hastings boys high school debate topic „that single-sex schools should be abolished‟ proved an...

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NEWSLETTER Volume 4, June 2010

HASTINGS BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

DIARY DATES: JULY

19 Term 3 begins 8:30am

JULY 22

OPEN

EVENING starting at 6:00PM

JULY

24 1st & 2nd XV Team Building 26-30 Science Week 30 Super 8 Basketball at Hamilton Boys‟ H.S. 31 1st & 2nd XV vs New Plymouth Boys‟ H.S. (home)

AUGUST 7 Super8 vs TBC at Tauranga 8 Super 8 Hockey vs New Plymouth BHS 16 Y13 Geo to Rotorua 18 Senior Achievement Evg 19 Barefoot 7‟s 26 Y9/10 Ski Day 30 Winter Tournament: Snr A B‟ball, U14/U15 Rugby, 1st Xi‟s Hockey and Soccer

SEPTEMBER 4 NZSS Rugby at Rotorua 11 HB Skiing Champs 13-15 Senior Examinations 24 Term 3 ends

Dear Parents of Year 11, 12 and 13 students, A report on your son‟s progress is included in this mail-out. This will clearly outline where they are currently positioned in terms of progress towards their NCEA goals. Without exception, our teachers are dedicated to providing the best possible learning environment for academic success, but it requires also support from families and most important, the students themselves. In

today‟s tough economic conditions, which will remain with us for the conceivable future, academic achievement will be the greatest defence to an economic downturn. Twenty school weeks have been completed and a further fifteen remain until NCEA exams commence in mid November. Parents, ask the hard question and demand answers about what they have or haven‟t achieved. What assessments have yet to be completed and what are their goals for the next 5, 10 and 15 weeks? Dear Parents of Year 9 and 10 students, It is pleasing to see the number of Year 9 and 10 students receiving certificates and recognition at our „achievement assemblies‟ every Friday. All students should set themselves a goal of walking across the stage and receiving the applause of the school. In a recent newsletter from Havelock North High School their moderate NCEA grades particularly of Level 1 (where only a little over half of their boys found success); was attributed to Hastings school‟s using Unit Standards to bolster their achievement levels while Havelock North High School used Unit Standards only in their alternative programmes. As Headmaster, my response is to let you know Hastings Boys‟ High School‟s NCEA grades at all levels were the best in Hawke‟s Bay and attributed to hard work and dedicated teachers, not to taking of the „easy‟ option. When you analyse the eight largest schools in Hawke‟s Bay, Hastings Boys‟ High School was the lowest user of the Unit Standards last year and Havelock North High School one of the largest of the „easier‟ Unit Standards. Schools would be best to focus on why their students are not achieving well rather than look for fault in other schools. R.G. Sturch, M.Ed(Hons) Headmaster

UNIT STANDARDS use 2009

Napier Boys‟ High School 6,892

Havelock North High School 6,686

Hastings Girls‟ High School 6,547

Taradale High School 6,224

Karamu High School 6,116

Napier Girls‟ High School 5,567

Central Hawke‟s Bay College 5,407

Hastings Boys‟ High School 4,689

Source: NZQA.govt.nz



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Debating News The week of 14-18 June has been a hive of activity at HBHS in terms of debating! The Year 10 limited „Prep Round 3‟ of the Hawke‟s Bay interschools‟ competition took place on both Hastings Boys‟ and Hastings Girls‟ High Schools campuses. We welcomed seven schools‟ adjudicators, teams and supporters into the library at 1pm. By 1:10pm the wonderful young men of 10Cu had escorted each visiting team to their preparation room. The debate topic „that single-sex schools should be abolished‟ proved an excellent choice as schools such as ours and Woodford House could argue from experience that single sex schools were better equipped to meet the needs of their students. The five debates all commenced at 2:15pm in the beautifully prepared hubs of excellence here; The Drama, Maori and Music Rooms as well as the AV space in S2 and the Library. It was a proud moment for debating here at Hastings Boys‟ High School, which was only dampened by a narrow loss of our team Nickalis Jablonski (Year 9), Ethan Dempsey-Wilkie and Jesse Nugent-Tompsett to a more experienced Lindisfarne College.

