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Board of Trustees says “We’re listening”.

Re : Striving for Success project

A community survey by the Waiheke High School board of trustees has highlighted the need for strong leadership, improved communication and a clear understanding of what the school stands for.

Independent analysis of over 600 responses showed that people see the school as a safe, inclusive, caring environment where everyone is valued and made to feel welcome. Teachers who go the extra mile are valued. Parents like the use of technology in the classroom and the schools focus on career paths as well as academic results. The school was seen as strong in the core subjects, with art, drama, physical education, sea-sports, hospitality and viticulture also mentioned.

But board chair Robyn Woodall says that there were some strong messages about areas for improvement too: “People are telling us it’s not clear what kind of school we want to be, what we stand for, what our story is. That’s something we’ve got to work out, as a community. There were questions over school pride, managing student behaviour and uniform standards. We need to understand issues like these and decide where we stand.”

Board member Grant Duffy says another priority is to improve communication. “People are busy. They want to be able to get the information they need, quickly and easily, in a way that suits them. We need to be smart, use technology and be flexible enough to tailor the way we talk to people to get the message through. It’s something we’ve got to invest in.”

Robyn adds, “We need to change the way we get our story out in to the community. People want to see our leaders, – our principal, senior teachers and board members’ – out and about, face to face, talking passionately about our direction and our goals and listening to feedback. That’s the Waiheke way, we work on word of mouth.”

Grant says the school is well placed to take this feedback, consider its direction and get the community on side. “It’s going to be the number one priority for the new board – What type of school do we want to be and how can we get the community behind us?”

The Board of Trustees sincerely thanks you for your input and with Board elections on now, we look forward to getting on with making Waiheke High School the school of choice for our community.

Report is here:

2019 Final Waiheke High Striving for Success Report May 2019

Board of Trustees says “We’re listening”. Read More »

Preliminary Strike Action

I am writing to let you know that the latest vote of the PPTA Union’s membership has directed Strike Action and this time it will be a joint strike of both secondary and primary teachers, on Wednesday, 29th May 2019.

The nature of the strike is a stopping of work under the Secondary Teachers Collective Agreement. The strike will commence at 12.01am on Wednesday, 29th May and the strike will end at 11.59pm on Wednesday, 29th May.

However, a settlement is still trying to be concluded and we will not know until three days before, if the strike will occur.

I am letting you know that Waiheke High School will be open on the 29th May but not for instruction and we will be operating on a skeleton staff during the strike period.

We will update you again closer to the day.

Ngā mihi nui
Jude Young
Principal

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Achievement in NCEA and UE

Congratulations to all students and staff at Waiheke High School. Statistics released by the Ministry of Education show that Waiheke High School has out-performed and exceeded both National and Decile Band Achievement in NCEA at Levels 1 to 3 – FIVE years in a row. Scroll to bottom of page for the numbers.

 

Waiheke High School

National

Decile 4-7
Academic Year

Year 11

NCEA L1

Year 12

NCEA L2

Year 13

NCEA L3

Year 13

UE

Year 11

NCEA L1

Year 12

NCEA L2

Year 13

NCEA L3

Year 13

UE

Year 11

NCEA L1

Year 12

NCEA L2

Year 13

NCEA L3

Year 13

UE
2014 88.2 86.1 77.6 56.9 72.4 75.0 59.5 45.7 74.5 77.5 59.6 43.4
2015 89.9 87.5 78.6 55.4 74.5 76.3 62.5 48.0 77.1 79.7 64.3 48.2
2016 85.3 86.7 71.4 77.6 75.2 78.4 64.0 48.7 78.0 81.4 65.1 47.7
2017 86.3 88.2 73.2 57.1 74.9 78.3 65.0 48.5 78.0 81.3 66.0 47.1
2018 85.3 89.8 77.1 54.2 71.8 77.4 66.2 49.1 74.5 79.9 66.6 47.7

 

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Thanks to Waiheke Local Board

Once again the Waiheke Local Board have supported our students with $1000.00 towards the registration of 15 Year 10/11 students to complete their Bronze Hillary Award through the Duke of Edinburgh programme.

