We would like to inform the community that Neil Penfold has been appointed to the Senior Management team of Selwyn College. Mr Penfold has been with the college since July 2013 and he has served the college admirably as Mountains Whanau DP since that time. Mr Penfold’s replacement will start at the beginning of term 3.
Ricky and AJ Bassano’s baseball team, the Howick Pakuranga Black Hawks played in the finals on Saturday, in Albany. Their team placed third for the 2016/2017 ABA (Auckland Baseball) season – congratulations!
Following my previous blog I have enjoyed several conversations relating to the topic and listened to several interesting talks. The first was by a sports psychologist who has assisted athletes to improve their performance by staying what he defines as the “green zone”. This is where the athlete focuses on process not outcome. This could mean the mechanics of a golf swing, the set up, body position and pre-shot routine. These are things the athlete can control while he/she cannot control what others are doing in the tournament, the weather conditions or the crowd. He argues that if athletes focus on what might happen next or what others are doing he/she moves into the “orange” or even “red” zone and the focus on the outcome can have a harmful effect on the process. Put simply by focusing on the process, the results will come.
In an educational context I would urge teachers and parents to focus on the process. Setting goals is a good way to motivate ourselves but we should not be consumed by the goal, particularly if it is beyond our control. So students may set a goal of gaining a top scholar award or improving their e-asTTle scores, however what we need to focus on are the processes that will take students in that direction. These include regular times for homework and completion of Maths Buddy and Reading Plus; integrating assessment deadlines into google calendar etc.
If we focus on the process, results will come.
Growing greatness – Kia mana ake
Year 8 students from Water Whanau enjoyed their first day in Rotorua, visiting the Te Puia geothermal valley and the Tamaki Māori Village. The photos below show students standing in front of the famous Pōhutu geyser that they visited following a guided tour of the Kiwi house and National Wood Carving School. Students enjoyed their first Hangi buffet experience, surrounded by wonderful cultural performances and an ancient Tawa forest.
On Day 2, Year 8’s visited the Agrodome Show where Jackson enjoyed the opportunity to feed a lamb and Yolisha milked a cow! Students then headed to the Skyline Gondola and Luge. See highlights from both days of the ‘Rotorua Cultural Experience’, below…
Water’s campers enjoyed a camp-based activities rotation on Thursday, comprising of a Hike to the beautiful Kitekite Falls, Bumper Ball , Archery, a Master Chef outdoor cooking challenge and Poles & Planks problem solving. Camp concludes this afternoon following a day rafting the white water rapids at Vector Wero. Piha ’17 was certainly a special, memory-making experience – well done to all campers!
Year 7 students from Water Whanau have had a wonderful day rock climbing at ‘Extreme’ and playing beach games in their tribes, lead by Year 10 camp leaders. Here are a few fantastic shots showing highlights from Day 1 and the beautiful Piha Beach landscape, courtesy of our talented camp photographer, Aly Grant.
MHJC have kicked off their Active Cup campaign with a resounding victory over Al-Madinah School. Put into bat by the opposition, the MHJC innings got off to bad start, losing skipper Max Herbert (8W1) in only the second over. Kabir Sikh (8M1) and Mantej Singh (7F1) set about rebuilding, putting together a superb, unbroken partnership of 154. Positive running between the wickets and the ability to punish any wayward bowling, allowed MHJC to post a commanding total of 161 for 1 after 20 overs. Mantej finished on 77 not out and was ably supported by a 30 not out from Kabir.
162 to win was always going to be a tough challenge for the Al-Madinah batsman and so it proved, as wickets tumbled regularly throughout their innings. The pick of the MHJC bowlers was Ashwina Krishnakumar (7F1) 2 for 10 off of her 4 overs and Jainish Kumar (7W1) who finished with the impressive figures of 4 for 10 from his 3 overs. Max Herbert supported the bowlers in the field with two direct hit run-outs. MHJC couldn’t quite manage to the bowl opposition out, with Al-Madinah finishing on 50 for 9 from their 20 overs.
There will be tougher games to come against Viscount and Pakuranga Intermediate, however this is a great start from our new team. Good luck for the rest of your first round games.
Photo is Mantej Singh, celebrating his 77 not out.
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This phrase is on a poster at my gym and it has given me much food for thought. The first is that I should not take it personally as an observation of my efforts at the gym! More importantly I think it is a valuable lesson to us all that while we should strive for excellence this should not come at a cost to our personal wellbeing. Perfection is an ideal – the perfect note, speech or performance may be unattainable but progress towards this goal is still worthwhile.
This is particularly relevant at this time of the year as students reflect on their progress and articulate the short term and long term goals for the year during Student Led Conferences. Their e-asTTle scores are available and these will form the basis for the progress they will show in reading and Mathematics through the year. A key message to everyone at the school is that we analyse this data very closely, not only to assess individual and collective progress but also to evaluate the impact of our teaching.
Another phrase which is relevant to goal setting is that we learn more from our mistakes or failures than our successes. So set the bar high, strive for excellence but keep a balance and acknowledge that if we don’t quite make it there is nobility in making the effort.
Growing greatness – kia mana ake