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

Welink

Issue 6, November 2024

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

We are coming to the end of another remarkable year. This season offers us all a moment to pause and appreciate the progress we've made together. It's the perfect time to reflect on our journey, celebrate our achievements, and dream about the possibilities that lie ahead.

I’d like to acknowledge the work of the staff who continue to contribute their knowledge, expertise and care to the young people in our college. They continue to show resilience and commitment; growing their professional practice to ensure our students continue to thrive.

I would also like to acknowledge our supportive parents and whānau. Your partnership with the school has been invaluable in supporting us to provide the best opportunities for your daughters.

We end the year knowing that we have much to look forward to in 2025.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday.

Ngā mihi nui

Gael Ashworth

Principal

WEGC Board News

Kia ora kōutou,

I’ve been privileged to lead the school board of trustees this year, and to work alongside a senior leadership team focused on encouraging positive engagement in the school’s amazing learning, cultural, arts and sporting opportunities.

Thanks very much to our Principal Gael Ashworth, her senior leadership team and all our wonderful teaching, support and administration staff for your immense commitment during 2024; and thanks also to my fellow board members – Michelle Kanellis, Vito Lo Lacono, Mason Malagamaali'i, Barbara McCallum, Claire Craig, Eunice Pedro, Seralina Seumanufagai, Alana Cockburn - for their service to the school and support for me during the year.

The whole school has been working hard to live East’s values of Aroha, Whānaungatanga, and Rangatiratanga, every day. And we’ve been making good progress on our strategic goals of accelerating achievement for all students, ensuring equitable access to learning, and continuing to build an inclusive school culture.

Congratulations to students who have reached new heights this year in your individual and group endeavours – that’s a result of your hard work, dedication, and perseverance – well done! And thanks to the East community which has wrapped around our students and supported those successes.

I would like to wish our departing Year 13s and their whānau the very best as they move into the next stage of their lives. Go well, with your strong East foundations, and continue to make us proud! And remember the challenge… go out there and make a difference in the world!

Lastly, I’d like to wish everyone, students, staff and whānau, a relaxing safe summer – take care, and I look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready to celebrate East’s 100-year birthday in 2025.

Ngā mihi nui

Fleur Howard, Presiding Member

Please see the Student Calendar below for student events coming up

This info is also on the front page of our website www.wegc.school.nz

Coming up :

29 Nov 10:30 am Year 10 Assembly Session 2

11.05am Year 11 Assembly (Final), Session 3

30 Nov Duke of Edinburgh's Award Gold Ceremony

2 Dec Have a Go Day

3 Dec Te Aka End of Year celebration

5.30pm WEGC Board Meeting

4 Dec Year 13 Leavers Function

10 Dec Junior Reports sent

13 Dec Final Assembly Year 9 and 10 (Hall)

13 Dec Last Day of Term 4 2024

2025 Term 1

Monday 27 January 2025: Timetable Confirmation Day (Students Invited by Dean)

Tuesday 28 January 2025: Prefect Training

Wednesday 29 January 2025: Pōwhiri / Year 9 orientation day‍

Thursday 30 January 2025: Year 9 on timetable‍

Friday 31 January 2025: All levels Attend

Thursday 6 February 2025: Waitangi Day

Friday 11 April 2025: Term 1 Ends

2025 Payment of School Fees/Donations

You can view and pay your school account from the Kamar portal: https://wegc.school.kiwi/

Direct credit payments can be made using the following details:

WEGC Bank Account Details:

ASB Bank

12-3140-0365902-00

Reference: Please use student ID (on invoice)

Particulars: payment details (example: ID Card, GE200 Trip)

Payment in person @ School:

Payments are accepted at reception from 8:15 am until 3.30 pm Monday to Friday. The school is closed during public holidays and school term breaks. Payments by cash or EFTPOS are available.

