Wellington East Girls' College / Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika
Welink
Rāwhiti Taukaea
Issue 5, Whiringa-ā-rangi / November 2022
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 kātoa
It was an absolute privilege to attend the recent school Prize Giving. It is always a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the success of our students in the many different aspects of school life. I experience a great sense of pride at seeing the whole community come together to celebrate and reward the success of our students in academic achievement, service and participation and also excellence in the sporting and cultural arenas.
External exams are now underway for our Senior students. Staff continue to offer workshops to support students with revision and preparation and also the chance to complete outstanding assessment work in some cases.
It is also a time for us to say farewell to our Year 13 students who have been great role models for our Juniors. We look forward to hearing how your futures unfold.
Each year we also farewell staff who are leaving us. This year we farewell:
Gabriel Chambers
Claire Dixon
Leigh Borrett
Jess Martin
Kylie Olsthoorn
Haydee Sy
Liz Crayford
Thank you all for your service and commitment to the students and the community.
Ngā mihi nui
Gael Ashworth, Principal
Board of Trustees
Kia Ora Kōutou,
I want to start by acknowledging everyone who achieved success recognised at the sports and main prizegiving. Celebrating achievement is important, but I also wanted to celebrate the incredible East spirit shown - congratulating others, applauding performers, and most importantly celebrating together. After the challenges over the last few years, it was wonderful to see the sense of togetherness growing.
As our seniors have headed off for exams and to enjoy the sunshine, the Board is working to set up for the new year. We will soon call for nominations for the two trustee seats for a 3 year term and will, for the first time, hold the election through electronic voting. A paper option will also be available. If you or anyone you know is interested, please email board.trustees@wegc.school.nz and we can organise a briefing or a chat on what’s involved.
Lastly, I want to wish our Year 13s and their Whānau all the best as they take their next steps. We are proud of your effort, achievements and the resilience you have shown during your time at WEGC.
Ngā mihi nui
Will Peet, Presiding Member
Please see the Student Calendar below for student events coming up
Wellington East Parents' Association (WEPA)
Kia ora
This is our final message for the year and we want to offer a huge round of thanks to our wider school community of parents, caregivers, teachers, support staff and whanau for the support you have given us and our students this year.
We have been able to distribute over $17,000 in grants to a vast range of arts, cultural, sporting and educational projects this year. A very special thanks to all the committee members. Particular mention to Janine Jameson and Penny Robertson who will leave the committee. Also to our fabulous teacher representative Michelle Kennedy who had given so much time and energy to WEPA.
We are eager for some new people to join our team, our meetings are short, relaxed and even fun! Please email parents@wegc.school.nz if you are interested in learning more. You are always
welcome!
Meri Kirihimete me nga hararei koa
WEPA committee
Prize Giving 2022
This year we were able to hold our prize giving at the Michael Fowler Centre, after a break of two years due to Covid restrictions. It was a special occasion being able to have the whole school in arena along with parents/caregivers, to celebrate students, prizewinners and the leaving Year 13 students. Thanks to everyone who supported the event to make the evening a wonderful celebration of school spirit.
You can watch the some of the presentations and performances here :
Lion Dance, Dux presentation, Polynesian Group performance, Te Aka Students awards, Rawhiti Choir performance, Kapa Haka
Keerthana Rajmohan - Dux 2022 receiving her Korowai from Head Prefects
Our Kapa Haka group performing
Te Aka student winners
Chinese Language Week
Last week of term 3, we had Chinese language week celebration. Our year 9 Chinese class students spent a day together to explore rich Chinese culture. They tried lion dance, traditional Chinese dance, made Chinese spring roll, and had great fun.
Senior Hangarau Technology Exhibition
Parents and caregivers were invited recently to an exhibition of our senior Technology students' work to showcase featuring their work in Hangarau/Technology and performances by music students. We had a solo from Betty Smith, along with a trio of Katia Reid, Tallulah Farrow and Naya Espelita, who performed in the Ground Floor Matairangi Building, surrounded by our student Technology work. Thanks to the students and teachers who created this fantastic event.
