds, adding to everyone‟s excitement! Congratulations to all boys who performed on the very first Grandparents‟ Day in our new hall at the end of last term, particularly the choirs, orchestra, rock band and solo musicians. A warm welcome to singing tutor Sarah Lineham who is returning to Wellesley to take over from Stephanie Paris, who has left to have her baby. Rob Joass (guitar tutor) has two spaces in his timetable. Please register your interest on the Wellesley website and email me to let me know. Thank you. Mary-Anne Morgan Senior Choir In the last week of Term Two the choir performed one song at the Science Evening and two songs on Grandparents‟ Day. The choir worked really hard last term practising and learning their new songs, it felt awesome to perform in the new hall in front of everybody on both occasions. I have to admit though, I was a bit nervous before both performances but I had a great time and really enjoyed it. This term the choir has more events coming up: the Wellington School Diocesan Schools Festival and an exchange with Chilton. During the holidays all the choir learnt their words and I am now confident that we will do really well in the upcoming exchanges. Joseph

Hewson 8B Orchestra at Grandparents’ and Friends’ Day On Thursday at Wellesley College we had our annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day. As usual, the orchestra played and we did really well. We played two pieces for everyone. They were “The James Bond Theme” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. This was the orchestra‟s second performance for the year and we were sounding really well together as a group. I think that we are doing a great job together and I hope that this sound continues.

Theo Hertzig 7/8B

Habits of Mind (HOM)

There are 16 HOMs and over time we are incorporating them into the boys‟ lives. Most contexts allow for discussion and reflection on multiple HOM. They link and merge extremely well with the NZ Curriculum‟s key competencies and we continue to make this linking explicit in practice and display for staff and boys. Often they link extremely well with Chapel themes as well.

Each term we tend to highlight two HOM as a school wide focus. This term we will first look at „Questioning and Problem Solving‟. As Albert Einstein said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning”.

Page 6: Principal's Pen 7 2014

One of the curriculum key competencies which is promoted throughout all areas of school life is „Thinking‟ and this clearly links well with our HOM focus.

Wacky Hair day raised much needed funds for the Cancer Society. Grandparents and Friends enjoying their day.

Year 4 Writing

A few Year 4 boys read their writing on our special Grandparents‟ and Friends‟ Day.

My Grandma My grandma is old and has grey hair. She has got some wrinkles but not too many. I know she is old because of her boney skin. She has nice blue eyes like me. She has glasses to help her read because she can‟t see long distance. When grandma hears that I‟m coming over she buys my favourite food and we make chop‟s together. We also make chocolate chip cookies for me to take to school. She always shouts me drinks or lollies. My grandma and I always play soccer it‟s always her and my brother vs me. It‟s usually a draw. You will normally find my grandma in the morning reading the paper and at night watching the news. When me and my grandma are gardening we always talk about what we‟re going to plant. My grandma and I also like to play board games I always bring them to her house, our favourite is Careers. She always thinks that I‟m cheating because she has never played it before. At her house her beds are so comfy and I get to sleep in a flash. Another thing she is really good at is, she knows my breakfast off by heart and she never has to ask me. My grandma loves me and I love her back. By Ari B

My Grandma

My grandma has white hair and lots of wrinkles because she is 73. She is smart and encouraging. My grandma has sparkling blue eyes and she is white skinned and quite skinny. My grandma is medium sized. She is as beautiful as a peacock. Her name is Julia. My grandma takes us to Marsden café every Saturday after church. One of my greatest memories with Grandma is when we watched the fireworks at her apartment and when she and the whole family come over to our house for a Christmas party. My grandma likes to watch the news and read the newspaper. She likes going out to relax at our holiday house that isn‟t far away. She is likely trying to reach the fitness level of her age because she goes on long walks around town. Grandma invites us over to her apartment lots because she wants to catch up with us. I love to go over to her apartment for dinner as she is an amazing cook. My grandma loves me in every possible way. Whenever I see her she gives me lots of hugs. My grandma is very clever and when there is a problem she knows the solution. I love my grandma she is as nice as the nicest person in the universe. By Floyd

My Nana

My Nana has got scruffy grey hair, gleaming green eyes and old wrinkles. She wears shiny green sided glasses for reading and has extremely dark eye brows. She is called by her middle name because she doesn`t like her first name. My Nana and I do the tricky crossword in the paper and she lets me try to answer the easy questions. We chat about school and watch the ONE news. She will encourage me to do my best and she always calls me dear. In my Nana‟s free time she loves to watch Emerdale. She adores gardening and keeps it spotless.

