Wellington East Girls' College / Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika

Welink

Issue 4, Hōngongoi / July 2021

Welink is a newsletter produced as a link between Wellington East Girls' College and our community, and is emailed to parents and students. It contains essential information as well as news for caregivers. It is also on our website – www.wegc.school.nz. Please advise the school if you have changed your contact details, or would like to add an email address: wegc@wegc.school.nz

Principal's Message

Tēnā koutou katoa,

We are drawing to the end of what has been a very busy term and it seems that there have been many ways for us to connect with the community through a variety of events.

Earlier this term we hosted our Open Day and Evening for prospective Year 8 students and their families. It was a well supported event and a fantastic opportunity to showcase our school and the learning opportunities for students who choose to come here.

I received so many compliments from visitors about our Yr 9 and 13 students who escorted families on tours around the school. They are such positive ambassadors for our school community.

Our combined Kapa Haka group, Ngā Taiohi o te Rāwhiti o te Upoko o te Ika, with Rongotai College have been practising tirelessly throughout the term with numerous noho, here at school. They performed at the Regional Kapa Haka competition this week . Their performance was outstanding with the group being placed 1st in the Te Reo and Poi components of the competition and 2nd overall. This means that they will be eligible to compete at the National Competition next year in Auckland. This resounding success would not be possible without the committed support from the Kaiako and tutors Keta Kaiawai-Herbert, Pokau Te Ahuru and Whetu Henry and also the amazing support from whānau and East staff. Ngā mihi nui.

Our Poly Group is preparing for Tu Tagata which will be held the first week of next term. They performed their bracket at the Fa’aliga on Tuesday evening in front of their families who gave them informative feedback to support their progress.

We have also had significant success in musical and dramatic performances. Saturday saw the last performance of the Little Shop of Horrors; this year’s school production. This was a highly entertaining and comedic piece of musical theatre showcasing the musical and dramatic talents of our students in collaboration with others from St Patrick’s College, Rongotai and Wellington College.

Rāwhiti, our auditioned choir, recently performed in the Big Sing Regional Choral Competition and have been successful in securing a place at “Finale” the Premier National Competition.

As I have watched our young people perform in all of these events, I continue to be inspired by their high quality performances and their professionalism. It is a huge commitment on the part of staff, students and families that provides our young people with these enriching opportunities.

I wish all of our students and families a relaxing break over the next two weeks and look forward to seeing you all at the start of Term Three.

Ngā mihi nui

Gael Ashworth, Principal

Board of Trustees

Kia ora koutou

Last Friday, members of the Board and Leadership team were delighted to meet with Grant Robertson, our MP for Wellington Central, and of course the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. The purpose of the meeting was to share with him the continuing challenges we face at WEGC with our aged buildings, and the ever-constant construction programme which our students and staff have to navigate. The Minister has always shown great interest in our school and the building programme, so we were able to have a really productive and practical conversation based on the most recent information we received from the Ministry of Education the night before the meeting. Of course no promises were made, however the Minister left with a very clear view of what the school needs to have happen to achieve a teaching and learning environment worthy of our community.

Congratulations to all the cast and crew of the Little Shop of Horrors production, which was able to go ahead as planned last week after our recent COVID scare in the Capital. What a display of talent, an amazing experience for everyone involved, and a delight for the highly entertained audiences.

Heading into the mid-year break at the end of this week I hope everyone has the opportunity to relax and recharge before the ever-busy Term 3 and of course, safe travels if you are heading out of town.

Ngā mihi nui

Jo Lambert, Chair

L to R: Charmaine Poutoa, Hariklia Nicola, Grant Robertson, Kelly Ngan

L to R: Will Peet (Board), Grant Robertson, Jo Lambert (Board)

Please see the Student Calendar below for student events coming up

Wellington East Parents' Association (WEPA)

Kia ora

Term two always seems to fly by with so much going on, winter sport, the school production, cultural performances and school trips. Not to say we aren’t excited about a mid winter break!

