Buller High School Newsletter

Kia ora koutou,

It has been a time of success for our sports teams recently. Firstly, for only the second time since the exchange began we came out on top in the annual Motueka Exchange. A credit to the teams, coaches and Mrs Evans our Sports Coordinator for this excellent result. Secondly after a number of stirring performances and comfortable victories, our 1st XV Rugby Team collected the Brockbank-Graves Trophy after a 24-14 victory against Westland High School on Wednesday. Well done to the whole squad and coach Mr Manawatu.

It is also timely to mention that with a number of sports teams preparing for their winter tournaments, reflecting the school values in all that they do is an expectation both before they leave and when at these tournaments. Attendance and behaviour need to be at a level that allow them to be part of these opportunities. This is something that each student must take responsibility of.

A number of students traveled to Greymouth last Friday to take part in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) competitions. They presented their products to a panel of 4 judges from a range of industries and experiences. Our students performed very well with the team "Scentables" comprising of Thomas Ferguson, Callum Warrin, Keanu Hicks, Elyse Johnson and Tai Cotter-Nakazono coming first on the West Coast for their product presentation, with the team "Re Thread" comprising of Nayoin Srun and Gina Hallberg coming a close second. Congratulations to these students and all others involved.

For all of our students, success in NCEA requires 60 credits at the appropriate level plus 10 Literacy and 10 Numeracy credits. The students in Year 11 started this journey in 2023. Thus far in 2024 44% have completed the Literacy requirements and 61% the Numeracy. This is a pleasing start. We continue to monitor this and target students in order to provide as many as possible the opportunity to achieve this in 2024. The recent government announcement means that all current high school students will be using the existing NCEA learning programmes for both Level 2 and 3 NCEA. Development of new courses has been slowed down to ensure that they are fit for purpose when rolled out to students. Please also remember that you can see what progress your child has made by either loading the EDGE app onto your phone or having your child load the student EDGE app onto theirs.

We will be having a whānau hui on Thursday 4 July this term beginning at 6pm. The evening will comprise of kapa haka, kai and an opportunity to meet the new Deputy Principal Mr Vai Mahutariki. This is the first opportunity for all of our Māori whānau to meet for some time and we are looking forward to welcoming you all to our site. We are focussed on delivering a curriculum and school experience that supports the growth of all ākonga. See you there!

Attendance continues to be a priority as we focus on ensuring that we prepare our students for life beyond school. We trialed a letter to all parents in week 8 (Friday 21 June) outlining the weekly and termly attendance of our students. Unfortunately the week statistics are incorrect. We are having issues with the calculation of attendance within our student management system. We will work on this during the week with our providers and ensure it is accurate before sending it again. The aim is to ensure that you receive timely and accurate attendance information and would encourage you to contact the school if you have any questions regarding this new format. We value your opinion.

At times our students are required to complete work at home or in their own time, either to reinforce previous learning or to complete a task to help prepare them for the following day. Preparation by students is the key to successful learning, just as it is for teachers to teach successfully. This PREP (Prepare, Reinforce Engage, Plan) is worthwhile to all students progress and development. Please encourage your children to PREP for each school day.

Mai i te kōpae ki te urupa, tatou ako tonu ai
From the cradle to the grave, we are forever learning

The annual exchange with Motueka was a fantastic day filled with outstanding sportsmanship and skill. This was our second time meeting Motueka in Murchison.

Congratulations to all our students; they did a wonderful job on and off the field, and we returned as champions. Yay!

Thank you to our staff Mr Mahutariki, Mrs Duncan, and Mr Shearer who attended on the day. A big thank you also to all the coaches and managers, umpires, referees, parent helpers, supporters, and Motueka for meeting us halfway. Lastly, a heartfelt thank you to the BOT for their support in making this event possible.

9H have been working hard this term in Math learning about Units of Measurement and Conversion, Angles, Perimeter, Volume and Scale.

As part of this learning, they were required to design a reptile sanctuary, researching the reptiles living environment requirements, structural requirements and create an overall costing for completion of the project. This allowed them to use their newly learnt Math skills in a real-life context, calculating water volume, temperature, total areas of a space and food consumptions.

