School news

Common Assessment tasks

Students in Years 10 and 11 will be sitting the NZQA common assessment tasks from the 24th to 28th of May. These tasks enable the students to gain the literacy and numeracy credits that they require to be awarded their NCEA level 1 certificates. They consist of three exams, reading worth 5 credits, writing worth 5 credits and the numeracy exam worth 10 credits. Students will have another opportunity to pass these assessments in September should they not pass them during this round.

DOE Gold Wangapeka practice /Heaphy qualifier 29 Jan to 5 Feb

Gold Wangapeka practice /Heaphy qualifier 29 Jan to 5 Feb
Six students completed their gold practice tramp over the challenging Wangapeka Track. Highlights included a sunny afternoon on the Biggs Tops with a highpoint of 1457m reached and stunning 360 degree views of mountains! Daily swims in rivers were much looked forward to once beds were secured at the huts. After the Little Wanganui Saddle was reached  on the Westcoast ,the track became very overgrown and unmaintained, pushing us all to our limits at some stage. During the four days we had no rain and the scenery was breathtaking as we completed 59km.
We had an afternoon at the Last Resort in Karamea to repack our packs for the qualifying tramp to the Heaphy Great Walk Track.
The morning we set out was our first rain and we needed to put on all our wet weather gear halfway to the Heaphy Hut. We had a fire going in the hut...it was so cold!
The next morning, thunder/lightning and heavy rain fell as we made our way to the James Mackay hut for lunch. We left for Saxon Hut and had a strong wind on our backs which brought hail showers. This was an exhilarating day with 32km tramped.
The next day saw lots of amazing limestone caves explored at the Gouland Downs on our way to Perry Saddle ,where we set up our tents for the night. 
A highlight of this tramp was getting up at 4am to climb Mt Perry (1248m) to capture a perfect sunrise. We even saw Farewell Spit and Mt Taranaki from here.We spent our last night at Brown Hut highlighting and  recapping our 85m journey and of course playing our DOE traditional game of five crowns.
These two tramps challenged all of us at some point and have certainly made us stronger mentally and physically .We fell in love with the South Island and its scenery.  We would like to thank everyone who helped us with our fundraising to get there and a special thank you to the amazing shadow party!

DOE Silver Qualifying Tramp Mt Ruapehu 

Friday 23rd to 26th February four boys travelled to Mt Ruapehu to complete their silver qualifier. The group began their tramp hiking up the Tukino access road to the Tukino Village on the Eastern slopes of the mountain. From here they went off track to navigate their way to the highest hut in the North Island,the Whangaehu Hut (2050m) above the Whangaehu River. They were the first DOE group from Otamatea High School to stay in this alpine hut. The climb was arduous, but rewarding when the hut was reached. The sunset and sunrise were beautiful.
The next day the group climbed up to the Cathedral Rocks experiencing strong winds, but sunny weather. They then headed back to Tukino Village and went "off track" to join the Round the Mountain Track before the Whangaehu swing bridge and Rangipo Hut.
A storm came through in the early hours of the morning making the group aware of how quickly mountain weather can change. All layers were worn as the group left the hut and headed for Mangaehuehu Hut for lunch. They experienced being pelted by rain as strong winds came down the mountain making it difficult to hold your footing in places. By 10am the storm had passed and the group were swimming in the stream below Blyth Hut in the afternoon sun.
The next day they tramped off track above Blyth Hut navigating their way to the Turoa Skifield park where our van was to pick us up.
The tramp had challenged us mentally and physically in parts . The terrain under foot was always changing ,as was the scenery.
A HUGE thank you to our shadow party Robyn Bruce and Sheryl Cullen.

Year 7 Literacy classes

In our Year 7 literacy classes, students have been focusing on reading recipes. This week the students followed a recipe and cooked up a storm by exploring a traditional dish from the Pacific Islands—Sapasui.
Some of the students responses
Ella- It needs more soy sauce and Rachel’s chili sauce.
Hamiora- The meat is delicious
Ross- Absolutely no thanks
Tarawhete- Can I take the rest home!

Sports results for week 3 and 4

Boys football
Otamatea played Rodney College. Otamatea won 4-3

Girls Football 
Otamatea played Whangarei Girls Junior team. Result was a draw.

Mixed Hockey 
Otamatea played Whangarei Boys High School Blue. Otamatea lost 1-2

Girls Basketball North Harbour Competition
Otamatea played Long Bay College senior girls prem. Otamatea won 44-24

Boys basketball South Zone School Friday Night Competition
Otamatea played Rodney College. Otamatea lost 92-65

Golf Champs
Alex Parry-Ernst competed in the Northland Secondary School individual golf champs at Keri Keri Golf Club. Results are still to come in.

Mixed Volleyball 
22nd May our mixed team played well placing 5th over all out of 11 teams.

Turbo Touch year 9 and 10 and senior days
All teams thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to next years event days.