Term Dates 2025

Term 1 - 1/2 February to 11 April

Term 2 - 28 April to 27 June

Term 3 - 14 July to 19 September

Term 4 - 6 October to 9 December

See our website for more information - link is here

School Day

Starts at 8.45am (Monday 9.00am)

Interval at 10.00am (Mon and Friday)

Interval at 10.20am (Tues, Wed, Thurs)

Lunch at 1.15pm - 2.05pm (Friday 12:20pm-1.05pm)

End at 3.20pm (Friday 2.20pm)

School Office

School phone number: 04 385 8514

School email address : wegc@wegc.school.nz

School website : www.wegc.school.nz

Kia ora whānau,

The school year of 2024 is nearing the end, and we are looking forward to some rest, and relaxation with our whanau. This year has been another amazing one for the parents' association, as we supported many sporting, educational, cultural, and celebratory events at Wellington Girls East College! Of course, none of this mahi would be complete without the help from the school community, which is much appreciated.

WEPA held a morning tea for the teaching and support staff on the 22nd November to thank them for their tireless work and dedication and wish them a peaceful and merry festive season. We would also like to take this opportunity to wish the year 13's leavers all the best in their future endeavours!

I would like to also extend a huge thank you to all the association members for their valiant efforts throughout this year and we would like to welcome new members to join WEPA as, three members including myself are leaving at the end of this year due to our daughters being year 13 leavers. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the parents' association and strongly advise you to be part of the team and work alongside staff to make a positive impact in the school community.

WEPA looks forward to meeting you, and thanks to all whānau who continue to support us. Please feel free to contact us at parents@wegc.school.nz, we welcome any inquiries or suggestions for this coming year.

Wishing you and your whanau a merry festive season and a happy New Year!

Mā te wā

Sunjuna

WEGC Parents Association Wellington East Girls' College

Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika

Rawhiti Choir performances

On Saturday 9th November, Rāwhiti performed at an important event - Remembering the Dawn Raids - 50 Years On - ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata, The darkness has moved away, the light is starting to come in'. After a panel talk on the impact and legacy of the Dawn Raids, Rāwhiti were invited to sing the waiata tautoko "Māreikira".

Following a lunch break Rāwhiti then performed once again on the Marae, this time a 25 minute set of songs in a variety of Pasifika languages including Māori, Tongan, Fijian and Tokelauan. This was part of a weekend of making, performance and talanoa to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Dawn Raids, including walking tours to the commemorative mural. Te Papa hosted this significant historical event and the students were proud to be a part of this commemoration.

Then on Thursday 14th November, Rāwhiti took part in the latest Women of Poneke event hosted at the National Library of Aotearoa NZ. This event focused on uplifting, connection and joy and celebrating the creativity in Wellington; the invitees were treated to performances by comedienne Mo Munn, dance and movement by Java Dance and songs by Rāwhiti.

Y11 Intro to NCEA Level 2 day

On 20 November we took our Year 11 students to Wellington College to join with their Year 11s for a day learning about NCEA Level 2. The day began with a mihi whakatau to welcome our staff and students. Afterward, staff from both schools presented workshops on NCEA's structure, rules and processes, and effective learner habits. Student feedback indicates that they now have a better understanding of NCEA and feel more prepared for their Year 12 studies.

New Zealand Readers Cup - National Award

After winning the regional competition in Term 1 our Year 9 Readers Cup team of Harvey Williams, Bet Nguyen, Mila Ferry-Smith, Lucy Everist, and Macenzie Cowan traveled to Auckland to compete at Nationals at the end of Term 3. The competition involves reading and thoroughly learning the content of 6 New Zealand fiction books and then answering rapid-fire questions about them on competition day. There were 20 teams from all over New Zealand competing at this event and after an hour of intense competition, the winners were announced, and WEGC came away with a very successful second place ! Well done team. These students worked hard for this and they represented our school with pride.

Art Portfolio Exhibition

On 18 October the senior students had their portfolios exhibited before their NCEA assessments, and parents and students were invited to view them. there was a lot of hard work and activity increased as the deadline loomed, while the final showing was full of inspiration.

Yr13 Spirit Award

Wellington Airport's Spirit Award scholarships are presented to a Year 13 student from each of the five local colleges (Rongotai College, St Catherine’s College, St Patrick’s College, Scots College, and Wellington East Girls’ College) and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Nga Mokopuna (Seatoun) to the awards. These awards recognise and celebrate students who have gone above and beyond to provide service to their school and community. The awards are presented at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards Dinner which was held on 21 November this year, and our Year 13 student, Lucy Thorburn (centre) was awarded her scholarship at this event.

