To the Mangere College community
Many of you will have seen the article on UE in the Saturday’s Herald. Below is the full text of the statement that I sent to the reporter:
While an article on UE vs L1 may be an interesting statistical exercise I would like to sound a word of caution.
As the Education Reporter you will know that nationally about 30% of school leavers each year head off to university. For this cohort of students an article on UE vs L1 may be of academic interest.
However for the majority of school leavers and their families a comparison of L2 vs L1 will be of more use, as the Government’s emphasis on the BPS targets clearly state that L2 is the desired entrance qualification for further tertiary study, training or for entering the work force.
Consequently I find it perplexing in 2015 that UE should still be seen as a desirable target for all senior secondary school students. Along with other educational administrations in the OECD New Zealand made a mistake in the 1980s and 90s in downplaying the vitality and importance of trades training and apprenticeships and it is well and truly time for this perceived primacy of UE to be placed in its proper perspective as the necessary qualification for only the 30% of our school leavers who are heading off to university.
At Mangere College we place a great deal of emphasis on ensuring that each student is clear about their academic pathway through secondary school and also that each student is aware of the necessary qualifications that they need to attain to allow their particular pathway to be achieved.
John Heyes
NCEA: Shining examples
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11429705
But for schools such as Mangere College, where this year level one results have improved by 70 per cent – seeing 65 per cent of students pass – it is the result of a long campaign.
Mangere College principal John Heyes said its improvement had been tracking upwards for 12 years.
He said the school had actively sought external support in its staff pedagogical development and also enlisted focused help for its students from outside mentors including the University of Auckland.
“Since 2010, we have worked with the University of Auckland in the Starpath Project, which has seen us place increased emphasis on the academic counselling work that we provide our students,” Mr Heyes said.
The Starpath Project was launched in 2005 to help secondary school students who were not meeting the criteria to get into university. The initiative has a particular focus on improving results among Maori and Pasifika pupils and students from poorer backgrounds.
Mr Heyes said: “We’ve also revised the way we report to our parental community – holding parent/ student/ teacher conferences led by our form teachers.”
Haka competition….FirstXV
We are involved in a Unitec Haka competition, which requires voting for the best haka.
It is well worth looking at it was filmed by a professional camera crew.
Congratulations to the boys and Turei, I especially like the Tongan leading the group.
To Vote
Youtube
Its not OK campain
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/school-engages-in-anti-violence-campaign-video-6036491
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/te-kaea/S11E204/te-kaea
– the segment comes roughly around the 12:08 minute mark
Road safety design competition
Jonah Filipo, 10 HS, recently won first place in a road safety design competition run by the Auckland City Council.
The theme was ‘future streets- to make local streets safer and to increase levels of walking and cycling’.
The students in his year 10 Art class were asked to create a logo that could be used for all promotional material and signage in the initiative. NumiaToomata was also a very strong contender.
His clever design brought traditional pattern elements together with an image of responsible pedestrian crossing use.
“Student Voice”
These images are from the 2012 level 2 external portfolios. The students are arranging and reinterpreting images of themselves in a school based environment. They were primarily concerned with developing related sets of ideas through the symbolic positioning and placement of figures in a recognizable space. Each student has responded to source material in a different way, using a variety of contemporary artist models to help them with their expression. Each painting is a personal interpretation of reality, reflecting the intentions of the New Zealand Curriculum in this the development of the “student voice”. All artworks are done with water based paint on paper
Antonio Alene
Ben Akama
Dee Dee
Kapiti Teingoa
Leonard Folau
Makea Daniels
Starbuck Ta’alili
Tito Tavui
