Wellington East Girls' College / Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika
Welink
Rāwhiti Taukaea
Issue 4, Mahuru / September 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
As we are reaching the end of Term 3 students have begun to look ahead and are planning their courses for next year. We are excited to be able to offer new Intensive and Connected courses in Year 9 and 10 next year. Course Selection Evening was an important event in initiating that process and for whānau and students to engage in these important discussions about future pathways.
This week is Senior Exams/Derived Exam Week. It is so important that students continue to engage fully with Formative Assessments. This will enable teachers to provide the necessary evidence for Unexpected Event Grades should they be required.
This has been a difficult year for all of our students, particularly those who are taking part in NCEA. Please try and reassure your student that if they do not attain their qualification at the end of this year, they have the option to achieve both levels the following year. It is not uncommon for students to achieve Level 1 and 2 in the same academic year.
NZQA are again offering Learning Recognition credits for 2022 . For every 5 credits a student achieves towards their NCEA either through internal or external assessment, they are entitled to an additional 1 credit. Students at NCEA Level 1 are eligible for up to a maximum of 10 additional credits while those at Levels 2 and 3 are eligible for up to a maximum of 8 additional credits.
For Yr 13 students who are looking to go onto University next year:
NZQA have introduced changes to University Entrance (UE). Students will be need to gain 14 credits in each of two UE approved subjects and 12 credits in a third UE approved subject. Students still need to attain NCEA Level 3 and meet literacy and numeracy requirements to be awarded UE.
If you have any concerns about your students' progress with NCEA or UE please make contact with their Ako teacher or Dean in the first instance. If you have queries related to specific courses or Universities then please feel free to contact our Careers Adviser Cathy Matthews: cathy.matthews@wegc.school.nz
Ngā mihi nui
Gael Ashworth, Principal
Board of Trustees
Kia Ora Kōutou,
Election comings and goings
Firstly I would like to welcome the first new Trustees of the upcoming Board. So a big welcome to Michelle Kanellis and Stephen Dobson. As a reminder, for this election we are moving to a system of staggered elections where some seats come up for election every 18 months. This helps with continuity for both the Board and Gael. For this election we had three seats available to sit a term of 3 years and two seats available to sit a term of 18 months. Michelle and Stephen put their names forward for the 3 year term seats and so are elected unopposed (unopposed as there were 3 seats up for election with just the two candidates).
So that leaves 2 seats of 18 months term yet to be voted for. As you'll have seen from your election information the candidates for those seats are existing Trustees; Anna Jellie, Will Peet and myself. We all really encourage you to participate in the election and submit your votes over the coming days. By a quirk of fate, the change to staggered elections that will in fact leave us one elected member short after this election. So the new Board will determine how to fill that slot.
As this is my final newsletter for this term of the Board, I've been reflecting on the huge challenges that we have all faced these last 2-3 years and how everybody has had to have been incredibly resilient and adaptable. Whilst it hasn't been easy and whilst some things haven't gone as well as they perhaps could, I think our whole community can take time to reflect and think about the part everyone has played to support each other and support our young wāhine and their learning. So this is a huge thank you from the all of the Trustees to everybody.
Ngā mihi nui
Andrew Downes, Chair
Please see the Student Calendar below for student events coming up
Wellington East Parents' Association (WEPA)
Kia ora
We are so pleased to see some very worthy grant applications rolling in. Funding this year had been approved for;
Duke of Edinburgh - Te Aka Abel Tasman trip
Student lead Initiative - scientific calculator loan scheme
Kapa Haka - uniform costs
Rawhiti choir - trip to Whanganui for the Big Sing Competition
Poly Group - performing at the Tu Tagata Festival
Whanau liaison - a chest freezer and providing meals for those experiencing hardship
Readers Cup - National competition in Auckland
Breakfast club - providing breakfast supplies
WEGC display flags - for school use
Cyber Safety seminar
Defibrillator located by school reception
We are eager to distribute more funds! As a reminder the following considerations are taken into account by the committee when assessing funding applications.
Allocation of Funds:
Funds are allocated to extra curricular activities/experiences and opportunities outside the class curriculum that ensure the success of our students.
The Parents Association will aim to allocate funds fairly between sectors within the school. Consideration will be given to how much a group has already received.
The more students that will benefit from an application the more favourably the request will be considered.
