As we approach the July holiday break I thought this an appropriate time to draw your attention to the Favourite Teacher Awards.

This is a nice opportunity to shine a light on some great stories about this school and the great teachers we are fortunate to have here.
The Sunday Star Times and TVNZ Breakfast are running these awards, and are profiling teachers from around the country for the next month. 
I invite you to nominate your great teachers by accessing the nominations page on the link below.  Nominations close on July 21st.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/Favourite-teacher-awards

http://favouriteteacher.co.nz/

The winners – both the nominator and the teacher – will get a nice weekend away: travel; accommodation; a dinner out and double passes to Matilda, the Musical.

Another busy term in the drama department. Year 11 students are working towards their Commedia dell’ arte assessment, while the year 12 and 13 students are rehearsing for their productions. The two year 12 classes perform Wheeler’s Luck in weeks one and two of next term. This is a classic kiwi comedy, highly physical and very funny. Performances will be at 3:30 and & 7:00pm on Thursday and Friday of each week. If you have any gumboots we could borrow please get your son or daughter to bring them in to the Drama department at TAPAC; old, new large, tine, black or coloured, we can use them all!

The year 13 students are unleashing a bunch of clowns on the bard to perform Twelfth Night. We are celebrating the ancient festival of All Fools Day where the social order was turned on its head for a day with fools becoming nobles and nobles playing servants.  The clowns play fast and loose with gender and status, whilst attempting to remain true to Shakespeare’s text. Performances will be Tuesday – Friday of week three at 7:00 pm.

Our students also performed for students at Pasadena and Ponsonby intermediate schools. These performances were a real showcase of our young performing talent.  The year 9 and 10 students will also perform at the Junior Arts Festival in term four.

Robert Pollock
HOD Drama

There is a great deal of excitement as students and staff prepare for the History/Classics Europe trip: two weeks of travel, museums, places of historic importance - and lots of eating our way around Europe.

In the midst of thinking ahead to summer in Europe we are also looking back at the way the History Department has grown over the years. Someone integral to the growth and development of the department is Zoe Lindsay. She has been an essential part of the department for 12 years. Her perceptiveness and her ability to think with clarity will be missed. Her role in the school has been varied: not only has she consistently worked to ensure that students in the history department flourish she has also in her position as Dean been responsible for the shaping of so many young lives. For us, her colleagues in the department, she will be missed also for her humour and her willingness to fight for the underdog. Zoe is leaving to work as a reviewer for the Education Review Office and we wish her all the very best in her new job.
Graeme Moran
HOD History

Considering becoming an electrician?  Connecting the future – etco* (The Electrical Training Company)

Etco* is a wholly owned subsidiary of Master Electricians established to provide employment and training for the electrical industry in New Zealand.

Our two main areas of activity are:
Employment and placement of electrical apprentices via our group apprenticeship scheme.
Provision of training courses for apprentices and tradespeople.

Since our beginnings in 1991, our commitment to produce the best has helped thousands of etco* apprentices achieve outstanding success in industry competitions and national examinations. This means an etco* apprenticeship is a significant opportunity for students, young men and women who are practically inclined and academically capable to:

Gain a valued qualification
Etco* offer our apprentices, a career not a course.  Qualifying as an electrician is the comprehensive way to attain your Degree in Engineering, presently there is a world demand for qualified electricians. The industry not only provides job security, but a range of other career options and even travel, as NZ qualifications are recognised Internationally. 

Get paid while learning
Students start earning from the outset in a trade where qualified electricians are well paid. They will receive a combination of practical and theoretical training and a lot of support and mentoring from etco* tutors and coordinators who are all experienced electricians.

Get challenged and grow
Students will encounter a wide range of jobs and situations andlencounter many challenges to extend and grow their confidence and ability, from learning how to problem solve to responding to increasing on-the-job independence.

Enjoy access to diverse work opportunities
This is a passport to an exciting and rewarding career in a growing industry that is now so diverse and technology-driven the opportunities and rewards are only limited by their desire and enthusiasm to succeed.

For further information – please do not hesitate to check out our website www.etco.co.nz or telephone Wayne Shannon (Apprenticeship Coordinator) 027 543 5138 or contact your Careers Advisor.

