Monthly Archives: August 2019

Weekly News Term 3|Week 6

Weekly News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Art Auction Gala
What a night! Huge thanks to all who came and supported this event. The Chapel was transformed and 170 guests enjoyed a lovely evening.
There are a lot of people to thank with an event of this nature – thank you to our Premier Sponsors, Fresh Choice Roslyn, for providing the beverages for this event – your generosity means that we raise more funds for St Hilda’s, which is a great result for our school. A big thank-you to Old Girls Lara Liew, our inspiring and entertaining guest speaker, and Sophie Morris, our top-class performer, for travelling to be part of this night – great to have you both back at St Hilda’s for this event celebrating the arts.
A huge thanks to Ali Copeman and the PFA for their assistance with running the show (they never stopped all night), and to ‘young’ Old Girls Paris Sinclair, Anna Dixon and Katie Jones for all their help (washing all the dishes, cutlery and glasses for 170 guests in one tiny canteen sink is no mean feat)!
Our fabulous auctioneers, Noel Jenkins and Mark Miller, from Edinburgh Realty, deserve a huge thank-you for running the art auction so smoothly – with 24 artworks up for auction this was no easy task, but we sold almost all of the works which is a fantastic result. Thanks to Michelle Chalklin-Sinclair from The Artist’s Room and Richelle Byers from Gallery De Novo for assisting with the artists and displays, and James Sutherland, our HOD Art, for hanging the works so beautifully.
To our sponsors: Mitchell Daysh, Gallaway Cook Allan, Race Douglas Burke, Mosgiel New World, Marsh’s Honey, Dwelling Architectural Design, Otago Painting Solutions, Nanking Palace Restaurant, Mercy Healthcare and Anderson Lloyd – we thank you for your generosity and support.
Thanks to all of our silent auction donors too – your wonderful prizes were hotly contested!
Overall we have raised approximately $34,000 from this event – a great result.
Amanda Burke

St Hilda’s Careers Evening

It was fantastic to see so many attend the careers’ evening. The guest speaker – Annabel Blaikie – gave us an interesting overview of what employers are looking for. The panels gave a range of perspectives and insights into the different vocational areas. Many thanks to the panelists for generously giving of their time and sharing their career journeys.

Reminder – injury or illness

Just a reminder to parents to please inform the school if injury or illness prevents your daughter from taking part in her timetabled classes. We expect that any removal from class or class activities will pre-empt the removal of the student from co-curricular activities for the same reasons. It is frustrating when students prioritise co-curricular activities and commitments ahead of their academic programme and class expectations, thus signalling, possibly unintentionally, that their classwork is not of the same value. Staff put a lot of time and effort into preparing work and class programmes and have the right to expect the same commitment from their students.

Thank you for your support of your daughter’s learning.

Return of all 2018 Sporting and Prize Giving Cups and Trophies 

In preparation for the 2019 Awards and Prize Giving evenings, we urgently require the return of all cups and trophies presented in 2018 before the end of Term 3.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this.  These may be left at the school’s main reception area.

Year 11 – 13 Subject Selection

A reminder that subject choices for 2020 are due by 2 September 2019.
Please find below links to resources you and your daughter may find helpful in the decision making process.

St Hilda’s Collegiate 2020 Senior Academic Programme (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Check out the information in the ‘Need to Know’ section as well as subject specific pages.
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/st-hildas-collegiate-senior-ac/home

Understanding NCEA
https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/About-us/Publications/Brochures/A-Guide-to-NCEA-ENGLISH-March-2018.pdf

Careers Online Resources (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/careersonline/home

Career Central (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Good luck to our winter sports teams who are competing in finals this weekend and to our Rugby team who are facing Christchurch Girls’ High School for a chance to advance to the National top four schools’ competition.

Blazers

We are modifying the material of our blazers from the current fabric which is 90% wool 10% nylon, to a more robust, harder wearing mix of 55% wool and 45% polyester. We have taken this opportunity to also update the styling of the blazer.
We recognise that there will need to be a transition period while we phase the current blazers out and the new blazers in. If your daughter has one of our current blazers she will be able to continue wearing it until she either finishes St Hilda’s or needs it replaced due to growth or wear and tear.
H and J Smith will be supplying our new blazers and these will be in store early January 2020 ready for the new school year.

Staff Only Day – reminder

You should have received an email reminding you of our Teacher only day this Monday 2nd September. As a staff, we have been looking at how we plan our programmes to best meet the needs of all students.  Departments will be focussing on specific strategies for this on Monday 2nd September.

Arts Building Opening

We hope you have received your email invitation to the opening of our new Arts building at 2.00pm on 27th September and we thank those of you who have already RSVP’d.
We would be grateful if you could RSVP to principal@shcs.school.nz by Monday 23rd September.

St Hilda’s Blues

A Blue at St Hilda’s Collegiate School is awarded in recognition of students who have shown excellence and/or outstanding achievement in the cultural, sporting, academic or service arena’s at St Hilda’s Collegiate School.

The Blues evening will be held on Friday 18 October 2019. Awards presentation commences at 7:00pm.

The application forms for students to apply for Cultural, Service, Academic and Sport Blues are now available. Forms can be accessed via the student homepage: Blues Application Forms or via the Parent Portal : Blues Application Forms and Criteria.  Applications must be made by the student using their St Hilda’s email.

Applications close at 5.00pm on Friday 13 September. Some dance genres have competitions and examinations later so we ask that students put in an initial application before the deadline, noting that results are pending. The site will reopen on 20 September until 23 September for updates to these applications.

Successful applicants will receive notification at the end of September.

Junior Academic Programme

The Junior Academic Programme for 2020 has been released online this week. Links to view this are on both the Parent Portal and the Student Homepage. This site provides an overview of the subjects studied from Year 7 through to Year 10. At Year 10, students undertake two optional subjects of their choice alongside their compulsory subjects.

The Junior Academic Programme can also be viewed here: https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/2020-junior-academic-programme/home

Guidance

The lead up to examinations can see an increase in stress and anxiety for senior students. Click here for some practical ways in which parents can help their teenagers study for exams.

Updated Reporting Timeline

We have adjusted the reporting timeline to accommodate the changes made to the junior reports at the end of Term 2. Year 7 – 10 students will receive an interim report in Week 8 and this will be followed by Junior Learning Conversations which will be held in Week 10. We are aware that it is not always possible for parents to attend these due to travelling distance and the timing of Learning Conversations so we are investigating the possible use of technology to assist with this.

Benchmark Examinations

Benchmark Examinations will be held in Week 8 / 9 – 12th September – 18th September. These will be held under NZQA conditions. Further details about these have been emailed home.

Assessment Guidelines

With a number of classes completing assignments students sometimes find it hard to know the guidelines for the authenticity of their work and I thought it would be good to share with parents the general rules around plagiarism that we follow.


Plagiarism is the act of representing the work — words, thoughts, ideas, research, art — of other people as your own. ANY time you incorporate information into your project, assessment or research report that is NOT your own idea, thoughts, or research, you need to indicate, with in-text citations and a formal bibliography, where you found that information.

There are only a few instances in which you probably do not need to cite your sources.  You do not need to cite your sources if you are writing your own words, ideas, or original research.  You also do not need to cite information that is considered common knowledge, such as:

·       facts that are found in many sources (example: Marie Antoinette was guillotined in  1793.)
·       things that are easily observed (example: Many people talk on cell phones while driving.)
·       common sayings (example: Every man has his price.)

