T O R R E N T

RUAWAI NOTICEBOARD: EVENTS AND INFORMATION Prizegiving

Our annual Prizegiving will be

on Tuesday, 4th November 2014.

Junior Certificates, as well as our

Senior Prizes, will be awarded at

this event. Please be seated by

11.45 as we will start at 12.00

sharp. Light refreshments will be

provided in the Home Economics

room following the Prizegiving

and all parents, caregivers and

family friends are invited to at-

tend.

Information Evening

Don’t forget our information

evening for new entrants, along

with the BYOD consultation on

6th November.

Help available Members of the Ruawai U16

Aussie Tour 2015 are available to

pick up hay. Phone Des Bickers

09 439 2142 / 021 277 0083

Term 4, Week 3

31st October,

2014

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Principal’s Report 2

PB4L Results 2

Information Evening / BYOD

2

Junior Touch Rugby 3

Study Tips 3

Sporting snapshots 2014

4

Inside this issue:

CALENDAR DATES:

4th Nov: Prizegiving

6th Nov: Year 7 and 8 mixed

Touch teams — Kaikohe

6th Nov: BYOD Information

Evening

Earlier in

the year,

Ruawai

College

sent a team

to partici-

pate in the

Open Rugby Girls Sevens Qual-

ifying Tournament held at the

Waipu Rugby Club.

As Ruawai was successful in

this tournament, the girls quali-

fied to compete in the Northland

Secondary School Open Sevens

Finals which was held in Hiku-

rangi and where the team played

impressively.

They won their first three games

against Northland College,

Kaitaia Green and Okaihau Col-

lege. Their staggering success in

these games found them in the

semi-finals against Bay of Is-

lands College - Ruawai College

came out with a win.

Advancing further into the com-

petition, our girls’ skills and

tactics were tested as they

played off in the finals against

Kerikeri High School. After a

hard fought game Kerikeri came

out triumphant.

As the winners of the tourna-

ment Kerikeri was offered the

opportunity to compete in the

National Secondary School Sev-

ens finals hosted by the Condor

Rugby Football Club. Due to

unforeseen reasons, however,

they are unable to attend, open-

ing up a spot for Ruawai Col-

lege to step up and represent

Northland in this national com-

petition.

Lance Panoho, Coach of the

team states “I’ve been waiting

20 years to attend this tourna-

ment and I’ve finally made it!”

The Coach’s excitement resem-

bles that of the girls selected to

represent Ruawai College on a

national stage. The team is as

follows: Andshanna Epiha, Hol-

li O’Sullivan, Ilene Tupaea-

Mokaraka, Juanita Waters,

Kaia Chapman, Kaitlyn Bella-

my, River Cosbrook, Stacey

Ann Selby-Lye, Sade Langdon,

Tana Murphy and Tasmyn Pi-

rini-Marsters.

Due to the short notice, the

chance to participate depends on

fundraising a reasonably large

amount of money for this amaz-

ing weekend.

If members of the community

can offer their support

through fundraising op-

portunities the girls

would greatly appreciate

it.

Many congratulations to

the girls and we wish them luck.

“I’VE BEEN WAITING 20 YEARS FOR THIS”

Last Friday was the closing date for

our student leadership positions and

by 3 o’clock on that date, we had re-

ceived 42 applications! That’s a huge

number for a College of our size and

equates to over 20% of our student

body who see the value in having a

powerful voice for change, and who

are prepared to step up and meet that

challenge. For the first time, we will

have Junior student leaders and I was

absolutely thrilled that 15 of our stu-

dents, from years 7 – 9, applied for

those positions.

Having sought the opinions of both

students and teachers, the existing

system of Prefects being chosen from

our very small body of year 13 stu-

dents wasn’t quite working. I think

that’s because being a leader is about

much more than just having staying

power and getting to the finishing line

(in this case Year 13).

The word ’prefect’ comes from the

Latin praefectus and means being ‘put

in charge’. I’m sure we all remember

our own schooldays when some Pre-

fects did little more than patrol the

grounds, asking students to tidy their

uniforms, or to pick up rubbish.

That’s a pretty old fashioned idea

when it comes to student leaders, and

we want our student leaders to be

much more than uniform and litter

monitors, so we’ve dropped the title of

Prefect and the associations that go

with the word.

Our student leaders will require deter-

mination and tenacity, but most of all

they will require vision. For our aspir-

ing candidates, the seeds of that vision

is already there and it is clearly appar-

ent in their applications that there is a

desire for teamwork and growth both

in the school and the wider communi-

ty. For every single one of them, irre-

spective of whether or not they receive

the coveted position in

2015, they have already

achieved something

really important: the

confidence to put their

names forward, and to

consider themselves future leaders of

their peers. That’s a massive step for

many of our young people, and to see

themselves in those positions is to

portray the absolute self-belief we are

trying to nurture in them . Every stu-

dent who applied is to be congratulat-

ed on taking that step. For sixteen of

our students who will be announced at

Prize-giving next week, there are ex-

citing times ahead as they develop

into a cohesive leadership group, build

strong team-working skills, and devel-

op their vision of a modern, forward-

thinking school.

Here’s a little story for you. One day

a traveller, walking along a lane,

came across 3 stonecutters working in

a quarry. Each was busy cutting a

block of stone. Interested to find out

what they were working on, he asked

the first stonecutter what he was do-

ing. “I am cutting a stone!” Still no

wiser the traveller turned to the sec-

ond stonecutter and asked him what

he was doing. “I am cutting this block

of stone to make sure that it’s square,

and its dimensions are uniform, so

that it will fit exactly in its place in a

wall.” A bit closer to finding out what

the stonecutters were working on but

still unclear, the traveller turned to the

third stonecutter. He seemed to be the

happiest of the three and when asked

what he was doing replied “I am

building a cathedral.”