This term WEPA have provided funding towards the Kapa Haka group performing at the regional competition. This is exciting for them as last years competition was cancelled. We wish them all the best and look forward to hearing how they get on. We have also approved funding towards a level two PE trip.

Looking forward to term three we are excited to have Karen Boyes return to the school to speak with students and parents/caregivers on study skills and coping with study pressure. A date for the parents/caregivers session is still to be confirmed but likely to be later in the term.

Wishing everyone safe and relaxing school holidays.

Ma te wa

WEPA committee

Pasifika Parents' Group

Our next Pasifika Parents' meeting will be held on Monday 2 August at 6.00pm to 7.30pm. More details on our website here Parents Groups

Whānau Tū Tāhi

Our meeting of the Whānau Tū Tāhi parents group is on Tuesday 17 August at 6.00pm , more information on our website here : Whanau or see our Calendar.

We will hold a wānanga in early Term 3 to develop a Māori graduate profile and how our students embody the school values of Aroha, Whanaungatanga, Rangatiratanga. Look out for further details or contact kelly.summ@wegc.school.nz if interested.

New Settlers' Parent Group

The New Settlers' Parents group will meet on Wednesday 22 September at 6.00pm at school. You can read about the group here : New Settlers

Free Access to Period Products in Schools

We are really pleased to announce that our kura is part of the Free Access to Period Products in Schools initiative.

Access to period products is a necessity, not a luxury. The need to access period products exists for every young person who experiences menstruation including young women, girls, transgender, and gender diverse youth, in ways that meet diverse needs and cultural perspectives.

We have had our first delivery of period products and aim to make them accessible to all our students by the end of this week. There are a variety of pads and tampons available. We are working through the best way to distribute the products and the best way to gauge quantities. We may need to make adjustments as we go.

Some students may choose not to use these products. It is entirely up to them. We aim to have enough products for every student each month. Students are encouraged to take products home.

For more information, please click on the links below.

Period Products Brochures :

Māori

Samoan

English

School Uniform update

Thank you so much for supporting our uniform focus this term. We really appreciate the conversations you have had at home.

As a school, we value our student voice and the feedback from our young people around the uniform has led to the Board making some changes.

These will come into effect immediately. A special thank you to our student Board Representative, Isabella Oliver-Clyne, and Rebecca Hutt, representing our School Council, for surveying our student community and presenting their findings to the Board.

Please note

There are no longer separate summer and winter uniforms - students may wear a combination of uniform pieces
Changes are in italics and have been underlined
Ties are not required to be purchased, but students can wear the school tie if they own one

Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika - Wellington East Girls’ College Uniform

Short / long sleeved blouse

A white thermal can be worn under a school shirt, as long as it’s not visible

School jersey/vest/cardigan

Skirt/pants/ shorts

School blazer

Roman sandals - with a back, or black leather ( or leather like) lace up shoes.

Cultural or religious necklace

Up to two sets of earrings - studs or small sleepers

One nose stud

One watch

Black jacket - school or any other plain black rain jacket

Plain white socks or black tights ( 70 denier)

Headscarves - blue, black or white

Minimal makeup

Hair can be any colour

No nail polish

School scarf - optional

NOTE: Formal uniform is to be worn to events where our school is being represented - for example, Prizegiving. The formal uniform is

Tights
Jersey/vest/cardigan
Blazer
Skirt or pants
Black shoes

PHYSICAL EDUCATION UNIFORM – COMPULSORY for Years 9 and 10

Students must have separate PE gear:

Navy blue shorts and WEGC navy PE top
Sports Hoodie – Optional for PE. Compulsory when representing the school at a tournament or exchange. Highly recommended for all other students attending sports events. The hoodie is only worn for PE and sporting events.
Navy blue track pants and thermal (this is an optional item) - purchased from other Retail Outlet
Non marking Sports Shoes – Purchased from other Retail Outlets

Music Success

Over the Queens' Birthday weekend, Francesca Fagan attended the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand finalist workshops and the awards ceremony on 6 June. Francesca placed 3rd in NZ in the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ), Morrison Music Trust Shakespeare Music Composition Competition.

