Coming
Events
Student-led Conferences
SPORTS
MAR
30-31st
APR
Mufti Day
1st
Shakespeare Festival
End of Term 1
2nd
Good Friday
3rd
Start of Term 2
20th
Anzac Day
27th
Deans and
Form Teachers
These people play a critical role in your
daughter’s success. If you have any
questions or concerns please do not
hesitate to call her form teacher in the
first instance. To arrange this please call
the school office (06) 8686092
The Deans for this year are:
Ingrid Meister
Year 9
Arna Majstrovic
Year 10
Rowan Belcher
Year 11
Hana Crawford-Bowden
Year 12
Ian Loffler
Year 13
Wendy Kirkwood
International
Students
NETBALL
All team lists are on the Gym Noticeboard.
Cost for Team 1 $54
All other teams $44
SEASON STARTS
Senior Grades - Saturday 28 March
Secondary Grades - Saturday 9 May
UNIFORM
Netball fee must be paid to receive your
uniform. Bring your receipt to the Sports
Coordinators office on the days specified
in the daily notices.
*those playing in the secondary school
grades will receive their uniform week 1
of term 2.
The Making it Happen seminar provides senior students who are interested
in improving results this year with a better understanding of performance psychology – thinking strategies that can be applied to any area of interest: academic, sport,
music, or stage.
The cost is just $20, paid at the door, and email registrations are essential. Please
email Patrick Sherratt at: [email protected] Parents and teachers are welcome
to attend. CAMPION COLLEGE LIBRARY, SAT 11 APRIL, 2.30PM – 5.30PM Visit Patrick’s
websites: www.innervate.co.nz www.passingexams.co.nz
2015 Regional East Coast SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn
Shakespeare Festival
Wed 1st April, 7pm at Lawson Field Theatre
$10 Adults, $5 Students (door sales only) and gold coin donation for programmes.
Doors open at 6.30pm, with performaces starting at 7pm sharp.
Come along and see some of our regions finest talent performing a selection of the
Bard’s great works.
Year 9 Camp
Year 12 Chemistry – Mr Langford –
Vipasha Mehta (Student Representative to Board of Trustees),
Hannah Turnbull, Shiloh Deanne
Te Kura Tuarua o Tūranga Wāhine
Gisborne Girls’ High School
Newsletter
Tena koutou, malo e lelei, kia orana, malo nei, talofa
lava
Nga mihi nui ki o matou matua.
A cheerful greeting to all our parents and
caregivers.
I want to start this newsletter with exactly the same
thing I said last time. I am really impressed with Gisborne Girls’ High School. No, it is not just idle spin.
I really enjoyed visiting our Year 9 camps and seeing the quality of the relationships (whanauatanga)
that we are building within this year group. The girls
were really “on to it!” They have teams which were
Year 12 Chemistry – Breana Sutton, all cooperating and getting stuff done. The setting
was from heaven. How could anybody not enjoy a
Lucy Mossman, Jordyn Torrie
Year 9 camp that is on the shores of Te moana nui
a kiwa and on the leeward side of the beautiful Te
Upuko o te kuri a paoa (or Young Nick’s Head). Paoa
is an ancestor of Ngai Tamanuhiri and the headland
is named after his dog whose name was Whakao.
This is a good opportunity to thank our gracious
hosts (Ngai Tamanuhiri) for their manaakitanga.
They have a beautiful whare whakairo and it was
a privilege to go out there as I have never visited
before. Many thanks to our whanau of Muriwai for
hosting our Year 9’s.
The thing about being new in a place is that you
can often share a new angle and new way of seeing
things. I hope I am doing that as I genuinely believe
that this school has unique educational privilege
and is well placed to offer superior education as it
has really fine Information Technology and a very
motivated IT Committee. We also have great on the
spot help from Jo Paenga and Tony Scragg.
My impression walking around the school is how
focussed our classes are. It is a climate of well organised hard work. I have seen very few clients who
are swimming the other way (i.e. less positive people who are in need of gentle reminders of what’s
good manners and respect). Even then the students
have been responsive and are really just in need of
a little guidance.
