Spotswood College

What's Coming Up:

Wednesday 23rd February

Teacher Paid Union Meeting - school closes at 1.00 pm

Year 9 Parent-Teacher Zoom Meeting
Time: Feb 23, 2022 05:30 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74305821708?pwd=p1mPjH8Y2sCuQhMQWlvddraFfXBb-C.1

Meeting ID: 743 0582 1708
Passcode: Ab6wXj

Thursday 24th February

TSSSA Tennis - Pukekura/Huatoki Tennis Club

We extend a warm welcome to all of our new students and whānau, and a special welcome back to all returning students and whanau.

The last few weeks have been a busy but exciting time to reconnect as a community.

Your child's/childrens' Pou Āwhina, Learning Advisory teacher will have made contact by now to introduce themselves to you as the main port of contact for matters related to your child and their learning program.

Pou Tiaki, Deans for this year are as follows.

Year 12 and 13 Dean

Mr Wayne Cribb email: wcr@spotswoodcollege.school.nz

Year 11 Dean

Mr Daryn Shaw email: dsh@spotswoodcollege.school.nz

Year 10 Dean

Ms Ann Rodgers email: aro@spotswoodcollege.school.nz

Year 9 Dean

Mr Airana Ngarewa email: aro@spotswoodcollege.school.nz

In place of the Parent Meet Teacher Picnic which cannot run under alert level red, we will be inviting all year 9 whanau to an online Meet the Teacher Sessions with Pou Āwhina Learning Advisors, the Pou Tiaki Dean and Pou Whakahaere Senior Leadership Team. This will also allow you to ask any questions you may have about the school and the year ahead.

The Ministry of Education has indicated that despite the alert level, we will remain open to learning. To plan for a range of scenarios staff will be running a hybrid learning model, which means online work will be available at all times.

To ensure the health and well-being of all students, if students are sick, they must stay at home and get tested. During the red alert level, face coverings will be required at school for students and staff when indoors.

If your child is exempt from wearing masks please ensure you contact the school office so staff can be made aware and be equipped to support all students.

School Sport NZ has released a mandate that all students involved in their sanctioned events must be vaccinated. The Ministry of Education encourages students to get vaccinated to make the most of sports and activities beyond the school grounds into 2022.

We look forward to working alongside you all this year to connect, strengthen and inspire each other to build a better world for tomorrow.

Head Prefects

Kia Ora,

I am Aisha Campbell, a head prefect at Te Kura Tuarua o Ngamotu. He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, He tangata, he tangata. The people, the people, the people. I am super excited to be a student leader and hope to influence a positive and secure kura where nga tangata, the people, are able to thrive. I look forward to building valuable connections and seeing what possibilities Spotswood College will bring to all.

Tena Koutou Katoa

Ni sa bula vinaka Im Justin, I am one of the head prefects for this year at Spotswood College. My view of leadership is having the ability to inspire, motivate, communicate, respect each other and of course lead by example. Out of all those skills/values of a leader, for me, it's all about motivating one another. Being a leader I love to motivate our team/groups or individuals so it changes their behaviour to be more involved in their learning and setting goals to develop different skills and talents so they do the best they can to excel.

Whānau Communication

Connecting with our whanau and keeping everyone well informed of their child’s learning and events is very important to us.

At Spotswood College newsletters will be emailed out every 3 weeks.

The Parent Kamar Portal ensures you can check daily notices and your child's learning progression, including attendance.

Please check the KAMAR portal to ensure we have the correct contact and medical details.

Weekly upcoming events, notices other key information will be posted on our social media platforms.

Facebook Spotswood College Events

https://www.spotswoodcollege.school.nz/

Instagram: Spotswood College

School app

Spotswood College will be using SchoolAppsNZ to send out notices and information to our whānau. This is a free app available on Apple and Android devices. You can also access newsletters, contact the school about absences and find helpful links as well as quick access to Kamar. (Link below).

https://spotswood.apps.school.nz/install/

Reports

Student progress reports will be emailed to whanau on a fortnightly basis.

