Kamo High School

August 2004 Newsletter

Option Selection
Student Enrolment
Out of Zone Details
Arts’ Centre Opening
ERO Report
Board of Trustees
Effective Learning
Northland Mathex 2004
Environmental Education
Meningococcal Disease Vaccination Programme
Past Students
Enterprise News
Advance Whangarei
Community Education - Whangarei
International Students
Student Support Centre
Arts News
Sports
PTA
Community News
Coming Events

"To encourage a culture of high expectations
that celebrates success and promotes pride"

Dear Parents
Kia Ora Tena Katou Katoa

Dear Parents Kia Ora Tena Katou Katoa As you are aware, I have recently been in Asia, marketing our school for students from Japan, Korea, China and Hong Kong. It is always very encouraging to hear the positive comments from agents, and the students who have returned from time at our school and their parents, about their experiences with us. That perception is important in ensuring we can maintain an acceptable number of international students from a range of countries. Our marketing strategy is very well received wherever we present it.

Option Selection:

The next few weeks are very important for our current students who will be indicating the subjects they wish to study in 2005. We pride ourselves on offering a wide range of subjects to our students. In total, there are 21 different Year 10 option subjects; 43 Year 11 subjects; 51 Year 12 subjects and 32 Year 13 subjects. Some of the Year 11 – 13 subjects are multilevel, and may be studied by students at any of those three levels. These are clearly identified on the draft option sheets and in the introduction to the handbook. The "Subject Handbook" is a detailed and most informative document which we have now published annually for a number years. It contains general information about subject selection; outlines assistance available to students, including some valuable websites which can be accessed through the network; provides some detailed descriptions of qualifications; lists subject costs (where there are "take-home" components) and details course pathways. It also provides a one-page information guide on every subject offered at every level. We strongly urge caregivers to study this thoroughly, and discuss the process with your sons and daughters. There are hard copies available for students to bring home through Form Teachers, or parents may collect one from the office. There are many others around the school – we attempt to make access to them as easy as possible.

It is also available to view on our internal intranet and our website www.kamohigh.school.nz

It is essential that the decisions around subject choice are made with extremely careful thought to the implications they hold for study in later years, vocational opportunities, and the general likelihood of success for each student. Because of that importance, there are a variety of ways in which we support students and caregivers, to ensure the choices are well informed:

Year 9 and 10 classes are discussing option choices as part of their Health programme, basing this study on a class set of Subject Handbooks.
Senior Managers are talking to all Year 10 classes, outlining NCEA, and the major subject and qualification changes from Year 10 to Year 11. The basic requirements for gaining NCEA Level 1 are also provided.
Senior Managers also intend talking to all Year 11 and 12 students to ensure they are fully aware of a range of important matters which may affect their future plans, including, for example, the literacy requirements for University and other tertiary entrance.
The Subject Handbook also lists a variety of staff who can be approached to discuss options and choices with.
On Tuesday 31 August, there will be no timetabled classes, with the school being open for parents and students to visit, look at displays each department will be arranging to provide some information on the subjects they offer and, more importantly meet and discuss with staff particular needs and requirements of individual students. Caregivers and your sons/daughters are asked to make an appointment to come in and talk to teachers about option selection. Guidance staff, Deans, the Qualifications Coordinator and Senior Managers will also be available for appointments. In previous years this day has proved very successful, and again we urge as many people as possible to make use of this opportunity to give full consideration to option selection. The format of this day has changed in response to parent and student suggestion from previous years. Senior students will have received exam results and reports prior to this important day.

Important Dates:

13 August		All students will have received their draft option sheets
23 August		Final option sheets issued
31 August		Option Selection Day – 10.00am – 6.00pm
3 September		Option Sheets due in

You will appreciate that important decisions relating to such matters as staffing, class viability and resourcing are made on the basis of the students’ requests. It is only in exceptional circumstances that we will allow changes. Students need to also be aware that for classes to be included in the timetable there have to be sufficient numbers to make them viable. While we try hard to accommodate everyone’s wishes, there are times when decisions must be made which have an impact on that, and the school reserves the right to make changes on the basis of student demand and practical limitations.

Student Enrolment:

Yesterday (Wednesday 11 August) we had an afternoon in which prospective Year 9 students, and their caregivers, had the opportunity to look around the school and in the evening listen to a brief presentation. Over the next few weeks, we will be interviewing for the enrolment of students who will start at our school next year. If you have a son or daughter at one of the major contributing schools who you wish to enrol, information on that process will be coming to you through that school. If you do not receive that, or are from a school which is not one that naturally contributes to Kamo High School, please contact our school office to arrange an enrolment appointment. Out of Zone ballots will be held in accordance with the dates listed below – these have been well publicized in the local media.

Out Of Zone Ballot Details:

For new out-of-zone students wishing to attend Kamo High School in 2005, there will be four enrolment periods, with the first ballot period closing today and the ballot being held tomorrow, 13 August.

Applications from out-of-zone students will be processed in priority order, and details of this are contained in the enrolment scheme which is available for inspection from the school office. If the number of out-of-zone applications exceeds the number of places available, students will be selected by ballot.

The dates for the enrolment periods are as follows:

Pre-enrolment Period 1 (for students applying at Year 9 level only):: Deadline for receipt of applications: 12 August 2004; Date of Ballot: 13 August 2004
Pre-enrolment Period 2 (for students applying at all levels):: Deadline for receipt of applications: 14 September 2004; Date of Ballot: 16 September 2004
Pre-enrolment Period 3 (for students applying at all levels):: Deadline for receipt of applications: 2 November 2004; Date of Ballot: 4 November 2004
Pre-enrolment Period 4 (for students applying at all levels):: Deadline for receipt of applications: 18 January 2005; Date of Ballot: 20 January 2005

Parents are invited to contact the school office for clarification of the enrolment procedures, and to arrange receipt of an enrolment package.

