NEWSLETTER

Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa Lava, Fakalofa lahi atu, Malo e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Greetings

Issue 4/18 21/05/2018

THE AGGS WEBSITE http://www.aggs.school.nz/ our FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.facebook.com/AucklandGirlsGrammarSchool/ AND

THE KAMAR PARENT PORTAL https://kamarportal.aggs.school.nz/

- are all kept up to date and are useful for accessing a wealth of information - school news and events, your daughters’ attendance, assessment results, the dates when her assessments are due, the school calendar and so much more. You can also update your contact details using the parent portal.

Welcome back to Term 2 .

Please will you tell your family and friends who may be interested in their daughters attending AGGS next year, or in the future, know about our Open Day and Information Evening. Open Day is also advertised on our web site http://www.aggs.school.nz/ and on our school Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AucklandGirlsGrammarSchool/. Parents of our current students are also most welcome to come along.

INFORMATION EVENING Thursday 31 May 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. Parents and prospective students who are unable to make it during the day or who would like more information are invited to attend our Information Evening on the same day. Light refreshments will be served.

VACANCY ON THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Due to a resignation, a casual vacancy has been created on the Board of Trustees. The Board has decided to fill this vacancy by selection and an e-mail was sent to all parents and caregivers last week asking for expressions of interest. Thank you to all those people who have al-ready indicated your interest. More information about being on a board of trustees is

available on the NZ School Trustees Association website http://www.nzsta.org.nz/representation/board-of-trustees/ . The Board meets once a month on Tuesdays and the next meeting of the Board is on Tuesday 29 May at 5.30 p.m. in the Jubilee Library. Board meetings are open to the public and all parents and caregivers are welcome to attend.

PPTA PAID UNION MEETING — Tuesday 29 May at 1.30 p.m.

Teachers who are members of the PPTA will be attending a paid union meeting on Tuesday 29 May. The meeting starts at 1.30 p.m. The Secondary Teachers Collective Agreement expires in October this year and the meeting is for teachers to begin discussing details of the claims which will form part of the negotiations for the new agreement after October.

Years 11, 12 and 13 students will be released from school at 12.45 p.m. on Tuesday 29 May.

Year 9 and 10 students will remain at school for the after-noon and will be supervised by teachers who are not members of the union.

The school bus will leave school as usual on 29 May after-school at 3.15 p.m.

04/18 Page 2

GREAT KIWI SCIENCE COMPETITION

This year AGGS will be taking part in the University of Canterbury’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring ‘Great Kiwi Science Competition’. The competition is open to all Year 9 and 10 students. It will test students’ science capabilities in everyday contexts and fits perfectly with our focus in the junior science courses here at AGGS.

The questions will cover Investigating, Interpreting Data and Critical Thinking in science contexts. The competition is online and will involve schools from all over New Zealand.

It will cost $8.50 to take part and everyone will receive a certificate and could win prizes for doing well in the school, area or country. If your daughter is interested, she needs to collect an entry form from her science teacher and pay the entry fee at the school shop. The deadline for payment is Friday May 25th.

ITS MUNA TIME AGAIN

On Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May the DWC was once again the venue for the annual Model United Nations Assem-bly (MUNA) jointly hosted by AGGS and the Auckland East Rotary Club. Over 300 students from schools throughout Auckland and the upper North Island gathered together in teams to repre-sent the countries of the United Nations and debate topical world issues from the perspective of the countries they rep-resented.

AGGS had 3 teams, representing

Brazil— Justyce Rowe, Gea Bratakusuma and Annabelle

Chapman

Canada— Daphne Benitez, Carolyn Matthew and Gwyn-

eth Parallag and

Russia — Manu e vaha Latu, Sina MacDonald and Maria Lavemai

The UN to actively enforce existing programmes to reduce existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

The UN to examine the integrity of elections in member nations.

The UN to actively enforce the protection of women's rights in member nations.

The UN to identify countries with low literacy rates and the G20 to increase funding to reduce illiteracy in the identified

member nations.

The UN to reaffirm its commitment to free trade.

The five remits that the teams debated at MUNA 2019 were:

NCEA FEES

A reminder that the deadline for payment is 18th August. Payment is to be made to the school shop, or by direct deposit into the school’s bank account. Bank Account Number : 12-3209-0059410-00 Please make sure that the deposit in-cludes :The student's name (first initial and surname) and Year level and the Reference section should say NCEA 2018 fees Fnancial Assistance Your family may meet the criteria for finan-

cial assistance which reduces the fees consid-

erably.

Financial assistance forms can be download-

ed from NZQA website (www.nzqa.govt.nz)

or are available at school by contacting Ali-

son Porter Accounts on DD1 307-4180 or by

email aporter@aggs.school.nz.