Art Portfolio Exhibition
Our senior students exhibited their portfolio work for Art, including work in Design, Painting, Photography and Sculpture. Students, Parents and Caregivers were invited to visit the show, which was held after school on the top floor of Matairangi Building.
Raranga Tāniko for Teachers
Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango, te miro whero.
Through the eye of the needle pass the white thread, the black thread, and the red thread
This whakatauākī has meanings for both the making of connections and collaboration that may ensue as we work towards supporting a common vision. In the holidays eight teachers came together to Whanaunga around how to Raranga Tāniko (Maori weaving). We explored different techniques, karakia, pepeha and kupu related to weaving and how we could implement it into our classes, especially using our Mataurunga Maori framework for the coming years.
A huge thank you to the amazing Wahine Toa including Gael Ashworth and Katherine Stokes from East, who attended the course and engaged in an amazing day of collaboration and connection. Watch next year for more Raranga weaving workshops for East staff members in 2023.
Creative Technology in the Community
Congratulations to Natasha Williams 13STS, Year 13 creative Technologies student who connected with the community by displaying her work in the shop window of the Wellington Sewing Centre! Thank you to the Wellington Sewing Centre in Kilbirnie for their ongoing amazing support
BizVenture China A report by Pieta Proudfoot
I was honoured to be one of the 18 students selected across Aotearoa to attend BizVenture China during the second week of the Term 3 school holidays. BizVenture China is a week-long programme that is part of the Young Enterprise Scheme, the trip focused on teaching students about Chinese business, culture and language.
We spent the first three days in Auckland where we visited businesses such as EcoStore, NZ New Milk and Zuru. We then flew down to Wellington where the knowledge we had learnt from the previous days was utilised to complete the business challenge. The business challenge was to create a fictional business that tackles one of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and develop a market entry strategy for China which we then pitched to a panel of judges. Throughout the week we participated in a number of activities such as dumpling MasterChef, Kung Fu, a language class and an escape room.
I am immensely grateful to have gone on this amazing trip. I have made friends and created memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I learnt so much about Chinese culture and business etiquette, specifically the importance of strong guanxi (relationships). Therefore I urge Level Three Business students to apply next year because it was truly the best week ever!
Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme Regional Finals
Our senior economics student groups entered the Lion Foundation YES Regional finals recently and the team Budget Basics won the Sustainability Award for Wellington City. Congratulations to (pictured below L to R) Lizzy Spooner, Khadija Ibrahim, Simran Patel, Maya Ishver (CEO), Angela Peng and Rheana Patel (Absent: Elise Kibblewhite and Princes Amiel Garcia)
The Education Gazette also covered the team in this article (link below)
Arai was one of 4 finalist groups out of all schools in the Wellington City/Region that got through to the finals to pitch for a place in the National Finals. Olivia Wu and Pieta Proudfoot (CEO) delivered an impactful pitch. Congratulations to Pieta Proudfoot who was named CEO of the Year for Wellington City/Region. Although they did not get through to the National Finals on the night, they have since been invited to pitch as a wild card entry to participate at the YES Nationals as they are the top scoring team in the region over the entire year’s five challenges. All the very best to the team for that!
Budget Basics
Arai - Olivia Wu
Arai - Pieta Proudfoot
International Students
It is a busy time in the International Student area as we plan for 2023 and the arrival of many more students into our school now that the New Zealand borders are open again.
We have a special group of ten students coming to our school for 12 nights in March of next year. They are from a school in Japan and have been visiting us for over 10 years. Each student needs a school homestay family and host sister. Some detail which may be useful for you in making a decision to host:
10 - 22 March 2022
Hosting fee of $660 per student paid to host family
Students attend classes with their host sisters as well as sightseeing in the Wellington as a group during school time
A farewell party for host families and visitors at the end of the stay
We would love to hear from you if you are interested in hosting one of these students. Please email international@wegc.school.nz to find out more or to register your interest.
