Hutt Valley Sports Exchange
On Wednesday 7 August, Hutt Valley High School travelled to Levin to play some sporting fixtures with our students. This has now become mainly a junior exchange with one or two exceptions. After a powhiri, both schools were keen to start their matches. The Junior Boys Basketball and the Junior A2 Netball teams were both the first to play. The girls lead for most of their game, but ended up drawing 18-18 with a good comeback from the Hutt team. The Boys’ Basketball team found it a lot harder against the taller and quicker Hutt team going down 28-82. The local Junior Mixed Hockey team had good success winning 9-1 while the Junior Boys Soccer team went down 0-3. Our Junior ‘A’ Netball team had a good win with the score being 28-25, while our Senior Boys’ Basketball team lost 41-50. The last game was between the two 2nd XVs…
Pasifika Fusion
The students involved in the Pasifika Fusion competition spent many months practising and preparing for their twenty minute slot, performing in The Regent Theatre in Palmerston North, just before the end of term two. The group was lead by Emily Mose Tuialii along with Sia Fuauli who between them did the choreography and put the final performance together. Doing something like this takes commitment and lots of energy and those students who stuck with the group, came to all the weekend practices and took part in the competition, could be very proud of what they achieved. On the day of the performance we were all convinced that we would gain at least a placing in the cultural performance category but unfortunately that was not to be. Even though the group was disappointed that the judges did not award them a final place, their performance certainly gained the admiration and respect…
Bishop Vesey Grammar School Visit
Bishop Vesey Grammar School from England, visited New Zealand this month, playing rugby games against colleges throughout the country. On Friday 2 August to Sunday 4 August, Bishop Vesey Grammar School from Birmingham, England, came to Levin to play two games of rugby against Horowhenua College’s 1st and 2nd XV rugby teams. The boys were all billeted out to local families and after a school Powhiri and the allocation of billets, the English boys were off to spend a night with their host families and learn some of the local culture. Saturday was game day and it dawned fine with a slight breeze. The 2nd XV were the first to play. This year our 2nd XV are a strong team having played together for a couple of seasons. After a close first half, we turned it on in the second half and ran out the winners 49-5. The 1st XV…
A Word From Our Principal – July 2013
Tēnā koutou e ngā Mātua me ngā Whaea Dear Parents and Caregivers Term 2 has been another busy term with both students and staff heavily involved in a multitude of activities. Alongside studying hard we have seen fantastic performances at Stage Challenge, CYN Concert, Shakespeare Nationals, Pasifika Fusion, Kapahaka Festival and winter sports. The list goes on. We hosted four members of the Hurricanes team with an injured All Black amongst them, Cory Jane. The local primary and intermediate schools enjoyed the first ever People’s Press Conference and asked many interesting questions of the players. This year to date we have welcomed two international groups from India and Vietnam and we look forward to two groups from Japan in Term 3. Open Evening was well patronised again this year with both Year 7 and 8 students attending. It was a cold and miserable evening but the hall was full. It…
ANZ Olympic Schools Programme
We have recently joined the ANZ Olympic Schools Programme. ANZ has developed this programme with the New Zealand Olympic Committee to provide schools with resources to inspire and motivate New Zealand children through the magic and celebration of achievement the Olympics delivers. Every successful home loan drawn down of more than $50,000 from the ANZ will result in 800 credits for Horowhenua College to spend at the ANZ Awards Centre on resources covering everything from sports equipment to the latest in computer technology. 800 credits equates to approximately $400 of purchasing power. All that parents, teachers, or friends of the college need to do is mention Horowhenua College to the ANZ staff member completing their home loan and once the loan is drawn down the credits will be awarded to the college. It’s as easy as that. Being part of the scheme also gives the college the chance to secure…
Market Day Level 1 Business Studies
Over the course of 2 days, the Level 1 Business Standards students showed their wares, and sold plenty! The activity took place in the quad and students had just half an hour to sell as much of their produce as possible. The activity was part of Achievement Standard 90842 and, along with the business plan and other paperwork, is worth a total of 6 credits. The range of foods included hot chips, hot dogs, ice cream sundaes, chocolate brownies, chocolate cake, nachos and much more. A range of beverages was also on sale. Some groups had very long queues and sold virtually all their merchandise, while others were slower. However, all students participated with enthusiasm and endeavour, and were well supported by the student body and many staff. Overall, much was learnt and the experience of planning and running a business, even for just one lunchtime in the year, was…
Science Trip to Victoria
On Thursday June 27 fifteen Year 12 Chemistry and Physics students travelled to Victoria University to experience Chemistry and Physics workshops. During the two hour Physics workshop the students got to observe magnets, superconductors, and liq-uid nitrogen and carried out an investigation into a radioactive substance. In the chemistry laboratory each student synthesised a component of aspirin while looking at ‘designer drugs’ then analysed their reaction product using thin layer chromatography. The students involved thoroughly enjoyed their day and were particularly impressed by the laboratory facilities available at Victoria.
Census At School
Our school is taking part in a nationwide survey through CensusAtSchool NZ. CensusAtSchool is a biennial online census involving students from Years 5 through to 13. It is part of an international project where some questions are in common with other countries to provide comparisons between countries, while tailoring the remainder of the questionnaire to reflect the interests of New Zealand children. Other countries participating are Australia, Japan, South Africa, UK, Ireland, USA, Korea and Canada. Schools take part voluntarily once teachers have registered to get a code for their class. Students complete the survey during lesson time, and then submit their data online to contribute to an international database. CensusAtSchool does not gain any information that would in any way identify any student‟s response so it is an anonymous survey. A census of this type provides teachers with a collection of real, relevant student data which is supported by…