Gearing up for prizegivings
Kia ora Koutou. Term 4 at Waiopehu College is rushing by and senior students are all fully focused on preparation for NCEA external assessments which begin next week.
It is always a busy time of the year but we are confident that everyone will do well with good preparation and revision.
We have two major prizegiving events to look forward to this month where we will celebrate the wonderful achievements of our students this year. Firstly, our Senior Prizegiving takes place on Wednesday, November 28, followed by Poipoia (Teen Parent Unit) on Thursday, November 29.
Our new 2019 Student Executive Leadership Group candidates were interviewed this week, following some speeches to the school and a week of campaigning for election. The final 10 have been selected and we look forward to introducing them all in our next Heads Up.
I would also invite you all to our annual Craft Fair which is set to take place on Friday, November 16 from 5pm to 7pm in the main quad. Our very first fair, in 2017, was a great success and we are very grateful to Sara Allpress for her energy and vision in leading this project.
The focus of school life is, quite rightly, on academic achievement but here at Waiopehu we are also concentrating on citizenship and growing good people. This sits central to our family values and the inclusive, connected relationships we all enjoy with each other have been a cornerstone of what makes Waiopehu such a special place since its inception under the leadership of foundation principal Jack Porter in 1973. We took this sense of service a step further in 2017 when we formed a Rotary Interact Club and, under the leadership of our 2018 president Dara Cranfield, the Interact team have achieved much this year. Just this year we have:
• Sent two of our students to Vanuatu to help with the education of students on Ambryn Island.
• Fundraised for two electric cars for children with disabilities. Many readers will know one of the recipients, Frankie Watson.
• Fundraised and donated to the Levin Toy Library.
One of our most special projects was working alongside Koputaroa School to design, build and paint a buddy bench. This is for Koputaroa children to sit on whenever they want, but particularly if a child would like someone to invite them to come and play. It promotes kindness and sharing by including anyone that sits on the bench in whatever other children are doing. We were delighted to attend a handover ceremony last Friday, October 26, where representatives from our Interact Club handed the bench over to the Koputaroa community. The sense of fulfilment for our students being involved in projects such as this is immense and we are very proud to be growing such amazing, community minded young people.