At the end of this unit, they were able to choose to present their findings in scale model or as scale drawings.

This year, a small group of keen students will be fundraising to help with costs to go to the World of Wearable Art in Wellington in September.

The weekend trip in the September holidays, is an opportunity for our students with an interest in fabric technology and the creative arts, to experience this international, award winning show. They will also take in a tour of Weta Workshop. We hope to inspire and encourage students to explore new ideas and techniques in their own work.

The girls are currently working on creating their own garments to enter in the local ‘Earthworks of Creations’ event in July under the guidance of Fabric Technology teacher, Sheree Hollis.

Our main fundraising drive is to make and sell bags of truffles at the Matariki Market day. The girls will also continue to sell handmade ‘retro recycled’ cushions, bunting and brooches. All funds raised will help cover the travel costs and the Weta Workshop tour.

McKinnon McEwing, Lyra Barlow-Waters, Georgia Campbell and Ryley Marks working on their creations for the local show.

Seven students from Year 11 Horticulture, accompanied by Ms. Pottinger and Mrs Hogarth, spent the morning of Arbour Day (June 6th) planting native trees with other members of the public at the Kukuwai Reserve, which is beside the Kawatiri Coastal Trail on the way to Carters Beach.

The students planted a Kamahi all together, which will be BHS’s special tree. They then planted another sixty trees/plants to add to the thousands of others planted there over the last few months.

Ace Harmon, Kieran Ashton, Mason Hawken-Jones, Gareth Williams, Raymond Shierny, Kade Anderson, and Nick Syron beside the planted BHS Kamahi.

Well earned BBQ food after the planting

The Buller High School Robotics Club has now been running for a number of weeks. Tauira meet on Thursdays after school at the Epic Centre on Lyndhurst Street at 3.30, where they learn about designing and building a robot for a specific purpose, and then how to code for the robot to carry out it’s purpose.

It’s a learning process which may well equip ākonga for future careers in this fast-moving technology.

Last Friday, the Year 12 and Year 13 Business Studies Classes attended the West Coast Young Enterprise Scheme Regional Competition in Greymouth. This event takes the form of a UK Dragons Den (US equivalent of Shark Tank) style format, where each group does a presentation of their business concept, in front of a panel of judges chosen from the local business community. The focus is on product development around an environmentally ‘friendly’ theme.

There were three teams from our school competing against seven from other West Coast Schools.

Eco Sentables, a Year 13 team comprised of Cody Roche, Elyse Johnson, Thomas Ferguson, Tai Cotter Nakazono, and Callum Warrin, took out first place. Their product is scented candles made from used coffee grounds.

Nayoin Srun and Gina Hallberg (ReThread) secured second place on the back of a quality presentation session with Mr Fields. Their product is self-styled clothing.

Buller Boxes, Jai Price, Josh Hand, and Alex Marshall did a really good presentation and were unlucky not to achieve a top three placing. However their pitch to the funding organisation saw them take out the second top amount of seed funding. There project is constructing hard garden features from old wooden pellets.

Thanks to Mr Mahuraki and Mr Bell for taking the group to the Regional event.

Special thanks to Development West Coast for this wonderful opportunity for these ākonga.

First place winners - Eco Sentables

Thomas Ferguson, Cody Roche, Elyse Johnson (Absent Tai Cotter Nakazono, Callum Warren)

After two postponements because of the weather, Tuesday June 18th was the perfect choice to be out for the day in our beautiful environment - 17degrees and no wind!!

The planting area was about 20 minutes walk from the Lighthouse carpark on the Cape Foulwind Walkway. The students worked fast and enthusiastically and planted 100 trees in about an hour. Thus there was plenty of time for lunch, games and digging on the beach at Tauranga Bay before the afternoon activities of learning about the environment and wildlife of the area.

Senior BHS science students helped to kindle their love of science in the next generation. Four different primary classes came through in the last two weeks to be wowed.

If you want to be wowed, you will be at the upcoming SGS Ltd. West Coast Science Fair being hosted by BHS on Friday July 26th. All visitors welcome!