Where fundraising efforts have been made by the students, applications will also be looked on favourably.
A maximum amount of $2,000.00 is available for any one activity or item. The maximum amount likely to be contributed to any individual student is $500.00.
Special projects which are expected to have lasting benefit or other exceptional circumstances will be considered outside the above limits.
Funds must be used for the donated purposes only.
A report to the chairperson of WEPA or Staff Rep is required once the monies have been spent.
As always we welcome anyone who would like to attend the WEPA meetings and learn more about how we support the school. They are held at 6pm in the staffroom at school. Times are detailed in the school calendar. Please email parents@wegc.school.nz if you wish to attend.
Ngā mihi nui
WEPA committee
School Exams : 5th-9th September
This week is school exam week, these exams are important as they will be used for grades if students are unable to sit the end of year exam for any reason (which has become a lot more common in these COVID times). If your student is sick please contact our Absence email (absence@wegc.school.nz, use the school app, or call the school as usual.
Here is the Timetable for the School Exams
WEGC School Exam Week 2022 Timetable
Make a real difference as a Reader / Writer
We need a few more people who would be able to support students throughout the year, during assessments and exams by reading questions, writing or typing answers and or supervising students.
Students who have a diagnosed learning condition ( ie-Dyslexia, Dyspraxia) approved by the Ministry of Education are eligible for supported assessment conditions in their NCEA assessments and exams. This entitles students to a Reader/Writer and/or extra time to allow their ability to be acknowledged and accessed.
If you would like to become a valuable support person, as a Reader/Writer, or would like more information, please contact Bridget Dixon, Learning Support on bridget.dixon@wegc.school.nz for more information.
International Students
It has been great to be able to welcome new international students back into our school this term. We have had students from Hong Kong, Thailand, China and Japan join us. This heralds the return of a larger number of students who will begin their studies at Wellington East Girls' College in 2023.
We are looking for a few more homestay homes for some of our 2023 arrivals. We have students from Germany and Japan coming for one/two term experiences and also have longer term students arriving from Brazil, China, Japan and Thailand.
Hosting fee for 2023 is $320 per week and includes own room and three meals a day.
If you are interested in finding out more about hosting an international student please do get in touch with us - international@wegc.school.nz
WEGC at Tu Tagata Festival
Talofa Lava,
In week one this term, our Poly Group performed their completed bracket at the Tu Tagata Festival. Wellington East Girls' College were given the honor of closing the festival with the final performance. The performance on the night was outstanding. It was fantastic to see all of our students' hard work come to fruition during an evening where Pasifika culture was acknowledged and celebrated by all.
A huge thank you to the student leaders Feula Fau, Christina Aperila Foliga, Oshania Framhein, Eden Leota, Mila Sialava'a and Faith Tautiaga Mamea. We also need to thank Beulah Foliaki, Hinemaia Waiti, Mila Solomon Pivac, and Brianna Tawhiri who played key leadership roles in teaching the Tongan and Māori items to the group. The community have constantly looked out for our students, allowing them to practise through the holidays, provide food, help with fundraising, and general support! So thank you to all of the parents and caregivers, and the Pasifika Parents' Association. Finally the teaching staff for supporting our students. Carl Condliffe, Penelope Isaac and Nadia Ioane-Iona.
You can watch the full performance by clicking on this link.
Thanks to David Brownlie for the photos
The Annual Food Fair 2022
One of the highlights of our school calendar is our annual Food Fair. After a break for lockdown in 2021, this year the "Winter Wonderland" Food Fair on 12 August. We had stalls selling the most amazing food from many cultures, and our students and parents joined the wider community to meet and catch up. This year the fair was held inside the Matairangi Building, the quad, and the Te Aka unit - where there was homemade lemonade and live music.
Many people worked on the event to make it so successful - our parent community, students and teachers. Thanks to everyone who came along, who made items, sold items at a stall, or made food.
Inter-School Hospitality Competition
This event was held at WEGC on Wednesday 10 August, with 3 schools competing in the Service IQ Battle of the Pans Competition. We had twelve Level 3 Hospitality students enter the static display sections where we won all 4 sections - Scones, Iced Cupcakes, Iced Cafe Cake and Classic Kiwi biscuits. Well done to all the students who were part of the competition team for WEGC and special congratulations to Zoe John, Lizzy Spooner, Sarah Walker, and Hera de Groot who were the category winners. The external judges also remarked on all our students, observing that it was great to have support from the students watching, and that their school spirit was fantastic. Thanks also to the Hangarau Technology staff who helped with this event.