Community Survey : In keeping with what we
undertook to do when ERO left we have made
Celebrating
Success
APRIL
2015
available a survey for our parent community to
fill in (only 10 questions!). We have sent an email
link out to those with email addresses and hard
copies and an envelope to families who are not
yet online. We would genuinely like your replies
and we value what you have to say. There is also
a comments box where you can have your say.
Change in Teacher roles: As we have Bindy Hannah and Shelley Hunt on leave we have new SLT
people (Senior Leadership Team). People with
new roles are Kristin McGill, Rowan Belcher and
Ian Loffler. ( Acting) HOD P.E. is Angela Juergensen and Kelly Warren HOF Health (acting). Kelly
is also HOF (Head of Faculty). We hope Bindy is
having a very productive study leave.
Property Manager: Our new property manager
is Janez Turk. Janez has been working very hard
on a range of small but essential health and
safety issues. He is doing a great job ably supported by Danny Moore and Robbie Sheriff.
New Principal – Staff have been invited to presentations by our key principal applicants on 21
March. This process is being managed by our
statutory manager and the Board of Trustees.
Netball Trials – Congratulations to Dee Kahukoti
and Kelly Warren for all the excellent work done
on netball trials. It is a two week effort and very
efficiently managed. Thank you.
Students of the Week
Brooke Willock - Year 9
Geena Pokai – Year 11
Our thoughts are with all in Vanuatu. Our school
has special ties there and we will be holding a
mufti day on Wednesday the 1st April to help
raise funds for the relief effort..
Lastly, period 2 on a Thursday. What goes on?
Here is a sample. I went for a walk with Mr Loffler in Period 2 on Thurday and some great lessons were happening. I have to say that it was
supposed to be a uniform check but I was far
too interested in all the great work I saw going
on. ( see photos on this page)
Lisl Prendergast
(Interim Principal)
10OED - Carolyn Rofe
Gisborne Girls’ High School
Post PO Box 249 Gisborne 4040
Phone 06 868 6092
Fax 06 868 4226
Email [email protected]
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Year 10DVC – Ms ThorpeNgata, Kate Falloon – Left,
Kezia Evans - right
Year 12 History – Mrs
Andrew- Ofa HolikimaYear 12 Chemistry – Mr Langford, 9W1 Science – Mr Beard
fua, Tatjana Haines
Margeaux Pittar, Amy Baldacchino, Holly Jackson
– Adele Rycroft
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Our Environment & Culture
Part of the Year 9 Science module “The Rocky Shore” was a trip to Tatapouri beach rock pools. Once there
we were given a list of things to find. We were on a treasure hunt! As we set out to find the rocky shore animals and plants, there were squeals and excitement. There were shouts of “Look, I found a crab!” and “EEK, its
a crab!!”. We all climbed further out trying not to slip on the wet rocks. Everyone quickly found things like Pink
Algae, Crabs and Sea Slugs, but those were only worth one point. We wanted Clingfish and Octopus. Soon
people started to strategize, “Don’t yell it out, it’ll attract people”. Some lucky ones found an octopus, others
only Hermit Crabs. At the end of the visit we started coming, eager to see who got the most points and won
the prize. Even though most of us didn’t get a prize, we all learnt lots about the Rocky Shore. “ By Maia Ingoe
“On Wednesday the 4th of March 2015 was the day to go to Tatapouri. It was a
stunning day to look for sea animals. But first we had to get in a group of 4. It was
a great experience for all the year 9’s and the teachers. At Tatapouri, the beach was
very pungent and didn’t smell nice but at least we all had a wonderful time.
Our favourite sea animal was the jelly-fish because it was amazing to see one right
up close but we didn’t get stung by it.
So thanks for reading our story and we hope that you might have a wonderful
trip story. “
Ariana Kingi and Mihingarangi Tamihana-Brown
Careers @ gghs
Year 9 and 10 Careers Education classes have been very successful, with students developing their Career Management Competencies of Self-Awareness
and Exploring Opportunities. Over 2 lessons, Year 13 mentors and teachers ran
8 workshops per year group. In Year 9 the focus is around: identifying their Values, Personal Qualities, Interests, Achievements, a Careers Mentor and Exploring Career Ideas through interactive tools such as Kimi Mahi on the website:
www.careers.govt.nz. In Yr 10 the activities are: Values Card Sort, Work Interests,
Skills and Work Experience, Goal Setting, writing a Personal Statement as well
as further Exploring Career Ideas on Subject Matcher and Jobs Database on the
CareersNZ website.
