7th November,
Phone 09 439 2216
Our annual Prizegiving, held on Tuesday 4th
November, was a wonderful celebration of the
successes of students at Ruawai College. Over
130 students were presented with certificates and
awards for diligence and progress, sporting success or academic achievement. It was encouraging to see so many students receiving acknowledgement for their positive efforts.
The programme started with an opening Karakia
and the National Anthem. Mrs Alex Bickers, the
Board Chair, gave an attention-grabbing speech
that set a thought provoking yet positive tone to
the occasion. This was followed by a speech by
our Principal, Mrs
Glynis Woodhead.
Both
speeches
centred around the
theme of change.
Head Boy, Jordan
Hammon
and
Head Girl, Emma
Battcher provided
a thoroughly prepared and entertaining
speech,
which reflected on those who have supported
them throughout their schooling at the College.
They gave tribute to each of their fellow Year 13
‘family’ in a lighthearted and endearing
way.
Their address culminated in an emotional
haka performed by
Jordan, Ezra Revell,
Wiremu Tana and
Cole Paniora.
Musical items by Bailey Jenyns, Kassidy Kinvig,
Helena Thompson and Pairama Toka were a delight. Each of them gave a very polished performance and should feel proud of their presentation
on the day. They are a credit to their teacher,
Mrs Deborah Steele.
A highlight was the farewell tribute to the Year
13 leavers (pictured above). Their 2015 destinations were revealed to the audience and the students received their respective ‘House’ tree Kauri, Rimu or Totara, each beautifully presented in a flax kete and decorated with their housecoloured ribbon. (continued on page 2)
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RUAWAI NOTICEBOARD: EVENTS AND INFORMATION
4375 State Highway 12, Ruawai, Northland
Ruawai College’s Community Newsletter
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2014
www.ruawaicollege.school.nz
Term 4, Week 4
2014 ANNUAL PRIZEGIVING
Ruawai Garden Club Annual Rose and Flower
Show
Ruawai Memorial Hall, Sat 8th
November. Doors open at 9am
for competitors, 11am for the
general public — exhibits must
be on the bench by 10.15am.
Light lunch available from
12.15pm. For further information
phone 094392071 or email
[email protected]
JMB Tour Ambrose Golf
Tournament
Matarua Golf Course, Sat 22nd
November at 9.30 — shotgun
start. Teams of four - $40 per
team. For more information
please
contact
Rachel
02263086423
or
Kylie
021611719
CALENDAR DATES:
10th Nov: NCEA examinations
commence
12th Nov: Red Cross First Aid
day for Year 7s
21st Nov: Red Cross First Aid
day for Year 8s
Please support our school sponsors
Inside this issue:
Principal’s Report
2
Prizegiving cont’d
2
Interhouse Quiz
3
Prizegiving Results
3
PB4L
3
Youth Summit
4
Top Form
4
Page 2
Term 4, Week 4
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
I have really felt privileged this week
to participate in our recognition of
student achievements at the annual
Prizegiving. Our programme took a
different format this year with sports
and junior certificates all being given
out on the one afternoon and this
meant that a huge number of our
students were recognized for their
achievements. My sincerest congratulations go to each and every one of
them.
Students who work hard and strive to
be the very best they can be deserve
the recognition they receive, and
everyone connected with the school
community - teachers, parents, and
fellow students - should be proud of
their achievements.
It was with total dismay when I came
to New Zealand that I first heard the
term “tall poppies” and I just couldn't
get my head around why there should
possibly be a culture of cutting down,
or disparaging those people who
achieve something in their lives. I’ve
since read a lot about it, and what
motivates people to participate in this
proverbial cutting down of others is
interesting; but whether it is through
jealousy of someone else’s achievement, or disappointment in the lack of
their own, we cannot and should not
accept it. We cannot possibly live in a
society where success is either not
recognised or not encouraged. New
Zealand has gained a place on the
world stage for its successes in many
areas of scientific research and development: it would have been a very
different situation if those brilliant
science students had heeded the attitude of the poppy cutters!