Early in the term we held our year 9 cross country. This run is 3km and was run like a colour run where students got coloured powder thrown at them. This made the event fun and exciting for the students. This event was run by the senior Sports Academy who organised the track, roles of the helpers, coloured powder and a bbq. The day went exceptionally well with some great results.

Congratulations to: Rafael Hosking who won first place for the males & Celia Mayo who won first place for the females. Amazing effort!!

Hope your all good - you've probably already be told already about this but great work from Western Springs College boys at the Auckland Scholastic s surfing competition at Piha yesterday Ethan got 2nd in the under 16's and Jude winning the under 14's.

Some photos attached in case the school would like to acknowledge our Springs boys doing well in another minority sport

Ethan's also attending the Surfing Australia High performance center again this year with his board riders club from the 2nd to the 7th of July so wont be at school for the final week of term. Hope this is OK and I'll get him to touch base with all his teachers on what may be required schoolwork wise.

PS - looking forward to some more shredding again this year on the slopes ;-) sing out if we can help again in any way

Western Springs College boys at the Auckland Scholastic s surfing competition at Piha recently. Ethan got 2nd in the under 16's and Jude winning the under 14's.

This term the year 12 PE students have been exploring different methods of training in preparation for the Tough Guy/Gal 6km obstacle course mud run. This is for the achievement standards 2.3 and 2.4 worth a combined 8 credits. Every lesson they have been enjoying a different type of training and participating in lessons ranging from boxing to crossfit to yoga.

We were lucky enough to have some yoga sessions run by Point Chevalier’s own Swammi Saraswati from MYC Yoga. Swammi is a community based yoga instructor and certified wedding celebrant who loves giving back to the community. She offers free sessions to people under the age of 16 and believes in encouraging whole family sessions. If you would like to know more you can head to their website http://www.manipurayogacentre.co.nz.

Holiday Workshops for NCEA externals externals

The Mathematics department is offering workshops for NCEA level 1,2 and 3 students for externally assessed standards. Students should carefully considering attending these workshops as they are a great chance to revise and learn material that will help them with important exams later in the year. All workshops are in the 2nd week of the holidays on the wednesday or thursday in the classrooms at the top of B-block. These workshops will only be relevant to  some students, those doing the more external focussed courses.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at hocklyj@wsc.school.nz

Jared Hockly
HOD Mathematics

It has been a busy time for the team this month. On 14th June we held our annual Leadership Training Day, run by the Peace Foundation. Thirty students spent the day in the library learning how to resolve conflict in peaceful ways, what rapport is and how to build it, and how to do a mediation. It was a lot of fun, and the students learned heaps.

This was closely followed by ‘Peace Week at Springs’. This year we are celebrating ‘Aotearoa New Zealand 30 Years Nuclear Free’. We invited Arai and Marie from the Peace Foundation to come and talk to us about nuclear weapons and how dangerous they are, and about the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty that is being negotiated in New York at the moment. Over 300 students came to the hall at lunchtime, and the highlight of the talk was hearing from Takeaki, who was 2 ½ years old when the nuclear bomb was dropped 2.6 km from his home in Hiroshima. It was very moving to hear his story, and it made the issue real for us all.

We also organised a poster competition. Students were invited to create a ‘Poster for Peace’ and there were 38 entries. These will be displayed in S Block, and will be made into a banner for the students to take to the Auckland Schools Peace Symposium in August.

The whole week made us more aware of the danger of nuclear weapons, and how people’s lives are changed forever  by war.

A big thank you to the Peace Ambassadors, who worked hard to make the week so successful!

                                                                                                                  Waste Wise team before the event

                                                                         Clothes swap in progress

Travel Wise:
Week 4 was Alternate Travel Week. Travelwise had something going on nearly every day! There was free baking in the mornings for those who travelled to school sustainably to promote walking, biking, skating and catching the bus to school. On Monday, there was a skate comp out on the village green. The winners of the skate competitions were Gianni Canales and Brooklyn Rock-Murdock. Well done to everyone who participated!

