Week 6 - Term 2 - 2025

 He mango wai koia kia kore e whitikia

It is a big river indeed that cannot be crossed

Make light of difficulties and they will disappear

Week 6 2 Pipiri  - 6  Pipiri Samoan Language Week King's Birthday - Mon 2 Teacher Only Day - Tues 3 PLG meetings p1 Tues 3 PHY201 Trip to UC - Tues 3 and Thurs 5 Cantrices Big Sing - Thurs 5 - Fri 6 Senior French FT - Thurs 5 LEF's and EC's due - Thurs 5 Rockquest Finals - Sat 7	Week 7 9 Pipiri  - 13 Pipiri International FT to Willowbank and Gondola - Tues 10 and Wed 11 New Course Proposals for 2026 to BLS - Wed 11 Non-Uniform Day - Thurs 12 Literacy Walk-Throughs - Thurs 12 - Fri 13 Year 12 Formal - Sat 14
Assembly -  Mon - Nil Wed - Aroha - Pride Week	Assembly -  Mon - Year 12 Wed - Manaakitanga
Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: TOD - PLG from 8.30 - 9.30 Thurs: PCT	Meeting  Mon: TWH Tues: Learning Area Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. Reminder that Estimated Credits are due next Thursday. Please err on the side of caution, as this set will help identify students who are at risk.

The Literacy Walk through to be completed in Week 7, will focus on Junior classes - more information to come. 

2. According to research only 15% of Gen Z are building AI literacy in schools, with the majority relying on social media. AI literacy must be grounded in trusted information, a focus on ethics, and a commitment to social good. Integrating AI literacy is a shared responsibility across the education ecosystem - an interesting graphic below.

Week 5 - Term 1 - 2025

 Theme for Samoa Language Week

 Ia malu lou sā. Folau i lagimā 

A well-grounded self is a successful self

Week 5 26 Haratua -  30 Haratua BIO301 FT to Wainui - different classes throughout the week RNZ Ballet workshops - Wed 28 Cross Country - Canterbury - Thurs 29 Numeracy CAA - Thurs 29 PHY201 p4 - 5 practical - Thurs 29 DRA201 and 301 FT to Court Theatre Life Education p1 year 9 - Fri 30 Life Education p2 year 10 - Fri 30	Week 6 2 Pipiri  - 6  Pipiri Samoan Language Week King's Birthday - Mon 2 Teacher Only Day - Tues 3 PLG meetings p1 Tues 3 PHY201 Trip to UC - Tues 3 and Thurs 5 Cantrices Big Sing - Thurs 5 - Fri 6 Senior French FT - Thurs 5 LEF's and EC's due - Thurs 5 Rockquest Finals - Sat 7
Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 ((PAC) Wed - House Assemblies	Assembly -  Mon - Nil Wed - Aroha - Pride Week
Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Staff Meeting (EAP and Wellbeing) Thurs: Nil	Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: TOD - PLG from 8.30 - 9.30 Thurs: PCT

Information for Staff

1. Teacher Only Day is on Tuesday 3 June. There will be no briefing in the morning but you will join your late start group from 8.30 - 9.30am. The person leading the group will be in touch prior with more details.

If you are not in a PLG group, please see BLS for details.

The rest of the day is in your departments. HoLA's have been asked to send through a quick outline for the day and should get this to you prior.

2. Tool for the week: Keenious

Keenious uses its AI recommendation engine to analyse your document, understand its content, and compare it to millions of scientific publications to provide you with the most relevant research articles and topics. So, while you can copy and paste your text into the web version of Kenious, the best feature is that it can be installed into Word or Google Docs that can review your writing and suggest relevant articles. You can install the relevant application or use it as a standalone by pasting your research into the tool.

3. Want a bit of fun with your classes? Try https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/ - Quick Draw Quick, Draw! provides real-time feedback as you draw. Students can see how good the neural network is at recognising their drawings. It also makes its data set publicly available, meaning that other researchers can use the data to train their own neural networks.

It is like Pictionary - but this is what AI does, and looks at how LLM's are trained. It is taking data and learning through the algorithm to detect what the image is.

Week 4 - Term 1 - 2025

 Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua 

Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead 

This whakatauki also speaks to the importance of working together. It acknowledges and values the importance of both the leader and the followers for both are essential and co-dependent.

