Northern Southland College

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

10 June 2022

Kia ora koutou

Student wellbeing is constantly in the forefront of our minds. There are many ways that students can seek help at Northern Southland College:

Our Guidance Counsellor Kathryn Wright is available for appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She works with students, their families and outside agencies.

Students can ask for help from any of their teachers that they feel comfortable talking to. This can be anyone from their Tutor Group Teacher, Subject Teacher, Dean, a Senior Leadership Team Member, Teacher Aide or Office Staff member.

Students may be comfortable speaking with a senior student who they trust. Our Year 7 students have Peer Support Leaders they can go and see. Our Tuakana/Teina programme has just begun and our students have begun to build another positive relationship in that space.

We have positive relationships with many outside agencies that work with our students when the need arises, such as the Public Health Nurse, Smoking Cessation Counsellors, Drug and Alcohol Counsellors and Mental Health Services.

If you or your child would benefit from speaking with someone please reach out to us so that we can help.

Ngā mihi

Pete Wilkinson

Upcoming Events

Vision/Hearing testing - Y 7 - Thursday 16 June
Market Day - Y9/10 Enterprise - Thursday 16 June
Y 13 Portabello Biology Trip - Monday 20 June - Wednesday 22 June
Y 9/10 Agriculture trip - Ravensdown - Balfour - Monday 20 June
Chainsaw Course - Wednesday 22 June
GRIP Leadership Course - Wednesday 22 June
Chainsaw Course - Thursday 23 June
Matariki Public Holiday - Friday 24 June

Emails from the College

To ensure you don't miss out on important information from the College, please check your junk/spam folder. Our address now ends with "nsc.school.kiwi", so if you do find them there you will need to mark as "not junk mail" so that future correspondence goes to your inbox.

This needs to be checked regularly as each new teacher will mean a new email address that could be going to Spam.

YEAR SEVEN VISION SCREENING

The Vision Hearing Technicians from Population Health team, Southern District Health will be visiting the College to screen all year seven students for distance vision on Thursday 16 June. Please note the change of date.

Distance Vision (Amblyopia & Hyperopia)

This determines how well your child is able to see at a distance. It involves reading an eye chart.

(This free vision check is not required if student wears glasses and/or is currently under care of an optometrist or eye specialist).

If you do not wish your child to be screened please fill out an opt-out slip, which are available at the school office before our visit.

NCEA Credits for Driver's Licence

Seniors - you can get credits for your Driver's Licence. The Learner Licence is worth 2 credits at Level 1, the Restricted is 4 credits at Level 2, and the Full Licence is 2 credits at Level 2. Take a photo of your licence and email it to jordana.norrish@nsc.school.nz and they will be put onto Kamar for you.

Northern Primary Cross Country / Southland Primary Cross Country

Well done to all NSC runners who competed at the Northern Primary Cross Country last week in Waikaia. It was a great day and you should all be very proud of the effort you put in. A special congratulations to the following students who finished in the top 6 for their age group and therefore go on to represent Northern at the Southland Cross Country at Waimumu next week - Friday 17 June. We wish you all the very best of luck and look forward to hearing how you all placed.

Basketball

The Girls' Basketball Team had their first win of the season last week beating Gore High School with a score of 50 to 19. They had a strong defensive strategy and gained a lot of points from big rebounds under the net. Ka pai team!

Keep up to date with any draw changes, results and any other basketball news on the Eastern Southland Basketball website https://www.esba.org.nz/

Rugby

Rugby Southland have introduced Thursday rugby for the boys grades this year. This means all teams will have two Thursday night games. Due to most games being a 4.15 kick off, boys will need to sign out from school early. Boys can communicate with their coaches if there is a problem.

At this stage, these are the games that are on a Thursday, but we imagine there will be more in the U16 grade as the draw is not completed yet due to the grade being split into three pods.

Hockey

Now that the hockey competitions are well underway, we need to make sure that all of our school players are registered.

Using the link below, players or parents can go online, find their school and register their information for the 2022 season if they haven’t done this already.

Please note. Click on the ‘Registration Form’ NOT the School.

http://www.hockeysouthland.co.nz/Registrations-1/Club-School-List

Year 7 and 8 Hockey results

Thursday 2nd June

Good game against JHC Black. A very strong second half from NSC. Score: 3 - 3. POD Digby Saunders, Support Player Carrie Bullmore.

Thursday 9 June

A tough game against JH's best team, JHC Maroon. Our crew rose to the challenge and played well. Score 11- 0 Honor Collins and Amelia Bullmore joint POD, Support Player Grace Walling.

Extension to COVID-19 hardship assistance for whānau

The Government has extended the increased income limits for hardship assistance until Thursday 30 June.

This means more casual or part-time workers, or people who aren’t already getting financial support, will continue to be eligible for help with their immediate or emergency costs. This is especially important for those who need direct help as part of the COVID-19 welfare response.

People new to MSD can check these links to see the new income limits:

· Special Needs Grant

· Recoverable Assistance Payment

· Advance Payment of Benefit

· then click on our check what you might get guide.

You will be be asked some easy questions about your costs, then MSD will let them you about any Work and Income payments you may be able to get.

Alternatively, if You would like to talk with MSD, you can call:

· 0800 559 009 for working age

· 0800 552 002 for over-65s

· 0800 88 99 00 for students

Interpreters are available.

Please note, income limits for Emergency Housing Special Needs Grants, Transition to Work Grants and the Course Participation Allowance aren’t changing.

University of Waikato Open Day

Open Days for both campuses will extend across Friday and Saturday to give students and their whānau the option to experience the best of what the University has to offer on the day that suits them best. The dates for these are:

· Hamilton campus: Friday 27 and Saturday 28 May

· Tauranga campus: Friday 17 and Saturday 18 June

· Virtual Open Day: Wednesday 17 August

The Friday events are tailored for school leavers, but we also invite students to attend Saturday with their parents and whānau, at one or both campuses. On the day, students can:

· Attend information sessions, mini lectures and workshops

· Chat to our staff and students

· Enjoy live entertainment and food stalls

Click on the link to register and take part.

Virtual Open Day

For those students and staff who are not able to attend our on-campus Open Days, we will again hosting a Virtual Open Day later this year on Wednesday 17 August. We also ask that students register for this event.

Scholarships

We also want to encourage students to take a look at the comprehensive range of scholarships we have on offer for 2023. Our scholarships programme saw over 900 offers made to students in 2022.

Contacting the College

If you need to contact the College about a student absence or for a query please either;

Ring 03 248 7121 and follow the prompts, text 027 248 7121, or use the absence feature on the school app.

Parents/Caregivers are also required to give the College notice if students are leaving early. Please do this by either phoning, using the app or texting the above number.