On Tuesday the smoothie bike was out on the Village Green. The smoothies and the bike freebies from Auckland Transport were a big hit! There were free bike bells, repair kits, maps of bike and bus routes and plenty more to help you with caring for and using your bike. On Thursday there was a sausage sizzle and live music The sausage sizzle was to raise money for a charity called World Bicycle Relief. We ended up raising nearly $200 to go towards providing bikes to help people travel more easily in developing countries and rural regions. Special mention to the band, “Cool live music”, who played awesomely. Finally, on Friday, there was the bike bunny hop competition and Bike mechanics. Well done to Joseph Gemmola and Toby Main for taking out the win! Many WSC students and staff had their bikes serviced for free by ATs mechanics. 

Alternate Travel Week was a big hit as usual, with Travelwise going all out! There were more events than ever before, and it was extremely popular. Travelwise are working closely with the school and AT to promote sustainable travel in our community, and Alternate Travel Week was a great way to kickstart the year. - Hazel Burgess

Waste Wise

Our Stream
The Meola Creek Restoration group has been working hard to apply for the Waitematā Quick Response Grant. We are stoked to announce that we have been awarded the grant! This will be a huge help in terms of sourcing new natives to plant, as well as invasive weed management. Now comes the really hard work though. We need as many hands as possible to clear weeds & plant - your help will contribute to a long lasting and sustainable preservation of our local waterways.

Please join us from 3:30pm on Wednesday the 16th of August, rain or shine, between TAPAC and the stream for some more weeding. Hopefully the ground is a bit softer now!

Upcoming Working Bees
Term 3: Wednesday 16th August
Term 4: Wednesday 1st November

Like us on facebook to stay up to date - “Meola Creek Restoration”

The international department hosted an end-of-term ‘music pizza lunch’ on Wednesday, 28 June, organised by the international student leaders. Six students performed on stage: Elva Sun and Yvonne Qian played a piece on the piano, Shawn XU played the saxophone, and Louis Mortlock and his friend performed a guitar-violin duet. We thank these talented musicians very much for their contributions towards the recital.

With each music piece, our end-of-term leavers were farewelled by the international student leaders. The music performances were enjoyed with pizza and fruit.

We thank all of our student leavers for having been part of the Western Springs College community and wish them all the best for their future:

• Elliot Ferland
• Pablo Andres Piucol Vargas
• Danai Treitel
• Paola Beatriz Villalobos Hidalgo
• Clement Emiel
• Angela Zhang
• Alex Wang
• Lee LI
• Sugar Su
• Hannah Zhang

Inevitably, Western Springs College’s reputation for performing arts drew Luc to this place. He is amazed at the school’s range of arts subjects and its resources. Since January, Luc has particularly enjoyed his Photography and Art Design subjects. What intrigues him is the freedom that he is given in carrying out the class tasks. While all students are working towards the same goal (e.g. delivering a portfolio), each student chooses their particular theme and path. Luc is currently working on photos of the city taken with long periods of exposure, which distorts them in an intriguing way.

In his homestay, Luc claims that he is an oasis of tranquillity in the hustle and bustle of the family life. While his homestay parents and siblings are busy studying and working, Luc likes to relax in the kitchen with a self-brewed cup of coffee (without milk or cream!) – sorry, a proper Italian espresso.  At weekends, Luc often joins the windsurfing/paddle boarding group organised by the international department where he has forged close bonds with some other students.

The international team wishes Luc many more enjoyable months in New Zealand. In particular, we hope that he is able to tick the South Island off his bucket list by the end of the year with unforgettable adventures.

International Students Administrator – Luzia Sauer

Stage Challenge 2017 is in final week of practice. Competition is about to begin for the Auckland region over three nights this week and our students are getting ready for the big show. Student Leaders of the Estrangement production have worked incredibly hard to prepare for the challenge and are making final steps with set, dance and costume as they prep for their performance at the Aotea Centre. Please support their hard work by getting a ticket from Ticketmaster for Friday 7th July, 7pm Ticketmaster - Stage Challenge Tickets

Stage Challenge is this week on Friday 7 July!