If you ever have ANY questions, be on the safe side and ask your teacher.

Activities this week –

Last Wednesday afternoon, Sings Hilda invited choirs attending the Big Sing Finale to an afternoon tea and concert held here at St Hilda’s Chapel. Euphony from Kristin School, and Saints Alive from St Cuthbert’s College gave performances of some of their repertoire alongside a performance from Sings Hilda.

All choirs joined together for a massed item, a choral arrangement of Ka Waiata ki a Maria.

This was a wonderful chance to meet and mingle with other choirs and to support each other’s performances. Best of luck to Euphony and Saints Alive for the Big Sing Finale performances.

 

Achievements

Celebrate Design Awards
On Friday the 23rd of August the Otago Polytechnic Celebrate Design Awards were held.
St Hilda’s had 7 entries entered in the Textiles section.

Summer Phillips had a successful evening gaining Highly Commended Award.

 

Bandquest
Last Friday St Hilda’s was represented by 2 bands at the Bandquest competition held at the Taieri College Performing Arts Centre. The Bandquest competition provides a platform for Year 7 and 8 students to perform music in a supportive and encouraging competition format.

We had 11 students enter across Year 7 and 8 in 2 bands called Blue Flame and Sparrows. Blue Flame consists of Chelsea Sinclair (voice), Tia Mawhinney (voice), Sofia Johnston (guitar), Lashaan Ashton (keyboard), Chloe Woodhouse (bass), and Ella Hucklebridge (drums). They performed “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, and “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” by Miley Cyrus.

Sparrows consists of Emily Wright (voice), Amelia Leaper (voice), Kyla Ashton (guitar), Katie Moore (keyboard), and Izzy Taylor (drums). They performed “Without You” by Marcus & Martinus, and “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons.


Sparrows

Blue Flame

Congratulations to Sofia Johnston who won the “Killer Guitarist” award for displaying the best guitar skills amongst all 15 bands.

Both bands performed at a high level and have been going from strength to strength in their confidence on stage. They should be very proud of themselves and it is clear, that these students have a lot of potential for the coming years.

Cross Country
This afternoon, Katie Moore (Year 8) represented St Hilda’s at the Otago Primary Schools’ Cross Country Championships, held on the Kaikorai Valley College sports grounds.  Katie was very pleased with her 2.4km run, in a strong field of athletes.

Dunedin Performing Arts and Competitions Society/Newszats Aparima Solo Singing Awards
Congratulations to Sarah Lee who got a 2nd in the Dunedin Performing Arts and  Competitions Society instrumental competition last weekend.
Sarah also got 3rd place in the Newzats Aparima solo singing award held by The Otago branch of NEWZATS(NZ Association of Teachers of Singing).
Here’s the newspaper about the singing competition:
It was Sarah’s first-time to enter these two competitions, and she was really surprised and satisfied with what she achieved.


GrowingNZ Technology Innovation Challenge
This week, twelve Year 10 students were part of the ‘The GrowingNZ Technology Innovation Challenge’. The aim of this challenge is to promote cross-curricular, project-based learning and help students to see potential career opportunities within the primary industries sector. 

The students were challenged to apply their science, technology, and business knowledge along with teamwork and problem-solving skills to develop a prototype solution to a real-world problem being faced by industries across New Zealand. The students were mentored on the day by industry experts representing GrowingNZ, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Wool and Young Enterprise. 

St Hilda’s students were rewarded for their teamwork and the creative concepts developed as part of the challenge, with the following students winning awards:

Best Teamwork: Anna Hutchens, Molly Whitaker, Cassandra Martin, Courtney Lloyd
Best Concept: Kate McEwan, Lily Knox, Hannah Hardiman, Ella Hodgson

https://www.odt.co.nz/business/local-business/primary-sector-challenges-put-pupils

Julie McMahon and Judith Turner

Stars on Stage
The Regent Theatre was buzzing with youthful energy on Monday night as St Hilda’s Year 7 and 8 students took to the stage for Stars on Stage.

The Year 10 Performing Arts class auditioned, choreographed, scripted and produced an item called ‘Steal the show’ which revealed how cheating is not the way to win. Watching from the audience, Year 10 students were so proud of how their younger peers danced brilliantly and told the story with flair.
Year 7 and 8 students would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the Year 10 Performing Arts students for enabling them to have such a great experience stage being a star!

 


Hip Hop


Line Dancers


Drama Group


Ballet/Contemporary

Upcoming Events

Tournament of Minds
Best of luck to our students who are competing in the Tournament of Minds in Christchurch this weekend. Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving programme for teams of students from both primary and secondary years. Tournament’s aim is to enhance the potential of our youth by developing diverse skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a challenging and competitive environment.

Winter Tournament
Good luck to all our students who are competing in the 2019 Winter Tournament this weekend and next week. You can follow our teams by clicking here.

Tolcarne News

The Tolcarne Social was a very successful night. Both the girls and the boys thoroughly enjoyed having a dance on a Thursday night. The theme was Old School and everyone looked the part!

On Sunday 25th August a group of Year 10 girls came out on the harbour with Port to Port Cruise and Wildlife Tours. It was a beautiful morning out on the harbour with the sun shining and the harbour calm. We saw a seal lazing in the sun and a few different birds, it was a nice relaxing morning.

CAREERS

Transition Expo Day Event – Discover opportunities for life after school. Click here for further details.

Transition Expo Evening Forum – Click here for further details

MoneyHub, a guide to scholarships
As many of our Year 13 students begin their applications for tertiary study and look for ways to fund their future studies – MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2020.

Volunteers Required – PFA

Parents and senior students over 16 years of age.
The PFA has been given an opportunity to fundraise at this year’s Fleetwood Mac concert on September 21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This involves working in one of the hospitality areas for approximately 8 hours and attending a 90min induction meeting in the week prior to the concert,
The PFA raises funds for the school community for the benefit of all students.

It’s actually a lot of fun and if you are interested in receiving more information please contact Ali Copeman on pfa@shcs.school.nz

Weekly News – Term 3|Week 5

Weekly News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Art Auction Gala

A couple of tickets have become available for the Art Auction on Saturday 24th August if you are interested, please contact Amanda Burke.

We have a catalogue of 25+ works by sought-after artists up for auction. Click here to view the catalogue.

Upcoming Events

St Hilda’s Careers Evening

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday night for our Careers Evening. It will be a great opportunity to explore a number of different career pathways. 6:30pm start in the Chapel.

Year 11 – 13 Subject Selection
A reminder that subject choices for 2020 are due by 2 September 2019. While this date may feel some time away it can take time to explore the resources available.
Please find below links to resources you and your daughter may find helpful in the decision making process.

St Hilda’s Collegiate 2020 Senior Academic Programme (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Check out the information in the ‘Need to Know’ section as well as subject specific pages.
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/st-hildas-collegiate-senior-ac/home

Understanding NCEA
https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/About-us/Publications/Brochures/A-Guide-to-NCEA-ENGLISH-March-2018.pdf

Careers Online Resources (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/careersonline/home

Career Central (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Careers Evening on Tuesday 27 August will start at 6:30 pm in the Chapel

Feeling musically inclined this month?
  • Friday 23rd August – Bandquest. Taieri College Performing Arts Centre. 6:30pm. $10 (kids under 6 free). Good luck to our two bands who are competing.
The Year 7 and 8 students, with the direction of the Year 10 Performing Arts class, have been very busy this week putting the finishing touches on their Stars on Stage performance for Monday night – 26 August.
Good luck to our winter sports teams who are competing in finals this weekend and to our Rugby team who are facing Christchurch Girls’ high School for a chance to advance to the National top four schools’ competition.

