HVHS Term 1 Week 5
Newsletter 4 March 2021
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Week 5 already - teaching and learning programs are well underway, and it is fantastic to see the high levels of engagement and positivity around the campus. This week we have had students in Martinborough for Geography and the Petone foreshore for Visual Arts. I've watched our student leaders and top sports players learn our school haka under senior Kapa Haka students' leadership. Summer sport is well underway, and we have our winter codes trialling and training hard for their upcoming seasons. Many clubs have started. A lot is happening.
You may have already enjoyed the videos and pictures from our Athletic Day at the Hutt Recreational grounds on our Facebook and Instagram pages. It was such a fun, relaxed and enjoyable day. Thanks to all the participants - both serious and social and to our entire staff for making the day a memorable one. Special mention and congratulations to the following students who broke school records: Mikayla Sola in Intermediate Girls Shot Put and Discus, Kaleb Sola in Senior Boys Discus, and Eva Green in Junior Girls 1500m. Over 70 students have been selected to represent the School at the Hutt Zones meeting next Thursday. Pukeatua won overall by over 500 points!
Here is a link to our Parents, Caregivers, and Whānau A-Z.
Apologies for the delay in sharing this information. One job fell through the cracks as we rearranged our roles to start this new school year. It is now available on the website under 'Joining HVHS.'
You can find the school's strategic documents on our website under About - Leadership and Governance. Here is a link.
I hope that you enjoy the first of our Learning Area Spotlights. The plan includes a spotlight from each learning area to highlight the many wonderful things happening within our curriculum this year. The Arts (Drama, Dance, Visual Art) are in the spotlight in this newsletter.
Please check out the COVID-19 section of our website. We will endeavour to post all updates here.
Finally, it is disappointing that a few senior students are letting themselves down already. It concerns us as we are only at the beginning of the academic year. They appear to have formed a lateness habit and formed the view that it doesn't matter. It does. It is frustrating and disappointing on all levels. Some students miss up to 40 minutes of a subject's learning a week because they are 10 minutes late to every class. It would be wonderful if parents and caregivers could monitor attendance on the parent portal and have a conversation when you see an 'L' recorded. Please don't accept the story that " the teacher doesn't care" or "it doesn't matter." It does. There is a clear correlation between attendance, lateness, achievement, and developing the skills needed to succeed in a job or tertiary education. Often these same students come to us in a panic at the end of the year as they realise they are not ready for their exams or do not have enough credits.
So, to our students who are perpetually late, how about trying to master the art of showing up on time? Start by establishing a small habit. Set your alarm, react to your alarm, get out of bed instead of hitting the snooze button. We want you in class but would appreciate it if you came on time. Remember that there are numerous staff who can help you make a plan for your senior school years - our counseling team in Te Korowai, our Career's Advisor based up the Library, your Mentor teacher, and your Deans.
Ngā mihi
Denise Johnson
SPOTLIGHT ON A LEARNING AREA - THE ARTS
The three legged stool of Art, Music and Dance/Drama remains, as ever, a comfortable place to settle. In fact I think it’s fair to say that the teachers in the area feel lucky to be here. We get to see students developing their creative voices, and making those first tentative steps towards communicating their ideas and passions out into the world. What’s not to like about that?
In the visual arts, our design, photography and painting teachers have created a wonderful website showcasing the work in their department, in all its glorious forms. Here is where to go to see firsthand just what the students are creating. You’ll be impressed.
In Drama and Dance ‘stories of hope’ remains our ongoing focus. Through the stories our rangatahi perform, we aim to remind them we do not inherit the future, but rather we create it. Our new social activism play, Two Rooms, which looks at the issue of sexual consent, has four shows booked in at Wellington College at the end of March, and will be performed throughout the region over the terms that follow. Our Year Eleven actors are the first to have their play seasons, at the beginning of term two, and by year’s end another 280 students will have played their parts in a series of plays chosen precisely because of their focus on hope and possibility.
Dance continues this theme, and later in the year there will be a public performance of socially motivated student choreography: ‘Things That Move Me.’
And finally, speaking of things that move us, if you’ve not yet viewed 2020’s diversity documentary, Welcome Home, Here's your chance.
You use a glass mirror
to see your face;
you use art
to see your soul.
George Bernard Shaw
Student leaders were presented with badges this week
Head students 2021
Sports Captains 2021
Pukeariki House Captains 2021
Athletic Successes
The following Records were broken on athletics day:
Mikayla Sola - Intermediate Girls Shot Put - 11.73
Intermediate Girls Discus - 34.57
Kaleb Sola - Senior Boys Discus - 43.92
Eva Green - Junior Girls 1500m 5.05.87
2020 Leavers
HVHS Scholarship Exam Results 2020
Congratulations to the following students for their success in National Scholarship exams last year:
English
Tasneem Aung
Gemma Bennion (Year 12)
Charlotte Coulson
Reese Fraser
Lena Groves (Year 12)
Alyssa Koo
Zac Langridge
Anqi Qiao
Ashwini Sukumaran (Year 12)
Adam Whiskin (Year 12)
Chemistry
William Berry
Alyssa Li
Aidan Robins
Kieran Smith
Physics
William Berry
Aidan Robins
Kieran Smith
Music
William Berry
Economics
Justin Hawker
History
Sakura Gregory (Year 12)
Jack Inder
Alyssa Koo
Classics
Charlotte Coulson
Photography
Jasmine Irvine
Thank you
We would like to thank these fabulous chaps who donated us totara for teaching taonga pūoro carving (music instrument carving).
Face coverings at Alert Level 1
At Alert Level 1, there is still a risk of COVID-19 returning to the community.
You legally must wear a face covering on on public transport. Our buses that transport students to and from school are public services - not restricted to students only.
The Resource Centre has a supply of black, 2 ply poly-cotton masks with anti bacterial coating for purchase at $8 each.
Upcoming Events
- Year 11 PE Trips - 8-9 and 10-11 March
- Year 12 Tongariro Trip - 14-17 March
- Year 12 Business Studies Trip - Tuesday 16 March
- Year 11 Engineering Classes - 18-19 March
Knights Rd Trial Layout – Your feedback needed
A trial layout has been installed along Knights Rd connecting Waterloo Station to Lower Hutt CBD and the school has been asked to share a feedback survey with our school community. Your views will help the project organisers Auaha Evolving Spaces understand the needs of students walking or biking to school and all road users along this important network. Please complete the Knights Rd School Community Survey by Mon 22 March. You are welcome to share your views on our Have your Say website or follow/share comments on our Facebook page.
Contact Us
Email: principal@hvhs.school.nz
Website: https://www.hvhs.school.nz
Location: Woburn Road Lower Hutt, 5010 Wellington
Phone: +64 4 560 1568
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hvhs.school.nz