As a community, we need more cathe-

dral builders, and as a school, we have

taken that step to open up a world of

possibilities for our students to begin

that building.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Page 2 Term 4, Week 2

INFORMATION EVENING AND BYOD

Thursday 6 November 2014

6.00 – 8.00 pm

Programme for evening:

Part 1: 6 – 7 pm Information for prospective parents and students considering

Ruawai College as their preferred school for 2015.

Part 2: 7 – 8pm Information and presentation relating to BYOD for year 7 and 8

students in 2015.

Light refreshments and opportunity to ask questions

RSVP

To assist with planning and catering for the evening would you please let the

school office know of your intention to join us for this Information Evening.

PB4L Positive Behaviour for Learning School-

Wide (PB4L) helps schools to develop a

social culture that supports learning and

positive behaviour. It is an evidence-

based framework that looks at behaviour

and learning from a whole-of-school as

well as an individual child perspective.

PB4L takes the approach that opportuni-

ties for learning and achievement in-

crease if the school environment is posi-

tive and supportive; expectations are

consistently clear; children are consist-

ently taught desired behaviours, and

children are consistently acknowledged

for desired behaviours and responded to

in a fair and equitable way.

The first step was to determine what our

key values are as members of the

Ruawai College community. Each year

level then explored what a value was,

what they admired in other people and

what was important to them. They came

up with three key values that are the

most important for students. These val-

ues were combined with ideas already

collected from the staff and the BOT.

Respect, Responsibility and Resilience

are the three values which were selected

as key values.

Over the next few editions of Torrent,

we will endeavour to explain each of the

key values in more detail.

The results for this week are:

First — Totara House: 40

Second — Kauri House: 39

Third — Rimu House: 34

Charmaine Lulich, Team Leader

Your input please …

Please continue to let us here at Ruawai

College know what you think of our re-

vamped newsletter and website. If you

would like any items considered for inclu-

sion in the Torrent, email us at: tor-

rent@ruawaicollege.school.nz

Term 4, Week 2 Page 3

“Begin with the end in mind.” Stephen Covey

On Friday 24th October a selected team of Ruawai Col-

lege Year 9 and 10 students participated in a mixed Touch

tournament in Kaikohe.

The day started with a great deal of laughter mixed in with

some pre-game jitters. After a quick warm up and a rous-

ing talk from their Coaches, they took to the field for their

first game which was against Te Kapehu Whetu.

Although we were unsuccessful with a slight loss, spirits

were lifted slightly when, at the end of the day, Te Kapehu

Whetu were revealed as the strongest competitors by far,

winning the tournament for 2014.

Ruawai then went on to play Tauraroa Area School which

ended in a draw.

Up next was a crossover which placed Ruawai College in

a semi-final game played against Okaihau College. This

game proved to be furiously contested and was eventually

won by Okaihau College.

I would like to take this time to thank Sam Panoho for

supplying transport as well as our two senior students,

Archie Murphy and Brad Crosbie, for coaching the team,

putting in an immense effort in training and sharing their

extensive knowledge of the game. As Coaches they have

been very insightful thus giving the Year 9 and 10 stu-

dents a fighting chance in the competitive, exciting game

that is Touch rugby.

— Tina O’Sullivan, Sports Co-ordinator

NSS JUNIOR YOUTH TOUCH RUGBY TOURNAMENT

FEELING STRESSED? (from the BBC website)

Everyone gets nervous as they pre-

pare for exams, but studying and ex-

am preparation doesn't have to be a

drag, so long as you do it in a way

that works for you.

Make a plan Work out how much work you have

to cover and how much time you

have before the exams then draw up a

realistic timetable. Switch between

subjects to avoid becoming bored of a

single topic. The most effective way

to revise is to concentrate on under-

standing rather than memorising.

Know your stuff It's much easier to remember stuff

once you understand it so if you're

struggling, look for fresh sources of

info other than class notes. Revise

with a friend and see if you can figure

it out together (but be careful you

don't just distract each other!). Or ask

your teacher for help - they might

even be running some revision clas-

ses.

Staying focused Find a quiet place at home where you

won't be distracted by your family,

TV or Twitter. Take short breaks

every hour or so to give yourself a

rest. Drink water and eat healthy

snacks to keep your brain ticking

over. Set yourself up with a reward

after every revision session. Nothing

extravagant - just a little treat to help

you get back to your books.

The night before Avoid revision the night before.

You'll just stress yourself out trying

to cram it all in at the last minute.

Complete your revision plan early,

relax for the rest of the day, read over

your notes and try to get an early

night.

Eat properly

Make sure you eat a proper breakfast

every day, and especially on the

morning of your exams. Bananas are

a fantastic source of energy to keep

you going for long periods, but here

are six other superfoods which are

known to boost brainpower.

Eggs

Kiwifruit

Oily fish

Breakfast cereal

Dried fruit

Cheese

On the day On the day of the exam, don't try test-

ing yourself on specific questions -

this will just make you panic about

what you think you don't know, rather

than focusing on what you do know.

Don't think about passing or failing.

If you've kept to your revision plan,

and you're calm, the answers will

come naturally. Good luck!

Term 4, Week 2 Page 4

Please support our school sponsors

Last week students at Ruawai College were presented with the majority of the sporting awards for the 2014 school year.

Ranging from school events such as Athletics Day and Swimming Sports through to representing the school in regional com-

petitions, it was visibly apparent the copious amounts of talented sportsmen and women we have attending Ruawai College.

The following photos display students of Ruawai College participating in various sporting events throughout 2014.

BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS: HARD WORK PAYS OFF!