Week 1 - Term 4 - 2024

 Kia mau ki te tokanga nui-a-noho

There is no place like home.

Week 1 14 Oketopa - 18 Oketopa L3 DCAT Examination - Thurs 17 L2 DCAT Examination - Fri 18 Senior Ako Conferences - Fri 18 Senior Chirnside Competition - Fri 18 Cricket - Greymouth - Sat 19 - Sun 20	Week 2 21 Oketopa - 25 Oketopa L1 Art Exhibition - Mon 21 - Fri 25 Senior Clearance Begins - Mon 21 All internal grade, external practice examination grades with comments, (Set B) and derived grades (Set C) entered into markbooks - Mon 21 Year 13 Ranklists to BLS - Mon 21 Year 11 - 13 Prizewinners entered into Kamar - Tues 22 Rugby 7s warm up - Tues 22 Senior Special awards completed - Wed 23 LEF grades due - Wed 23 Acland High Tea - Thurs 24 Junior Writing Competition - Fri 25 Pink Day - Fri 25 Prizewinners notified - Fri 25
Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 - Gym Year 13 - PAC Wed - Values - Head students	Assembly -  Mon - Year 10 - Staffroom (Camp org) Year 11 - Gym Year 12 - PAC Wed - Sport, Cultural and Service Colours
Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Learning Area Thurs: PCT	Meeting  Mon: L & T Tues: Staff Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. Welcome back to Term 4, hope you all managed to have a restful break. A couple of quick updates and reminders as we head into a busy start to the term:

• Derived grades - remember these need to be entered into set C and not just remain part of the practice examination grades in Set B, this needs to be done by 21st October before the next upload to NZQA
• All students in year 11 to 13 will need a comment for feed forward for their derived grade examination. All students will need to have had at least 2 comments entered into their markbook under our live reporting model. Please make sure that this is the case for seniors before they leave at the end of week 3.
• Prizegiving is on Wednesday 30th October. This means that you will need to be identifying your students for prizes within your learning areas. Please send your Year 13 rank lists through to BLS - for a reminder of the key dates leading up to prizegiving check out the timeline HERE.
• Meeting schedule for 2024 - see Term 4 - This may change slightly as we have our building updates that may need to be communicated and work through.
• Teacher Only Day for Term 4 - the last remaining TOD for Term 4 will be held on Thursday 14th November (the Thursday before Show Day). The first hour will be in your PLG across school groups that were postponed from Term 3. Departments will be able to review courses and start for 2025 planning on this day. As a continuing focus for 2025, please make note of the Literacy and Numeracy resources that are continuing to be published and think about what further support the learning areas across the school can be doing. Resources and information can be found on the NCEA website: https://ncea.education.govt.nz/ncea-literacy-and-numeracy-resources-teacherskaiako

Week 9 - Term 3 - 2024

 He tina ki runga, he tāmore ki raro.

To flourish above, one must be firmly rooted below.

Week 9 16 Hepetema - 20 Hepetema Te Wiki o te reo Māori - all week School Examinations  All week for Year 12 and 13 Mon and Tues for Year 11 Hockey Prize Giving - Tues 17 International students city art tour - Wed 18 9KEM & 9MKA to Deans Bush - Thurs 19 International students to Gondola and Pier - Thurs 19 International Students Avon Kayaking - Fri 20 Year 10 Numeracy - Fri 20 Aerobics Nationals - Fri 20 - Sun 22	Week 10 23 Hepetema - 27 Hepetema TOU301 Fieldtrip to Queenstown - Mon 23 - Wed 25 9SOC Taonga Hunt - Various year 9 classes out throughout the week. French trip leaves - Tues 24 - till end of holidays CGHS Film Festival (evening) - Wed 25 Junior Speech Comps - Wed 25 DRA101 Assessment - Wed 25 Lockdown/Building evac p1 - Thurs 26 External portfolios due for Art101 - Fri 27 Senior Writing Competition - Fri 27 Technology WOW/Weta Trip - Fri 27
Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 - Values awards Wed - Nil	Assembly -  Mon -  Wed -
Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Learning Area Thurs: Nil	Meeting  Mon: L & T Tues: Learning Area Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. Cast.org have released the latest version of their UDL guidelines. "The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework developed by CAST to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn." [Link]

2. You may have seen in the news recently about Hybrid Learning plans for a number of students at Hagley College/ Te Puna Wai o Waipapa, something that was bought to the table here after COVID. It wasn't right for us, but will be interesting to see how this goes.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-why-shouldnt-we-give-hybrid-learning-a-go/?utm_medium=apps&utm_source=share#Echobox=1725587675

Week 8 - Term 3 - 2024

 He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata

Goodwill towards others is a precious treasure

Week 8 9 Hepetema - 13 Hepetema Cycling - Litolff/Dawe Cups - Wed 11 LEF Grades due School Examinations begin - Thurs 12 - and Fri 13 Pūhoro Wānanga - Thurs 12 Year 10 Literacy Reading CAA - Thurs 12 (am) Year 10 Literacy Writing CAA - Fri 13 (am)	Week 9 16 Hepetema - 20 Hepetema School Examinations  All week for Year 12 and 13 Mon and Tues for Year 11 Hockey Prize Giving - Tues 17 Year 10 Numeracy - Fri 20 Aerobics Nationals - Fri 20 - Sun 22
Assembly -  Mon - Senior Assembly - Gym - Exam Prep Wed - SADD	Assembly -  Mon - Year 9 - Values awards Wed - Nil
Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Learning Area Thurs: Nil	Meeting  Mon: Nil Tues: Learning Area Thurs: Nil

Information for Staff

1. You may be interested to read the latest report around ending streaming in schools - Kōkirihia. It looks at the progress made across Aotearoa.

It contains examples of research that has been happening as well as examples of what has happened in a couple of schools.

The link to where the report can be found - click HERE.

2. Just a quick tip that I heard the other day with regards to how schools are combating the use of AI in assessment. Moving forward, when handing out instructions for an assessment task, you might consider including a line/word/statement in 'white' writing and shrink the font to one. Students will not be able to see the text, but if it is copied into an AI tool, then this will alter what the answer that is created, making it easier to spot work that is not a students own.