Talents on display - Music and Technology Exhibition
Congratulations to all our year 10 students from Music and Technology who participated in our "Ngā momo Pūoro, me ngā hangarau o Aotearoa" Music and Technology Exhibition at school recently.
We had Te Auaha Hangarau - Creative Technology students "Matariki corsets" and the "He Tuawahine te haere, Its fashionable to be a heroine" projects. The year 10 students have been working hard on these and really enjoyed showing them off.
In addition we had our year 10 Kai Hangarau - Food Technology students showing off their latest work "Twisted Kiwi Classics" and Design and Build students displayed their room designs, while Year 10 Music students entertained us with their beautiful waiata
Hokanui Fashion Design Awards wins
Congratulations to our Creative Technology Teacher Whaea Nan Walden.
Thank you to all of Nan's supporters at Hokanui fashion design awards 2022. She gained three awards: The Narrative Award for her depiction of Matairangi (Mt Victoria), Highly commended in the collections section, and a Merit award for Hineteariki - a hand woven Korowai and dress made from Harakeke Muka (Flax fibre). The Hokonui Awards were held in Gore in July and are a competitive platform for amateur designers, and a showcase for them in front of industry leaders. Over the previous years the judging panel has included Karen Walker, Nic Blanchet, Francis Hooper, Trelise Cooper, Kate Sylvester, Liz Findlay, Doris Du Pont and Margi Robertson (of NOM*d).
You can see all the winning designs at the Hokonui Awards website here: https://www.hokonuifashion.co.nz
Business Studies - Entrepreneurs in Action (EiA) weekend
Olivia Wu, Yr13 recently attended a weekend EIA event :
In Week 9 of Term 2, I participated in the Entrepreneurs in Action weekend. For this weekend, 60 of the most engaged Young Enterprise students from across New Zealand participated in teams of six, and completed two business challenges within 48 hours. We all stayed in the same hotel, along with YES chaperones.
The first challenge was given to us on Friday morning and we had to prepare a circular economy idea (supported by the Ministry for the Environment) and present it back to the judges on Friday evening. The second challenge was to create a market entry plan for a video game (supported by NZTE) and we had Saturday to complete this, for presentation to the judges on Sunday morning.
For both challenges, we had to carry out market research with potential customers, research existing competitors and develop a product concept and business plan with finances.
Each group of six were hosted by a corporate company and had assistance from host company mentors and a YES alumni. My group was hosted by Sharesies which meant we got to visit their offices and learn about their company, while completing our plans.
Our team came third in the NZTE challenge, which was the first time a Sharesies team had ever placed in an Entrepreneurs in Action weekend.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Entrepreneurs in Action weekend because I met some talented people who shared my interest in business and I made some amazing friends. From a personal perspective, I gained confidence and learnt about the complexities of business planning. I also learnt a lot about working as a team, good communication skills and how to make an engaging presentation. The Entrepreneurs in Action was a taste of what real-life business would be like, and I received valuable advice from the judges which I can apply in the future.
STEMM Competition in Wellington
On Wednesday 3 August, six of our junior scientists participated in the Hutt Science STEMM competition. They were: Hope Aperila Foliga, Abigail Westcott-Hsu, Eleanor Royson, Siiloto Lene, Rebecca Wash and Honey Fowler.
They competed in a quiz testing their knowledge and understanding in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, & manufacturing) subjects including some practical rounds involving LP records, lollies and rugby balls! They did a great job representing our school in the competition. Thank you to Sharon Edgecombe and Alana Cockburn for supporting this event.
Students of Year 12 and 13 Economics classes were given the opportunity to hear Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson discuss the 2022 Wellbeing budget. This was in conjunction with the Wellington School of Business and Government and included a Q&A Session at the Beehive. The students (and accompanying teachers) learned a lot about the budget process, COVID priorities, labour markets, and inflation. Some students took the photo opportunity!
Economics students visit Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson
Year 13 Student Anna Basset has this report :
On 16 August 2022 our class, along with the Y12 Economics class, attended the talk Grant Robertson was giving about the Wellbeing Budget 2022. This was done in conjunction with Victoria University of Wellington Commerce School and many other high school students were also in attendance. Though released back in May, many aspects of the Budget are still highly topical and relevant, so hearing them being analysed and justified by someone who had a say in formulating it, was very interesting.