Staff Only Day

Teacher only day – Monday 2nd September

As a staff we have been looking how we plan our programmes to best meet the needs of all students.  Departments will be focussing on specific strategies for this on Monday 2nd September.

St Hilda’s Blues

A Blue at St Hilda’s Collegiate School is awarded in recognition of students who have shown excellence and/or outstanding achievement in the cultural, sporting, academic or service arena’s at St Hilda’s Collegiate School.

The Blues evening will be held on Friday 18 October 2019. Awards presentation commences at 7:00pm.

The application forms for students to apply for Cultural, Service, Academic and Sport Blues are now available. Forms can be accessed via the student homepage: Blues Application Forms or via the Parent portal : Blues Application Forms and Criteria.  Applications must be made by the student using their St Hilda’s email.
Applications close at 5.00pm on Friday 13 September. Some dance genres have competitions and examinations later so we ask that students put in an initial application before the deadline, noting that results are pending. The site will reopen on 20 September until 23 September for updates to these applications.

Successful applicants will receive notification at the end of September.

BOT Student Representative

This is a chance to make a difference by standing to be the student representative on the Board of Trustees. Meg Anderson, our current student representative, outlined the role for students at assembly  – nominations close on Friday 13 September.

Guidance

Tuesday evening was a very informative and valuable insight into the methodology of Restorative Practice. Thank you to all the parents and caregivers who attended this seminar.

Updated Reporting Timeline

We have adjusted the reporting timeline to accommodate the changes made to the junior reports at the end of Term 2. Year 7 – 10 students will receive an interim report in Week 8 and this will be followed by Junior Learning Conversations which will be held in Week 10. We are aware that it is not always possible for parents to attend these due to travelling distance and the timing of Learning Conversations so we are investigating the possible use of technology to assist with this.

Benchmark Examinations

Benchmark Examinations will be held in Week 8 / 9 – 12th September – 18th September. These will be held under NZQA conditions. Further details about these will be emailed home.

Assessment Guidelines

With a number of classes completing assignments students sometimes find it hard to know the guidelines for authenticity of their work and I thought it would be good to share with parents the general rules around plagiarism that we follow.


Plagiarism is the act of representing the work — words, thoughts, ideas, research, art — of other people as your own. ANY time you incorporate information into your project, assessment or research report that is NOT your own idea, thoughts, or research, you need to indicate, with in-text citations and a formal bibliography, where you found that information.

There are only a few instances in which you probably do not need to cite your sources.  You do not need to cite your sources if you are writing your own words, ideas, or original research.  You also do not need to cite information that is considered common knowledge, such as:

·       facts that are found in many sources (example: Marie Antoinette was guillotined in  1793.)
·       things that are easily observed (example: Many people talk on cell phones while driving.)
·       common sayings (example: Every man has his price.)

If you ever have ANY questions, be on the safe side and ask your teacher.

Canteen

The canteen will no longer be offering an IOU facility as there are a number payments outstanding which will need to be paid next week.

Activities this week –

Inter-Schools’ Junior Classical Association Quiz Night 
St Hilda’s entered this competition this year – for the first time in nine years! We had two teams and competed against twenty other teams from various Intermediate and High schools around Dunedin. The students had lots of fun and enjoyed the jellybeans and coming up with quirky team names! “Psyched Out” and “The Sirens” will sure to be back next year after such a fun time!

L to R – Emily Dean, Stella Bowles, Rosa Smith, Katie Wilson, Amelie Warlow, Sophia Le, Eliabel Legrand, Ruby Goodchild

 

International Outdoor Education trip to Longbeach

Fun and Marshmallows on Longbeach!

Datacom PS
On Tuesday 13 August, the Datacom PS Digital team hosted 14 Year 11 Digital technology students from St Hilda’s Collegiate School in Dunedin at the Wellington Exploratory.

This is the second year that the Digital team have hosted St Hildas and the focus of this trip was HCI (Human-computer interaction) and usability which feeds into the girls external assessment late this year.

Our approach to the session was to spend some time outlining the services Datacom offer as well as showcasing some of the roles at Datacom, which then led into the exercise we had partially prepared with the school prior to their arrival.

We asked the students to review their school’s website from two different viewpoints; the business objectives and the user objectives (parent/student) and consider what was good with the site and what wasn’t. We asked for pain points and wish lists if they had an unlimited budget.

We wanted to showcase the processes we use (and the roles within the process) with a client to workshop the problems they face before considering a solution.

Our resident User Experience Web Designer Julian van der Krogt, took the girls through creating personas and developing the wireframes with the client. We wanted them to understand the reason why this is an important part of the process for understanding the client’s needs.

The girls spent some time creating some very colourful personas (some with very complex back stories) and developing their wireframes before working through potential solutions to the pain points they had previously suggested.

PS Digital team Product Owner (Amy Chadwick) and Project Manager (Rebecca Dixon) threw in some real-life issues that can hamper a project’s delivery and with the assistance of PS Digital Developer Jono Cooper, the girls put forth examples of how they could mitigate and manage the curveballs.

Nearing the conclusion of the session, the groups presented their personas, wireframes and solutions to the wider group impressing their Digital tech teacher Julie McMahon so much that the girls are now presenting their ideas to the school’s senior leadership team around a website revamp.

To finish the morning and to send the girls away on a real high; we demonstrated some of the other capabilities in the PS DIgital team with a VR experience.

Julie McMahon
HOD Technology

Achievements

Duathlon

Zara Geddes finished 1st in her U14 girls’ section at the recent Duathlon event.

Hockey
What an amazing night of finals hockey on Monday.  All our teams finished strongly and we had a large number of supporters down there cheering us on.

Congratulations to our First X1 who took out the final vs Columba. Full-time score saw a 2 all draw, so the game went to a shoot out.  We came out on top 4-3!
St Hilda’s Year 10 also took the win in their section vs Columba 3rd X1 2-0.

All our other teams also did well taking out 2nd/3rd  & 4th place overall.

Riley MacDonald has recently been selected to represent NZ in a mounted games team.  She will be competing in the upcoming Nations tournament to be held in Canterbury in October.

Netball

St Hilda’s Senior B took on Kavanagh Senior A to win their A1 final.  A good result for the team to then get promoted into the Premier C section next year. Our Senior As had a tough game against South Pacific Titans and finished in 4th position. A good result though in the highest grade in Dunedin Netball.  Good luck to all other teams in finals this weekend.

Otago Secondary Schools  Art Awards Exhibition.
Congratulations to Poppy Smith who is the Supreme Scholarship award winner with her stunning photograph titled ‘The Everyman’.

Sings Hilda
Last Thursday to Sunday, Sings Hilda were singing up a storm in Timaru as part of The Big Sing Cadenza competition. Cadenza is a new initiative of the choral federation to recognise the performances of quality choirs around the country who were just short of making the Big Sing Finale. This was a great opportunity for Sings Hilda to be part of celebrating choral music with other like-minded choirs.

There were workshops led by professional choral singers and a well-attended Gala Concert where each choir performed a song from their repertoire as well as three combined songs with all the choirs on stage performing at the same time.