All Boys’ Conference in Wellington Mr Sturch (Headmaster) and Tom Wiggins (Head Boy) attended this conference for two days May 6

th and 7

th. Tom

said “it was a stimulating and inspiring time to see how other Head Boys interact with their individual schools.” He really enjoyed the speakers who were Billy Graham (boxing and sport trainer of boys who are „at risk‟) and Ian

McKinnon (School Management) and hopes to implement some of their suggestions. The Conference also visited the Trentham Military Camp where they were exposed to military leadership styles. The boys also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and were reminded of our schools‟ strong histories. Final visit of the conference was a tour of Parliament

Manu Korero Speeches The Manu Korero Speech Competition is held every year at E.I.T. Piripi Nelson was a very competent speaker in the Senior Section of Korimako. Mr Wiki said he was very proud of his delivery of a speech about “Leaders of Tomorrow Begins Today”. Piripi‟s commitment to his extra-curricular activities at school is well recognised by our wider community but most importantly by our pupils of Hastings Boys‟ High School. Although Piripi was not placed his speech showed a positive role model for our school and its leaders. Piripi was ably supported by senior members of the Maori Performing Arts and Language classes. These boys performed the school haka AKINA on behalf of Piripi at the conclusion of his speech. This impromptu haka was well received.

Tautoko group

Piripi Nelson making his speech



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Helicopter Appeal

Hastings Boys‟ High School added „sparkle‟ to the Hastings Karamu Rotary Helicopter Appeal held at the Hastings Opera House on Friday, 18

th July. Twenty prefects assisted in the fundraising which raised over $40,000 for the

Lowe Walker Rescue Helicopter Trust. This is the nineteenth year that Hastings Boys‟ High School has assisted in this event.

Lateness

Unfortunately, a small number of students consistently arrive late to school in the morning. Students are expected to be at their form class by 8:30am. If students arrive late in the morning this causes significant disruptions to other staff and students and does not set the appropriate tone for the day. Lunchtime „late‟ detentions are held and if students do not attend these they will be required to attend an after-school detention until 4:30pm. Please stress to your sons the importance of arriving at school on time each and every day. If there is a particular reason for lateness, please ensure that you have written a note explaining this – in his log book would be preferable. We appreciate your co-operation.

Biology Year 12 Biology Trip to the National Aquarium on

May 31st was part of the Year 12 course. The boys

dissected a fish and examined the breathing

mechanisms and gill structure. This occasion also

allowed the students to observe the behaviour of fish

in different temperatures of water.

Junior School Achievement This term has revealed some outstanding achievement among our students in Years 9 and 10 in all areas of school life. 1. Students are acknowledged in Friday‟s „Awards‟ based assemblies if they have excelled in any of the

following areas:

a. Academic

b. Sporting

c. Cultural

2. Over 65 „Excellence‟ Certificates have been received by students so far this term for academic,

cultural and sporting prowess. Excellence has been achieved in many different subject areas and in

Sports and Cultural including Stage Challenge and Debating.



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3. In addition to this, 23 students gained membership of the „90‟s‟ club. The criteria is for students to

average at least a „Merit‟ in their common assessment tasks in the core subject areas and have over a

95% attendance rate.

4. Students receive a commendation in their log books for outstanding work in a particular subject area

and eight of these qualifies a student to receive a certificate and a reward voucher.

Since the beginning of Term Two students in the Junior School have achieved 168 Commendation

Certificates.

Obviously, boys are striving hard to achieve success and responding very well to consistent and

positive feedback from the teaching staff, which acknowledges these impressive standards.

