Buller High School Newsletter

Kia ora koutou,

Term 2 is in full swing with NCEA work taking precedence in the classroom for our seniors. You would have heard a lot about curriculum and assessment changes being introduced. These changes will begin in 2024, specifically around the measuring of Literacy and Numeracy and redeveloped assessments for our 2024 Level 1 students. Over the remainder of the year, we will make sure that you as parents/whānau and our students are fully aware of these changes and how they will impact what we do next year. For our senior students, the current NCEA structure will remain.

How can your child influence and support success in the classroom?

• Come to class fully prepared with equipment and the right attitude.
• Be present for every class and turn up on time (attendance).
• Encourage other students in the class and don’t distract them from learning.
• Respect and engage with the teacher.
• ALWAYS try to do their personal best when in class.

We have now entered the winter season, where coughs and colds often appear. Please remind your children to remain home if they feel unwell. This is also the time when they need to wear extra uniform to school on cold days. This includes a polar fleece, jersey, blazer, vest or softshell jacket. It does NOT include hoodies, puffer jackets or other non-uniform items. Thank you for your support with this.

This is the time when many of the winter sports codes are training and playing. This includes Basketball, Netball, Hockey, Football and Rugby. There are many students playing in school teams which is great. The commitment required to train, and play is admirable and for many these sporting achievements and involvement contribute to their enjoyment of school in general. On 19 June a number of our teams will be travelling to Murchison for the annual exchange with Motueka High School. This is a special school event. To be eligible to represent the school all students have to do is attend classes and follow the rules of the school – not a big ask. We do not want to disappoint any student by removing them from a team, but they need to understand that it is a privilege to be representing the school.

The school is also preparing for the production “Newsies”. This production involves over 60 students and many staff under the leadership of Mr. Haussmann. Practices are in full swing for the opening on 25 June at the NBS theatre. This provides many of our students with their first exposure to theatre and the energy during practices is fantastic. The result of that hard work will be there for all to see on opening night. This show will definitely be a highlight of this term.

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

I look forward to once again sharing more student and staff successes and would encourage all parents and the community to be involved in the many events scheduled this term.

Kia ora to all our school whanau,

Welcome to Term 2 for 2023. I wanted to update you on a few things that are happening for the school board so that everyone knows what is going on behind the scenes.

The first six months of our time on the board have been spent getting a feel for how the school is running, where we need to be focussing our attention, and setting up a plan for our time together as trustees over the next three years. This process started with the survey we ran towards the end of 2022, which gave us some really valuable insights about how the school is functioning. Thank you, once again, to all who took the time to participate in that survey; we really did value your input. As the year was winding down, we met with the school's senior leadership team to develop our strategic plan for the next three years. This was done over two sessions, with your survey input in our hands, to make sure that we put our energy into the areas that matter most. During Term 1 we refined that plan and put it into a format that we can share with you all, in a way that we hope is easily understandable for everyone.

With that plan in place, it is now up to the senior school staff to execute the plan, and there are a number of milestones that they have committed to that will demonstrate to the board that progress is being made. The principal reports on these milestones each term, and if we feel that more focus is needed in some areas, we can work with him to ensure that happens.

The first priority in our strategic plan is to ensure we have a safe and inclusive school for all our students and staff. We are very aware that if we can provide an environment where everyone feels safe, welcome, and supported, they are much more likely to want to learn and engage with what the school can offer. You will also note that we have expectations for both students and staff in our plan, as everyone has a role to play in achieving this goal. We ask you all, as the wider school whānau, to consider what part you can play in helping us with this one, as we really need everyone to contribute what they can within their own circles of influence to help our students understand what it takes to make the school safe for everyone.

We look forward to the remainder of the term ahead, and hope that you all keep well as we move into the colder months of the year.

Ngā mihi,

Glenn Irving

*(NELP) National Education and Learning Priorities. For more information please follow this link:

https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/NELP-TES-documents/FULL-NELP-2020.pdf

On Friday 12 May, Buller High School ran our annual Cross Country event. The weather was gorgeous, leading to a very successful run.

A big well done to all competitors!

Special mention to our top placing students as below.

On Tuesday, 23 May, the WCSS Cross Country competition was held in Kumara.

Buller High School students were selected to compete based on their completion times from the Buller High School race. We had five students race and everyone put in 100%, with some fantastic results!

Back left to right: Jon Mcleod, Keir Barry, Conner Grant

Ciara Pugh, Tess Carlson

Practice is well under way for Buller High Schools Production of Disney Newsies Jr. and everything is starting to come together.

Make sure you grab your tickets from the NBS for a fabulous performance:

https://www.nbstheatre.co.nz/events-and-live-shows

With just three weeks to go before opening night, here is a sneak peek at a lunchtime practice session.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

By PACT West Coast Community Support Worker Joan Skilton

I supported my client Amber Smith in applying for work experience/voluntary job at the Westport Goods 2 U store, where the manager, Dom, welcomed Amber on board.

I pick Amber up from school every Thursday to go to work. She is always ready and waiting out front with her teacher's aide. She runs to the car with a big smile on her face. She loves going to work!

Amber does a variety of tasks and has worked very hard from day one. Her job includes tidying stock on the shelves and cleaning. She has recently learned how to vacuum in the store and clean the windows. She gives 100%.

Dom has been so impressed with how hard she works that he rewards her each week by letting her choose a small item off the shelf. Amber has so far chosen stickers, a writing pad, felt-tip pens, and lipstick. She is very chuffed with this.

Amber's family is thrilled for her and so very proud. They are so happy that Amber is getting out into the community, meeting new people, and learning new skills. They love receiving progress reports on Amber's journey.