Any school or culture which becomes
focused on chopping down high
Pictured (right)
with their awards,
are Ben Casey
(Dux), Emma
Battcher (Proxime
Accessit), and
Jordan Hammon
(Llewellyn Memorial Trophy)
Photo Credit:
DARGAVILLE
AND DISTRICT
NEWS
achievers will simply
eventually stop wanting
to create them in the
first place: it is a form
of inverrted snobbery
of the very worst kind. Individuals
deserve credit and recognition for their
outstanding achievements.
I’ve included for you here a piece of
writing from Marianne Williamson’s
book “A Return to Love.”
Irrespective of any religious belief you
may or may not hold, I hope the
sentiment of it will strike a chord with
you. Here at Ruawai, we can’t necessarily change the world: we can, however, change our own attitudes, the
attitudes of our children, and the
attitudes of our wider community. We
need to ensure our young people are
celebrated and that they never, ever
feel the need to shirk away or decry
their own achievements because of the
misguided attitude of anyone else.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are
inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is
our light, not our darkness that most
frightens us. We ask ourselves ’Who
am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are
you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the
world. There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people
won’t feel insecure about you. We are
all meant to shine, as children do. We
were born to make manifest the glory
of God that is within us. It’s not just in
some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we
let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission
to do the same. As we are liberated
from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Prizegiving continued...
The announcement of the 2015 School
Captains was a new feature of the
Prizegiving and one that will continue
each year. Mrs Woodhead revealed the
successful Captains for the Junior
School, Middle School, Arts, Maori,
Academic, Sports, Kauri House, Rimu
House and Totara House. From those
students, the Head Boy and Head Girl
were selected also.
And just in case you hadn’t already
heard the news via social media, Hugh
Marychurch and Megan Brewster were
announced as our Head Boy and Girl
respectively, for 2015. The staff are
highly supportive of their appointments
and I am sure they will make a great
team next year.
Our most prestigious awards were the
last to be presented.
The Llewellyn Memorial Trophy was
awarded to Jordan Hammon; the
Proxime Accessit was awarded to
Emma Battcher, and the Dux for 2014
awarded to Ben Casey. All three are
very worthy recipients and everyone at
Ruawai College is extremely proud of
them.
If you were fortunate enough to attend
this event, I am sure you will have been
filled with a sense of pride in the young
people who were acknowledged for
their outstanding achievements.
Amanda King, Deputy Principal
Our new Head Boy and Head
Girl for 2015 (above) - Hugh
Marychurch and Megan
Brewster
Term 4, Week 4
Page 3
Ruawai College Prizegiving 2014
SPECIAL SPORTING AWARDS
Fair Play Trophy…………………………………….......Hugh Marychurch
L Joyce Trophy for Best All-Round Junior Athlete
{Yrs 7-10] …………………………………………….….Bailey O’Sullivan
Raewyn Murphy Memorial Trophy for Best All-Round Girl Athlete
[Yrs 11-13]…………………………………………..……..Holli O’Sullivan
Lee Joynt Memorial Trophy for Best All-Round Boy Athlete
[Yrs 11-13] ………………………………………………..…..Brad Crosbie
Ruawai Community Sports Club Scholarship for Sporting Endeavour
[Years 7-12]……………………………………………...….Amanda Riddle
ACADEMIC AWARDS — FIRST IN CLASS
Year 7……………………………………………………….Indiana Panoho
Year 8……………………………………………………...Timothy Bickers
Year 9……………………………………………………...Harriet Spoelstra
Year 10……………………………………...Zara Marychurch/Lydia Wood
INTERHOUSE QUIZ
2014
The afternoon of Thursday 30th October was dedicated to the annual Interhouse quiz. This year the theme
proved slightly left-field of many students’ knowledge as they were tested
on Astrological Signs. From twins to
archery, animals to scales, the students
were asked to answer questions that
related to the theme in the usual
categories: Sport, Mathematics, English and Social Sciences.
There was fierce competition with
Cailen’s Angels winning the quiz with
34 points, Blah hot on their tail with
33, followed by Reep with 32.
The winning House overall was Kauri
with 340 points, Totara second with
331 points and Rimu third place with
321.
