LIVE. LEARN. LEAD.February Newsletter

Kia ora parents,

Welcome back to school – I hope you are all settling back into College life well. It is only Week 4 of Term 1 and already we have had lots going on from EOTC Week to the opening of our new boarding facility, Queen Margaret House.

2018 is going to be a platform building year for Queen Margaret College. Work on our strategic plan is well underway as we continue to provide excellent education for young women. We will be ready to share more detail later this term.

If you missed out on attending one of our parent information evenings at the beginning of term, or if you would like a reminder of its contents, click here for an overview PowerPoint.

We believe in the importance of single-sex education for young women as it builds confidence and provides excellent leadership opportunities. Queen Margaret College will not be introducing co-education in our Junior School, so those rumours are just that, rumours.

Queen Margaret House is now open with 18 girls living there. The students have been exploring Wellington during the weekends to see what our great city has to offer. Our boarding house manager is Bronwyn Petrie who joined us from a top boarding school in the UK and it's wonderful to have her with us as we start welcoming boarders into our school community. Bronwyn has been doing an excellent job in the pastoral care of these girls as they begin their boarding journeys.

Our Year 5-13 students had EOTC last week which was a great opportunity for them to experience learning outside a classroom. EOTC is incredibly important for our students whether it is climbing Mt Kaukau or tramping the Abel Tasman as it builds resilience and confidence in our young women. Our grateful thanks go to the Deans and teachers who gave up an enormous amount of personal time before and during these events. Without their support this very special part of our school calendar could not occur.

Congratulations to our Senior School students of 2017 who scored the top IB results in Wellington and our NCEA students who continue to receive outstanding results. Twelve of our NCEA and IB students received subject scholarships this year. Special congratulations to Caitlin MacArthur and Isabella Moon who each received a scholarship in two subjects. We are so proud of our students for all of their exceptional hard work in their learning.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Jayne-Ann YoungPrincipal CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Tuesday 6 – Wednesday 7 March: Year 4 – 6 Goal Setting Interviews

Friday 9 March: QMC School in Action Day

Friday 9 March – Saturday 10 March: Celesta Choir Camp

Sunday 11 March: QMC Open Day

Tuesday 13 March: QMC Swimming Sports

Friday 16 March: QM Pre-School Family Fish and Chip Night

Tuesday 27 – Wednesday 28 March: Junior School Production “Wizard of Oz”

Thursday 29 March: Staff Only Day, School Closed

Friday 30 March – Tuesday 3 April: Easter Break, School Closed

KEY EVENTS IN MARCH

February Newsletter

EOTC

Last week all students from Year 5 – 13 took part in EOTC around Wellington and further afield. The girls had the chance to be adventurous, try something new and work in a team.

Year 5 kayaked and climbed Mt Kaukau, Year 6 went on camp to Ashurst, Year 7 camped at Tea Pot Valley, Year 8 went to Adrenalin Forest and decorated gingerbread houses, Year 9 went to Ngati Korokai Marae, Year 10 did Duke of Edinburgh training, Year 11 did the Abel Tasman tramp, Year 12 camped in Waiararapa and Year 13 had a Leadership Camp.

EOTC is an important part of our curriculum as students build confidence and resilience, learning skills they would not normally learn in a classroom environment.

What’s been happening in February?

Queen Margaret College students were part of the Wellington City Council and Asian Event Trust celebrations of Chinese New Year last Saturday.

Year 13 student, Stephanie Shi , and Year 10 Ella Briggs performed a duet of a classic Chinese song ‘Jasmine Flower’ at the Michael Fowler Centre. Following the performance the pair were joined by 12 Year 8 - 13 Chinese language students to

participate in the Chinese New Year parade. The girls wore costumes of two ethnic groups, Miao Zu and Yi Zu provided by China Culture Centre New Zealand.

Chinese Teacher Lixin Wan says this was an exciting event for the students to be part of.“It was an amazing chance for the girls to experience Chinese culture.”

Chinese New Year

Year 13

Year 12Year 11

Year 10 Year 9 Year 8

Year 7 Year 6 Year 5

Staff

February Newsletter

Boarding News Our Boarding Hostel, Queen Margaret House, has now opened and our students living there have settled into school life. They have also been making the most of the amazing things to do in Wellington and have been exploring the city in the weekends. It’s great to have them as part of our community.

The wonderful staff at the Boarding House are now providing lunches for day students through the Tuck Shop. The lunch boxes cost $11 per day with a sandwich filling of your choice based on this week’s menu, a yoghurt, a piece of fruit and a sweet slice. Click here for more information and to get an order form.