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My Nana will bake a delicious batch of malt and sultana cookies for me and Sam when we come to stay. Sometimes I help her bake. Last of all she bakes the best caramel slice. My Nana is really nice, kind and caring .Most of all I love her. By Jack

My Dad My dad is a kind old man who is 50 years old or so. He looks like he has worked all day (which he actually has), and his skin looks like a carrot grater. He has a bald spot at the top of his head and has green eyes. He is like a log with limbs and glasses. Every once in a while my dad and I go to the movies or have a meal out at the food court. When he has spare time he spends it with me playing Puki in the middle. Puki is my dad‟s nickname for my mum. His nickname for me is $2.66 because that‟s the amount he says he bought me for at the baby shop. He is the kindest and funniest person I know. I love my dad. By David

Wellesley vs Scots

PE and Sport

The winter season continues into this term. The term is busy with confirmed fixtures with HIBS (last week), King‟s

School, Lindisfarne College, Hereworth School, Huntley School and Scots College.

Congratulations to Christopher Bramley (rugby), Sacha Thomson (football), Henry Chandler and Jack Richards (hockey) who were appointed first team captains for this year. Wellesley played Scots College towards the end of last term. The Colts Year 5/6 games were held in Eastbourne. Wellesley was dominant in the football but lost the rugby and hockey. The Senior games were played at Scots and the Newtown National Hockey Stadium. Wellesley won the rugby games by big margins and won the first hockey and football games comfortably. The 2

nd XI football game ended in a draw after conceding a late goal. Scots were

unable to field a 2nd

XI hockey team so our team played an internal game on the second NHS turf. The Multi-Sport and 3

rd XI football boys played a variety of games at the Hutt Indoor Stadium.

The Year 3/4 Basketball teams finished their Term 2 competition in the Randwick league. There were three Year 5/6 and five senior teams playing in Karori and Hutt Valley leagues. All teams enjoyed their fair share of wins. The Year 3/4 teams have finished for the year and there are eight Year 5 to 8 teams entered again this term. We were hoping to get another Senior team into the Karori league but the league was oversubscribed. Thank you to the parent managers/coaches for running all the teams. Underwater hockey tournaments are scheduled for Saturday 16 August and 13 September. There is a core group of boys who have played with a lot of success this year. There were eight Year 6, 7 and 8 Wellesley boys who represented the Lower Hutt Region at the Wellington Regional Cross Country meet in Waikanae. The boys ran in fields of around 70 runners and performed well in very strong fields. Callum Hancock has made the Wellington Inter-Provincial team competing at the end of the term. Darren Houston

2nd

XV with our GAP tutor Mr Paris. 2nd

XI with Mr Tait. 1st XV v Scots.

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Year 7 Parent/Son House Breakfast

This is the second of these as Croydon and Selwyn had their breakfast last term. A letter will be sent home soon to Marlborough and Wellington Houses. Please return the sheet as soon as possible. (Date: Thursday 11 September, 7.20am at the Pavilion)

Roger Mexted’s Memorial Chapel Service

In memory of Roger Mexted

On Wednesday, August 20

th at 2pm we will be having a special Chapel service to honour Roger Mexted who taught

here for over 25 years but died suddenly in 2011. His spirit lives on and we are unveiling a beautiful statue by Australian artist David Bromley at this Chapel service. Roger‟s father will be in attendance and possibly some of his extended family. You are very welcome to attend the service (2pm -2.40pm) followed by afternoon tea. A number of our current Year 8 boys were taught by Roger. “We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams...” Arthur O'Shaughnessy

For catering purposes please email [email protected] by 15 August 2014 if you will be attending.

David (Y4) and Ace (Y1) at Grandparents’ and Friends’ day. Hugo with his grandparents.

PA Quiz Night – Friday 15 August at 7pm Just a reminder about our Parents’ Association Annual Quiz Night in our new Centennial Hall. With only a few of tables left we don't want you to miss out so get in touch to purchase your tickets or reserve your table. Friday August 15 at 7pm (some parents may have been told September in the class newsletters but please note this is being held in August) The evening will be a fun, social event for parents and friends to come along and compete with each other in teams of eight over eight rounds of questions. Food will be served and a cash bar available. The teams will be challenging each other for quiz night bragging rights - and if you are representing your class, a day's mufti for your boys! If you would like to come along but don't have a team, no problem at all, simply purchase the number of tickets you want and state which class your son is in and we will match you up with people from your class, year or school (junior, Middle or Senior). It will be a social evening so a great way to meet friends.

