by Kaiya Jones, Year 13 Student, Kaipara College
Kia Ora, reader!
Month two of school is chugging along much the same as month one thus far. A week of assessments has just passed and personal lives are finally being brought off the back burner to take centre stage again. I’m sure the feeling of relief is mutual among all students.
A cry of outrage recently swept through the student body as the tuck shop was shut down FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK. This was due to the company supplying the food going bankrupt and now hundreds of students have been going without their daily hashbrowns and ice blocks for FIVE WHOLE DAYS…what a tragedy. Good news though! A new supplier has been located and the tuck shop is resuming business on the 24th. One can’t help but wonder if students’ (and parents’) wallets weren’t benefiting from this brief hiatus of the tuck shop…
Kaipara College recently held a tabloid day as part of our newly introduced house structure and it was a day fairly well received by students (bearing in mind any opportunity to not work is seized enthusiastically). Whanau classes joined together to compete in their house colour in a range of activities, including crab football (a game where players move in a crab position on their hands and feet and try to kick a ball into the opposing team’s goal), tug of war, water slide, swimming sports, and a few others. The winning team in each activity (separated into year groups) earned points for their house and these go towards a tally which I assume will be added up at the end of the year with a mysterious prize for the winner.
Another activity going on this month was a year 12 P.E. camp/trip to Waipu. Forty year 12 students had the opportunity to go to Waipu Cove where they got to participate in numerous adventure based activities on the beach. Students were based at the campground in between surfing, abseiling, rock climbing, caving, and spending time on the beach. All these activities helped students work towards various achievement standards for their P.E. class- imagine that! Being able to surf for credits!
In other news, Year 13 students are currently being pulled up to the careers office to talk to Ms Bear about their future. Students are walked through the different options for life after school, and those who already have an idea are shown the best pathways to reach their goals. Career seminars are also organised, where different universities and trades/businesses come in to talk to students about what a career in that field potentially looks like.
Speaking of planning for the future, the school is having IEMs (individual educational meetings) which involve the student, their whanau teacher and the student’s parents. The goal of these meetings is to celebrate learning achievements, discuss any difficulties or barriers to learning, identify and discuss support needed to overcome those barriers, and set learning and wellbeing goals.
Have a great day!