Boarding House Newsdi

In January Head and Deputy Head Prefect, Tiuana-Marie Aiono and Mia Uluilelata attended the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia Student Leadership Conference on the Gold Coast, funded by the QMCPA. As part of the trip the pair decided on this year’s school theme: “I am.” The reasoning behind this was explained by Tiuana-Marie at the Student Leader Commissioning Service. An excerpt from her speech is below:

“On the first day [of the Student Leader Conference] we heard from Liz Volpe, one of Australia’s leading female social entrepreneurs who moved to Australia from England. She started off working as a waitress, a telephone surveyor and a cleaner.

Liz set huge goals for herself aiming to start her own company and raise $200million dollars for charity. Everyday Liz would look in the mirror and tell herself everything she wanted to be saying things like ‘I am strong’, ‘I am confident’, ‘I am fearless’. This eventually led to Liz starting her own business and raising $150million dollars for various charities so far.

“Liz has inspired our theme for 2018. This year we want QMC to be a place of unity and sisterhood. It’s important to create an environment where you can feel free to be you and take risks knowing you have the support of the people around you. This year will be about two simple words: ‘I

am…’ for what you put after them will shape your reality.

“It is important to understand and embrace the real you and let others see who you are. When I got home from the conference, like Liz, I wrote down a few things that I want to live by this year, the kind of person I want to be. I wrote ‘I am capable’, ‘I am not afraid of failure’, ‘I am resilient’, ‘I am fearless’ and ‘I am willing to dream big’. This year I want you all to think about what kind of person you want to be. What is your ‘I am’? I challenge you to really think about how you can be the best “you” you can. Make 2018 a year to remember.”

2018 School Theme

February Newsletter

Student CelebrationsAthletics Amelia Abernethy came 3rd in the Year 7 Girls 1500m and 12th in the Year 7 Girls 200m dash at the 2017 Wellington Regional Primary Schools T&F Champs.

Amelia Abernethy took part in the Trans -Tasman Competition at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. She competed in long jump, 800m and 1500m and then ran in the 4 x 400m relay. Amelia came 6th in the 1500m and 5th in the 800m. Her team then won the bronze medal in the 4 x 400m relay.

Melania Lui-Fai won the U16 Discuss and Shotput at the athletics championships.

CyclingErin Anderson took part in the Wellington Cycling Junior Track Champs on the Saturday 3 February and was 3rd in the Under 15 division.

Emily Hannah raced in the 20km and won the U14 female category at the Karapoti Mountain Bike races. She was also the 1st female overall across all ages categories.

GolfLiezl Aquino finished the US Kids Golf Wellington tour in 2nd place for 8-9 year old girls. Liezl finished with 177 points after winning and coming second in several rounds throughout the summer.

JapaneseSora Grace Tanuma was in the 79.8 percentile of results in the Japanese government’s Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 (N2) following the December exam.

Pinnacle ProgrammeParis Lokotui made the shortlist for the Pinnacle Programme. Final selection will take place in February/March.

NetballTiuana-Marie Aiono and Paris Lokotui were selected for the Netball New Zealand Secondary Schools Squad.

RowingQMC Rowing had good results at the KR1 regatta in December 2017. Results are as follows:• Jessie Rongen, Ruby Treadwell, Mollie Nicol, Harriet Norris and Emma Green were 5th in the GU17 4+ A final • Rosa Findlay, Phoebe Wood, Teneka Te Moananui, Isabel Knight and Ruby Riley were 8th in the GU15 4x+ quad A

final• Mollie Nicol was 2nd in the GU16 1x single B final• Mia Uluilelata was 8th in the GU18 1x single A Final• Mollie Nicol and Mila Van Der Wilt won the GU15 2x double A Final• Brooke Raitt, Isabella Pennington, Ella Craig, Isabel Knight and Rachel Vass were 8th in the Women’s Novice 4+ A Final• Mila Van Der Wilt and Savannah Watson were 3rd in the GU16 2x double D Final• Mia Uluilelata was 3rd in the Women’s Intermediate 1x single A Final

The Team also had some excellent results from KR2:

• Mollie Nicol and Mila Van Der Wilt won the GU15 Double A Final.• Mila Van Der Wilt, Phoebe Woods, Teneka Te Moananui, Isabel Knight and Ruby Riley came 6th in the GU15 quad B

final.• Phoebe Woods, Teneka Te Moananui, Isabel Knight, Isabella Pennington, Emily Cass, Georgia Thirkell, Bianca Martin,

Ella Craig and Ruby Riley came 5th in the GU15 8x+ Octuple A Final.• Jessie Rongen, Ruby Treadwell, Harriet Norris, Mollie Nicol and Emma Green came 3rd in the Women’s Intermediate

4 A Final.• Harriet Norris and Bridget-Anne Horgan came 7th in the Women’s Intermediate Double B Final.• Jessie Rongen came 4th in the Women’s Intermediate single B Final.• Mia Uluilelata qualified for the Woman Intermediate Single A Final.