More information about this programme can be found here: https://dofehillary.org.nz/

 

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World Vision Youth Conference 2019

On 19th March three Year 11 students had the opportunity to attend the World Vision Youth Conference along with students from other schools around Auckland.  The conference was focused mainly around humanity and leadership and featured a special guest, invited following the terrible events in Christchurch just days before the Conference.  The speakers were Chris Jupp, Jenna Harris, Abe Nouk and Julie Zhu.
This is what they discovered:
 
From Gil Selem 
At the World Vision Youth Conference one of the ideas I found very interesting was that anybody willing to help share the idea of humanity, first needs to choose which area of this wide topic they want to focus on and then do their research. This means looking at whether someone is already working on this topic and if they are, then try to partner with them rather than create something else and compete. I believe this is really important, because we usually tend to get caught up in our own ideas and not actually consider if it is the best way to achieve our goal. By completing rather than competing, we make better use of our energy, and our commitment is more effective. From now on, I have decided to weigh my actions in the light of the negative impact they can have on others, and try to find solutions. It was a great day. I would really love to go back next year and I think anybody that gets the opportunity to attend, should definitely take it.   
From Stella Mares
The conference included speakers on social justice, a workshop on the 40hr Famine and a discussion on how to change the world. It was attended by many schools from all around New Zealand, and I was able to have amazing conversations with extremely interesting people. As the Christchurch attack was less than a week beforehand, the organisers changed the program to address this serious issue. The first speaker was an incredible young Muslim woman, whose speech on the Muslim community’s reaction to the attack completely changed my mindset, even inspiring me to write my English speech on how the terrorist attack should not have come as a surprise. The second speaker was a woman, who worked with refugee teenagers on Nauru. She empowered us to believe that we are never too young to change the world, and our generation can achieve great things. The third speaker was an incredible refugee, who recounted his life and demonstrated that social media can be one of the best forms of activism. The final speaker was a woman who makes films designed to integrate the Maori and Asian communities. The speakers, the staff, and the many activities we did inspired, and empowered me. After going to this conference I feel that I too could change the world.
From Alex Taylor
The World Vision Youth Conference was a great experience for all of us. The speakers in the Conference were very talented and inspirational, speaking from both their hearts and minds. The way they changed 50% of the schedule and plan to incorporate the incident in Christchurch was exceptional, and the conference itself was mostly about how young people like ourselves can make a difference, a change, without waiting until we’re older.  

World Vision Youth Conference 2019 Read More »

High School asks “How are we doing?”

For a small school, Waiheke High hits above its weight, scoring well on national measures and offering specialist subjects like sea sports and viticulture.  And with work started on a new teaching block to replace tired old classrooms, it’s getting a much awaited face lift too.

The school motto is ‘Striving for Success’, and the school’s board of trustees want the school to be the first school of choice for all families on Waiheke.   Board chair Robyn Woodall says “This is a great school, a real treasure for our community, with good people and a bright future.  But we know we need to work on communication, both listening to what people want and sharing the schools successes. The first step is to ask how we are doing”.

Over the next few weeks the school board is inviting parents of all school age kids on the island, students, teachers and the wider community to tell them what they want through a confidential online survey which has been emailed to all parents at the high school, with paper versions available at the library in Oneroa.  There will also be a series of focus groups where people will be able to give in depth feedback on where they’d like to see the school heading.

School principal Jude Young says “With elections for a new school board this year, it makes sense to review where we are at and get some clear direction on what kind of school people want us to be”.

The online survey can be accessed via: http://bit.ly/WaihekeHighSurvey . People interested in taking part in a focus group should email survey organiser Anne Bailey at annebailey@xtra.co.nz

High School asks “How are we doing?” Read More »

Tobias and Brad Roebuck-Ward

We are committed to the development of our community and the next generation of Waihekians.    For every property on Waiheke sold with The Boys we will give $500 to your child’s school, or a school of your choice.

List with The Boys and help them support the next generation on Waiheke.

Tobias and Brad Roebuck-Ward Read More »

Cellphone use at Waiheke High School

Most students have cell phones and they are welcome to bring these to school. However cell phones are to be switched off and in students’ bags before coming into classes.

Cell phones are not to be used as calculators or as research devices. Where appropriate, a teacher may ask students to take out their cell phones to participate in a class activity.

When students are incorrectly using cell phones, the teacher should first ask them to switch them off and place them in their bags. If the same student is caught on their cell phone again, the teacher could ask the student for the cell phone and place it on the teacher’s desk for the remainder of the class. On a further occasion, the teacher may take the phone and ask the student to collect the phone at the end of the day from the front office. It is important that teachers deal with cell phone misuse at the lowest levels first.

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Hats During PE

Students may wear any hat of their choice during PE, Health, Sport and Sea Sports lessons outside. This includes any style, colour, size or shape! The purpose of this Hat is for sun protection.  Students may ONLY wear this hat during PE, Sport, Health and Sea Sports lessons. They may not wear it during school time.
 
If students wish to wear a hat at lunch/interval/to/from school, they must wear a WHS Blue cap available from the uniform shop or a navy blue hat of their own (no emblems please).
 
During PE, students should only wear a hat when it is sunny and the class is outside. This is likely to be mainly in Term 1 and 4. Hats are not permitted in the recreation centre or in classroom based PE, Health or Sea Sports lessons.
 
PE Staff are encouraged to actively promote and encourage the use of hats, including role modelling good practice. 
 
The hat rule is not compulsory, and therefore the choice rests ultimately with parents and students.  

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