Costume: A visual representation of identity and message.
When we are born, we are all the same. A blank canvas, there may be genetic differences but we are all a blank canvas, ready to be created and turned into a work that reflects our surroundings, the connections we make and the different influences from our society.  Prejudice is not human nature. At point zero, there is no differentiation from the eyes of a newborn. We are not born with hate in our minds ready to discriminate and disregard members of our community. Sadly, this comes later. As we age, we develop opinions and views formed by what is around us and our reactions to the environments we are brought up in.

To portray this message all aspects of a production should represent it. Dressing is a visual display of identity, and by expansion costume is the visual portrayal of this message.

Both groups, the poor and rich, share the same base colour, an off white, a natural innocence. This is intended to show that underneath material representation, both groups are the same. How the costumes are added to shows the effects of society on the blank canvas. A low socioeconomic environment stresses the wear of the garment and the use of the garment is a lot more, a worn patina will develop, as well as being tarred by assumption and critique of their behaviour from those in more advantaged situations, distressing and staining the garment. As time goes on, the garment frays under the pressure of a society driven by an economic social hierarchy, leaving pieces of the garment behind and sadly the people with it.  While a capital driven society takes away from the economically poor, it adds to the rich, increasing material difference and creating visible divides in the society. This is reflected in the rich costumes. The same off white base, however in a higher shine, richer fabric telling of the initial inborn privilege that a monetary social system carries with it, institutionalising hardship for those in poverty. On top of that, they have highly embroidered belting and layers of colour, decoration and flamboyance. Chains hang from their waists, blatant symbols of luxury and a disregard for any one not in the same financial situation. Anyone else is less and undeserving of time as they are not the same. They (The Poor) do not have the neck ruffs and head pieces, the bracelets and ties, they are nobodies due to their material possession or lack of it. This is the contrast we hope to portray, how society affects people and creates them to some extent, it creates boundaries and it builds exclusivity and the hate that comes with it.
Update on the process of production

So far we have completed the costumes for the materially poor, those in the contemporary dance. We have hand dyed all the base costumes, simple tunic shapes made of a cotton blend, as well as dying all of the overlays and additional touches. After that we applied various other natural processes to them in order to distress and age the costumes. 

Currently we are working through finishing accessories for the rich or jazz group, and also finishing the construction on the rich aggressor group.

Oscar Furness-Wills
Costume Design Leader

Mrs Rawnsley’s Year 10 Dance class wrapped up a productive and creative first semester with performances at Ponsonby and Pasadena Intermediate Schools and then a studio showing for friends, whanau and teachers in TAPAC’s Studio 2.

The class performed their warm-ups, own choreography, and the three dances they have learnt this year –a Hip Hop sequence taught by Richie Cesan,  a contemporary dance based on folding body parts,  and a Samoan sasa contemporary fusion dance.

Their own ‘Folding’ choreography was inspired by origami. The students constructed origami cranes and then followed the origami instructions to ‘fold’ their bodies. These movements became imaginative duets that connected with the ‘Folding’ contemporary dance they had learnt and manipulated earlier.

Another busy term in the Drama Department. Year 11 students are working towards their Commedia dell’ arte assessment, while the year 12 and 13 students are rehearsing for their productions. The two year 12 classes perform Wheeler’s Luck in weeks one and two of next term. This is a classic kiwi comedy, highly physical and very funny. Performances will be at 3:30pm and & 7:00pm on Thursday and Friday of each week. If you have any gumboots we could borrow please get your son or daughter to bring them in to the Drama Department at TAPAC; old, new large, tine, black or coloured, we can use them all!

The year 13 students are unleashing a bunch of clowns on the bard to perform Twelfth Night. We are celebrating the ancient festival of All Fools Day where the social order was turned on its head for a day with fools becoming nobles and nobles playing servants.  The clowns play fast and loose with gender and status, whilst attempting to remain true to Shakespeare’s text. Performances will be Tuesday – Friday of week three at 7:00 pm.

Our students also performed for students at Pasadena and Ponsonby Intermediate schools. These performances were a real showcase of our young performing talent.  The year 9 and 10 students will also perform at the Junior Arts Festival in term four.

Robert Pollock - HOD Drama

Greetings - At the time of writing, the energy levels have increased as the knowledge that time is decreasing of this term and year in general.  The potential for enhanced anxiety and stress levels can also be a factor to inertia – but most students have maintained a constant work ethic to combat the seasonal ‘funk’ that accompanies the winter months.