These will be supported with two student-led Individual Development Days (IDP) and Report Evenings. The first IDP is on Wednesday 23rd March, there are no classes on that day.

Teachers will continue to publish students’ results via the KAMAR student portal and parents are able to monitor the progress of their son in various internal assessments and tests. The portal also shows senior students’ progress towards achieving the various levels of NCEA.

Each week the upcoming events are also shared through all of our communication platforms.

Professional Learning and Teacher Only Days In 2022, the Ministry of Education will be conducting a number of regionally-based professional learning days for teachers to discuss and prepare for the upcoming changes in the National Certificate in Education Achievement (NCEA). On these days all secondary schools in the region will be closed for regular classes.

The dates for the Professional Learning Days in 2022:

Friday 20th May

Monday 22nd August

Monday 28th November

ATTENDANCE

We have a school attendance target of above 90% for every student. To ensure that together we reach this, it is important that if you know your child is going to be absent from school, that you please contact the school by using one of the following options.

Option 1: Telephone the school on 06 751 2416 and speak to the receptionist (Tracey) or Attendance Officer (Jenine).

Option 2: Send a text to the Attendance Officer (Jenine) on 021 023 93060

Option 3: send an email to the Attendance Officer (Jenine) - jpr@spotswoodcollege.school.nz

Option 4: Use the school app to log attendance.

Option 5: Leave a message on the Attendance hotline by calling the school on 06 751 2416 and press (1) to report a student absence. Record your child’s name, parents name, contact details and reason for absence.

If for any reason you are concerned about your child’s attendance, you can speak with the Attendance Officer (see contact details above) or she will pass you on to the DEAN or your child’s Learning Advisor.

NCEA results have been uploaded to the school portal.

Spotswood College gained 3 NCEA NZ Scholarships in 2021.

Scholarships are awarded to those students who achieve in the top 3% in the country.

Brooke Kennedy - Design

Brooke Kennedy - Painting

Joanna Quirante - Design

We congratulate these students, their families and teachers who have supported them. We are very proud of them.

Photos are of Brooke and Joanna’s design work.

Our expectation as a school whanau is that our young people are in the correct uniform at all times. As we are now heading into cooler weather, it is important that students have the correct winter school uniform. Items can be purchased from our Uniform Shop. Students will be required to hand over non-uniform items which can be collected back at the end of the week.

We also have a large accumulation of uniforms that are a part of lost property that is kept in this space, If your child has a missing school item, please encourage them to check the lost property racks.

Uniform shop hours

Uniform shop hours each week are as follows:

8.00 am to 9.00 am & Interval - Monday to Friday.

Phone 751 2416 Ext 721 or 022 676 2750.

FAQ

If you arrive late to school you need to report to Student Services to sign in.

If it is after 9.00 am, we will need a note or phone call from your caregivers.

If you have to go out for an appointment your caregivers need to ring or email the school or sign you a note for this to happen.

You do not leave the school grounds without a pass.

Notices.

You will always find a copy of the Daily Notices in Student Services, KAMAR and these are read out at the beginning of each day.

Student Wellbeing Services

Sick or injured at school

The sickbay is closed for any sick-related issues. If you are sick, we will contact home and ask for you to be picked up immediately. Please do not arrange this yourself as we need to know where you are at all times.

The sick bay is open to help with injuries.

A public health nurse is available for you and your caregivers if you have any concerns. This could be a rash, not sleeping well, regular headaches, ongoing health issues etc.

Please ask to talk to her privately. Consultations are confidential, offering information and advice. Health resources are available, with a choice of providers for referrals to agencies.

We are currently developing a Waiora space where students will have access to youth workers, a student counsellor and other support on a self-referral basis.

If further support or information is needed in regards to student wellbeing please contact Whaea Kiri on kfo@spotswoodcollege.school.nz.