Week 4 19 Haratua - 23 Haratua TOU301 FT to Queenstown/Wanaka Mon 19 - Wed 21 Aiga FT - Wayfinding for Life - Mon 19 Open Day - Tues 20 NCEA Evening - Tues 20 Reading CAA (selected students) - Wed 21 LEF's Due - Thurs 22 Pūhoro wānanga - Fri 23 Rockfest Heats - Fri 23 Writing CAA (selected students) - Fri 23	Week 5 26 Haratua -  30 Haratua BIO301 FT to Wainui - different classes throughout the week RNZ Ballet workshops - Wed 28 Cross Country - Canterbury - Thurs 29 Numeracy CAA - Thurs 29 PHY201 p4 - 5 practical - Thurs 29 DRA201 and 301 FT to Court Theatre Life Education p1 year 9 - Fri 30 Life Education p2 year 10 - Fri 30
Assembly -  Mon - Year 11 (PAC) Wed - Aroha - Youth Week	Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 ((PAC) Wed - House Assemblies
Meeting  Mon: Junior HOD Tues: Learning Area Thurs: PCT's	Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Staff Meeting (EAP and Wellbeing) Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. Thank you for all of you who had the ERO team join your classes for a 'snapshot' of learning. We had a follow up discussion that summarises what was observed against the 'Teacher Observation Framework' (TOF). The discussion was incredibly positive and there are aspects of the snapshot that were seen to be at the excelling end!

We did have a discussion around when entering a classroom - how do you know that you are in a classroom in New Zealand and not Australia for example. So it might be time to have a look at the rooms that you are predominantly teaching in with that lens. A good discussion for everyone - and perhaps could extend to our common spaces.

2. If you are looking for a tool to help develop differentiation in a lesson, you may be interested in trying out 'Diffit' - hhttps://web.diffit.me/

It allows you to produce scaffolded learning tasks and worksheets from a number of teacher-friendly templates.

When you login, create a teacher profile. Then start creating.

Enter a topic, theme, question, book title or chapter, article or YouTube link, text or PDF, or vocabulary list, and select the grade level and language, and Diffit will generate structured resources and learning aids of your choice. Diffit is a US site, so you cannot align with NZ standards using their presets, but you can enter content from your existing resourcing to ensure the artifacts remain tailored to your curriculum.

I have created an example, using resources and a video on Thermoregulation, a Year 13 topic as part of Homeostasis.

You are then offered a number of worksheet options that can be used to help students collate, apply knowledge, predict, infer, collaborate etc.

A very easy tool to use, links to existing resources you may have and videos that you might show in class.

Week 3 - Term 2 - 2025

 He iti hau marangai e tu te pāhokahoka

A little storm and then a rainbow appears

One worries over little things but eventually all will come right

Week 3 12 Haratua - 16 Haratua EVEN week Timetable GEO201 FT p3 Mon 12 ERO @ CGHS Tues 13 - Thurs 15 GEO101 (CMR) to Quake City - p3&4 Tues 13 Athletics - Canterbury Road Race - Tues 13 Winter Sports Start - Wed 14 MAO101 Wānanga Reo FT - Thurs 15 GEO101 (ROJ) Quake City FT - Fri 16 Pink Shirt Day - Fri 16 Year 13 Formal - Sat 17 TOU301 FT leave for Queenstown/Wanaka Sun 18	Week 4 19 Haratua - 23 Haratua TOU301 FT to Queenstown/Wanaka Mon 19 - WEd 21 Aiga FT - Wayfinding for Life - Mon 19 Open Day - Tues 20 NCEA Evening - Tues 20 Reading CAA (selected students) - Wed 21 LEF's Due - Thurs 22 Pūhoro wānanga - Fri 23 Rockfest Heats - Fri 23 Writing CAA (selected students) - Fri 23
Assembly -  Mon - Year 10 (Gym) Year 13 (PAC) Wed - Boarders Week	Assembly -  Mon - Year 11 (PAC) Wed - Aroha - Youth Week
Meeting  Mon: Staff Meeting - ERO and Building updates Tues: TWH Thurs: Nil	Meeting  Mon: Junior HOD Tues: Learning Area Thurs: PCT's

Information for Staff

1. Updates for EdPotential: https://goedpotential.com/login.htm

These include:

• Attendance tracking
• CAA tracking
• UE reading and writing credit tracking
• Class and course reporting improvements

Read on to find out more about these exciting improvements!

Attendance Tracking

1. EdPotential have added a new student attendance filter, allowing you to easily refine your data and focus on specific attendance concerns.
2. Attendance % YTD is now available as a column option in the student list in NCEA Reporting. Note that this attendance rate is calculated based on half day attendance and will differ slightly from the period-based attendance shown in the pie chart in the student report.