At Year 9 Camp students built on their knowledge of career ideas by playing the
“Think Outside the Square” game.
Presentations by Tertiary Providers have been well attended. (The above
photo was during the presentation from The University of Auckland).
Te Matatini ki Otautahi, 2015.
The theme for this most prestigious event in Māoridom - He ngākau aroha.
The hosts Waiataha, Ngāi Tahu did just that. Their hospitality and organisational prowess was top notch - ka mihi rā! Ka
mihi rā e ngā tohunga o te manaaki tangata, o te manaaki kaupapa - kei whea mai! Those who were fortunate enough to
attend in person were not disappointed. It was four days of eye-popping, muscle-flexing, ear-pumping, crowd-wowing
action, sound and choreography. GGHS were well represented by staff and students in three of the four Tairāwhiti teams
that competed in the event. These students included Tiahn Hooper, Kaea Hughes, Tahua Pihema (Waihirere Māori Club);
Shaela Taiapa (Whāngārāmaitawhiti); Mikayla Paenga (Tū Te Manawa Maurea) and staff member Morehu Nikora (Tū Te
Manawa Maurea). Congratulations must also go to Waihīrere and Whāngārāmaitawhiti for making the top 9 finals day and
even bringing home some of the coveted trophies - kei ngā pītau whakarei o te waka whakatekateka i ngā tai o Poutini, kua
rangatira Te Tairāwhiti i a koutou. This event will be hosted a lot closer to home by the Ngāti Kahungunu people of Hastings,
Napier in 2017. Can’t wait!
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Careers EXPO..
Debating and History
Russell McVeagh Debating Competition
A big thank you to
Noel Leeming for
donating prizes for
our Careers expo
promotion.
No. We did not go to Hastings on Saturday 14th March to go to Splash Planet, although it was just down the road! Instead we went to Karamu High School to compete in the Hawkes Bay Annual Russell McVeagh Debating Competition. Our team
of Vipasha Mehta, Cheyney Biddlecombe and Alivia Groves travelled with the Boys’
High team to attend this very serious two day competition.
On the first day we had three debates. We arrived at Karamu at 12.30pm and an
hour later were planning the first debate “That this house will teach Te Reo Maori as
a compulsory subject in all NZ schools”. We were the negative and up against one of
the top teams from Karamu. Although we did not win this one, we were given some
excellent advice from the adjudicator who was an international debater himself.
The second debate had a shorter preparation time of 30 minutes. We debated well
and only lost on a point of interpretation: adjudicator called it a ‘squirrel’! A new
term for us but one we will remember. The topic was “That this house believes gay
rights organisations should publically out gay celebrities.” We managed to unsettle
the opposition with our unique interpretation of the topic but were penalised for
it. Another steep learning curve!
The final topic on the first day was “That this house would ban unvaccinated children from state schools.” We were well matched against a team from Lindisfarne
College but we managed to refute their arguments and we won. By then it was
7.30pm and time to find some dinner and rest our brains for the next day.
Sunday morning 9am and it was back to the debating. Our last debate was about
gambling “That this house would ban all forms of gambling.” We were the negative
team against Napier Boys’ High School who had one of our Gisborne boys as their
third speaker. We were narrowly defeated by a few points of argument.
Although we did not win all our debates we learned an enormous amount about
21st century debating. The competition was run by debating students from Victoria University and they not only judged, they shared their formidable knowledge of
debating from participating in local and international competitions. The weekend
was as much about learning new skills as it was about winning and we certainly
came away with a lot of new skills. We would thoroughly recommend this experience to any other students and maybe next year we can take two teams.
Year 13
History class
visit to
Te Rau Kahikatea
After studying the arrival of early missionaries to New Zealand in our Year
13 History Class, it was amazing to
see the significance of our learning
brought to light. Don Tamihere and
his crew at Te Rau Kahikatea welcomed us into their college for the
afternoon to delve further into the
life of a Maori Anglican Minister. Rev.