Year 11……………………………………………………...Amanda Riddle
Year 12……………………………………………………...Samuel Bickers
SPECIAL AWARDS
The Fred Frean Scholarships ..………. Sapphire Barron, Amanda Riddle,
Megan Brewster
The Ruawai Bowling Club Scholarship…………………….Serena Parata
The Betty Wallace Memorial Scholarship…………….……….Ben Casey
Student of the Year 2014……………………………...…..Megan Brewster
2015 School Leaders
Kauri House Leaders………………………..Cole Paniora/Amanda Riddle
Rimu House Leaders…………………...Ashleigh Ashford/Roydon Beattie
Totara House Leaders.……………………...Laura Blundell/Connor Jones
Academic Leaders……………………….Samuel Bickers/Megan Brewster
Arts Leaders………………………………….Ezra Revell/Kaitlyn Bellamy
Maori Leaders………………………Ashleigh Thompson/Sapphire Barron
Sports Leaders………………….……..Hugh Marychurch/Holli O’Sullivan
House Shield……………………………………………...……Rimu House
Head Boy 2015…………………………………………...Hugh Marychurch
Head Girl 2015……………………………………….……...Megan Brester
Llewellyn Memorial Trophy………………………...……Jordan Hammon
Proxime Accessit………………………………...………….Emma Battcher
Dux ……………………………………………..………………..Ben Casey
PB4L
As a collective community at Ruawai
College, it was decided the three main
values we saw as most relevant to
practice here at school are Respect,
Responsibility and Resilience.
Each week we will attempt to portray
the meaning of each of these virtues as
we would like to see them implemented. This week our virtue is Resilience.
Resilience is about embracing new
challenges with a positive attitude,
acknowledging failures as stepping
stones to success, and exercising
patience and tolerance.
In class, students are to exercise this
virtue through perseverance so that
they can overcome barriers to learning, striving for personal academic
excellence, and using feedback and
feed-forward strategies to improve
their work.
We encourage each student to work
towards bettering themselves in the
sense of this value to create a more
productive atmosphere here at Ruawai
College.
The results for this week are:
First — Rimu House: 41
Second — Kauri House: 34
Third — Totara House: 25
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the
determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of
ourselves to the task at hand. Vince Lombardi
Term 4, Week 4
Page 4
2014 NORTHLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL YOUTH SUMMIT
Thirty-two students from throughout
Northland gathered for the 2014 Northland Regional Council Youth Summit
in Whangarei. The 19th annual submit,
held at Whangarei’s Onerahi Yacht
Club on Thursday, 23rd October, saw
students discuss coastal environment
issues and what they could do to make
a difference.
The day long workshop brought together Year 7 & 8 students from eleven
Northland schools, from Kaingaroa
near Kaitaia, to Ruawai in the south.
The summit explored ways in which
young people can play an active role in
the future sustainable management of
Northland’s coast and the catchments
feeding it.
The students developed action plans to
help sort local sustainable management
issues. These included beach access in
Opononi, controlling Kaipara Harbour
fish pests to improve water quality, fish
dumping on Tokerau Beach, rubbish
clean-ups on the Tutukaka coast and
managing wastewater, storm water and
run-off issues in Whangarei Harbour.
Northland Regional Council Chairman
Bill Shepherd says it is encouraging to
see Northland Students taking an active
interest in protecting and preserving
their local marine environment.
“The work of these students makes a
real contribution to the health of Northland’s estuaries, harbours and coastlines,” he said. “That’s important for
all Northlanders.”
The students’ efforts will contribute to
the health of a number of Northland
harbours including Bay of Islands,
Hokianga, Whangarei and Kaipara
along with Ngunguru Estuary and the
Doubtless Bay and Tutukaka coast
catchments.
TOP FORM
On the 31st October, all students participated in Top Form; the last Inter-House competition before the end of the
2014 school year. Top Form is an event held twice a year at Ruawai College where students compete in their vertical
form classes in various fun and physical challenges that test communication, team work and problem solving skills.
Kauri 3 came out on top as the afternoon’s victors. The whole event was thoroughly enjoyed by all who participated.
Please support our school sponsors