The Y9 juniors are busy working towards completing their final works for assessment in paint mediums.  The Y10 students have completed their Theibaud inspired cup cake mural paintings and are now working on their three dimensional Oldenburg self-imaged creations for NCEA level 1 credits.   The Y11 students are also completing their Salle inspired mixed media works with some highly expressive results that will be the basis of their second board for the folio external.  Artrooms will be open for catch up work during the holidays Tuesday and Wednesday only for both weeks from 10am-1pm.

Danielle Voyce has been offering catch up workshops this term for Y12 and Y13 students to assist them with Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign and Illustrator.  This was beneficial to a number of students with the added bonus of having an experienced industry trained tutor giving them tips and showing them shortcuts.

Kirsty Britton has also been coordinating tertiary visits this term – with John Piper from AUT talking about the Art Design degrees and later senior lecturer James Cousins from Elam who had brought ex-WSC student Alice Duncan-Gardiner, discussing their course outlines for the BFA.  Whilst these were organised to motivate and inspire senior students to consider Fine Arts and Design as tertiary options – it was also another timely reminder about how fast the year is going and what physical pathway(s) they might want to pursue once they leave school.

Badminton

Six teams have been representing Springs in the Auckland Badminton competitions, each week on a Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. All teams have been training well, with most players getting in two sessions a week.

On Wednesdays, our Mixed Gold and Mixed Green are leading their grades while our Girls Green are in the top 4. Our Girls Gold team, while not in contention to make the playoffs, have shown great improvement throughout the season.

On Thursdays at Mt.Roskill, our Boys Development team lead their competition with two weeks to play, while our Boys White team are just outside the top 4.

Thanks to Vikram Setty and Mikayla Stokes for their coaching prowess and leadership skills.
Both players are also our top male and female badminton exponent.
We wish all our teams the best of luck as they enter their final few weeks.

Football

We are now halfway through the football season having experienced some tough battles across all seven teams. It is pleasing however to see the development of the individual players as they settle in to their team environment and play a strong structured brand of football.

In addition to our normal competition, we have also entered a 13th grade boys Knock Out Cup team into this ‘one-off’ competition for the first time. Our boys team is made up largely of our 14A side with some additional players from our 13A team and they are seriously exciting to watch! Our first round match was against Howick College who were physically bigger than our boys and certainly challenging. However the boys stuck to the game plan and came out with a 4-1 win with excellent goals scored by Mana Power (2), Matt Thompson and Sam Jacobs. This win puts the boys into the quarter final round of the top 13th grade boys teams in Auckland.

Our quarter-final match will be played against Sacred Heart College on Wednesday 26th July, at Sacred Heart. Good luck to the boys and coach, Mike Mags.

Sports Headlines

Orienteering – SYLVIE FRATER has been selected in the NZ Junior Girls Orienteering team and ANNA CORY-WRIGHT has been named as a reserve. New Zealand will have four teams competing for the Southern Cross Trophy, in the Australian Champs, later this year.

Squash

Our four squash teams are training and playing exceptionally well as we head into the final 3-4 weeks of their competition. All grades have an extended season as there are record numbers in each grade, with up to twelve teams.

Our Senior Girls have been playing some great squash with their recent 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Mt. Albert their season’s highlight. Year 9 student Trelise Chappell has been a revelation, taking over the school’s number 1 seeding and winning six of her seven games, usually against more senior players.
Our Senior Boys team remain in contention for a top four placing. These students have just left the junior ranks and usually play against more senior ranked players, so their time will eventually come over the next few years.

Our Junior Boys Gold team remain unbeaten after seven weeks. All players remain undefeated, but in the horizon lie two other unbeaten teams, so we wish our boys the best
of luck for the remainder of the season.

The Junior Boys Green team are new, developing players and they have been training and playing well above expectation. This team will spend another year in this grade as most players are Year 9s and that is when we believe this team will excel.

Thanks to the Unitec Squash Centre, Auckland Squash and our own Jenny Jones for all their time and ongoing support.