Francesca’s composition, is based on Macbeth’s Three Witches and explores the use of the violin, whispered text and sung text. Its’ simplicity is incredibly effective and the instrumentation and whispered text makes for a wonderfully haunting piece of music.

Congratulations Francesca

Indian Dance

Year 11 student Lekha Sankar recently performed with The Mudra Dance Company, which is a great achievement after years of training in Indian Dance. The production was called Navarasa: Nine Emotions and was held at over the weekend, 3/4 July. Lekha graduated from the Mudra Dance Academy here in Wellington, which is a training centre for Bharata-Natyam, a classical dance form from South India

Samoan Regional Speech Competition

The School Regional Samoan speech competition was held on Friday 2 July, and a great learning experience for all the students who attended.

Schools who took part in the competition were St Mary’s, St Patrick’s Town, Taita, Naenae, Aotea and Wainuiomata High, as well as Wellington East Girls' College.

We are pleased to announce 4 out of the 8 students who competed made it to the National competition, which is to be held in Christchurch.

Y11 Faith Vaitogi who came 2nd

Y12 Feula Fau 2nd place and Cathy Aiono 3rd place

Y13 Demaris Fau 3rd place

All the girls delivered amazing speeches, of which they should be very proud.

Big Sing 2021

On June 9/10, WEGC took over 400 students to the Wellington Region Big Sing festival at the Michael Fowler Centre.

It was an incredibly successful two days with Junior Choir, Senior Choir, Multi Choir and Rāwhiti performing to the best of their abilities.

The choir received multiple regional awards listed below. WEGC would like to thank NZCF and The Big Sing Wellington for these regional awards and for selecting Rāwhiti to be the recipients of the Ministry of Youth Development, Spirit of the Festival Youth Ambassadors Award.

New Zealand Music - Adjudicator's Choice Award for Best Collaboration: Junior Choir
New Zealand Music - Best Performance Certificate: Senior Choir
New Zealand Music - Best Performance Certificate: Rāwhiti
Other Styles - Adjudicator's Choir Award: Rāwhiti
Ministry of Youth Development, Spirit of the Festival Youth Ambassadors Award: Rāwhiti

Chamber Music Contest

On Sunday 13 June, Tallulah Farrow (Yr 9), Katia Reid (Yr 10) and Naya Espelita (Yr 11) competed in the NZCT Chamber Music Contest at Victoria University. The Trio performed Five Pieces for 2 Violins and Piano by Shostakovich. The group performed the best they have yet and received great feedback from the adjudicators. This is the first time in 10 years that we have had a Chamber Group made up entirely of WEGC students enter the competition. Well done to all

Readers Cup - East are regional winners

The hard work of the East Readers Cup team paid off last night and they placed first in the Readers Cup! Congratulations to Olivia Connelly, Isabelle Chan, Jarna Stewart, Poppy Clarke and Lucy Evans who will be attending the Nationals in Auckland in Term 3

Readers Cup teams in the school hall

East Readers Cup Team

Te Aka Class Ballet Performance

Our fabulous librarian Leigh Borrett introduced Te Aka class to a lesson and story telling session with the Royal New Zealand Ballet last year.

This term we have had weekly ballet lessons with Kristie from RNZB. It has been wonderful to see the students’ co-ordination, confidence and enjoyment in movement develop.

On Tuesday 6 July we completed the series of lessons by having a showcase of our learning. Thanks to everyone who came along to celebrate with us and to our Music Therapist Ruby Solly for her musical support.

Purple Power Week

This annual event at WEGC was held 21-25 June and featured events highlighting and celebrating women and power.