Building a culture of reading
In Term 3 the school Library ran a pilot for the Toitoi programme. The Toitoi programme is designed to encourage, inspire and motivate our akonga to read for pleasure, and to build a culture of reading within the school and the rangatiratanga of tomorrow.
The trial was successful and the programme will be embedded into the Year 9 Ako programme next year, where students will get dedicated time to read.
As part of the pilot program, we asked the school community to share what reading meant to them. Here is a short video that was created by two fabulous students, Helena Reddell and Lauren St Just.
Student Librarian Awards
A big thank you all our student librarians for their hard work in the library this year. We recently celebrated their hard work with a pizza party and presented bronze awards and gold awards to students who had completed the training for these awards.
Congratulations to the following gold award students: Charlee Poole, Charlotte Baker, Oberon-Jake Kent, Helena Reddell, Jarna Stewart, Jana Maxwell, Lauren Archer, Morgan Chong-Arkell, Nellie Potter and Ruheen Baksh.
Congratulations to the following bronze award students: Abigail Westcott-Hsu, Alex Wall, Amelia Turner, Clara Stupples, Fay Beckett, Shoes Baker, Muna Awad, Khanh Nguyen, Naomi Ririnui, Olivia Connelly, Lauren St Just, Precious Bernardez, Zahra Salemi.
Our Gold Award Winners
Our Bronze Award Winners
Reading is a team sport - Readers Cup & Battle of Bibliophiles
Top readers from East recently took part in two reading competitions. A Year 9 team represented the Wellington region at the National Readers Cup competition, held in Auckland. The team came 4th out of 11 teams, which is a great result. Congratulations to Eve Scanlon, Amelia Turner, Violetta Jaijo, Dylan Mein and Emelia King.
This term, a Year 10 team took part in the first ever Battle of the Bibliophiles. They competed against 49 teams from around New Zealand and came 2nd! This is an epic reading competition that involves reading 15 books and answering 100 questions under time pressure. The students were also put to the test navigating Britannica to answer 10 questions, really testing their searching skills. Congratulation to Olivia Connelly, Isabelle Chan, Jarna Stewart, Honey Fowler, Rebecca Wash and Eleanor Royson.
And, a big thank you to Ms Borrett and Ms Crayford for working with the teams, and to WEPA for their grant to assist the team's travel costs to Auckland.
Senior Students
Mrs Ioane-Iona and Dahlia
Junior Students
Dahlia Malaeulu author visit
This term, Dahlia Maleaulu visited our school and spoke to our junior and senior Pasifika students about her journey growing up not speaking Samoan, and how she came to appreciate her culture and learn Samoan. She also shared her books that include stories from Samoan young people and celebrate the Samoan language. The library and the Samoan department have purchased sets, so keep an eye out for them!
Fa'afetai lava Dahlia for visiting our school!
And thank you to our wonderful librarians, Ms Borrett and Ms McKirdy for organising the visit.
NZSS Choir Selection
Congratulations to Year 12 students Grace Tautiaga-Mamea and Eden Leota and Year 11 student Katia Reid who have been selected for the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir.
Katia is the youngest WEGC student who has been selected for the choir and is one of six year 11s in the choir.
WEGC students represent 66% of Samoan students in the choir.
WEGC & Westlake Girls are the two girls' schools in the country with the most amount of students who got in from one school, making us 5th in the ranking for the most amount of students who got in from one school. WEGC is the smallest school in the top 6 schools to have 3 or more students in the choir. Over 230 students auditioned for the choir and 56 got in.
This is an outstanding achievement for these three students and we are really proud of them.