School Holidays – Uniform Shop The Uniform Shop will be open from 10am to 12 noon on Friday, 16th July 2010

Motocross Zach Lawrence recently competed at two rounds of the 2010 North Island Junior Motocross Champs in the 14-16 years 250cc class. The first round was held here in Hastings and the second round was held in New Plymouth. Zach finished 3rd overall. Congratulations Zach.

School Choir and Barbershop Quartets Our Choir and Barbershop Quartets performed outstandingly at a recent „Barbershop Quartet‟ evening held at St Matthews Church. Mrs Simmonds and Mrs Roberts were really impressed with their performance as were “Musical Island Boys” (National Barbershop Champions and competing for an International title in the United States) and Ahmen (a local barbershop quartet) who both performed on the same night. Our Choir also competed in BIG SING in Napier where the boys again performed with decorum and were wonderful entertainment for a huge audience.

The Choir have also been visiting contributing schools during June to display their talents.



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Kapa Haka Festival On Wednesday 26

th May, Hastings

Intermediate hosted a local kapa haka festival. There were five local schools who performed for an audience of over five hundred students and parents. A very polished and inspiring kapa haka performance from Hastings Boys High school followed, with many in the audience in awe of their commitment and passion.

STAGE CHALLENGE

- Our boys were awesome! Award of Excellence in Lighting Design

Award of Excellence in concept

Award of Excellence in Environment/Social Awareness

Award of excellence in Drama

Stage Challenge Foundation award for Spirit of Stage Challenge

HBHS was again a competitor in Stage Challenge 2010. Although they did not gain the „first place overall‟ Mr Sturch and other staff were very proud of how they performed and what they did achieve. The awards listed above speak for themselves. Well done to the cast and Miss Cresswell.

“Hero of War” After a very successful competition in 2008, the HBHS Stage Challenge team were more than ready to enter to competition this year. It was the end of 2009 that as a group we decided on a war-based theme. We wanted something strong and dramatic and something that was appealing to all New Zealanders. When it came to narrowing the theme down to a more specific focus, we found no topic more appropriate or more fitting than the story of one of our greatest role-models – Corporal Willie Apiata. Our cast of 21 and crew of 11 rehearsed every Monday and Wednesday and couldn‟t wait for “show day”. The highlights have been being able to select our own “war-appropriate” music and of course being able to play with guns. The boys put on a strong and disciplined performance and one that they can be extremely proud of. HBHS picked up awards for: Excellence in Lighting Design, Excellence in concept, Excellence in Environment/Social Awareness and

Excellence in Drama. But our most exciting moment of the night was receiving the Stage Challenge Foundation award for Spirit of Stage Challenge. Well done boys on an outstanding production!

Debating: Teachers vs Students Matt Bartlett and Mr Alderton in debate

The inaugural Staff versus Students‟ Debate was held in the library during lunchtime on Tuesday, 8

th

June. A massive audience turned out to support the debaters from both sides of the house who argued about whether „World Smoke Free Day‟ is

more important than „Hug A Ginga Day‟. Using the bible as inspiration, Mr Lindsay spoke with passion about being humane and brought the subject of scientific predisposition into their side‟s argument. This point was well argued by Mr Shaughnessy and summed up valiantly by Mr Alderton. Presenting an almost as slick case were the student team of Matt Bartlett, Ben Phibbs and William Grant who argued against smoking using statistics and humour. It was a closely judged debate by Mrs Harris and Piripi Nelson, with the debate going to the staff team by a margin of 5 points. It is hoped many more boys will now be inspired to join up for next season as this is a lively and intelligent sport in which to be involved. Thanks to Miss Cresswell and Joshua Horne who were Chairperson and Timekeeper respectively.



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Fibre ready! As part of the government‟s commitment to ultra-fast broadband Hastings Boys‟ High School is the second Hawke‟s Bay school to be included in the SNUP (Secondary Network Upgrade Project) – the other being Taradale High School. In a partnership agreement between the school and the Ministry of Education the $500,000 upgrade will allow Hastings Boys‟ High School students and teachers the full benefits of unrestricted fibre technology. Band within schools is currently limited by the existing copper technology. In the future fibre optic cable speed is only constrained by the sophistication of the electronic equipment of each end.

