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Further Changes to NCEA for Auckland Schools

These additional changes to NCEA for students in Auckland are to recognise the 13 days of classroom time lost during the recent Alert Level 3 lockdown. These changes will help ensure all students have a fair opportunity to achieve NCEA this year.

Extra Learning Recognition credits

Learning Recognition (LR) credits were introduced this year to recognise the classroom time lost during the nationwide lockdown earlier this year. Extra LR credits are now available to students in Auckland because of the additional COVID-19 disruption in August.

NCEA LEVEL 1
LR Credit maximum: Up to 16 LR credits
LR credit earning rate: 1 for 4 credits achieved
Total number of credits required from assessment: 64

NCEA LEVEL 2
LR Credit maximum: Up to 12 LR credits
LR credit earning rate: 1 for 4 credits achieved
Total number of credits required from assessment: 68 (48 + 20 from another level)

NCEA LEVEL 3
LR Credit maximum: Up to 12 LR credits
LR credit earning rate: 1 for 4 credits achieved
Total number of credits required from assessment: 68 (48 + 20 from level 2 or higher)

These changes apply to all the credits achieved in 2020, including credits earned before the recent lockdown, and cover internal assessment, exams and portfolios.

Changes to certificate endorsements
Instead of 46 credits, students will now need 44 credits to earn Merit or Excellence Certificate Endorsements.

Preparing students for success

If another COVID-19 disruption prevents students from sitting end-of-year examinations, there are steps in place to ensure they can still receive a grade. Teachers have been gathering assessment evidence from the course work students have been doing that shows whether they have met the requirements of the standard.

Changes to University Entrance (UE) were announced in June, meaning students need to achieve 12 credits, rather than 14 credits, in each of 3 University Entrance Approved Subjects. There are no extra changes to UE, but universities and other tertiary education providers are also taking the unique circumstances of 2020 into account in their discretionary entry requirements for 2021.

Further Changes to NCEA for Auckland Schools Read More »

Confidential Parent Survey – Distance Learning under Lockdown

We are seeking parent feedback regarding how well we did as a school communicating with you as parents, teaching practices we used during lockdown and our student pastoral care.

We will also be surveying the students and teaching staff over the next week.

We value your opinion and we are always keen to improve our practice as a school. Please take the time to complete the survey which will be available until 1st June.  This survey has also been emailed to all parents on Friday, 22 May 2020.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TCGQBPK

Confidential Parent Survey – Distance Learning under Lockdown Read More »

Student Services during Lockdown

Dear Parents/Caregivers and Students

Student Support Services-on line support

The students will be able to contact the Nurse between 9am and 3pm from Monday to Friday (except on statutory holidays). Here are the contact details:

MAGGIE LETHWAITE/School nurse

027 618 9225            nurse@waihekehigh.school.nz

The doctor will also be available via on line face to face clinics during term time, starting Monday April 20th. We can organise appointments on the Monday mornings. If a student requests a doctor’s appointment via a text or email to the nurse, they will be emailed a link for an on line consultation. The nurse and the school psychologist can also do on line face to face clinics.

The students will be able to contact the school counsellor from Monday to Thursday, except between the 30th March and the 15th April 2020.

LIZ MORRIS/Counsellor

02108928511        morrisl@waihekehigh.school.nz

If you contact the Counsellor, they will send a link that enables you to join them in a session, whether it is audio/video/message.

Now that we are about to move on to Level 4, we feel it is imperative to provide on line support for our students. It is anticipated that we are going to see a rise in mental health issues over the next few months or so.

The numbers/websites in the information below are available if you need extra support over the next 4 weeks

USEFUL NUMBERS AND WEBSITES
Emergency 111
Your GP
Oneroa (09) 372 8756

Ostend  (09) 372 5005

Piritahi Hau Ora (09) 373 0022


Crisis team (24/7) 0800 800 717 – mental health emergency number
Kari Mental Health (9-5) (09) 623 4646 –Youth mental health support office hours
Need to Talk (text or call 24/7) 1737 – you will talk to a qualified counsellor
Whatsup 08009428787  www.whatsup.co.nz –  Barnardos helpline/webchat for children & teens
Youthline 0800 376 633 free txt 234 or Youthline.co.nz – focus on young people
Thelowdown.co.nz or free txt 5626 – phone/call or chat online if anxious/down or depressed
Aunty Dee https://www.auntydee.co.nz/  – Aunty Dee is a free online tool for anyone who needs some help working through a problem. It doesn’t matter what the problem is, you can use Aunty Dee to help you

Student Services during Lockdown Read More »

SCHOOL CLOSURE

23rd March 2020
Tēnā koutou
Re : COVID-19 Update – School Closure

This afternoon Jacinda Ardern has announced that New Zealand’s status has shifted to Level 3 and will shift to Level 4 in 48 hours.

This means that our school will be closed to all students from 3.30pm today, except for students whose parents are in essential services. Essential services include doctors, nurses, police, service stations, supermarkets and pharmacies.
These students are only to come to school for the next two days but this is not compulsory.
Waiheke High School will be closed to all students from 3.30pm on Wednesday, 25th March.
It is important that students check their email and google classroom because this is the way their teachers will communicate the work that they need to complete in the days ahead.
Please check emails because it is imperative for your child’s learning.
Stay safe, be kind and take care of one another.

Ngā mihi nui
Robyn Woodall                   Jude Young
Board Chair                          Principal

SCHOOL CLOSURE Read More »

Thoughts from the Board Chair

This week I was lucky enough to attend the Tuturu Summit in Wellington with Tony Sears. I was surprised it went ahead with the current world events, but happy that it did. I come home feeling quietly confident that we are on the right track at Waiheke High School. Tuturu is a tool that has been developed to help schools cope with drugs and alcohol in our communities; it deals with the well being of the student and gives them strategies that will enable them to be safe in a world that also includes drugs and alcohol.

Waiheke High School has been involved with Tuturu for a couple of years now. We are blessed with a fantastic team who deliver the programme in our school in our health dept along with the counsellors and the nurse. Tuturu recognises that there is no one plan fits all, and they help schools to tailor it to their individual needs.

We occasionally read on social media pages about mischief and sometimes criminal activities that happen in our community including drug use. This does not happen often but when it does inevitably parents get blamed, why doesn’t school do something, and negative comments about the kids themselves, this is the general theme of the posts. One of the roles of the board is to see these young people when they muck up at school and are suspended to the board. I would say that in probably 99% of the time the whanau of the student are looking for help with the behaviour of their children, they just want them to succeed at school and go on to be good productive citizens of our Island.

If you are still reading, consider this a holiday from Covid-19 and read on! The world’s clever people will eventually vanquish Covid-19 but we will always have youth who make mistakes. They say “It takes an Island to raise a child”. These kids belong here on the Island and they belong in school. This programme is helping us to develop the tools to keep them in school and at the same time ensure school is a safe and dynamic place for all students to learn and grow. Our students are awesome. Every time I attend a school event, be it Matariki celebrations, sports events, prize giving or other school events, I see the pride they have in their achievements and the aroha they have for each other. I see the kids who have had a second chance, and sometimes a third or fourth chance amongst their peers and I have no regrets in trying again for them.

Stay safe, be kind and look out for each other.

Thoughts from the Board Chair Read More »

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