Music students
Two of our students recently had music adventures and success :
Saffiya Johnson at the SGCNZ :
"This holiday, I had the amazing opportunity of being this year's music composer for SGCNZ's annual National Shakespeare School's production where I was in Dunedin along with 47 other students. I composed music and helped direct scenes for three different 40-minute Shakespeare plays. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as it gave me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and give a try at something I am particularly interested in and fond of! I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity as I have made lifelong friends and was given a number of connections to the world of film, music and theatre."
Betty Smith filming for Take the Mic :
In July, I went down to Christchurch to film a music video for my song 'thedumbthingsyoudo' as I got into the top 12 for the TV show Take The Mic. It was a very valuable and rewarding experience as I got to work with many people who have been in the music industry for much longer than I have. Getting advice from these people really helped me grow as a musician and also helped me realise that so much effort goes into making a music video. I'm so glad I got into the top 12 even if I didn't get into the top 3, as I feel as though I've already won by getting this experience and getting my name out into the world.
Integrated Studies Camp
In the first week of Term 4, students from IS100 and IS200 headed off to Wainui Camp for two days to challenge themselves on the low and high ropes courses. The focus was on developing communication and team work skills. Everyone was incredibly brave, pushed themselves to their limits and was supportive of each other. Thank you to the Parents Association and STAR funding for supporting our trip.
PE Futsal Tournament
During Term Three our PE100 classes (Year 11) participated in a Futsal unit, where we had to demonstrate a range of interpersonal skills such as inclusiveness, effective communication and supporting others. Over four weeks we formed teams and learned the fundamental skills of the game, and came up with training plans for practical lessons leading up to a Futsal tournament at the end of the term. On 28 September the tournament went ahead at the ASB. PE100 students got a chance to play games against other classes and showcase the skills they had been practising within teams. Throughout the day, teachers observed games to see students incorporate their interpersonal skills and the school values of Whanaungatanga, Rangatiratanga and Aroha on and off the court. Awards were given out to recognise and celebrate team accomplishments. Overall, the tournament was fun, enjoyable and a great opportunity to play in teams with our friends.
By Semhar Girmay & Sophie McGuigan
Senior Te Aka students
Senior Te Aka students are often out and about in the community helping out. This is a great way for them to gain work experience skills, to get involved in helping others, and to support them to think about mahi they can do when they leave school.
We have students volunteering at Le Marché Francais in Thorndon Quay, Opportunities for Animals in Miramar, Feral Nation foster based cat rescue, the Newtown Vege Co-op, and Paper Bag Lunch at BGI. Mt Cook School and Preschool, and Hey George in Kilbirnie have also hosted our students over the year. We are so appreciative to these businesses who create a wonderfully inclusive environment for our students to learn in.
Online Learning Project
WEGC is assisting the Ministry of Education with an early pilot of their Digital Identity for Online Learning system. The objective of this system is to allow students to log in using their normal school login credentials (user ID and password) to sit online digital exams and access their Record of Achievement at the NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA). The pilot involved Ms Keala Senek's Level 1 Digital Technologies class assisted by Ministry and Technical staff. The students were very helpful and gave a significant amount of high quality feedback to the Ministry Project Team.
Sports at East & Sports Prize giving
Our Sports Prize giving was held at the end of October. You can check out Instagram - @wegcsports - and Facebook page for WEGC Sport at www.facebook.com/wegcsport
You can find information on all sports offered at East on our school website.
Alumnae news :
We are proud to hear about two of our previous students and their achievements recently. Kolora Lomani, who has played for Wellington, debuted in the Rugby World Cup in the Fijian team. In the Arts, Bethany Angus is studying for a Masters in Historical Performance Cello at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague in the Netherlands.
Signature Choir Event
Signature Choir is run by Helen Tupai (previously known as Helen Moananu) ex WEGC Head Prefect & auntie of many WEGC students. 80% of the women in Signature Choir are ex WEGC students and the wonderful Eden Leota will be performing a solo in this concert. Let’s do our bit to support our wider WEGC arts & Pasifika community.