Mr. Dorey's Science class 10K was lucky to get to have local professional ecologist, Richard Nichol, share his expertise and bring their learning to life with a field trip to the estuary.

Our staff have just rummaged through the lost property and the below items are unnamed and they felt their owner could be missing them.

If any of these items belong to your child, please visit the office to claim.

On the 20th of May, the Stitch Sisters held a bake sale to fundraise for a 2024 Wellington Wearable Art trip. They raised just over $300.

Thanks to Buller Fabric and Fibre for letting us set up a stall outside the shop and to the Buller community for its support and to the dedication and enthusiasm of the students!

This annual event will take place in the Buller High School hall on Friday June 23rd. Projects from Buller High School and all contributing schools will be on display, and marking of the projects will happen throughout the day.

From this event, projects will be selected to represent the Buller at the West Coast Science Fair in Greymouth at the start of next term.

Buller students attended the annual West Coast Schools Badminton tournament in Greymouth.

The girls team earned a respectful third place against some tough competition against teams that feature NZ South Island players, while the boys team earned fifth overall.

Well done to all the students involved.

Back left to right: Bianca Annear, Arryn Duston, Anthony Cunningham, Eloise Brown

Madison Shaw, Leelawadee Meyer, Sara Sirikulsupakon

Year 13 Calculus students were challenged to create a self-portrait of themselves using only circles, ellipses, hyperbolae and parabolas - a few lines and trig functions were also thrown into the mix.

They had to write quite complex equations to draw them - an example of the kind of equations they wrote are shown below. A lot of time was spent getting the hair just right and there is a bit of facial hair that doesn't exist in real life!

AF8 [Alpine Fault magnitude 8] is an award-winning programme of scientific modelling, coordinated response planning and community engagement designed to build collective resilience to the next large Alpine Fault earthquake, across Te Waipounamu our South Island.

The programme aims to share the Alpine Fault hazard and impact science and preparedness information widely, through communication and engagement activities, to increase awareness, enable conversation and build societal preparedness to natural hazard events.

The AF8 Roadshow came to BHS on May 30th supporting junior students with their knowledge and risk associated with the Alpine Fault.

The sessions were:

Stage 1: Discovering the Alpine Fault – What is the Alpine Fault and what can it’s past tell us about the future?

Stage 2: Hazards, risks and impacts – What would an AF8 event look like?

Stage 3: Preparing for AF8 – Individual and community preparedness, what can we do to be more prepared?

On Friday 26 May, the running club got started with founding member Zabeel Scanlon leading the way and a few teachers keeping up.

Left to right: Mr Dorey, Mr Haussmann, Miss Stephens, Zabeel Scanlon

Press Release from 25 May 2023, New Zealand Police

“This was huge for me. I tried my hardest to achieve this, and it made me and my family proud,” comments Westport teenager Kayden Hyde (14) as he reflects on his recent Overall Excellence Award win at Blue Light’s Life Skills programme.

Held at Burnham Military Camp from May 15 to 19, Kayden’s Life Skills camp experience was so impactful that he now wants to join the army as a career. “This has definitely helped me to have future goals that I didn’t have before; I now want to join the Army,” he comments.

To other young people who are thinking about going on Blue Light’s Life Skills program, Kayden says, “If they get the opportunity, take it. It’s very good, and it's life-changing”.

Senior Constable Terri Middleton, Greymouth Blue Light, who referred Kayden, notes, “There is a sense of total achievement, and his family is very proud of what he has done. This program has given him a lift to know that he can achieve, and with hard work and focus, he can achieve excellence. It has boosted his confidence and given him skills within himself to know what he would like to do in the future.”

Blue Light South Island Co-ordinator Nicola Paterson who was at the camp, comments on Kayden’s win: “Kayden was awarded the Overall Excellence Award through demonstrating the qualities of maturity, respect, intuition, and through building individual and group mana.”

The camp at Burnham offered Kayden the ability to learn life skills such as emergency scene training, mindfulness and leaderless tasks, experiential learning activities including the high wire course, learnt parade ground drills, and took part in teamwork challenges and physical activities.

Highlights included a visit from the Police Dog Unit and seeing a Police dog and handler in action as well as exploring the International Antarctic Centre.

This highly successful program has been run by New Zealand Blue Light in partnership with NZ Defence Force for the past 12 years and has adventure-based experiential learning as a key part of the program. The program provides 14-17 year olds’ critical life skills such as self-development, self-control, and teamwork that will enable young people to be successful at home, school, communities, and employment.

Up to 12 courses are held each year in Auckland, the Central North Island and Burnham locations.

For more information about the Blue Light Life Skills Camps, visit www.bluelight.co.nz.

Blue Light is grateful for the support and sponsorship of the Lion Foundation and community supporters.

The Anyone Can Read Programme

The Anyone Can Read program run by Noel McArthur has worked with 30 of our students in the last year. The feedback from those who have had the opportunity to improve their reading skills has been amazing.

Student voice:

“I found him really helpful. He gave me lots of ways to get around not knowing the words. It made me be able to read way faster. He was easy to talk to. He made me feel better about myself and the fact that I have Dyslexia. It helps that I can read faster in class now, because I do not get behind as much. I don’t get as worried if I have to read something now”.

“He is great. Before I could not read chapter books, just picture books. As soon as I started working with him, I made such a big improvement. I can read books that are over 150 pages now”.

Noel’s tries to make the learning enjoyable for the students and would welcome parents to come and sit in and see what their children are achieving.

The Programme is part of the Rising Rangatahi project funded by Oranga Tamariki, it is run through Buller REAP and coordinated in the school by Ainslie Duncan.

The website is also a good place to find out more - www.anyonecanread.co.nz.

If you want to know more please feel free to contact me - ainslie.duncan@buller.ac.nz