Issues such as the Government's plan for the fast increasing cost of living in New Zealand were brought up. As many of us at the talk are on the verge of eligibility for the cost of living payouts that are currently occurring, hearing about the fine line on who should be eligible for these payments was good, especially to hear it from someone like Grant. There is often not a perfect answer but the line still has to be drawn somewhere.
I had never previously been aware that so much of the Budget is based on history and legal obligations to allocate funds to certain areas. It was brought up why there was a significantly larger amount being spent on the Symphony Orchestra compared to allocation to Te Matatini.
This trip was eye-opening and definitely engaged me to what a large scope of knowledge one has to hold to truly understand the ins and outs of a Budget such as the Wellbeing Budget. I had never actually been to Parliament before and overall greatly enjoyed my first visit.
Our Guidance Team at WEGC
Tēnā Koutou Katoa
The counselling team is able to support and work with students and their whanau. Parents - if you think your child would benefit from seeing a counsellor or you would like to consult one of our team please feel free to contact us. If you would like your student to see us please discuss this with them first and encourage them to use the following link to refer themselves. The referral is confidential to the counsellors.
https://sites.google.com/wegc.school.nz/wegcwellbeing/home
If you would like support and assistance with your student, I can be contacted using the following contact details. I will reply to emails sent.
Mrs. Joy Maehe Guidance Leader ( M Couns, BSW, Dip Teach (Sec) )
Ph:04 388514 ext. 837 Email: joy.maehe@wegc.school.nz
Sports at East - Winter Tournament Week
You can check out Instagram - @wegcsports - and Facebook page for WEGC Sport at www.facebook.com/wegcsport
Well done to all of our sports teams, players, coaches, volunteers, managers who were away last week. We haven’t been able to go to Tournament for the last two years, so it was very exciting for our sports teams to be able to play teams outside of Wellington. We have had teams competing around the country - Football in Taupo, Netball in Napier, Nelson for Hockey and Porirua and Wellington area for Badminton, Basketball and Underwater Hockey.
A few results:-
Badminton played in the NZ Premier Tournament and we came away with a bronze medal so third in New Zealand
Underwater Hockey were playing a national tournament and came away with a 4th place
Football played in Taupo and were 7th overall
Hockey were playing in the tier three tournament and just missed out on the finals with a stroke so they came away with a bronze medal, well done.
Netball / Basketball were playing in the local Lower North Island Secondary Schools. Netball team got 18th and played in Napier and basketball came away with an 8th so just missed out on a spot to go to Nationals
Thanks to our Sports Department, Pip and Anna, and our parents who work tirelessly behind the scenes to get our teams away on tournaments and provide those opportunities.
You can find information on all sports offered at East on our school website.
Victoria University interview participants required for research
Are you the parent of an adolescent aged 15-18? Have you accessed Mental Health Services for your child in Aotearoa/New Zealand, within the last 2 years? Let’s talk about it. Be part of a conversation.
Through an interview, this research aims to investigate the practices that parents use to access scarce mental health resources for their adolescents in Aotearoa/New Zealand. You will also be offered a small koha in appreciation of your contribution.
For more information please contact the researcher:
RESEARCHER: Charlotte Anderson-McEwen , SUPERVISOR: Mary Breheny
charlotte.andersonmcewen@vuw.ac.nz mary.breheny@vuw.ac.nz
(This research has been approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee)
Ways to help WEGC - Fundraising :
Entertainment Book
Please support Wellington East as we sell Entertainment memberships. We are fundraising to ensure that all East girls are able to access the same opportunities. 20% of your Membership purchase comes directly to us!
Receive fantastic savings while you eat, play and shop with Entertainment. Memberships are convenient and easy to use for you and your family over any 12 month period from activation.
There are three different types of memberships:-
· Single City Membership
· Multi City Membership – unlocks 21 cities in New Zealand and Australia
· Multi Plus Membership – double the savings of a multi city membership for two years
Get yours today online by clicking the below link!
https://www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/105u644
Thank you for your support
Welink Newsletter : Wellington East Girls' College, Austin Street, Mt Victoria 6011, Ph 385 8514, www.wegc.school.nz