We are very pleased that Sings Hilda came away with a Merit award. This is due to the choir members consistent effort and Mr Ben Madden’s expert choral directorship.

Swimming
Congratulations to the following swimmers who qualified for and competed in the South Island Swimming Championships amid stiff competition:  Anna Hutchens, Natalie Hutchens, Andie McGrouther, Meg McLaughlan, Laura Milne, Jess Scott and Molly Whittaker.
Special mention goes to:
Jess – 1st in 50m Fly, 2nd in 100m & 200m Fly, 3rd in 200 & 400IM.
Jess broke the South Island Champs and Otago record for the 17 years girls 100m Fly.
Natalie– 1st in 100m Back, finalist in 50 Free, 50 Fly, 100IM and 200m Back.
Meg– 2nd in 200m Breast, finalist in 100m Breast and 400IM.
Molly– finalist in 200m Breast.

Tolcarne News

On Friday we had games night at the Dunedin Bowls Stadium with JMC, we had a great turn out with 23 Year 9,10 and 12 students. They played in a mini tournament with darts, bowls, pool and mini golf they also got supper at the end of the night.

It was a great way to spend a Friday night.

Art Auction Gala

A couple of tickets have become available for the Art Auction on Saturday if you are interested, please contact Amanda Burke.

We have a catalogue of 25+ works by sought-after artists up for auction. Click here to view the catalogue.

Please contact aburke@shcs.school.nz for all enquiries – we need your help to make this event a huge success for St Hilda’s.

We are very grateful to all of our sponsors for supporting the upcoming Art Auction Gala on August 24th. Thank-you for sponsoring this event and ensuring our fundraiser is a success.

CAREERS

Transition Expo Day Event – Discover opportunities for life after school. Click here for further details.

Transition Expo Evening Forum – Click here for further details

Free seminar for parents
Parents and caregivers of secondary school students (Years 9-13) are invited to a free ‘Parents as Career Educators’ seminar on 28 August.

The seminar will provide parents with tips and advice to guide their teenagers through the various career and study options available to them in the modern world.

MoneyHub, a guide to scholarships
As many of our Year 13 students begin their applications for tertiary study and look for ways to fund their future studies – MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2020.

Volunteers Required – PFA

Parents and senior students over 16 years of age.
The PFA has been given an opportunity to fundraise at this year’s Fleetwood Mac concert on September 21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This involves working in one of the hospitality areas for approximately 8 hours and attending a 90min induction meeting in the week prior to the concert,
The PFA raises funds for the school community for the benefit of all students.

It’s actually a lot of fun and if you are interested in receiving more information please contact Ali Copeman on pfa@shcs.school.nz

Weekly News Term 3|Week 4

Weekly News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thursday evening saw the PFA Quiz night occur in the Chapel. 

With 20 tables of competitors, 9 rounds of questions and a logo challenge, the evening was hotly contested with the winning team being Simple Minds. The raffle boxes which were put together by each Whanaungatanga group were amazing. They covered a wide variety of themes and looked stunning. Thank you to all who donated or helped in putting them together. The raffle sold out very quickly. The first winning ticket holder chose the box from Whanaungatanga group 22. They will get a pizza lunch in recognition of being the first hamper chosen.

This event was a fundraiser for the school’s Sports and Cultural fund. The fund can be applied to by parents, to request support for travel costs when competing or representing their school in national or international endeavours in their sports or cultural field. One application per year – per child – can be made. The following link will take you to the Sports and Cultural fund application: Sports and Cultural Fund Application

Thank you to the PFA for organising such a fun evening in aid of such a good cause. 

Thank you from the PFA

Many thanks to all the teams who made last night’s PFA quiz such a fun night.
A big thank you to Mr Rosenberg for being such an exceptional quiz master.
To the skilled and creative Whānaungatanga groups, your hampers were exceptional – thank you.

Ali Copeman
PFA president

Guidance – reminder

The Parent seminar about Restorative Practice on Tuesday 20 August will take place at 6.30 pm in the Chapel.

We encourage you all to attend to learn more about Restorative Practice and what it will look like in action.

CAREERS

SAVE THE DATE – St Hilda’s Careers Evening

Year 11 – 13 Subject Selection
A reminder that subject choices for 2020 are due by 2 September 2019. While this date may feel some time away it can take time to explore the resources available.
Please find below links to resources you and your daughter may find helpful in the decision making process.

St Hilda’s Collegiate 2020 Senior Academic Programme (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Check out the information in the ‘Need to Know’ section as well as subject specific pages.
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/st-hildas-collegiate-senior-ac/home

Understanding NCEA
https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/About-us/Publications/Brochures/A-Guide-to-NCEA-ENGLISH-March-2018.pdf

Careers Online Resources (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage
https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/careersonline/home

Career Central (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Activities this week –

Year 11 Software Engineering Field Trip to Wellington
The Year 11 Digital Technologies students spent a day in Wellington this week learning about how apps and software are designed, developed and tested.  We were hosted by two of New Zealand’s largest tech companies, Datacom and Trade Me. The students had sessions with their development teams and were not only able to learn real-world skills but also able to see the large variety of diverse roles within software companies and the innovative working environments (including virtual reality and slides!). 

We also visited the offices of IT Professionals, which is New Zealand’s body for software and IT Professionals.  We had an interesting presentation from their Deputy Chief Executive of Operations about all the different career opportunities within the IT field and came home with some excellent goody bags provided by ITP.

 

Otago Secondary Schools Music Festival
This past Tuesday the Dunedin Town Hall was bustling with high school music students from all across Dunedin and the wider Otago area to come together for the annual Otago Secondary Schools Music Festival. St Hilda’s was represented by 40 instrumentalist and singers being part of the combined items. Their efforts during the day’s practice led to quality sounding music-making and a successful evening concert.

 

Elizabeth Eckford  ‘Little Rock Nine’ Presentation
Year 11 History students, along with hundreds of other History students from around Otago, attended a presentation by Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine African American students who attended Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 and was subjected to racism, bullying, and prejudice.

Elizabeth became famous because of a photo taken at the time, of her being harassed and abused by white protestors, even though she was one of the nine African American students enrolled.

Elizabeth talked of her experiences at the time and how this has impacted on her life. Dr Eurydice Stanley, a former US army lieutenant-colonel, also talked about prejudices and harassment that still continues in the USA today.

This was valuable for the students, hearing first hand experiences from someone who was part of the fight for Black Civil Rights, a topic studied in Year 11 History.  Dr Stanley added a current perspective about civil rights in the USA.

By Will Counts, then photographer for the Arkansas Democrat newspaper – http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPcounts.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1298317

 

Creative Poetry with David Eggleton
All Year 9 had the opportunity to work with Dunedin poet, David Eggleton, on Monday afternoon.  This provided an insight into how to create and enjoy poetry. He shared a wide range of poetry, both his own and other well-known poets as he pulled apart the essence of what it is to write poetry.  

The students came away with a stronger sense of poetry as a musical form of writing to be shared aloud, and that the rhythm of a poem is like a heartbeat, without this the poem dies.  He emphasised that you read a poem with your eyes. A good poem makes you want to hear it again and again, like a good song.

With this in mind, each of the Year 9 Integrated Studies classes worked on their own poems thinking about the theme of the environment.

