NCEA Exams: Next week, starting Tuesday 27th September, is our practice NCEA examination week. These examinations are very important. They provide students with an opportunity to practise their end of year assessments under proper examination conditions, and it identifies those areas that students still need to work on. If students pass their practice exam, then these results can be used as a derived grade for students who may become sick on the end of year examination date. These results also count towards our end of year prizes such as Dux and first in class. It is therefore imperative that students prepare adequately for these examinations. I strongly suggest putting ample time aside this long weekend for exam preparation, especially for those students with many papers to sit. Year 13s are on study leave next week and only need to attend school for their exams. These students must sign in and out when arriving and leaving school.

Volunteers Needed: We are looking for volunteers to help us as reader/writers for the end of year NCEA examinations from Monday 7 November to Friday 2nd December. Volunteers won't be required every day during this period. You will be required to read and/or write for students who have special assessment conditions when completing their examinations.  You will be trained to undertake reader/writer duties by the school. You will also need to complete police vetting (done by the school).  Please get in touch with Caroline Foubister if you are interested at caroline.foubister@otamatea.school.nz

Rocketwerkz: I have received some lovely feedback from Liam Bates, Digital Marketing Manager at Rocketwerkz, who hosted three of our year 10 students last month as part of their work experience day. Egor, Ben and William were outstanding representatives of our school and showed a strong interest in computer science and game development. This is a rapidly expanding field, and could be an excellent career pathway for these boys.

Workshop: I have been very impressed with some of the work being done by our Wood Technology and Construction students in the workshop. Leiton has produced a very high quality mirror box and Chloe a beautiful table. Year 11s who enjoy the practical nature of this work are encouraged to enrol in our Construction Academy next year.

Chromebooks 2023: A reminder that all year 10 to 13 students will need to bring a Chromebook to school each day from the start of 2023. We encourage you to support our amazing local supplier 100% Fergus Appliances for your Chromebook purchase, but we have also partnered with PB Tech and Cyclone who have some good deals available. See our website: Our School => Student Chromebooks for more details.

Policy Review: Each term a number of school policies come up for review, as part of our triennial review programme. If you wish to provide any recommendations on these policies, please click on this link, The username is Otamatea, and the password is bickerstaffe. We value your feedback.

Prefects 2023: Nomination forms are now available from the main office for all year 11 and 12 students wishing to apply for prefect positions next year. Completed nomination forms, together with an application letter, need to be submitted by 2.30pm on Wednesday 28th September.

Under 15 Rugby: It has been a real pleasure seeing the development of our under 15 rugby team, which was reestablished this year. We had 23 boys sign up for the team, with many having not played rugby before. The team had 5 games this season, and have shown considerable improvement during this time, with the boys showing a lot of dedication during training sessions. This paid off with a season ending 19-14 win against Bream Bay College. Thanks to Taira Phillips for managing the team, and to Nick Makea and Lance Nepia for the fantastic work they have done coaching this team. Thanks also to our team sponsors: Three Furlongs Kaiwaka, Gas Maungaturoto, Maungaturoto Laundromat, Otamatea Hawks Rugby and Under Armour.

Basketball: The Northland junior boys tournament took place in Whangarei on Tuesday. We were able to enter two teams after one school pulled out at the last minute. Team 2 came 2nd in their group after some hard fought matches, but it was Otamatea 1 who really showed their abilities on the day. In the group stages they beat Kerikeri High School, Northland College and Dargaville High School. In the semi-final they beat Bream Bay College, but unfortunately could not overcome a strong Tauraroa Area School in the final. 

Board Elections: Congratulations to Sophie van Harlingen who has been elected to the Board of Trustees as student representative. Next week I will have the results of the staff and parent vote, with these results determining the makeup of our new board.

Ngā mihi

Dirk Smyth