It has been great this week to see the junior students so focused and committed to taking their end of year exams. Students are talking about their revision, their performance in the exams and their progress in the Trident Junior Certificate. They know how close they are to achieving and to getting an endorsement - a really clear indication that they are taking their learning seriously and wanting to experience personal excellence. Please support them over the long weekend to continue to work for the remaining exams and be able to experience a sense of pride and achievement as they finish up the term and the year.

Our staff have been supporting the juniors to have fun at lunchtime too and build a sense of connection and engagement with school, through the organisation of games and activities each day. Today there was a lively and strongly contested game of five-a-side soccer on the turf organised by Jon Stanhope and Glenn Barr but involving some unexpectedly passionate soccer players from the staff - thanks Richard Pinckney, Jason Garner, Brett Wharewera, Adelaide Roper, Julie Reihana, Amanpreet Grewal, Gareth Vlotman and Fraser Shaw for giving up your time at lunchtime to entertain the junior students and congratulations to the feisty team of year tens who took on the teachers’ team.

This week our junior volleyball players were away in Tauranga with the Secondary Junior North Island Championships. I was lucky to be able to go over on Wednesday and see each team - the Girls’ Junior A, the Girls’ Junior B and the Boys’ Junior A - play a match. What struck me was the team work and the school values evident in the matches and the interactions before and after our students played. They present a strong culture of respect, quality work and Kia Manawanui and represent the school well; huge thanks to the coaches and the teachers (Paul Barr, Tracey Webster, Morgan Seymour and Steph Walker) who have made the week a success, driving back and forth with the teams or staying overnight with them at the venue. We are lucky that your dedication and commitment give our students these opportunities.

On Monday we have our second Government allocated Teacher Only Day at which we will continue to work with teachers on Literacy and Numeracy and individual department changes for the new NCEA refresh. This is hugely valuable time for us to prepare our curriculum delivery and assessment well in preparation for 2023.

Ginny Bellamy, DP Junior Curriculum is busy with the preparations for our end of year Junior Prize-Giving which is a special event for all of our junior students. This is at 10:00 am on Thursday 8th December and we would love to welcome you all to the prize giving to share this celebration of student progress and achievement in 2022.

I hope the weekend brings us some sunshine and the chance to relax with whānau.

Ngā mihi nui,

Adrienne Scott-Jones

B.A. (Hons), P.G.C.E

Principal

Year 11 students Dillon Kotze and Cooper Harris "Trident 1" in their 36V Electric Wheelchair won the Drag Race and the Innovation Award (for innovatively wiring up a reverse switch)

Evolocity is a charitable organisation keen on educating students on the environmental and economic benefits of Electric Vehicles (EV's) while growing youth interest in technology and engineering. Jessica Cathro from Rotorua Lakes District Council is the key Evolocity Coordinator for the BOP and has been urging us to enter teams for several years now.

Derek Caudwell (Trust Horizon) has also been encouraging schools in our district to join this year's event and came along to watch us compete.

High school teams are equipped with one electric bike componentry kit and during the year they design and build their own electric vehicles, racing them at the end of the year. The regional race in Rotorua was cancelled due to bad weather so our race was held here at our school. Dillon and Cooper leapt at the opportunity when they spotted a broken wheelchair in the back of the Engineering Classroom that was destined for scrap metal recycling - they came to Mr Dobbin enthusiastically saying "Sir! Could we fix it and put a motor on it?" When Mr Dobbin said "Yes providing it is electric" they were not very enthusiastic, as they both ride high-performance motorbikes, but they are so pleased now that they did having built first-hand their very own EV project and experienced the power and quietness of electric drive systems and amazed at the almost zero cost of refuelling (recharging with electricity).

They fitted the free drive kitset from Evolocity but removed the standard 24V Lead Acid Batteries and replaced them with a 36V Lime Scooter Lithium Ion (LiON) battery and wired up a reversing switch to enable them to go backwards as well as forwards. This switch proved very useful when Cooper over-ran the baton bucket in the Gymkhana event.

The race was super-fun - Trident came 2nd Overall, 1st in the 50m drag race recording 18.1km/h (even beating the Speed Demons from John Paul College) and winning the Engineering Innovation Award "for the karts ability to go Forwards and Backwards" said Jessica Cathro (we've never seen a school do that before).

A fun event that Trust Horizon is keen to see more schools enter into next year and Trident High School is keen to host a race event for local schools on our school site.

Mr Dave Dobbin - Teacher Engineering, Trident High School

(National Race Results are still being tabulated - fingers crossed)

Photo right: Jessica Cathro giving Gymkhana Race instructions to Cooper Harris and Dillon Kotze while Derek Caudwell (Trust Horizon Race Sponsor) takes note.

On Tuesday 15th November we welcomed a section of the NZ Army to Trident, featuring two of our Trident alumni; Dakota Albert and Te Onui Moore. They spoke to our Year 10 Service Academy class and caught up with their very proud former teachers. During lunch time and period 5 there was a steady stream of student and teacher visitors, all keen to chat to the army group and check out the impressive vehicles. Students were given permission to climb up and in the army vehicles and were even given ration packs to eat. One group of students were challenged to try remove a tyre, but alas no-one succeeded to budge the tyres off these very robust trucks! Our students really enjoyed meeting the whole group, especially Dakota and Te Onui who engaged with our students and provided them with words of wisdom and encouragement. The sections female sergeant spoke about the opportunities in the army and the sports that she plays there, another great role model for our students.

You continue to make us proud Dakota and Te Onui, thank you for honouring us with your visit!

On Monday 14th November we had teachers from across the rohe learning about Minecraft and how it can be used across the curriculum to support hybrid learning and encourage future focussed citizens. These teachers will be the leaders in their own schools and the coaches at Tuesdays E Sport event also held here at Trident. Teams of 4 will work collaboratively using Minecraft to design and build a virtual Whakatane, competing against other groups of 4. It is the first competition of its kind in the Bay of Plenty and is run by Kahui Ako in collaboration with Awanuiarangi.

Vadim Moke-Kingi, Hannah Baxter, Jack Waugh and Jorjah Main are a part of the Sport BOP Student Sport Leadership Group 2022. They have been attending Sport BOP hui once a term along with students from other EBOP schools. The group aims to help increase access to physical activity opportunities available at school. It also helps build on their leadership skills, knowledge and support networks. Well done to this group of students who are making a difference in our community.

Congratulations to Kayla Follows, Holly Rowland and Kamea Aldridge and Mr Paul Hipkiss (BOT member) who became qualified Surf Lifeguards recently. They have been working hard all year to pass the lifeguard assessment. The sea conditions were rough on Saturday making it a particularly difficult test. All 4 will be patrolling our beach this summer.

In her summer research project, Trident alumni Holly will investigate the importance of dung returns for building soil carbon in pastures. Having recently completed her Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree with a major in Environmental Science and a minor in Soil Science, she looks forward to continuing her studies towards a Master’s. Her research will contribute to further improving our understanding of farming practices that maintain/increase soil carbon stocks, thus helping reduce agriculture's net greenhouse gas emissions.