Events organised by the prefects for the week including :

Monday - Mural painting

Wednesday - Bake sale and Kahoot

Tuesday - SHIFT session in the hall with juniors ( in place of Ako time)

Thursday - SHIFT session in the hall with seniors ( in place of Ako time)

Dance showcase - Thursday

Non - uniform Friday

The school was decorated in purple and each evening the façade lights lit the building a bright purple.

Open Afternoon & Evening - enrolling at East

Our annual Open Day/Evening was held on 16 June this year, and well attended in both timeslots, with evening event from 4pm -6pm being busier. It was an event for prospective parents and students to visit and get an overview what life is like at WEGC. Please spread the word to neighbours, friends, colleagues and family if you are pleased with what the college is doing for your student.

Information for enrolment is available on our website.

Our enrolment timeline :

Monday 26 July 2021 - We ask for all Year 9 applications to be received by this date

Friday 6 August 2021 - Ballot for out of zone Year 9 places

Wednesday 11 August 2021 - Parents to be notified of Year 9 ballot outcomes

Monday 16-Friday 27 August 2021 - Enrolment interviews held at Wellington East Girls' College

Wednesday 25 August 2021 - Deadline for Out of Zone Parents acceptance of Year 9 ballot places

Copies of the Prospectus are available from our website : http://www.wegc.school.nz/our-school/enrolments

Little Shop of Horrors : our school production

The WEGC production of Little Shop of Horrors was held at the beginning of July, and it was a fantastic dark comedy musical. Well done to the cast and crew who perfected the show every night, starting with a Gala Opening on Wednesday 30 June. Thank you to the Music Department and all our staff with their many hours of assistance in bringing Audrey, Seymour and friends to life. Congratulations to cast and crew and families who also spent many hours working on the show!

Surf Camp

At the end of last term, Outdoor Education 300 level classes went to Castlepoint for three days of surf, sun and adventures as part of our risk management unit. For the weeks upcoming to this trip, we practiced and perfected our surfing skills at Lyall Bay beach during our regular class sessions.

While Castlepoint has different types of wave breaks and swells, with our experience from last year and this year combined, we were very pumped to test out some new scenery. We arrived on a sunny, rural side of New Zealand and excitedly rushed to check out our accommodation and the beach.

There were two spots that we tried out during our trip called ‘main beach’ and ‘The Gap’. Main beach had smaller waves with less consistent swells whereas The Gap had larger waves and consistent sets. Our days were made up of 2-3 surf sessions, trips to the local dairy, games in the evening and on the last night we went sliding down the dunes on boogie boards. A special highlight for many was a walk up the point, where we got to explore around the lighthouse and experience some very beautiful views as the sun was setting. At the end of our trip we were very tired but came away with some great memories and a connection to a place that many of us had never been to before.

By Sarah and Rachel

Escape Room - Year 11 Health Students

Level One Health students went down to an Escape room in town as part of our listening skills assessment. We got put into groups and entered different rooms where we had to solve many problems to escape. This was a great way to test our listening skills while having a fun challenge. The thing I enjoyed most from this escape room was the problem solving part, and the aspect of working with new people. The escape room that I was in had all these different puzzles to work out, and pieces to find while being quite dark and suspenseful which was why it was so fun to complete. I got to be in a group with people other than just my friends so I got to build relationships and make connections with new people while completing the assessment which was exciting.

by Olivia Wu

Cyber Safety: Netsafe Tips

As part of a school-wide approach to cyber-safety, we are going to be posting one tip per newsletter on how you can support your child to be safe online. For more in-depth information, please visit Netsafe’s advice for parents at https://www.netsafe.org.nz/online-safety-parent-toolkit/.