Here are some eco-poems completed so far:

One plastic bag floating along the ocean shore
One turtle’s life is on the line

Two straws drifting with the ripples in the shallows
Two salmon lives are in danger

Three metres of netting getting dragged along with the current
Three seals trapped slowly being strangled to death

Four bottle caps rolling with the wind across the sand
Four seagulls tummies full but still dying of hunger

Five… stop and think!
Five minutes is all it takes to sort and recycle your rubbish

Anya Clark

 

I can hear you softening the noise
Calming the commotion of the community
But

If I were deaf the tingle of my fingers and the numbness
In my toes would caution me of your presence

And I would feel your soft touch brushing
On my tongue spreading the taste of winter
If I were blind

The something bittersweet about your scent
Immersing me in memories

The steady nothingness I hear
The soothing silence knowing you are near

But if I should not hear smell or feel or see
You

You would still
Pepper me with ice
Caress me with your cold
Freeze me be

Rosa Smith

 

The sun streaming through your fingers,
Like sand running through an hourglass,
Leaving dappled golden patches dispersed on my skin.

Slowly your exterior begins to change,
Luscious green, golden yellow, fiery red,
Your own rainbow.

Finally, the wind elegantly passes by,
Shaking you and stripping away all you knew before leaving lifeless, brown corpses scattered along the ground at your feet.

Winter is here,
A chilling coat of frost covers your roots.
And with cold comes dark.

The unforgivable shadows creeping across the ground,
The creatures of the night surrounding you,
The unintelligible sounds are something of a dream,
Or something of a nightmare.

But piercing through the gloom comes the eery, pale light of our pearlescent friend,
Making shadows of the canopy in the now glistening snow.
Keeping you safe, like a nightlight, or a lighthouse,
Guiding you home.

Ameliè  Warlow

 

Year 7&8 Maths
This week, the Year 7&8 girls enjoyed the opportunity to put their recent Maths learning into practice.  In order to work out the quantities of ingredients for their chocolate chip muffin recipe, they had to use their knowledge of fractions and solve equations.  Batches of yummy chocolate chip muffins were the results of their new Maths skills.

Updated Reporting Timeline

We have adjusted the reporting timeline to accommodate the changes made to the junior reports at the end of Term 2. Year 7 – 10 students will receive an interim report in Week 8 and this will be followed by Junior Learning Conversations which will be held in Week 10. We are aware that it is not always possible for parents to attend these due to travelling distance and the timing of Learning Conversations so we are investigating the possible use of technology to assist with this.

Benchmark Examinations

Benchmark Examinations will be held in Week 8 / 9. These will be held under NZQA conditions. Further details about these will be emailed home.

Reminders

Uniform
Just a reminder that girls are required to have hair ties, scrunchies and ribbon that matches the uniform – Blue or St Hilda’s tartan.

Jewellery: Earrings should be studs in gold or silver and no more than two each ear, no rings and no bracelets.

We really appreciate your support with this.

Visiting School
For health and safety reasons all visitors/parents coming into school need to sign in at the main office.

Achievements

Rugby
On Monday, our First XV Rugby team headed to Invercargill to compete against Southland Girls.  Backed by a strong support crowd, our girls took the game out with an emphatic win 43-24.  This is a wonderful achievement and now the team head to Christchurch to compete in the Highlanders vs Crusaders, South Island Final.  If the girls get up in this match, then they will head into a NZ top four.

Special mention to Danielle Ferguson who scored 4 tries on Monday, what a game!

Clay Target
Analee Toro has had some more great results at her collegiate shoot in Balfour

1st, Single Barrel
1st, Single Rise
3rd, Point Score

Congratulations Analee!


Netball
Our Year 7&8 Future Fern netballers completed their season yesterday.  Our Year 8B team had a great win against Tahuna Intermediate to finish first.  This is the second year in a row for this team.  Our 7b had a tough final and finished runners up, but a great effort for their first year playing 7aside.  Well done to our other teams as well for playing wonderful netball all season.

8B

Tolcarne News

Tolcarne Year 9s tried out Acroyoga as part of the ‘Courage’ theme in Koru this week. They all embraced the challenge and experimented with different poses called interesting names: bird, high flying whale and cathedral.

Art Auction Gala

The Art Auction Gala is sold out and we have a catalogue of 25+ works by sought-after artists up for auction. Click here to view the catalogue.

Please contact aburke@shcs.school.nz for all enquiries – we need your help to make this event a huge success for St Hilda’s.

We are very grateful to all of our sponsors for supporting the upcoming Art Auction Gala on August 24th. Thank-you for sponsoring this event and ensuring our fundraiser is a success.

Upcoming Events

The Parent seminar about Restorative Practice on Tuesday 20 August will take place at 6.30 pm in the Chapel.

Careers Evening on Tuesday 27 August will start at 6:30 pm in the Chapel

Feeling musically inclined this month? Somehow found yourself in Timaru on a weekend? Here are music events you could attend in August with some incredibly dedicated students performing.
  • Saturday 17th August – Sings Hilda Cadenza Gala concert. Theatre Royal Timaru 7:00pm. $20 https://nmw.co.nz/book-now?view=event&itid=194
  • Friday 23rd August – Bandquest. Taieri College Performing Arts Centre. 6:30pm. $10 (kids under 6 free).

 

Exhibition
Come along and support our students who are exhibiting their work at the Otago Secondary Schools  Art Awards Exhibition.

Name of Student: Riley Miller (Year 12)
Title of artwork: The Mask
Medium: Acrylic on Paper

Name of Student: Maxi Dippie (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Cat With a Pearl Earring
Medium: Acrylic on Paper

Name of Student: Sophie Conner (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Going Home
Medium: Mixed Media

Name of Student: Ana Rathbone (Year 13)
Title of artwork: #doinitforthelikes
Medium: Acrylic on paper

Name of Student: Stephanie Post (Year 130
Title of artwork: Entschuldigen Sie, bitte
Medium: Watercolour on Paper

Name of Student: Poppy Smith (Year 13)
Title of artwork: The Everyman
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Anna Englebrecht (Year 12)
Title of artwork: Untitled
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Briar Grounds (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Science Classroom
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Eve Scott (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Untitled
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Sophie Conner (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Blue Light (Rakiura Studio Series)
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Milly Elworthy (Year 13)
Title of artwork: Untitled
Medium: Photograph

Name of Student: Georgia Broadley (Year 12)
Title of artwork: Otago Landscape
Medium: Acrylic on card

CAREERS

Transition Expo Day Event – Discover opportunities for life after school. Click here for further details.

Transition Expo Evening Forum – Click here for further details

Free seminar for parents
Parents and caregivers of secondary school students (Years 9-13) are invited to a free ‘Parents as Career Educators’ seminar on 28 August.

The seminar will provide parents with tips and advice to guide their teenagers through the various career and study options available to them in the modern world.

MoneyHub, a guide to scholarships
As many of our Year 13 students begin their applications for tertiary study and look for ways to fund their future studies – MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2020.

Volunteers Required – PFA

Parents and senior students over 16 years of age.
The PFA has been given an opportunity to fundraise at this year’s Fleetwood Mac concert on September 21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This involves working in one of the hospitality areas for approximately 8 hours and attending a 90min induction meeting in the week prior to the concert,
The PFA raises funds for the school community for the benefit of all students.

