Buller High School Newsletter

This time of year is very exciting for our Year 13 students as they enter the final few weeks of their time with us. These students have been busy planning for that next stage in their lives while at the same time working hard to complete their year’s work, many through external NCEA exams. The final date for Year 11 - Year 13 school attendance is Thursday 2 November, where we celebrate with a Graduation Assembly (parents/whānau attending need to be seated by 11.20am), followed by Senior Prize Giving in the evening, beginning at 7pm at the NBS Theatre.

For the junior school, their social highlight was the Junior Dance, held on Friday 27 October. This was well attended, and I am sure all there would agree that it was a great night. The students were well behaved, looked great, and it was an enjoyable evening for all. I want to thank the prefect body who organised the evening and made sure that they were involved throughout the night.

Once again, I would like to focus on attendance. High and regular attendance is the key to getting the most out of school. The learning is more consistent, teachers are available to support the learning, and students develop work and study habits that they will be able to translate into life outside of school. In Term 3, our attendance rate was just above 80%, which means that many missed on average one day out of five each week. We need your support to ensure we can do better in Term 4.

One of the topical issues in New Zealand schools is vaping. Vaping is illegal in all government sites, including schools, yet for some students, this does not seem to apply to toilets. Staff regularly patrol the toilets to ensure that those legitimately wanting to use a bathroom can do so without having to walk through groups of vapers. Sharing a vape is not a healthy activity, and those vaping are also eating in the bathrooms. Our health nurse has spoken to students about the dangers of vaping and sharing food in bathrooms. All students at school deserve a safe environment and those who elect to vape compromise the health of others.

Now is a great time for senior students to review their NCEA achievements to date and set goals for the remainder of the year. Achievement, however, is not just measured in credits or their quality; it is measured in the learning that has taken place, and this is not complete until 2 November this year. Completing the year well is a great platform for success in 2024.

He rau ringa e oti ai

Many hands make light work.

The Buller High School Junior Dance, was held on Friday 27 October 2023.

Everyone that attended (staff and students) had a wonderful time.

Thanks to the Prefects for hosting a great event!

Check out some photos...

Following the successful Jubilee celebrations over Easter weekend, the reunion committee decided to donate a new House Shield to the school. This beautiful trophy was made locally by John Stone.

The current House Shield was first awarded in 1923 to Seddon. House spirit, healthy rivalry and competition has continued ever since!

Buller High School Past Pupils Association, spokesperson Kathy Dobson hands over the newly commissioned trophy to the School. Guiseppe Scanlon (Head Student) with the original Shield, Karl Yap (Deputy Head Student) takes possession of the new.

We made a Raranga star out of Harakeke. First we prepared the flax by stripping edges off the flax and softened it with a spoon. Working together we wove the long strips and folded the flax into points.

Tino pai Amber- good persistence with this challenge. It was fiddly!

During the last week of Term 3, Mr. Dorey and eight Year 13 Science students visited all three Westport primary schools to engage young students with fun hands-on science activities.

Arya Gower, Louella Prasad, and Sara Sirikulsupakon taught the students to explore everyday objects under microscopes. Students discovered strange new worlds that exist in their everyday lives.

Arryn Duston and Patrick Davey-Curtain helped students create strange alien monsters by putting Ooblek on a bass speaker and adjusting the frequency. With the addition of food colouring of the student's choice, they watched the Non-Newtonian fluid come to life before their eyes.

Finally, Karl Yap, Clayton Smith, and Guiseppe Scanlon wowed the young students by blasting rockets into the sky.

Buller High School is so proud of our Science superstars!

Jack Bolton is coming in to tutor mau rākau this term, all ākonga are welcome.

See Whaea Jules if you are interested in learning this awesome skill.

Ākonga practising pao (striking).

As part of their Term 3 Writing Unit, Mrs Cleary's 10K produced a series of poems on a range of topics including - strange or unusual places; sports and activities and a news item.

We hope you enjoy them!

The young team from Buller High rocked up to the WCSS Junior Futsal Tournament at South Westland Area School in Hari Hari on Thursday, October 19, 2023.

It was one epic road trip with a bunch of enthusiastic lads, and the sun was doing its thing. It was a hot day on the coast. The team had a blast, taking on a bunch of rival teams in a round-robin showdown: SWAS, WHS A, WHS B, KAS, and JPII.

It was all goals, glory, and good times! ⚽😎🏆

BHS junior science students had the opportunity to compete in the Education Perfect Competition. Students were challenged to answer as many science questions online as possible over a three-day period.

A few of our students went above and beyond, so along with their certificates, they earned some prizes. Congratulations to: Ayla Lind (Credit Award), Porsha Carey and Sophie Russ (Bronze Award), Katie Bill (Silver Award), and Emmy Saunders (Emerald Award). Emmy finished with 3965 questions answered, which put her in the top 1.5% of students globally involved in this Science Competition. Kia Kaha!

Big shoutout to Buller Rugby Union for putting together the Junior Girls and Boys 7's tournament over at Craddock Park in Westport. Huge thanks to our friends from Greymouth High, John Paul II, South Westland, and Karamea for showing up.

It was a real team effort, and we're super grateful for everyone pitching in to make sure we had enough teams and a full day of rugby. You guys rock!

The Science Roadshow rolled into town on October 17th. All Year 9 and 10 students participated in the event where they were wowed by two sets of presenter demonstrations and by the 60+ hands-on science activities on offer.

Some of the hands-on activities included: house of mirrors, forensic science, geology, molding with plastic, being hit with sound waves, and so much more.

There was truly something for everyone. We were proud of our 12 volunteer demonstrators who were trained that morning to help with the activities throughout the day with local primary students and their peers.

Here are some photos from the day of students taking full advantage of this fun learning opportunity.

Today at Alternative Education the chooks were out and about scuffling around. It was a nice happy scene.

We found a windblown banana flower, so we took off its layers to see where the banana flowers popped out from. There were a lot of layers! We planted celery, which should be ready this term.

There are a lot of flowers at Alternative Education.

Amber decided the orange Calendula flower was her favourite.

Please download the below attachment to view our latest Emergency Management Information.