What to do if a young person is exposed to upsetting content

If a young person comes to you about something they have seen online, the most important thing you can do is take what they are saying seriously. The other things to do are:

Try not to assign blame about how they came across the material
Reassure them that it isn’t their fault
Don’t trivialise what they have seen by saying that the material may not be real (it is important to deal with their feelings first)
Provide comfort and assurance
Normalise their response, e.g., ‘It’s normal to be scared/angry/upset/confused’
Don’t overreact by taking away the technology – this will make them less likely to talk to you if something else happens and it can make them feel like they are to blame
Make sure that they know you are glad that they came to you about it.

It’s important to seek professional help for your child if intense feelings or behaviours persist.

FAQS

What might young people encounter online? Along with many positive things, young people may encounter some things which could have a negative effect. This material might include a scary text, violent or scary images, hateful content, sexual material or illegal material (ie. child sexual abuse material, age restricted material, bestiality, necrophilia, extreme violence etc).
What type of response will a young person have? Young people will react individually to upsetting online content and how they express their distress will depend on the child’s age and level of development. Exposure to this type of content may result in confusion, adverse physical and/or psychological effects, e.g., withdrawal, difficulty sleeping, nightmares, aggression. A young person may also act blasé or they may not understand what they have seen until a later stage in their development when the effects surface
How should I respond when my child tells me about upsetting content? If an adult in the child’s life strongly reacts to hearing about the child’s exposure, the child’s negative response may mimic the anxiety and concern of their caregiver even when the young child doesn’t understand the material.

For more information on this, go to Netsafe: https://www.netsafe.org.nz/upsetting-content/

Sports Week @ East

This week has been Sports Week and our Sports Prefects (Hannah Geale and Hinetekawa Thomson-Laulu) have been busy arranging events for all year levels during break times.

Monday : Movie - " Coach Carter" based on the true story of a US high school basketball coach who made headlines in 1999 for suspending his undefeated high school basketball team due to poor academic results.

Tuesday : Netball Exchange vs Rongotai College

Wednesday - Bake sale and sausage sizzle; bouncy castle/ games

Thursday : Netball Exchange vs Wellington College

Friday : Non-uniform + Mud run (Top field)

Instagram : you can find them as @wegcsports

Sports at East

You can find information on all sports offered at East, as well as our latest achievements - the link is here and is also on our school website.

You can also check out Instagram and Facebook pages for WEGC Sport at @wegcsport www.facebook.com/wegcsport

Ways to help - Fundraising for WEGC:

When you are shopping at Wellington City New World:Have your docket stamped at the time of purchase by a checkout Supervisor. Deposit your docket in the East drop box provided in the main entrance of New World. Duplicate receipts can be requested, at time of purchase, if the original is required. Every time you purchase products from New World Wellington City, they will pay the school 1.5% pa of the total $ sales value.

WEGC Entertainment Books

Help us to fundraise to ensure that all East girls have access to the same opportunities. When you buy an Entertainment Membership, 20% of the purchase goes directly to East.

Entertainment have extended the FREE upgrade from Single City Membership to Multi City until Wednesday 4 August. Anyone who purchases a $69.99 Single City Membership will be upgraded to a Multi City Membership valued at $119.99 for FREE.

Entertainment are also giving away some incredible prizes. When you purchase a Membership before Wednesday 4 August, 11.59pm NZST you will automatically go into the draw to win:-

A Village Roadshow Queensland Holiday for four which includes 5 nights at Sea World Resort, 3 day Theme Park Pass and Australian Outback Spectacular Passes
5 Day Maui or Britz campervan, fully equipped, unlimited kilometres
A $200 dining voucher to a favourite Entertainment venue of your choice will be given away each day.

Receive fantastic savings while you eat, play and shop with Entertainment. Memberships are convenient, easy to use and packed full of valuable 2 for 1 and up to 50% off offers for you and your family to use over any 12 month period from activation.

Get yours today online by clicking the link below!

https://www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/105u644

Welink Newsletter : Wellington East Girls' College, Austin Street, Mt Victoria 6011, Ph 385 8514, www.wegc.school.nz

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