Dear Parents,

Key Dates:

I am sorry to burden you with this lengthy message today, but I felt it was important to take this opportunity to remind you of the upcoming events through to the end of the school year.

Senior Prize Giving

Senior Prize Giving will occur on Tuesday 16th November. Because of the rules under Alert Level 2, we are endeavouring to create an element of social distancing by breaking the Prize Giving into two events.

Year 11 and 12 will arrive at school at the normal time and go to their form class. They will move with their form tutor to the gymnasium where we will hold their Prize Giving at 9:30 am. Year 11 & 12 students need to be in either Number 1’s or tidy school uniform.

When the Year 11 & 12 Prize Giving is completed, they will return to their form room and receive their NZQA exam entry slips. Students will then be free to go on study leave. We expect this to be around 11:00 am.

Year 13 students will arrive at school at 11:30 am and head straight to the gymnasium. Students are expected to be wearing their Number 1’s.

The Prize Giving for Year 13 will allow us to reflect on the past 5 years, with introductions from the Head Boy and Head Girl along with a slide show of photos from the past 5 years. ‘Most likely to achieve awards’ will be made at this time and the first part of the event will conclude with the Valedictory Speech.

The assembly will then transition to the Year 13 Academic and General Awards to be followed by the Year 13 Prize Giving proper, culminating in the awarding of the prize for Dux. When the Year Prize Giving is completed, the students will return to their form room and receive their NZQA exam entry slips.

Please Note:

We are sadly unable to have parents attend either of these events, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Year 9 and 10 students are not required to be at school on this day.

NCEA Exams

NCEA examinations run from Monday 22nd November, through to Tuesday 14th December.

As mentioned earlier, students will be issued their NCEA Examination slips after the Prize Giving, on Tuesday 16th November. Students must bring their Entry Slip with them to their examination.

Derived Grades

Should a student be unable to attend their exam because of a one-off traumatic event or ill health they may be able to apply for a derived grade.

Approved reasons for applying for a Derived Grade include:

· a temporary acute non-recurring illness at the time of the examinations

· significant conditions diagnosed after 1 October or traumatic event after 1 October

 · a current sudden and significant change to a long-term illness at the time of the examinations

· trauma, misadventure, or exceptional circumstances at the time of the examinations

Please Note:

· It is important that the student/parent sees Mr Bird to collect a derived grade form in the first instance. This form needs to have a section filled in by the doctor/specialist.

Summer School

Te Kura Summer School is run over the summer break to support students who require up to 12 NCEA credits to progress to further study, training or employment. 

A range of subjects are offered, including English, maths and science, and subjects are delivered online with support from registered teachers.

Registrations open up on 8th November.

A  L1, L2 or L3 student can access up to 12 credits if they enrol before NCEA results come out. If a student enrols after NCEA results come out, then they can access a maximum of 6 credits.

Summer school starts on the 20th December and closes on the 11th February.

Te Kura Summer School website for information about Summer School and Registration is Te Kura Summer School.

The Summer School intake team is available to answer any queries, phone 0800 65 99 88 option 1, or email summerschool@tekura.school.nz.

Junior Exams

The year 9 & 10 examinations are on Wednesday 17th through to Friday 19th November.

Junior students will be sitting their final examinations in English, Mathematics and Science.  As well as informing teachers about progress made, the examinations also assist Heads of Department to make decisions around class placement for 2022.  This includes placement in Year 10 extension classes and confirmation of students’ Year 11 course selections.

Learning to revise is an important skill that students need to develop throughout their time at secondary school.  We recognize that for some students this may be the first time they have participated in examinations and stress the importance of preparation. For each subject, students are encouraged to spend some time over the weekend and on Tuesday (junior students not at school due to Prize Giving) using their workbooks to revise the content covered. The schedule for the examinations is as follows:

Wednesday, 17th November

Period 1 & 2 – Year 10 Science

Period 3 & 4 – Year 9 Mathematics

Thursday, 18th November

Period 1 & 2 – Year 10 Mathematics

Period 3 & 4 – Year 9 Science

Friday, 19th November

Period 1 & 2 – Year 10 e-asTTle (Reading & Mathematics)

Period 3 & 4 – Year 9 e-asTTle (Reading & Mathematics)

All junior students are expected to have their own device for the e-asttle testing.

Summary

16th Nov. Senior Prize Giving No Junior students at school

17th Nov. – 19th Nov Junior Exams. E-asttle testing

22nd Nov. – 14th Dec. NCEA Exams

8th Nov. Summer School Registrations Open

23rd Nov. NCEA Teacher Accord Day. No Junior students at school

10th Dec. Junior Prize Giving

13th Dec. Junior Tabloids. Last day of school.

With best wishes

Greg Fenton

PRINCIPAL

Article added: Tuesday 09 November 2021