The forms must be filled out and returned to the school in order for the subsidy to be ap-plied.

Representing Brazil l to r Gea Bratakusuma, Annabelle Chapman and

Justyce Rowe

Page 3

WORLD OF SPORT

Date Presentation in the DWC Presenter

Friday, 25th May 12.15 p.m. Unitec Blair Sorenson

Thursday, 7th June 12.15 p.m. Victoria University of Wellington Courtney Black

Tuesday, 12 June 12.15 p.m Defence Forces Nadia Pou-Edwards

Thursday, 21st June University of Otago Kitiona Pasene

Thursday, 28th June University of Waikato Leni Lolohea

There’s lots more Sports News on the AGGS Sport and Netball Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/AggsSport/ and https://www.facebook.com/AGGSNETBALL2017/

Winter Sports

Winter sports have started. This term we are partici-

pating in Badminton, Football (Soccer), Hockey, Lacrosse,

Netball and Rugby.

We will also be involved in the Senior Tag Auckland

Championships, Tough Guy and Gal Challenge, Cross

Country Zones, School Cross Country and our Annual

Hamilton Exchange with Hamilton Girls’ High School.

We are also looking at establishing Weightlifting and

Rowing as new sports at Auckland Girls’ Grammar School

this year – this will be dependent upon student interest.

Hamilton Exchange

The ‘Hamilton Exchange’ was originally run in 1920 when

Hamilton Girls’ High School challenged AGGS to a Basket-

ball Game in Auckland.

Each year we take it in turns to compete in a variety of

sports during a one day exchange, with AGGS travelling

down to Hamilton or Hamilton Girls coming to AGGS to

compete.

This year the exchange is on Wednesday 23rd May in Ham-

ilton and we will be competing in Basketball, Netball, Vol-

leyball and Lacrosse. Over the last few years Hamilton has

had the better of us so we are hoping for a better result

this year.

Sports Fees

Thanks to the students and their families that have paid

their fees. A reminder that students who have not yet

paid their sports fees will need to do so now. We under-

stand that paying sports fees can be a challenge for some

families and we ask that you contact our Sports Director if

you have any questions around the payment of fees or

their due dates.

MUMPS MEASLES AND RUBELLA VACCINE PROGRAMME AT AGGS

As a result of an outbreak of mumps in the Auckland area and to reduce further spread of the virus students are being offered a free vaccine, here at school, which will help protect them against measles, mumps and rubella.

Mumps is caused by a virus and is spread through the air. It causes fever, headache and swelling of the glands around the face.

To be effective students need to receive two doses of the MMR Vaccine. Most young people will have received one dose in early childhood and the Ministry of Health recom-mends that if parents are not sure whether their daughter has received two doses she should have the free vaccine

here at school. There are no health issues with having 3 doses of the vaccine. Nurses from the Auckland District Health Board will be here at school from 25 to 27 June to administer the vac-cinations . Students have been briefed about the programme at an assembly and have brought home an information booklet with a parent consent form. Your daughter should have given this to you. If she hasn’t please will you ask her for it. Once you have completed it please give it to her to bring to school and give to her tutor teacher.

UPCOMING TERTIARY AND CAREER VISITS

MEDIA INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

Each fortnight 10 Year 12 Media students go after school on Thursdays for 10 weeks to Dentsu Aegis as part of their Career Navigator Programme. We also have a Business company in Queen St offering the same programme and it is the third year with Ker-

ridge and Partners. We are the only school participating in this new initiative supported by the Graeme Dingle Founda-tion. These are wonderful opportunities for students to gain an insight into the real world of work.

Page 4

Auckland Girls’ Grammar School is proud to have been selected as part of a University of Auckland contract with the Saudi Arabian government’s Ministry of Education to host an elite group of teachers and principals to New Zealand to learn from our schooling systems and teaching programmes. The seven Saudi educators who have been allocated to our school are here to learn about different methods of leadership, teaching and learning in well performing schools, and to then take their learning back to Saudi Arabia with the view to leading educational change in their country.

Our visitors, made up of two principals, two science and maths teachers, and three English as Second Language teach-ers, are joining us for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during Terms 2 and 3. They will be fully immersed in our school culture and general school life. They will be visiting lots of different classes and collecting experiences to take back home with them to carry on their important work as agents of change and as advocates for girls’ education.

Amongst the many differences between our two education systems the one difference that has taken our guests’ breath away has been the volume of stairs needed to be conquered during any AGGS day. For many of the leaders this is their first visit outside of Saudi Arabia; they have enjoyed learning about the many cultures at AGGS and sharing their own whilst developing their English speaking confidence.

