by Kaiya Jones, Year 13 Student, Kaipara College
Kia Ora, dearest reader! I am the Year 13 taking over the writing of this here section in the Helensville Community News! I must admit I don’t quite know what to write but I’m sure I’ll get into the swing of things!
After a lovely holiday in which I tried desperately to both relax and learn the important pieces of Year 12 physics to pick it up this year, I am struggling with the concept that it is 2025. 2025 brings about a few changes at Kaipara, the most notable of which, is arguably the new Whanau class (form class) setup. In the new “vertical” format, years 9-13 are all mixed into the same Whanau classes to build a stronger sense of community and connections between the year groups. Topic for much debate, this change is sure to change the dynamic of school (for the better or worse is yet to be seen).
Year 9s (and other new students) will be starting early as per the usual, and thus will get a chance to settle into high school without the chaos of the other years. Accompanying these Year 9s on their first day is a collection of Year 13s who volunteered to usher the new generation into Kaipara and help them get settled.
To prepare us for this vital task is a camp, PSL (peer support leader) Camp. Lasting just two days, this camp aims to turn us into leaders and build our confidence in ourselves so we can in turn inspire self confidence in Year 9s. The general consensus from Year 9s in the past is that peer support leaders make transitioning from primary to high school a less serious experience and as takes away the unknown.
This camp is not only useful to Year 13s when interacting with Year 9s, but also a very fun few days to be involved in. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable and filled with laughs, often stemming from activities such as the “human knot” (in which participants stand in a circle and hold hands with two people across from them and the group must then untangle themselves). It also serves to switch us back into school mode (if receiving our NCEA exam results hadn’t already done it).
I think it is safe to say we will enjoy this camp and the next coming week of the holidays as much as possible before the looming date at which we must go back to daily school life arrives.