CAA and UE Tracking

In NCEA Reporting, you have the option to customise columns, enabling you to view and analyse data in a way that best suits your needs. There are a couple of new column options available:

1. For those tracking student progress in the Common Assessment Activities (CAAs), you can select these three standards as columns. Column entries will be one of:
1. N/A, the student neither has a grade nor is currently entered for the standard
2. N, the student did not pass the assessment and has not been re-entered in the standard
3. A, the student passed the assessment
4. NYA, the student is currently entered in the standard
2. Ed Potential have added functionality to track student progress towards the University Entrance (UE) Literacy reading and writing credits, making it easier to ensure students are on track for success. Column entries may be:
1. A (Calculated), the student has attained the 5 credits according to EdPotential’s calculations
2. A (Confirmed), NZQA has confirmed the student has attained the 5 required credits
3. N (Possible), the student has yet to gain the required 5 credits but is entered in sufficient standards to make this possible
4. N (Not Possible), the student has yet to gain the required 5 credits and is not entered in sufficient standards to make this possible

Class and Course Reporting Improvements

1. A highly sought-after modification to class and course reports has been made: NCEA results are now presented by grade with the option of transposing to results by credit.
2. Class reports now also include a breakdown of results by a selected custom field. For example, if you have created a custom field to track certain groups of students you can now see a breakdown of results for each of these groups.

2. Doc to Slides by Alice Keeler

This Add-on for Google Docs will take each paragraph (when you press the enter key) and send it to a new slide in Google Slides. Tip: Hold down the SHIFT key when you press Enter to make it show on a new line, but not be a new paragraph. Install Doc to Slides, it collects NO user data.

Week 2 - Term 2 - 2025

 Nā Matariki te karaka tono, kia korokoro

Ka tīmata te kake i ngā awa ki te whānau i o rātou nei tamariki

When Matariki calls,

the lamprey begin their ascent of the river ways to give birth to their young

Week 2 5 Haratua - 9 Haratua ODD week Timetable Building Evac - p5 Mon 5 Cross Country CGHS Event at Hagley- Tues 6 Year 12 & 13 Careers evening - Tues 6 GEO301 FT to Franz Josef - Wed 7 - Fri 9 Otago Maths Competition - Wed 7 Pink Morning Tea (staff) - Wed 7 (please bring a plate (Any food or PINK food if you like!!) and/or a financial donation to participate in the Morning Tea. You can donate with cash or scan the QR code that will be on posters around the room that day.) Careers Expo Wolfbrook - Thurs 8 - Fri 9 LEF's due - Thurs 8 Musical Mania - Thurs 8 9ZOO FT to Orana Park - Fri 9 Badminton - Canterbury - Sat 10 Equestrian - Cant ODHT - Sun 11	Week 3 12 Haratua - 16 Haratua EVEN week Timetable GEO201 FT p3 Mon 12 ERO @ CGHS Tues 13 - Thurs 15 GEO101 (CMR) to Quake City - p3&4 Tues 13 Athletics - Canterbury Road Race - Tues 13 Winter Sports Start - Wed 14 MAO101 Wānanga Reo FT - Thurs 15 GEO101 (ROJ) Quake City FT - Fri 16 Pink Shirt Day - Fri 16 Year 13 Formal - Sat 17 TOU301 FT leave for Queenstown/Wanaka Sun 18
Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 (Gym) Year 12 (PAC Wed - NZ Sign Language week and NZ Music Month	Assembly -  Mon - Year 10 (Gym) Year 13 (PAC) Wed - Boarders Week
Meeting  Mon: L&T Tues: Learning Area Thurs: PCT	Meeting  Mon: Staff Meeting - ERO and Building updates Tues: TWH Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. The following extract was from the recent newsletter from the International Coalition for Girls' Schools (ICGS). A thought provoking video that could be of use in classroom discussions.

Show Her What It Means to Choose Herself: New Short Film Sparks Reflection and Dialogue 

 

Girls are constantly navigating unspoken expectations about who to be and how to show up.

 

All the World’s a Stage, a powerful new short musical film by Sarah Bierstock and Desiree Abeyta, explores the pressure to perform and the courage it takes to choose authenticity instead.

 

Set in a golden era nightclub, a songstress bids to satisfy the audience's various expectations. Despite altering her appearance and behavior, she is left to what appears to be an empty audience. A young girl emerges, witnessing both the songstress's bidding as well as her ultimate choice of self-agency.

 

The film offers a moving reflection on the unrealistic expectations society places on girls and women—and a powerful reminder that girls are always watching. What will they learn from what we model?

 

All the World’s a Stage is a creative entry point for classroom conversations around identity, agency, and societal pressure. Use it to spark meaningful dialogue with your students about what it means to be truly seen.

2. For Google Gemini users - Google Gems is a new addition that you are able to customise to become an expert on any topic.

A couple of the ready made gems include 'brainstormer, Coding Partner and Writing editor. You can also create your own 'gems' for your often used prompts.

I had a go creating a new 'gem' for a Text Simplifier. The instructions were "This gem will be used to rephrase complex articles or texts to suit different reading levels for New Zealand Secondary school students."

You can then attach an article and enter a prompt - in this case it was "Using the attached reading, put it at a reading level for a 15 year old".

The output was amazing and was at the level needed for students to access the relevant information.