It’s actually a lot of fun and if you are interested in receiving more information please contact Ali Copeman on pfa@shcs.school.nz

 

 

Weekly News Term 3|Week 3

Weekly News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
The annual winter Quadrangular tournament, which was hosted by Craighead on Monday and Tuesday, was very successful, with some great competition, tight games and competitive debates. St Hilda’s was placed second overall which was a great result.
On Wednesday the new Creative Arts building was open for students and staff to walk through. It was a great chance to see what these new spaces look like. It was very exciting to see inside after watching the outside of the building take shape these past months. The building is going very well and we will keep you updated on progress.
The Year 11 winter dance is being held tonight and the upper quad and Whitby are looking great. I am sure the girls and their partners will have a lovely evening.

 

Snow Day and Late Start Procedures

With our first taste of winter this week it is a good time to give a reminder on Snow Day and Late Start Procedures.

In the case of a school closure or late start due to weather conditions the system is now coordinated for all 12 secondary schools.  It will be broadcast on Radio Dunedin 106.7FM, 95.4 FM, 1305AM and other Media Works stations by 7:00 am.

We will email parents by 7:00 am (whenever possible) and a notification will also be published on the Parent Portal and school Facebook page.

Should conditions in your area be different to those in the rest of the city you must make individual decisions based on what is safest for your family.

Once girls are at school we encourage you not to text them regarding school closures during the school day.  If these were to eventuate we would email parents immediately.

You can view the above information at any time by clicking on the Snow Day and Late Start Procedures page under the Informationalonal Links menu on the right.

Reminders

Uniform

Just a reminder that girls are required to have hair ties, scrunchies and ribbon that matches the uniform – Blue or St Hilda’s tartan.

Jewellery: Earrings should be studs in gold or silver and no more than two each ear, no rings and no bracelets.

We really appreciate your support with this.

Visiting School

For health and safety reasons all visitors / parents coming into school need to sign in at the main office.

PFA – Family Quiz Night

Remember to get your teams organised for this event and bring money for some fantastic raffle prizes.

Achievements

2019 Otago Regional Science and Technology Fair
A number of students completed projects for the 2019 Otago Science and Technology
fair. This was an opportunity to showcase their scientific thinking and an understanding
of the accepted scientific investigative process, as well as their creative and
communication skills.
The following girls did particularly well, gaining one or more prizes.
Lashaan Ashton – NZ Institute of Physics Award and Dodd-Wall Centre for Research – Excellence Award for Physics related project
Evie Rose Grace and Eliabel Legrand – University of Otago Department of Zoology Award
Phoebe Jaquiery  – NZ Institute of Chemistry Award and Australasian Corrosion Association Award
Amelia Leaper –  NZ Microbiology Society Mike Baxter prize and Dairy NZ Award
Maia Palmer  – NZ Baking Industry Trust Award
Emily Wright  – NZ Institute of Chemistry Award
Sienna Wright – University of Otago Department of Zoology Award

Hip Hop
The Town hall was booming with energy and teamwork as the NZCAF regionals took place on Friday the 2nd of August.

St Hilda’s Collegiate had four crews take the stage.
Sashay Away – coached by Libby Ward and Acrylic – coached by Ms Geary were place 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Senior Same Schools category.
Toxic – coached by Anna Harcus and Sophie Wispinski gained a lot of experience by competing in this category for the first time.
Area-09 coached by Stella Rathbone and Amelia Johnstone were placed 2nd in the Primary/Intermediate Same Schools section.

All of the crews, that gained a placing, will compete in the NZCAF Nationals held in Queenstown in September.

Aerobics
The NZCAF Otago Regional Aerobics competition was held on the weekend of 27 and 28 of July at the Kavanagh College Auditorium. St Hilda’s had 39 students participating over the weekend and we were incredibly proud of all of our students who performed. This event was the culmination of months of intense practice, strength and conditioning, and complex choreography.

St Hilda’s won the NZCAF Award for the highest scoring school as well as eight category titles, six second placings and three third placings. Special mention must be made of Maia Lamb, who was awarded the Artistic Excellence trophy across all participants, and Sofia Johnston, who was the recipient of the award for the Year 7 and 8 competitor with the most potential. Thank you to all of the parents, students and staff who attended over the weekend to cheer on our competitors, your support was greatly appreciated. Thank you also to the parents who kindly volunteered their time to carry out our duty on the Ticket Desk over the two days.

Thirty three of the St Hilda’s students qualified for the National NZCAF competition to be held in Queenstown, 21 and 22 September, and will now be continuing to refine their routines in the lead up to this event.  We look forward to seeing their skill, athleticism, and hard work on display on the national stage and wish them well with their preparations.

Quad
Badminton finished 2nd which is a great result.  Georgia Copeman received the Certificate of Contribution

Hockey finished 2nd also, they had a great tussle with Columba and St Margarets.  Teea Frances received Certificate of Contribution

Debating finished third with Emma Burnside as Certifciate of Contribution
Netball finished 1st!  Many close games and a draw against Columba , saw some great Netball being played. Millie Scully received Certificate of Contribution.
Overall a great two days of competitive sport and St Hildas coming Second Equal overall.

 

New Zealand Highland Dancing Nationals
Over the holiday, Olivia Buchanan-Letts danced in 10 dances in the New Zealand Under 18 age group, receiving places in all. With these results Olivia was awarded 4th place rating in New Zealand for the Under 18 age group. This is a great achievement as a 16 year old.

Olivia also travelled to Christchurch last weekend to audition for the New Zealand Highland Dance Company, and she has been offered a position in this very prestigious group of New Zealand Dancers. She will travel throughout New Zealand and overseas competing in events and displays such as the Edinburgh Tattoo.

Congratulations Olivia.

Olivia doing parallels in her Sean Triubhas

Irish Hornpipe   2nd presentation

Guidance – reminder

We will be having a Parent seminar about Restorative Practice on Tuesday 20 August, at a time to be advised, and invite you all to attend to learn more about Restorative Practice and what it will look like in action.

Katy Hutchison became a Restorative Justice advocate following the murder of her first husband. After ten years of sharing her story internationally to over five hundred schools and community groups, she views the education system as the structure with the most potential to affect positive social change. Katy sits on the Boards of Restorative Practices International & Glenlyon Norfolk School and volunteers for Leave Out Violence (LOVE). Click here to listen to her TED talk about using Restorative Practices to resolve conflict/build relationships.

CAREERS

SAVE THE DATE – St Hilda’s Careers Evening

Year 11 – 13 Subject Selection

A reminder that subject choices for 2020 are due by 2 September 2019. While this date may feel some time away it can take time to explore the resources available.

Please find below links to resources you and your daughter may find helpful in the decision making process.

St Hilda’s Collegiate 2020 Senior Academic Programme (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Check out the information in the ‘Need to Know’ section as well as subject specific pages.

https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/st-hildas-collegiate-senior-ac/home

Understanding NCEA

https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/About-us/Publications/Brochures/A-Guide-to-NCEA-ENGLISH-March-2018.pdf

Careers Online Resources (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage

https://sites.google.com/shcs.school.nz/careersonline/home

Career Central (also linked at the bottom of the student homepage)

Free seminar for parents
Parents and caregivers of secondary school students (Years 9-13) are invited to a free ‘Parents as Career Educators’ seminar on 28 August.

The seminar will provide parents with tips and advice to guide their teenagers through the various career and study options available to them in the modern world. This free seminar will cover:

 The world of work: looking forward

  • How to make informed career decisions now and in the future
  • How parents can assist
  • Career development resource.

Presented by a career consultant from the University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha (UC), the seminar will assist parents to help their teens consider ALL their options, such as work, university, polytechnic, an apprenticeship, private providers or other possibilities. (This event is NOT about study options at UC.)

