THAMES HIGH SCHOOL. Principal s Message. Coming Up..

Transcription

1 THAMES HIGH SCHOOL Principal s Message Last weekend 12 of our students graduated from the YES (Youth Emergency Services) programme. A ceremony was held at the Thames Fire Station to celebrate this, with a number of the students families present. Certificates were presented by Coromandel MP Scott Simpson, who spoke about the importance of volunteers in our community. The YES programme involved the Fire Brigade, St John s Ambulance Brigade, Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) and Thames Civil Defence in providing taster experiences for young people. As a consequence of the programme, a number of the participants have decided to volunteer for one of the emergency services. The students commented on how much fun they had learning about different aspects of each of the emergency services. The students who took part in the YES programme were: Chase Dempsey, Molly Aldrich, Sarah Bax, Georgia Cook, Georgia Hinds-Haye, Mirren Wilson, Mihi Wakahoehoe, Jono Motion, Seth Way, Nathaniel Hutchinson- Wong, Nicole Cameron and Rede McLean. Coming Up.. Wednesday 1 July International Food Festival in School Hall at 1.10pm Thursday 2 July School finishes at 1.00pm (after Period 2) Thursday 2 July Parent/Teacher interviews for Senior Students, from 2.30pm Friday 3 July Catch-Up Day for students and last day of Term 2 Monday 20 July Term 3 Starts Thursday 23 July NCEA Information Evening for Parents/Caregivers The school calendar is now available online through the parent portal. Thursday 2 July Senior Parent-Teacher Interviews School will finish at the end of period 2 (1.00pm) for all students. The Tairua/Pauanui and Thames Coast buses will leave at the earlier time of 1.15pm. All other buses will leave at their normal times. The interviews run from 2.30pm until 8.00pm, with a dinner break for teachers between 5.30 to 6.30pm. Interviews can be booked online refer to the instructions contained with your student s report, or you can book an interview by ringing the school. It is very useful if parents and students attend the interviews, they are only for 5 minutes with each teacher. If you require further time, please organise another time to meet with the teachers.

2 Catch Up Day FRIDAY 3rd July This Friday (3rd July) is Catch-Up Day. Letters have been sent home for those students who are required to attend. Tutorials, assessment re-sits and opportunities to catch up on work are available to all students. This has proven to be a very successful day for students. Please make good use of this day. It is NOT a holiday! Year 10 Camps for 2015 Students will be bringing home the camp booklets to review over the holidays. The booklet will contain information about all of the camps on offer and a camp selection form. Students should return their selection forms from the start of Term 3. NO forms will be accepted before this, as it is important that both parents and students read and discuss the camp selection so as an informed choice is made. New Ministry of Education Publication: Sexuality Education-information for parents, families and whanau The Ministry of Education is committed in supporting schools implement the New Zealand Curriculum, which includes sexuality education as part of Health and Physical Education. An updated pamphlet has been released which takes into account new research and reflects social changes in the last decade. This pamphlet provides information about what sexuality education is in the New Zealand Curriculum and how parents and whanau can be involved. You can request a copy from the school office or view online at Mobile Phone Use and New Zealand Adolescents research project Michael Vacaru, a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland is conducting a study on young people and their mobile phone use. We felt this would be an interesting study both for students and families, and each participating school will receive a personalized report, based on the study findings. Students will be given a leaflet to bring home. This gives details about the research project, how to participate and contact information for Michael if you have any questions. Participation is voluntary and it will not be possible for mobile phone numbers and responses to be linked. There is also an information sheet available for parents, caregivers and whanau to read which is available on the school website at or from the school office. Thursday 23 July (Term 3) NCEA Information Evening for Parents/Caregiver This evening will be held in the Thames High School Staffroom from 7.00 to 8.00pm. The aim of the evening is to provide an awareness and understanding of NCEA, so that you can help your student navigate NCEA. There will be hand-outs and booklets available on the night, or you can pick up copies from the school office next term.