Waterpolo 

This year’s NZSS Division 2 Nationals was held in Rotorua during the April school holidays. Over the course of the four day tournament the team played seven games - winning six, but sadly losing the semi-final by one goal - ending up with the NZSS Div 2 Nationals Bronze Medal. 

It was definitely a team effort with strong performances all around. Thanks and a sad farewell to our Captain and Vice Captain - Zach Monk and Theo Salmon and congratulations to Kelly McDowell who was named in the tournament team. 

Thanks to Brydie Hunt for her coaching of the team and for giving up her holidays to spend time with us all - we wouldn’t be where we are without you.  Thanks also to Peter McIntyre for your support throughout the season.

At the end of this term the Social Studies Department farewells a long standing member,  Zoë Lindsay.

Zoë has taught Social Studies at Western Springs for 14 years. She has incredible content knowledge in all the Social Studies topics, especially in her favourite subject, History. She is passionate about challenging students to think critically, getting students to create greater links between the topics and the world we live in and getting her students to have a greater involvement with social action.
Her students will miss her love and knowledge for the subject, her humour and her high expectations she places on all students.

Zoë also had a stint as co-HOD of Social Studies in 2011 with myself. Together, along with other members of the Department we updated and created new and relevant topics. We put greater emphasis on opening students eyes to issues affecting people around the world and on the Key Competencies.

We wish Zoë all the very best in her new job with ERO and we hope if she ever comes back to Springs (as part of her new role) that she gives the Social Studies Department a glowing report!

Emma Dwyer
HOD Social Studies

The International Documentary Film  Festival - Docs for Schools

On the 2nd of June, close to 120 Year 10 Social Studies students went to the International Documentary Film Festival. We saw three different documentaries. All were powerful in their own creative way. One had narration over a comic book visual style, while another added a personal touch to the so called “Jungle” Refugee camp in Calais, France. While they were all very emotional and powerful, there was one that left a lasting impression on me; the documentary #Chicagogirl. A documentary that was about what Social Media was doing to help the Syrian Civil War, and how one girl in Chicago, Ala’a Basatneh, was helping without leaving her house. Personally the #ChicagoGirl film inspired me to do my Social Studies sources assignment on this terrible and terrifying war.  Overall the trip was an amazing experience with some inspiring stories.
A big thank you must go to Jane Cotty, the Documentary for Schools liaison person and also the Rei Foundation for giving us the opportunity to see these documentaries for free. Thank-you very much for your generosity.
By Archie Lee-Cooper 10AE

Human Rights guest speaker Golriz Ghahraman

This term we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to have Golriz Ghahraman from the NZ Green Party come to speak at Western Springs College. She had an amazing story to tell about how she got into politics, her thoughts on Human Rights issues today, and what is was like coming to New Zealand as a refugee when she was 9 years old. Human Rights is the current year 10 topic in Social Studies and this talk was the push forward that many of us needed in order to become more passionate and motivated about their subject. A multitude of students came to listen to what Golriz had to say, and as one of them, I think I can speak for the rest of us in saying it was worth giving up a lunchtime to sit and listen to such an inspiring woman.

By Samara Sims 10AE

Students self selected for extension
We are proud of the students who took the initiative and responded to the call for entries in an external science competition run by International Competitions and Assessments (ICAS). They sat the test recently. We thank them for their commitment and, look forward to receiving the results.

Opportunity for extension
Royal Society Te Apārangi is offering 40 places to year Yr12 and Yr13 students to attend Powering Potential, an event where students will work in a team to address challenging science issues and work alongside a mentor scientist.   This is a fully subsidised opportunity offered by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and Freemasons NZ.

Powering Potential takes place from 11 – 14 December in Wellington.  For more information about eligibility and criteria then please visit:  https://royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/powering-potential/

Applications close 9 October.

Sustainability News

Our Climate Declaration
Sunday 17 June marked the national launch of “Our Climate Declaration” to audiences around the country. Our climate declaration is a commitment to a future based on kaitiakitanga, where signatories are both making a personal commitment to a positive future as well as demanding changes to the current values placed on nature. 

Gathered to witness this crucial event where artists, new and veteran activists, musicians, actors, concerned families as well as two students from Western Springs College.