The seminar will be held from 7:00pm-8:30pm at Dunedin Community House, 301 Moray Place, Dunedin on Wednesday 28 August 2019. Register online at:www.canterbury.ac.nz/events

MoneyHub, a guide to scholarships
As many of our Year 13 students begin their applications for tertiary study and look for ways to fund their future studies – MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2020. The comprehensive list includes scholarships offered by every university as well as those specifically available to local students. A list of privately-funded, Maori, Pacific and International university scholarships completes the list. Applications close at various dates throughout the year. MoneyHub has also published a list of tips for scholarship success. For more details and to find suitable scholarships, visit the MoneyHub Scholarship page

Student Job Interview Guide and Tips
MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to job interview success, helping students to attend a job interview and have the confidence to shine! All job types are covered, and a list of template answers will help students put together their own replies. Getting a part-time or summer job is a lot easier with this guide. To access the guide, visit the MoneyHub Student Job Interview Tips page

Volunteers Required – PFA

Parents and senior students over 16 years of age.
The PFA has been given an opportunity to fundraise at this year’s Fleetwood Mac concert on September 21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This involves working in one of the hospitality areas for approximately 8 hours and attending a 90min induction meeting in the week prior to the concert,
The PFA raises funds for the school community for the benefit of all students.

It’s actually a lot of fun and if you are interested in receiving more information please contact Ali Copeman on pfa@shcs.school.nz

Tolcarne News

On Wednesday night, Tolcarne had a dinner swap with Columba and Otago Boy’s boarding hostels. The Year 9 and 10’s stayed at Tolcarne while the Seniors went to OB’s and Columba. They enjoyed a game of tug-of-war, before sharing a yummy dinner and getting to know each other a little more.
This weekend our Year 9 students are giving a boxing class a go! We hope that all of our Tolcarne families from down south are keeping warm in this snowy weather!

Upcoming Events

The St Hilda’s Theatre Sports team (coached by Eve Scott), enjoyed a 3 hour workshop with Improsaurus tutors at Logan Park’s auditorium on Saturday the 3rd of August. Multiple schools untied for this fun occasion in preparation for the Theatre Sports Semi-finals which will be held at the Playhouse Theatre between 1-2.30pm on Saturday the 17th of August. We welcome audience support to this improvisation event.

Feeling musically inclined this month? Somehow found yourself in Timaru on a weekend? Here are music events you could attend in August with some incredibly dedicated students performing.
  • Tuesday 13th August – Secondary Schools Music Festival concert. Dunedin Town Hall 6:30pm. Koha entry
  • Saturday 17th August – Sings Hilda Cadenza Gala concert. Theatre Royal Timaru 7:00pm. $20 https://nmw.co.nz/book-now?view=event&itid=194
  • Friday 23rd August – Bandquest. Taieri College Performing Arts Centre. 6:30pm. $10 (kids under 6 free).

Art Auction Gala

The Art Auction Gala is sold out and we have a catalogue of 25+ works by sought-after artists up for auction. Click here to view the catalogue.

Please contact aburke@shcs.school.nz for all enquiries – we need your help to make this event a huge success for St Hilda’s.

We are very grateful to all of our sponsors for supporting the upcoming Art Auction Gala on August 24th. Thank-you for sponsoring this event and ensuring our fundraiser is a success.

Weekly News Term 3|Week 2

Weekly News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,

In assembly this week we looked at the impact of the event of 50 years ago this month when a man first walked on the moon. It was a momentous occasion and one that captured people’s imagination. How could people have got that far? It was an event to inspire joy and wonder.

I remember, being very little and listening to the coverage on the radio at primary school. I have a vivid memory of us all sitting in class, just up the road at Maori Hill Primary School, and being spellbound, amazed, that we could hear what they were saying and they were millions of miles away in space. It should be noted that for everyone on Earth, the first Moon landing was purely an audio experience. Controllers in control centre had the added benefit of telemetry from the spacecraft, but there was no live television of the landing. A 16-mm silent film camera mounted in the right hand (Aldrin’s) window recorded the event, but was not available for viewing until it was returned to Earth and developed.

For the moon landing to be successful 10,000 pieces of equipment had to work perfectly, and they did. The technology seemed unbelievable. Today there is more technology driving your phone than was used to get that rocket launched. An iPhone with 4GB of RAM packs more than 1 million times more memory than the Apollo computer. Comparing ROM, a 512GB iPhone is 7 million times more powerful than the guidance computer. Today’s iPhone could handle 120 million moon missions at once

When the Apollo 11 alarms went off 5 times saying something was wrong, they kept checking the data and making decisions during the expedition, because there was too much data for the computer to manage – which is not surprising. And yet it was still enough to get men to the moon.

It was a  positive news story that literally stopped the world. For a generation who had seen the end of WW2, the Korean war, witnessed the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King  this was a really good news story.

Every nation had people tied to radios, holding their breath as the lunar module landed, then rejoined the spacecraft and then landed back on earth. A global population wishing them on, hoping for success. Some commentators have said, it was the last time the world was one.

When I think about it, what has since stopped the world like that? What has united us all in a common event? There have been plenty of instances when bad news has dominated.  When thinking about this, we often first think of tragedies; those of us who were alive can remember where we were when Princess Diana died, what we were doing when the planes hit the twin towers, being horrified at the Columbine High School shootings, fearing for family and friends during the CHCH earthquakes. It seems to be much harder to think of good news that has united the world. Perhaps royal weddings, Kate and William, Harry and Meghan or the amazing rescue of the Thai boys from the caves.

The moon landing was an amazing event. The chance that something could go wrong was high, it needed teamwork, self belief and people working together and trusting each other, under very stressful circumstances and it all came together.

Photos taken of the control room, show anxious faces, and men wearing the same white shirts and black ties except for one woman, Joann Morgan, who was the instrumentation controller for the NASA Apollo 11 Moon mission. She was the only female in attendance in the launch firing room for the Apollo 11 liftoff.  As a student some years before she had applied to be an engineer because the ad said ‘student’s not boys’, or she said she would not have had the courage to apply. She went on to have a 45 year career at NASA winning many awards, holding prestigious roles at the Kennedy Space Centre, and breaking the ceiling for the women who came after her. Morgan was a talented mathematician, a fantastic communicator and a bona fide engineer — but that didn’t stop prejudice, especially in the sixties. When she first started work, one of the guys in her team asked if she could make them coffee. No said her boss, she’s an engineer, and you don’t ask an engineer to make coffee

Morgan said; “I look at that picture of the firing room where I’m the only woman and I hope all the pictures now that show people working on the missions to the Moon and onto Mars, in rooms like Mission Control or Launch Control or wherever — that there will always be several women. I hope that photos like the ones I’m in don’t exist anymore.”

What she did was to pave a way for the women who came after her, just as Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong took a giant step that showed us all another world and that anything was possible.

Jackie Barron
Principal

Staffing

Due to changes in circumstances, we have had to make some staffing changes. We are very fortunate to have the capabilities within our staff to accommodate these changes while maintaining the high standard of curriculum delivery. Mrs Crawford who has been covering Year 7 Science, Year 10 English while Ms Corkery is on leave will finish at the end of this week for family reasons. Year 7 Science will be taken by Mr Rosenberg, Ms Julie van Rij will take the Year 10 English class. A timetable change will happen for Year 13 English whereby Mrs Almey and Ms van Rij will swap classes. As these two classes follow the same programme and these two experienced teachers work together closely this will not adversely affect the learning.
Good luck to the girls involved in the Hip Hop competition.
We have a number of girls travelling to Timaru for the winter Quadrangular competition which is being hosted by Craighead this year. I am sure there will be some great competition.