Lucy is our Enviro prefect and was deeply involved in instigating and collaborating on a project to develop and ecologically restore a walking and biking track from Mt Victoria to the college to support active transport for the school and wider community. She has also championed active transport for students including free bike lessons. She has done this while completing her final year at school, studying for exams and her extra curricular activities in sport and choir. We have been uplifted by her service at the school and in the community. A well-deserved award.

Year 8 Taster day - Thursday 28 November

The beginning of events for our new students for 2025 is the Taster day we hold annually. This year we hosted our new Year 9's 2025 from all of our in zone schools and showed them around the school, and gave them challenges and information about Wellington East Girls' College. We are excited to welcome them next year, and the Powhiri will be held on 29 January 2025.

Kia ora koutou,

Action and adventure - it might sound like a film genre but actually it’s the Duke of Ed Award programme here at WEGC! A large number of students from across the school have been using the framework to challenge themselves in all sorts of ways and with great success - here are just some of them…

Outward Bound

Lily Scott braved the chilly weather and attended a 3 week Outward Bound course in July, having gained a scholarship from Wellington South Rotary Club. The experience was “awesome” although Lily reckons cold has a new meaning now!

Integrated Studies

The Integrated Studies classes have embraced the Duke of Ed framework as part of their learning this year and recently completed their Bronze qualifying journey into the Remutaka Ranges. The timing worked in with Federated Mountain Clubs ‘Love our Huts’ campaign and WEGC was lucky enough to nab Turere Lodge as our hut to care for. Along with all the usual bush skills the group spent some time cleaning windows, sweeping decks and checking the surrounds for any maintenance issues as well as exploring the Orongorongo River area, cooking some yummy kai and soaking up the joy of being in nature. The commitment was so cool as a number of these students have already finished their school year but chose to come back and complete their DOE journey - ka pai!

Te Aka

Te Aka students recently celebrated a number of successes within their Duke of Ed programme and a huge congratulations goes to Zoe George, Khaya Taite and Arien Matthews who have completed their Gold Awards! That’s awesome!! Congratulations also to Julia Osmond, Stella de Gregorio, Abacus Catan and Hinetu Northcott who completed their Silver awards and Bronagh Riden who completed her Bronze award.

Last week Te Aka students also completed a 2 night Gold/Silver practice tramp to Atiwhakatu hut. There were some very delicious dinners cooked as well as cold dips in the river and shelter building to supplement the tramping.

The rest of the Duke of Ed programme has also been busy with a Silver Kayak trip into the Marlborough Sounds in October (which turned into a tramp as the weather was too rough to kayak), two Bronze tramps (into the Orongorongos and the Tararuas), an upcoming Silver Kayak trip (hopefully on water this time) and a Gold tramp heading off in the next few days.

What seems to have been a theme in our trips recently has been the need to change plans due to risk factors such as bad weather. The attitudes of the students in coping with these changes, staying positive and making the most of whatever opportunities still present is commendable. It’s also a really authentic context for a good life skill - sometimes you need to be responsive to what’s happening around you, think carefully about what the end goal actually is, and be prepared to change your plan. As my Dad was fond to say, you can’t change the wind, but you can set your sails. Changing our plans for our kayak trip meant we were rewarded with a dolphin escort on our water taxi ride to Ships Cove - how magical was that silver lining :-)

Going for Gold

A huge congratulations to Jess Gault and Katia Reid who have completed their Gold Award this month - it is such an impressive achievement and something you can be very proud of! Both Jess and Katia will be invited to a Gold Ceremony at Government House next year but in the meantime WEGC are hosting a Gold Award ceremony at our school on Sat 30 Nov Charlee Poole and Amelia Brown are being presented their Award certificates at this ceremony.

Congratulations also to all the students that have achieved their Silver and Bronze Awards in the past few months:

Silver: Gemma Smith, Olivia Aitken, Eliza Carey, Charlotte Dacombe-Bird and Ava Johnston

Bronze: Hannah Hesketh, Vivi Puji, Lauren Smith (exWEGC), Seren Wheatley, Izzy Stagg, Tegan McFayden, Rudy Dacombe-Bird (ex WEGC), Hana Dahya, Eva McEwan, Dani Zadimas and Madison Wicks.

And finally a big thank you - to the parents, teachers and other adults that have supported the Duke of Ed programme - without your time and energy all the adventure and achievement listed above would not have been possible, so thank you!