We are proud of what we can show and provide for our visiting educators, and we know that we will also be able to learn a lot from them too during this time, so when you are in the school we invite you to take some time to have a chat with them, and talk to them about being a part of the Auckland Girls’ Grammar school whanau.

VISIT FROM SAUDI EDUCATORS

MAU RAKAU TRAINING

AGGS FRONT LAWN WEDNESDAYS 3.30 to 5.30 p.m.

Te Whare Tū Taua o Aoteaora was founded by Dr Pita Sharples in the 1980s due to the renaissance of the Maori language tikanga and to offer the ancient art of mau rākau back to Māoridom as an innovative program in physical fitness, Māori history, Māori Atua, whakapapa, confidence, leadership skills, self discipline, respect and all uses of the Taiaha.

The curriculum is separated into eight stages (poutahi to pouwaru), taking between 12 to 15 years to complete.

Kahurangi Y9 & Y10 Mau Rakau classes began on Wednesday May on the "Front Lawn" of A Block from 3.30pm - 5.30pm with Papa Paora Sharples. These classes will run from Week 3 - Week 10 in Terms 2, 3 & 4

If there are any Y9 & Y10 students from mainstream who would like to join please see Whaea Joey Rogers (Dean of Kahurangi) for more information.

AUTHOR’S VISIT

On Tuesday 22 May, author, playwright and

actor Victor Rodger will be in the i-Centre all

morning speaking to our Year 9 and 10 girls

about his work and life experiences.

Victor Rodger is a New Zealand journalist, actor and award-winning playwright of Sa-moan and Pākehā heritage. He has a recur-ring role as Dr. Henry Mapasua on Shortland Street.

His plays explore race, racism, identity and relationships.

ENGLISH WEEK 21 to 25 May

Monday 21 May - Harry Potter Day—Sorting Hat Ceremony in the Study Hall at lunchtime.

Tuesday 22 May - Spoken Word Poets

Join a range of spoken word poets in the i-centre at lunchtime and see them perform.

Wednesday 23 May - Pop up Drama G Block Courtyard

Thursday 24 May - Poetry Day

Friday 25 May - Dress up day and performance by Mr Morgan in the i-centre at lunchtime.

English week is just one of a number of themed weeks here at AGGS.

Page 5

An invitation from Parenting Place to parents of adolescents or pre-adolescents to their upcoming “How to Talk about Puberty, Sex and Porn” event. It will be presented by Petra Bagust and Pio Terei who will share their ideas on how to best navigate these milestone conversations and guarantee plenty of laughs along the way.

When: Thursday 31st of May 2018 Time: 7.00pm - Doors open 7.30pm – Petra and Pio’s presentation Cost: $20 per personTickets Where: The Parenting Place, 300 Great South Road, Greenlane, Auckland are available through www.theparentingplace.com Web link to event: https://www.theparentingplace.com/event/how-to-talk-about-puberty-sex-and-porn/

July School Holiday

Opportunity

Want your daughters to get boat safety educated these school holidays?

The Outdoor Boating Club is offering Coastguard run courses teaching 'LIFE SKILLS 4 LIFE'

Boat safety courses that gain NZQA credits!

***Maritime VHF Radio Operator + Day Skipper Qualifications***

Read here for all the info http://www.obc.co.nz/courses/school-holiday-education-programme/

PINK SHIRT DAY AT AGGS

Robyn Yee, Guidance Counsellor at AGGS all dressed up for pink shirt day. Pink Shirt Day, 18 May 2018, is the day when New Zealand celebrates diversity and

speaks up and stands together to stop bullying. No young person should be made to

feel bad about who they are! By taking bullying seriously and working towards a

school culture that supports and celebrates the diversity of all students, young people

can feel safe, valued and supported, and flourish at school. Pink Shirt Day has a strong

focus on stopping homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. In New Zealand.

A poem about Bullying written by one of our Year 10 girls,

Trinity Robertson.

Deputy Principal, Maree Flannery and Jenna Rhodes, Head of Social Sciences at AGGS recently attended ’An Evening With Hillary Clinton”. The evening was both enjoyable and inspirational. Both teachers were given a copy of her recent book ‘What Happened’.

BORN TO MOVE

AGGS is working with Les Mills International on a Pilot Programme; ‘Born To Move’. Four Year 13 students are currently being trained to be instructors to lead exercise programmes for youth. From L to R: Sina MacDonald, Ellen Riddell (Les Mills Instructor); Kaitlyn Yakas-Dance, Mya Fraser and Jodie van den Berg. Sina, Kaitlyn, Mya and Jodie will run classes at AGGS when they have completed the training. Watch this space. This is a fabulous opportunity coming soon.