Achievements

Annika Marriner won the Most Promising Performer award as part of Musical Theatre Dunedin’s theatre restaurant show, “Future Stars”. Well done to Annika for this great achievement. Lily Hornal and Chloe Woodhouse were also part of this show and gave a great performance.

Hokonui Fashion Awards results
The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards were held in Gore on the 26/27th of July. This year we had students from Year 12 and 13 Textiles enter their garments in various sections.

The night was a positive one with Anna Harcus winning the runner up spot in the Streetwear section and Lucy Girvan also winning a runner up award in the Natural fibres section. Summer Phillips also received a Merit award in the Streetwear section.

 

ODT Class Act 2019
Congratulations to Tamara Mason and Olivia Hall who have been nominated as our two 2019 Class Act representatives.

The 2019 Class Act awards presentation ceremony is to be held on 5th September.

Tennis
Mya Haigh and Charlie Byers (Year 8) have been selected to compete in the 14 and under age group at the Kiwi Indoor Junior Champs in Christchurch. Entry is via NZ ranking and only 16 players compete. These two girls are awesome tennis players competing on a national stage. Congratulations!

Guidance

Five years ago the guidance and pastoral team met to discuss which initiatives would make the biggest difference to the wellbeing of our students. This is when Bun Bun La Hop, our Therapy Rabbit, entered the scene. He has been an important and real component of the guidance arena, making a significant difference to a number of girls. Sadly he retired at the start of this year, after many years of amazing work.

After considerable thought and research we decided to purchase another animal to continue and extend Bun Bun’s role and are very excited to introduce the newest member of our Guidance team, Mathilda. She is an 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy. There is a strongly credible body of research on the benefits of dogs to assist healing, wellbeing and belonging, and Golden Retrievers as a breed are highly regarded for companion and Guide dog roles.

Please see the articles linked below for further information about recent case studies and research around the use of Therapy Dogs.

What if schools hired dogs as Therapists? – https://brightthemag.com/can-a-dog-at-school-help-struggling-kids-7317a8eff20d

Animal Assisted Therapy in Counselling and School Settings – https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/eric%20digests/2001-05.pdf

Making Comfort Dogs an Everyday Part of School – https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/50580/making-comfort-dogs-an-everyday-part-of-school

Bringing a Dog to School – https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-dog-school

Therapy dogs can help reduce student stress, anxiety and improve school attendance – https://theconversation.com/therapy-dogs-can-help-reduce-student-stress-anxiety-and-improve-school-attendance-93073

We realise that there may be reasons why you may not want your daughter to interact with Mathilda, or to only have limited access to her on her lead. If this is the case please use the link below to share this information with us.

https://forms.gle/UReAEJmLQyyQsAv97

A school dog is a new situation for St Hilda’s, but it is not an unprecedented initiative in schools in NZ and overseas, and we believe the time is right to further enhance the support services we offer in our school. We are confident this will be a positive and constructive initiative that will support our students and staff, and continue to ensure we offer the best quality care for everyone in our school community.

Article about mindfulness featuring St Hilda’s.

It was very exciting to see St Hilda’s featured in the New Zealand Education Gazette in an article highlighting how schools, and in particular St Hilda’s, are using mindfulness. Below is the link.

https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/inclusive-cultures-and-pastoral-care-help-students-reach-full-potential/

Chapel Matters

As part of the 150th celebrations of the Anglican Diocese all the different churches and organisations of the Diocese have put together video montages of photos etc. to represent them in relation to being part of the Diocese. So for St Hilda’s, there is a historical one and also a more modern one.
Below is the link to view them (scroll down to the bottom of the page for St Hilda’s)

https://www.calledsouth.org.nz/organisations/

Thank you to our PFA

We want to thank our PFA for their kind donation of appliances for the student kitchen. This is much appreciated.

Ali Copeman – PFA President delivering the donation.

Holly Clarke and Tia Docherty also want to thank the PFA for their kind sponsorship towards the St Hilda’s Teen Ag, Young Farmer Of The Year Grand Final. Their sponsorship helped Holly and Tia with the purchase of their tops along with the embroidery of their names. Holly and Tia had a wonderful experience learning a lot of new techniques and meeting a lot of great people who support the farming industry. Although they did not place in the top 5 they still feel that they learnt a lot of extra skills from being in the competition.

 

Volunteers Required – PFA

Parents and senior students over 16 years of age.
The PFA has been given an opportunity to fundraise at this year’s Fleetwood Mac concert on September 21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This involves working in one of the hospitality areas for approximately 8 hours and attending a 90min induction meeting in the week prior to the concert,
The PFA raises funds for the school community for the benefit of all students.

It’s actually a lot of fun and if you are interested in receiving more information please contact Ali Copeman on pfa@shcs.school.nz

Tolcarne News

This week at Tolcarne we started our Thursday Flexi prep, giving students the option of doing activities instead of prep. We have beeswax wrap making, hat knitting, fitness, yoga, GoPro movie making, music and cooking all on offer! Flexi prep is a great way for students to learn something new and different, and they had a great time!
Last weekend we had four groups of students give the Dunedin Escape rooms a go! They had heaps of fun! This weekend we have a silk class on offer.

Self Defence Project Information

Out and About

International students at Tunnel Beach

PFA – Family Quiz Night

Art Auction Gala

The Art Auction Gala is sold out and we have a catalogue of 25+ works by sought-after artists up for auction. Click here to view the catalogue.

Please contact aburke@shcs.school.nz for all enquiries – we need your help to make this event a huge success for St Hilda’s.

CAREERS

SAVE THE DATE – St Hilda’s Careers Evening

Free seminar for parents
Parents and caregivers of secondary school students (Years 9-13) are invited to a free ‘Parents as Career Educators’ seminar on 28 August.

The seminar will provide parents with tips and advice to guide their teenagers through the various career and study options available to them in the modern world. This free seminar will cover:

 The world of work: looking forward

  • How to make informed career decisions now and in the future
  • How parents can assist
  • Career development resource.

Presented by a career consultant from the University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha (UC), the seminar will assist parents to help their teens consider ALL their options, such as work, university, polytechnic, an apprenticeship, private providers or other possibilities. (This event is NOT about study options at UC.)

The seminar will be held from 7:00pm-8:30pm at Dunedin Community House, 301 Moray Place, Dunedin on Wednesday 28 August 2019. Register online at:www.canterbury.ac.nz/events

MoneyHub, a guide to scholarships
As many of our Year 13 students begin their applications for tertiary study and look for ways to fund their future studies – MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2020. The comprehensive list includes scholarships offered by every university as well as those specifically available to local students. A list of privately-funded, Maori, Pacific and International university scholarships completes the list. Applications close at various dates throughout the year. MoneyHub has also published a list of tips for scholarship success. For more details and to find suitable scholarships, visit the MoneyHub Scholarship page

Student Job Interview Guide and Tips
MoneyHub, a consumer finance website, has published a guide to job interview success, helping students to attend a job interview and have the confidence to shine! All job types are covered, and a list of template answers will help students put together their own replies. Getting a part-time or summer job is a lot easier with this guide. To access the guide, visit the MoneyHub Student Job Interview Tips page