Have a safe and adventurous summer holiday. Meri Kirimehete.

Nga mihi nui

Deb Remacha

Manaaki Tangata DOE

Senior Award Leader

Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award

Duke of Edinburgh Spirit of Adventure trip

WEGC won a ballot for a Spirit voyage in September this year, so 5 keen students: Meg Edwards, Indiana Brown, Niamh McCallum, Greta Dalley and Abby Mason grabbed the opportunity to do a “Discovery Voyage” out of Auckland. This involved both on and off shore leadership and teamwork challenges and the feedback was ‘it was so cool’. Ka pai for being enthusiastic, committed and making it happen team!

International Students : Akonga Tuawhenua

Term four sees many students complete their studies at Wellington East Girls' College. Some have been with us for just a few terms and others for three years. We wish all of our international leavers safe and happy travels home and also want to thank the increadible host families who have made their time in Wellington so special.

2025 sees the arrival of new students and some of these young people are still needing a homestay family. We have students coming for a variety of lengths of time, from two weeks to a full year. Hosting fee is $360 per week for three meals, a comfy room, laundry, wifi and some kind hospitality. Athena London, our Homestay Coordinator looks after the students and also the hosts. She is available to answer any questions you may have about hosting. We would love to hear from you. athena.london@wegc.school.nz

He Huarahi Tamariki school - 30 Years celebration

Recently our satellite secondary school for teen parents celebrated 30 years and invited the community to join them and tour the school, based in Tawa. The Post was also there, and you can read the article here :

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360479270/school-teen-mums-celebrates-30-years

Celebrate and farewell our senior students

Mr Whippy arrived at lunchtime on 24 October to help celebrate the last week for the senior students before their study leave for NCEA Exams. The next day, 25 October, was the last timetabled class for the seniors and a last day for year 13's to wear their uniform.

The Year 13 Leavers' Event will be held on Friday Week 7, November 29th, 4.30pm-6pm.

Year 11 students left on Friday 29 November after their final assembly, at lunchtime.

Have a Go Day - 2 December 2024

Coming up on Monday 2 December we have an event with different employer groups and all of our year 10s in the first two sessions of the day. We have a wide range of employers this year with NZ Police, Microsoft, Te Whatu Ora, BNZ, Wellington City Council, Naylor Love, Chartered Accountants and Wellington Airport. We are looking forward to the information and inspiration they may provide for students seeking for their future career.

STEAM Day

This years STEAM day on 28 September gave students the opportunity to hear from some inspiring women coming speaking about their careers in sciences, engineering, arts, and medicine. Many thanks to the following speakers for giving up their valuable time to come talk to our students: Jose Allen, Jaenine Parkinson, Ery Hughes and Eva Wiles /Claudia Moore

Sports at East

If you have not seen the social media accounts with the results you can check them out below:

You can find information on all sports offered at East, as well as our latest achievements on our school website. www.wegc.school.nz or on the WEGC Sports site here

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

Entertainment App Fundraiser

This Christmas, Let the Adventures Begin! Make every outing special with an Entertainment Membership! Enjoy over $20,000 in savings on the best restaurants, activities, and more! Give the gift of experience this year and keep the fun going into 2025!

We are fundraising with Entertainment. 20% of your Membership fee will be donated to us to directly support our fundraising for our school. Experience unbeatable value across New Zealand and Australia and a Multi City Membership gives you access to thousands of exclusive offers in 20 cities.

Get ready to play, dine and save with a Membership to the Entertainment App and support our fundraiser today!

ORDER HERE TODAY

Thank you for your continued support

Community info : The Inaugural Regional Schools Triathlon - 2 Feb 2025

This event is dedicated to youth and is a great starting point for anyone interest in triathlon or wanting to give something different a go. No need for special bikes or equipment

The event is at Scorching Bay which provides a sheltered spot for the swim and there will be road closures for the bike and run. Late entries fees kick in after 26th Jan 2025 so get your team and entry sorted before the end of Term 4!

Click on the link to find out more and to enter - https://barefoottriathlonseries.co.nz/events/round-2/wellington-secondary-schools-triathlon/"

Ways to help WEGC - Fundraising :

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.

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

Page updated

Report abuse