The focus, according to Headmaster Mr Rob Sturch, is to improve the quality and efficiency of education through e-learning. Our network upgrade as an example, will allow global connectivity and will allow our students to complete distance learning by being part of virtual project with schools from abroad. The network speed of one gigabyte per second will allow uploading and downloading of large files. From a staff development perspective it means teachers can take part in conferences without leaving the school because of high definition, remote video conferencing. This is a big cost and time saver for schools. Fibre is the technology foundation that brings alive the potential of learning devices like interactive whiteboards because you can share whiteboards with other schools on the fibre link. As part of our involvement in the New Zealand Super 8 group of schools, Mr Sturch has already established links with Palmerston

North and New Plymouth Boys‟ High Schools about class sharing ideas.

Te Kotahitanga School Facilitation Team

Mrs J. Edwards, Mr Q. Crawford, Mrs L. Coleman Mr B. Cracknell, Mr J. Bird, Mr B. Wiki

TE KOTAHITANGA

Improving the Educational Achievement of Māori Students in Mainstream Education

Ma te huruhuru, Ka rere te manu Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly

Te Kotahitanga is a collaborative response to the rising problem of underachievement among Māori students in mainstream schools. As part of this professional development/research project, which began in 2001, the research team headed by Professor Russell Bishop, University of Waikato, developed an Effective Teaching Profile based on suggestions made by Māori students, their parents, their teachers and principals. In October of last year the school was successful in gaining entry into the Te Kotahitanga Project. With 48% of the schools roll identifying as Maori the project offered an exciting opportunity for Hastings Boys‟ High School. The five year project will see the school and its staff go through a professional development programme run by a staff facilitation team. This focuses on changing classroom pedagogies enabling participating staff to become agents of change allowing them to deliver the curriculum from a discursive teaching position. The project also looks at ways to better relationships between staff and Maori students. Research shows these relationships have a direct correlation to Maori student achievement. The teachers who are participating in Te Kotahitanga for 2010 have all volunteered to be part of the programme. The schools journey started in December of last year with a hui aimed to introduce the genesis and framework of Te



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Kotahitanga together with the effective teaching profile and observation tool. The first cohort of teachers were clustered into five groups for co-construction. These clusters have up to 5 students in common. There is also one group of senior and option classes only. Each term every teacher who is part of Te Kotahitanga will be observed in class by one of the facilitation team (colleagues from within the school who have undergone training by the Te Kotahitanga professional development team). The facilitator observes the teacher‟s practice in relation to his/her students in the class. The teacher will also complete a cycle of feedback, co-construction and shadow coaching with the aim of implementing and achieving a specific and measurable goal each term. We are excited to be one of the 17 newly appointed schools to be included in the project. We are also one of four Super Eight Schools involved in the project, the others being Napier Boys, Gisborne Boys and Rotorua Boys. Having these schools involved allows for some exciting professional development opportunities to be had later in the project. As a school we are committed to providing the best possible learning environments for all of our students. Sitting alongside the Te Kotahitanga project are the Literacy, P.A.C.E and Restorative Justice Programmes. Involvement in these programmes helps us as a school to facilitate the aim of raising student achievement with an emphasis on Maori student achievement.

Staff involved in Te Kotahitanga Professional Development as part

of a three-day hui.

Staff taking the first

step of „working together‟ on the Te Kotahitanga

journey.



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Teachers vs Students debate in the School Library

School Choir at the Napier Municipal Theatre

Honours Blazers

Congratulations to the latest

recipients

for the Hastings Boys’ High School

Honours Blazer.

Jason Long (left) and Morehu Edwards

(right).

hastings boys high school debate topic „that single-sex schools should be abolished‟ proved an...

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