Kia orāna, mālō nī, ni sa bula vinaka, tālofa lava, fakaalofa lahi atu, mālō e lelei!
We are really excited to announce our latest project, Mana Moana, a history-making partnership between Signature Choir and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO).
The Mana Moana project includes a live-recorded album of ten songs from the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau & Tonga, culminating in a live performance of these works. The songs are all set to masterful orchestrations performed by the NZSO, accompanying a 50-strong Signature Choir who will be singing powerful choral pieces arranged by the choir's music team.
For more details on Mana Moana, check out the segment that Tagata Pasifika ran on the project earlier this year at this link.
Performance Details
What: Mana Moana concert
When: 7PM, Thursday 1 December
Where: Michael Fowler Centre, 111 Wakefield Street, Te Aro
Tickets: Available online at Ticketmaster
This will be one of the first times in history that a Pacific Choir has partnered with a fully professional orchestra on a project of this scale, so we are proud to help elevate our pacific music into new spaces and are really excited to share this with our Pasifika people and to the world! We would love to celebrate this momentous occasion by performing in front of a packed house, filled with our communities
Photo credited to the Dominion Post
Janice Campbell Memorial
Join us to celebrate and remember Janice Campbell. Janice had a long connection with the school both as a teacher and Principal for 26 years, and was recognised for her excellence and commitment as an educator with the Queen’s Service Order for Services to Education.
We welcome all those who knew Janice: family, friends and “Old Girls” to come together to share memories and stories of Janice as we celebrate her life.
When: Saturday 26 November 2022
Time: 2pm—4pm
Where: Matairangi (Main Block), Wellington East Girls’ College
Please register via the Event Brite Link :
https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/janice-campbell-memorial-tickets-402187683187
or phone the school on (04) 385 8514 during school hours
or email wegc@wegc.school.nz
For any enquiries please ring Colin 0276315561
Parking will be available on our Netball Courts (End of Drive A, off Paterson Street). Additional parking is available in our front carpark (Drive C). Entrance to Matairangi (Main Block) is through our school reception on Drive A or the main doors. A map for visitors can be found on the school website https://www.wegc.school.nz/our-school/information-for-visitors
Survey - Parents for Climate Change
Talking about climate change with our children can be intimidating. We are a Wellington-based charity called Parents for Climate Aotearoa (PFCA) and are committed as parents to leave behind a better world for our children. We’ve teamed up with a student group from Victoria University (Ignite Team) and are conducting a survey to find out how parents feel about climate change. The survey takes under 10 minutes to complete, and you don’t need to answer every question, only the ones you feel comfortable answering. This survey will help us in making decisions regarding PCFA’s future, and we’d greatly appreciate your thoughts and insight!
Ngā mihi,
PFCA and Ignite Team
Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFlyZM676ZyEn-_9AxrTDqMJeXr79pkw9wBEyw-tiwtJ5dLg/viewform?usp=sf_link
Affordable counselling available for parents
Parent Help counsellors have helped hundreds of families to restore peace and balance in their lives. Request a counselling session by registering online here: www.parenthelp.org.nz/counselling. Do you need parenting strategies you can implement right away? Speak to our warm and supportive parenting experts. Call now for free on 0800 568 856. Available from 9am – 9pm 7 days a week.
Ways to help WEGC - Fundraising :
Entertainment Book
Your support for Wellington East Girls' College can get you a Free Entertainment membership upgrade.
Until 24 November 2022 you can purchase any Single City Entertainment Membership and receive a bonus, Multi City upgrade, unlocking access to 20 cities and thousands of offers across Australia and New Zealand.
And of course 20% of the membership goes directly to support our fundraising
Thank you for your support
Welink Newsletter : Wellington East Girls' College, Austin Street, Mt Victoria 6011, Ph 385 8514, www.wegc.school.nz
