Te Karere
Edgecumbe College - 16 September 21
Kia ora!
Welcome Back!! Te Wiki Ō te Reo Māori
It is certainly great to be back at school face to face with our students again, and to see them happy and smiling and happy with their friends and teachers.
Thank you very much for your support of us as a school and your young people and their teachers. This has been a difficult time for everyone in lockdown again and it is the last thing our students need, having had a very disrupted two years. Not to mention the stress that this has caused them and the wider school community.
Very few students respond well to a change to complete online learning, and we can’t underestimate the negative effect that it has on their progress.
I was very impressed with the quality and level of online teaching, and for many students their engagement with their teachers was gratifying. Having done a fair amount of distance learning myself, I know just how hard it is to self-motivate and learn in isolation.
Google online meetings and numerous email communications certainly help students with their learning but in my personal view are not a substitute for direct face to face teaching.
Students now need to re-engage work with their teachers to identify exactly what they need to do to complete their certificates and aim for the best results possible.
We will be having derived grade exams in week 10 and reports early in term 4. We will ensure that the reports in term 4 are very focused on providing feedback for students to improve their results, and these will probably be much more succinct and directed reports than you are used to. We want to maximise their usefulness.
The Ministry of Education putting back the NCEA external exams by two weeks certainly helps our students by giving them more time to prepare for the exams, and the additional Learning recognition credits (see below) also go some way to compensate student for the time they have spent away from school.
Within our school we are providing additional tutoring at lunchtimes and will look to provide this also over the holidays if the demand is there. Teachers are working with each individual student to ensure they have a good understanding of the work needed to be completed and how best to achieve it through individual learning plans. If senior students still require a laptop for support there are a small number still available from myself.
I cannot stress enough how important full attendance is from now on for students to achieve. They must be at school and attending regularly to catch up and consolidate the work that they have done.
Thank you again so much for your support. We hope that you and your whanau are doing well, despite everything that has been thrown at you. Please, if we can help in any way let us know and keep up the communication with us as a school.
Regards,
Mike Jackson
Congratulations!
A huge congratulations Paremokai on getting your Restricted License! Another step towards a successful career pathway. Well done!
NCEA CHANGES
Here is a summary of the changes to NCEA for this year’s students, as announced by the Government.
Students disrupted by 16 days of alert level restrictions this year:
Learning Recognition Credits (LRCs)
- for every five credits a student earns, they get one extra LRC
- students at NCEA Level 1 are eligible for up to eight additional credits
- students at NCEA Levels 2 or 3 are eligible for up to six additional credits.
Endorsements
- no change to normal requirements.
University Entrance
- no change to normal requirements.
Whaowhia te kete mātauranga
Always keep learning, and embrace opportunities to educate yourself.
If you loved Nathan Wallis, you're going to want to see Kathryn Berkett!
We are really excited to be hosting Kathryn Berkett on the 11 November. Kathryn's presentations are engaging and humorous - you'll be laughing all evening and having lightbulb moments.
She's going to speak to our students, run some professional development with staff, and present a parent and educators evening!
You can purchase tickets HERE - so grab a few mates/fellow parents and come along for a laugh and an education!
In the meantime check out her TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrOddAuNau8
Our new APP
Once we're all set up, you'll need to register so that you get parent-only communications.
Its very easy to use and free. You can fill in an absentee form, see previous notices and newsletters, go straight to Kamar to access your student's records, see our school calendar, and receive emergency notifications if necessary.
Contact Us
Email: info@edgecumbecollege.school.nz
Website: http://www.edgecumbecollege.school.nz/
Location: Edgecumbe College 100 College Road, Edgecumbe 3120, New Zealand
Phone: 07-304 8211
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edgecumbecollege