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Kia ora te whanau o te Kotuku
There are 6 Mondays left this term and only 5 Mondays for Year 11-13 students to be well prepared for derived grade exams. All students in Years 11-13 should know exactly where they are at with their NCEA progress, what assessments are due and where they need to be prioritising their time and effort.
Our Year 9-12 students should also be choosing their subjects for 2024. Students can make option choices online until 17 August.
The link below will show you a weekly planner that students should complete each week. I suggest that they do it as a document that can be adjusted weekly. Where certain things remain constant each week then they can leave those items fixed. There will need to be adjustments made week on week based on what’s due and what the current priorities are. It’s not effective practice just to say I am going to do Maths or English on Tuesday in the work at home slots. It needs to be much more specific eg. Complete draft essay and write at least 400 words that I can submit for feedback tomorrow.
Wednesday – Source previous online external paper for Geography, review my notes for that topic for 20-30 minutes and complete that standard under exam conditions, and within an hour. Planned, prepared and realistic preparation for upcoming derived grade exams.
I further suggest that you as whanau have a korero about what the week ahead looks like. What assessments are due? Have you allocated time in your plan to prioritise completion of those internals where deadlines are pending. If you have nothing due, what subjects are you working on for the derived grade exams? Have you downloaded past papers?
The value of planning and being organised to use your time effectively is more important at this time of the year. It’s that time of the year to sharpen your axe. If I had a tree to chop down (a goal to achieve) and could only use an axe I would spend the first 30 minutes sharpening it. Before we start doing something it is worth taking some time up front to work out the best way to get the job done. Taking your time to plan a strategy and then an action plan for each day will put you ahead of the curve in the long run. You should know what needs to be done, how many credits you have, how many more you need and the quality they need to be and where the rest of the credits will come from. With that knowledge, sharpen your axe by planning the month ahead of what’s on the horizon. I encourage that once you see what needs doing for the month ahead you look at the week ahead and pick off the what’s important now and complete the following planning document. Write the plan down and then honour the promise you made to yourself when you wrote it down. As Master Yoda would say, “there is no try, only do.”
Daily Study/Revision Planner TERM Time
1: BLOCK OUT WORK, CHORES, SPORTS AND REWARD TIME AFTER you finish a block of study! Rewards will motivate you to do it again 😊
2: In the spaces left BLOCK out 20-minute blocks with SPECIFIC learning outcomes! Turn them into a question. This is ACTIVE revision to ACTIVATE your brain and long-term memory path. ASK yourself questions, answer them, do old exam questions – not just passive reading. Remember to have breaks in between study blocks.
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Thank you to all the parents and students who attended our Parent Evening last night. We were pleased with the turnout and positive vibe that came with having so many people around and I hope you also managed to visit the School Hall for the Careers Expo. I am sure that there were many good conversations between you, your child and the subject teacher. It is a valuable exercise to hear feedback and suggestions for further improvement or seek advice on what subjects are the best to take in 2024 if you have a particular career path in mind.
Student Representative on the School Board
Students who are interested in joining the School Board are invited to nominate themselves for this role. The board meet twice a term to discuss finance, policy, strategic planning and big property projects. Nominations are open for any student in Year 9 - 12 and the term runs from September 2023 to September 2024. Meetings are from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in the evening. Students should apply via the School Portal/SchoolBridge - click on Permission slips/Student Forms, - start form, choose Student Representative on the School Board. Voting will be in the first week of September. Students will be introduced at year level assemblies the week commencing September 4.
Casual Vacancy on the School Board
The board received only 1 request for the board to go to a by-election by the due date. Therefore the board will move to select a suitable candidate to the role. The board has received expressions of interest from a number of people. They will confirm the appointment after their 22 August board meeting when they have had a chance to discuss and agree on the most suitable candidate.
Enrolments - Year 9 in 2024
This is the time to enrol your child if they are starting in Year 9 next year. Please complete our online enrolment form and make your booking for an interview. Interview times are 3-5pm, Tuesday and Thursday until 30 August. You can find more information on our website. Out of zone enrolments close 30 August. Please enrol online whether you are in or out of zone.
Notice of road works commencing 14 August
Auckland Transport has advised us that they intend to carry out road work for Bus Lanes at Old Te Atatu Road from 14 August (weather dependent). The works will take a month and there may be traffic restrictions in place or detours while they carry out this work. Please factor this in when coming and going to school as there could be delays in getting through. If possible drop your child off well away from the work site and let them walk the remaining way to school. Some areas of the road will have parking restrictions so please note that if this is the case cars will be towed away from the site to a safer position. You can find out more here.
Kia Kaha
Gary Moore