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To purchase a quiz night ticket; Send an envelope to the school office with your name, email and class plus the number of tickets you would like to purchase on the outside. Enclose within the envelope the payment for the number of tickets you want ($25 per ticket) either in cash or a cheque payable to the Wellesley College Parents Association or please note you would like to pay via internet banking (details below) and you will be sent the details. We will confirm your tickets by email. Note tickets will be sent out in the week of 11th August once we have the tables sorted. To reserve a table; Details required: The class you would like to nominate for mufti day (if any) and your team name. We would prefer both to be sent by Monday 11th August.

There are several ways to pay and we are comfortable whether you want to pay for the table yourself or get each person/couple/group to pay for their tickets. All payments must be received by Friday 8th August to allow us to sell any non-paid for tickets (we will let you know before we do this). As a reminder, tickets are $25 each and there are eight people per team.

Payment Options: By internet banking 01 0530 0167465 00 (with references: Surname and table number for tracking) Or cash or cheque (payable to Wellesley College Parents Association) in an envelope to the school office stating 'Quiz Night' with your surname and table number.

We will send out details just prior to the quiz night as to the format, how to buy questions etc.

We look forward to seeing you there and hope you have a fun night. If you would like to reserve a table or have any questions, please feel free to email [email protected]

T.J. and Arlo in the band. Phil Benge helps us with photos and he took these three classics at the opening.

Laurell Makowem, Finbar and Daniel visited old boy Hugh Turnbull on his 100th birthday. Hugh attended Wellesley when it was on The Terrace. Old boy Brian Igglesden visited Wellesley during the

holidays. Both old boys were dux, Hugh in 1932 and Brian in 1941.

Page 10: Principal's Pen 7 2014

Enviro Initiative

As part of the Year 7 boys‟ West Coast adventure in November they have to raise some of their own funds. The school office usually don‟t get involved with all the individual boys‟ initiatives but this particular one fits very well the Wellesley Enviro group‟s desire to eliminate as much paper and plastic wrappings from school lunches as possible. Please read the attached flier on Page 12 for details. On a more general note, I must say we are delighted with the culture of the school but things do go wrong from time to time. Children will be children and they need on going guidance and care. When things go wrong it is disappointing and sometimes it „knocks the spirit‟ but it also provides a time to re-emphasise our bottom line value system and follow through is important. Sometimes a child may only need a cautionary or counselling word but other times a suitable consequence is necessary to demonstrate that all behaviour in life has a consequence. Without wanting to tempt fate, or take things for granted, I must say overall the boys‟ behaviour is excellent. We all look forward to a fabulous Term 3.

Best wishes Warren Owen Principal

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PUBLIC NOTICES

Please note that notices posted in this section of the Principal’s Pen have not necessarily been vetted by Wellesley College. We therefore advise that if you are interested in any of the services advertised that you check them out yourself.

PULSE

Do you like singing, moving and acting? Rehearsing, making and performing? If so, you should join our free nine-week programme of creative activities for young people. PULSE is for young people in Years 7 to 10 who want to explore creative ideas from all kinds of traditions through singing, musical games, movement and drama activities. It‟s completely free and open to anyone who loves performing arts. It‟s a brilliant opportunity to have fun, develop skills and make great new friends. PULSE is part of NZSM‟s Young Musicians Programmme and is led by our music education lecturer, Robert Legg. Over the nine weeks, project members will work towards making a short film of their activities and will also prepare a live performance. There‟s no audition for the group and you don‟t need to be able to play an instrument. Details: Tuesdays 5pm to 7pm 14 October to 9 December 2014 Mt Cook Campus Massey University, Block 1, Entrance C How can I find out more? If you have any questions or need more information about PULSE just email [email protected]. Or contact the YMP office by emailing [email protected] or by calling (04) 463 4767. How do I register? Click the link below to access the online registration form. You‟ll receive an email reminder before the first session in October. http://www.nzsm.ac.nz/other-opportunities/pulse How do I get to the sessions? Access to the NZSM at Mt Cook is from Wallace Street at Entrance C of Massey University. When you get to Block 1, follow the signs upstairs to Room 1 D16. What should I bring? What should I wear? You don‟t need to bring anything except enthusiasm and a sense of adventure! The sessions will be very active, so wear comfortable clothes which don‟t restrict your movements. You will need to have bare feet. I can't wait for October! What next? If you‟ve got friends who you think would like to join too, send them this link or a copy of the leaflet. Places are limited, so be sure to register early. We really look forward to seeing you there!

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