February Newsletter

Scholarship The following students received NZ Scholarship following exams: Stacey Leong (Art History), Caitlin MacArthur (Biology and History), Zhe Xu (Chinese (Year 12)), Annalise Kruger (English (Year 12)), Phoebe Brown (English), Antonia King (English (Year 12)), Avia Murray (English), Grace Beedell (Photography), Isabella Moon (Photography and Technology), Grace McLean (Physical Education), Rachel Paviour-Smith (Physical Education), Samara Harvey-Lawn (Technology).

SpeechErinn Aspell came 2nd in the 2017 inaugural Just Talk speech competition.

Tennis Ivy McLean won the NZ16s, NZ18s and NZ Senior doubles titles at the recent National Championships. She came 3rd in NZ in the 16s singles and her Central 16s team came 2nd.

Touch Rugby Queen Margaret College came 3rd in Junior Wellington Girls Division 1 in 2017 after winning their final game 5-0.

Rosie Campbell took part in a National Tournament as part of the U18 Girls Wellington Touch team.

Underwater HockeyKaty Daley and Rosie Dossor were selected to trial for the U18 New Zealand UWH team. The 2018 Age Group Trans-Tasmans against Australia will be held in Rotorua in October 2018 and the final team will be selected around March/April.

Water poloGrace Mellsop, Niamh Hanna, Lola Gonzalez Boddy and Georgia Thirkell played at The 2017 U14 Nationals as part of the Harbour City Wellington team. The team finished 6th which was the best result for a Wellington based team for years.

Staff CelebrationsJapanese Teacher Hidemi Fuke received a prestigious award at the Japanese Embassy from Ambassador Toshihisa Takata in recognition of her distinguished service in contributing to the deepening of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and New Zealand.

Sport Director Deslea Wrathall coached NZ Maori Women Basketball to win the inaugural Australian Indigenous vs NZ Maori Women series in Cairns 3-0. Deslea also head coached the Ngati Toa Women’s Basketball team to win the national Maori Basketball Championships.

Sport Co-ordinator Frances Solia was named the U19 Wellington Netball Head Coach and will take the team to nationals in July.

Andrea Cowlam and Jane Harris have been selected for the NZ team for the ITU World Age Group Triathlon Championships taking place in the Gold Coast in September.

Student Celebrations

Upcoming Open Days and Enrolment EventsScholarshipsApplications are now open for the Year 7 and Year 9 Academic Scholarships and Principal’s Senior School Discretionary Scholarships. All Scholarships are available to current Queen Margaret College students. Click here for more information.

March Open Days Queen Margaret College will be hosting a School in Action Day on Friday 9 March and an Open Day on Sunday 11 March. Click here for more information and to register.

February Newsletter

Guidance Counsellor BlogHopefully your daughter is settling back into school after the holiday break. Sometimes it can take a few weeks to settle into the new routine, new class and, in some cases, new school. Feeling a sense of anxiety about returning to school at the start of the year or new school term is normal as transitions can be stressful. As a parent you can help by ensuring your child is eating regular healthy meals, getting enough sleep and has daily exercise. Focus on the positive aspects from their day i.e. ask them to tell you the best things about their time at school today. Be supportive yet firm and reinforce that school is not a choice and they must go. Research shows that students who are absent from class have an increased risk of disengagement. Focus on the times they have been courageous and brave and reflect back to them whenever you notice a situation where they handle themselves well. If you would like more information about how to support your child if they are experiencing anxiety feel free to get in touch with me.

Joanna Logan: joanna.logan@qmc.school.nz Guidance Counsellor

Student Support Programme BlogA website has been created for Student Support Programmes which covers learning support, gifted and talented and extension, plus careers and future pathways. This website will host notices for parents, students and staff about upcoming opportunities, events, competitions in these areas, as well as share ideas and news. Click here to access the website. Recent posts include: • Brain Bee Challenge – Year 11s • Writing mentorship – for creative writers 15-18• Young writer’s competition – for creative writers aged 9-16 years – deadline soon!• Race Unity Speech Competition – for Seniors• Five day Astronomy Camp in Christchurch – Years 12 and 13• Academy conference at Scots College Learning support;• Google Keep – a great app to support your organisation and learning.• Information on free fees • Schools to skies programme – a maths, science and engineering opportunity • ‘No major drama’ – an online tool for choosing what to study at what New Zealand Universities• Careers New Zealand website – detailed information on all jobs • Lunchtime visits from universities • Five day Astronomy Camp in Christchurch – Years 12 and 13.

Holly Gooch: holly.gooch@qmc.school.nzManager Student Support Programmes

Upcoming Open Days and Enrolment EventsYear 1 Information Evening An information evening will be taking place for parents with Pre-School aged children interested in finding out what Year 1 at Queen Margaret College is like. Please join us for the event on Tuesday 10 April. Click here for more information and to register.