3 P B 4 L Positive Behaviour for Learning Thames High School R O L E S Making a difference, one step at a time For the end of Term 2 a special loyalty card draw was held. These three students have won a free pass each to Rainbow s End for the holidays. They have completed 10 and 15 loyalty cards respectively this term. This shows their excellent behaviour and learning attitude. Their roopu teacher, Michelle Sim is also very proud of them! We would like to thank Rainbows End for providing these as prizes for the students. Pictured left to right: Kayla Arbury, Anita Fraei, Esther Schuchardt and Michelle Sim (9SIM) 3

4 HOME STAY FAMILIES REQUIRED We have 2 Japanese students visiting Thames High School for 3 weeks during Term 3. Both students are girls and they are 16 years old. Weekly payments of $ will be made for hosting a student. For more information or a home stay application form please contact Pauline Whittle internationalsupport@thameshigh.school.nz Telephone: Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards 2015 Entries NOW OPEN The annual Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards are back again for Launched in 1984 with a vision to recognise and encourage the talent of aspiring New Zealand writers, the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards are a key part of the New Zealand literary calendar. This year they will be judged by Stephanie Johnson, Paula Morris and Jonathan Milne. This year's annual Short Story Awards divisions include: - Open Division (3000 word limit) 1st: $1,000 cash plus an additional prize package - Secondary School Division (3000 word limit) 1st: $1,000 cash plus an additional prize package - Non-Fiction Essay -no age restriction ( word limit), Topic: In the neighbourhood 1st: $1,000 cash plus an additional prize package Entries are now open and the competition closes 5pm, Friday, July 31, Go to for terms and conditions and to download the entry form. Sports News Waikato/BOP Cross Country In rain, wind and very cold conditions, 4 students competed in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cross Country Champs held in Tokoroa. Congratulations to Tayla Cox who finished 5th in the Senior Girls, Danielle Goodall - 7th in the Intermediate Girls, Luke Horton - 7th in the Senior Boys and Lucas Puetter - 33rd in the Intermediate Boys.

5 Waiuku Exchange Well done to all our teams that competed in our Sports Exchange with Waiuku College. Your sportsmanship on and off the field was great. Overall our teams won 4 games - the Development and 4th Grade rugby games, 9A and 10A netball games. However our Senior Boys Football, Senior A Netball and Senior Boys Basketball were all very close and exciting games which we just lost. Thank you to all our coaches, managers, referees or umpires that rearrange their work commitments to help make this event happen. Also thank you to Murphy Buses who allowed us to transport teams and spectators to Rhodes Park free of charge. We really appreciate all of your support. Orienteering Congratulations to Danielle Goodall who has been named in the NZ Secondary Schools Orienteering Team to compete in the Southern Cross Challenge against Australia at the Australian Orienteering Champs in Ballarat from 26th Sept - 4th October, Netball Recently the Boulton Cup was held at Hauraki Plains for all Senior A teams in the Thames Valley Secondary Schools Association. Our team had some close games, only just going down to Matamata College and Hauraki Plains. We finished in 5th place with Waihi College taking out the trophy. It was great to see a number of players back from their injuries. Check out the photos on our website in the gallery. Senior A had a good win against Morrinsville Sports Club on Friday night. They also had a very close game against Playez the week before with the score see-sawing throughout the game, but unfortunately Playez were ahead at the final whistle. Congratulations to Shaanika Caie, Jade Darrah and Bridget Gibson on making the final selection into the Thames Valley U17 Netball Team. They will play at Nationals in Mount Maunganui from 13 to17 July. Well done girls! Congratulations also to our 9A Netball Team, coaches and manager who won their final against Hauraki Plains College in the Thames Valley Secondary Schools Year 9 Competition. It was a close game from start to finish with the final score Team Members are: Taryn Aitken, Kashala Bax, Caitlyn de Groen, Tegan Foster, Angela Napier, Ruby Richards, Georgia Robcke, Ashleigh Rohrlach, Jessica Ross and Eden Ward Coaches - Tracey Mikaere, Ashleigh Greaney and Manager - Danielle Mikaere. Hockey The finals for the Secondary Schools Competition round were held last week. Well done to our boy s team who really stepped up in their game for 1st place against Te Aroha College. Matthew de Laborde was our goal scorer but Te Aroha won the game scoring 2 goals. 5

6

7 Community News 7

8