Tamihere talked to us about his personal experiences, the significance of
the house we had a tour of and how
Christianity was adopted into kiwi
culture over two centuries ago . It was
a fantastic experience and made me
think more about how our nation has
become what is it today. It was certainly a very interesting and informative visit, so thanks to Mr Harrison for
organising the trip.
Lara Watson
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SPORTS
Celebrating Success
CONGRATULATIONS to Larina Dolman and her horse Reggie! Larina continues her outstanding form in the
7 Year Old Series. She is currently leading the GoldenGrove series by a mile and she won the Horse of the Year
7YO of the year championship class aboard Kiwi Lansing ( aka Reggie) in a blistering time of 41.17 seconds.
Larina also competed in her first 1.35m show jumping class……and won that too! An awesome season for
both Larina and Reggie; what an amazing combination you make!
Well done also to Lily Moss who picked up placings in the Horse of the Year Showing classes;
Phoenician Nightgirl (Libby)– Led Showpony of the Year – 3rd
My Secret Hill (Lucy)– Gee Wizz Turnout – runner up
Park Hack of the Year – 3rd
Senior Rider of the Year 4th.
East Coast North Island Track and Field Champs
Hawke’s Bay Stadium Wednesday 11 March.
10 students, accompanied by Ms Halley, set off early for these
Champs.
Across a variety of events the athletes were very successful.
Junior Girls: Maddie Wilson 1st in the High Jump and Long Jump;
2nd in the 70m hurdles. Brooke Willock 3rd in the 200m.
Intermediate Girls: Sophie Twigley 1st in the 400m; 2nd in the
100m and 200m. Ngahuia Wilson 2nd in the 800m. Alicia Hoskin
3rd in the 800m. Hannah Overbye 3rd in the 3000m
Senior Girls: Holly Drain 2nd in the 800m and the 1500m.
Sophie and Maddie were selected for the East Coast North Island
Team to compete at the North Island Track and Field Champs at
the end of March.
Developing creativity through Maths
Congratulations to Olivia Corrin,
a year 10 Girls’ High student, who cleaned up
the Gold Medals at the NZ Surf Lifesaving Nationals held here in Gisborne.
Olivia won Gold in the Under 16s Run Swim
Run, Surf Race, Diamond, Board Race, 2km
Run, Tube Rescue, Board Relay, Taplin Relay, Surf Team and Open Board Relay. She
also won Silver in the Open Taplin Relay and
Bronze in the Open Board Rescue. A phenomenal achievement – well done Olivia!
Rowing hot off the press - Congratulations to our U18 coxed quad,
Shannon Ferkins, Jaime Horua, Nicole McBreen, Zoe McIntyre and
Kate Barwick who won Bronze at the Maadi Rowing Regatta well done girls!!
Kayaking
Results from the Canoe Sprint Nationals and the Oceania Champs held at Lake Karapiro in February:
Alex Berminham gained 2x 1sts, a 2nd, 5th and 6th.
Jordan Robertson placed 1st in the club relay and gained 2x 3rds
Alicia Hoskin got 4x 1sts, a 2nd, 2x 3rds and 2x 4th places.
Well done!
Courtney Hoskin and Britney Ford also attended the Australian GP2 regatta in Sydney recently as members of the NZ Under18 team and have now been selected to be part of the NZU18 Team, which will see
the girls travelling to Hungary and Portugal to compete. We wish them all the best!
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As part of our Measurement & Geometry unit, Year 9 students were asked to use their knowledge of transformations to create a logo for the GGHS Maths department.
The students interpreted the challenge in many different ways to produce a variety of designs. It has been
great to see so much mathematical creativity from our
students!
Congratulations to Tyla Bermingham in 9L1 who won
the overall competition.
“The transformations I included in my design were enlargement, rotation, reflection and translation. The concept behind the colours I used were that the
black and red represent GGHS and the warm colours represent the sun. I incorporated this because Girls’ High has comforted us no matter what stage we
are at with our Maths, so this has made me feel warm and welcomed. The last
element I included were the flowers, representing the growth we have made
in Maths already and all of the growing yet to come.
Overall I wanted to produce a simple and bright design representing the
school’s awesome Maths Department!” Tyla Bermingham.
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