Arts’ Centre Opening:

We are delighted to now be in and making use of our wonderful new Arts facility. It is a quite magnificent building, and we wish to make the opening something a little bit special. The official opening is being held on Friday 20 August, commencing at 10.30. The only building which can hold the whole school is the new gymnasium, and so the first section of the ceremony will take place there. While we are conscious of the somewhat limited space which is available, we also want as many people as possible to be present, and so I invite you to contact the school office to put your name down if you would like to attend that ceremony.

Inevitably there will be many who are unable to attend the opening, and so we are having a "public open day" on Saturday 21 August, from 10.00am to 2.00pm. This will allow any one interested to visit and be shown through this amazing complex, and have the opportunity in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere to appreciate the opportunities it is going to offer our students, and the wider community.

ERO Report:

Parents will be aware that a review of the school was carried out by ERO officers earlier in the year. We were very pleased with the very positive nature of the report, and the way in which it identified how, in so many ways, we are doing so well for the young people in our school. Reports include a summary "public" page, and this is enclosed as an insert to this Newsletter.

The full report is also available for the public to access, and you may do so by going to the ERO site and following the pathway: www.ero.govt.nz; then to "reports"; "search"; and in "Keyword Search" enter "Kamo High School". Parents are also welcome to contact the office which has a limited supply of hard copies which may be borrowed.

At 7.30pm on Wednesday 8 September, the PTA is having a special evening in which the board and senior management will discuss with you the report in more detail, explain some of the areas which were looked at in particular, and talk about the way in which the school is responding to its contents. We welcome a full attendance at this meeting, which will be held in the library.

Richard L Abel
Principal
12 August 2004

Board of Trustees:

At last our confirmed ERO report has arrived and I hope you will take time to read the summary prepared by the ERO team especially for the school community, which is an insert in this newsletter. The full report is available on ERO’s website or you can request a copy to read from the school office if you wish. I hope you will take the opportunity to view the full report and also join the Board at the PTA evening on 8 September.

Have you noticed the school’s article in the Whangarei Report at the beginning of each month? Since early last year, through this regular feature, we have been reinforcing the school-wide focus from our Strategic Plan of "encouraging a culture of high expectations that celebrates success and promotes pride". Sharing the achievements of our students, focusing on positive aspects of the school and keeping the community informed about academic, sporting, and cultural events, are included in the themes.

The highlight of this term will be the opening of the Arts Centre on Friday 20 August, and the open day to follow on Saturday 21 August, when we invite you to have a look through the new building and enjoy ‘arts’ displays and performances. This facility began with a dream in the late 1980’s and has been kept alive through five Boards of Trustees to finally become a reality and a very exciting addition to the school.

Claire Watts – Chairperson

Effective Learning:

So far this year we have looked at "striving for accuracy" and "thinking about your thinking". In this newsletter the focus will be on "Listening with empathy and understanding". This one of the 16 habits of mind and needs to be practiced until it becomes a habit!

"A habit is a cable; we weave it each day, and at last we cannot break it."

Listening is the beginning of understanding.... Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening. Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1:5

This area is about devoting all our energies to listening to others and understanding others’ thoughts.

How can you help?

Encourage pausing – rather than saying what comes into the head first
Ask questions like: "What did you mean by saying…" "If I rephrase what you said could you tell me whether I got the general idea?"
Ensure family members do not laugh at someone’s ideas
You do not have to agree with everything someone says, but it is important to try and understand what others are saying
Try to be patient!
Perhaps ask your son/daughter to complete this sentence… Because I listened carefully today I learned…

Sue Holmes – Senior Manager: Curriculum

Northland Mathex 2004:

Kamo High School was represented by two Year 9 and two Year 10 teams at this year’s Northland MATHEX competition, held recently at Whangarei Boys’ High School. We were delighted to have a Year 10 team win second place. Congratulations to Mark Hansen, Christopher Matheson and Nicholas Anson. Thank you to the other students who participated.

Dianne Anson - HOD Mathematics

Environmental Education at Kamo High:

Environmental Education has been at Kamo High School for many years, with the best evidence of this being the Marine Reserve proposal from the Year 13 Geography classes of the past 10+ years under the tutelage of Mr Farrelly. This is very close to fruition and will become a real consequence of student environmental concerns. Other projects have been the development of a set of worm farms, revegetation of the Waiarohia Stream banks, and the growing of trees for revegetation.

Until now there has been little formal structure for this area of study. This has changed over the last 2 years. Groups of facilitators and teachers, around the country have spent considerable time in preparing courses for Environmental Education (E.E.) to be presented to students as an option, or as part of an existing course.

The basis for the courses, or its integration, is the well constructed Environmental Guidelines, a document sponsored by the Ministry of Education.

Students planting pingao at Matapouri Beach To date the students have undertaken field trips to: This year at Kamo High School an initial course at NCEA Level 1 has been introduced. The students have used Social Studies Achievement Standards and Science Unit standards to investigate and make a difference IN, ABOUT and FOR the environment.

Matapouri – to see how various groups value the area, and to do some restorative planting of the dunes with pingao.
Mair Park – to understand the health of streams, with the Whitebait Connection, using the Hatea River for sampling.
The Eastern corner of the school to identify areas of environmental concern in the immediate area, and to take action to improve our environment.

Students will have the opportunity to visit A.H. Reed Park to see the difference in biodiversity between native forest and pasture, and the change in water clarity in streams, and do something FOR the environment.

Students are also given an opportunity to develop a personal project to take action FOR the environment, using the skills learnt in class. It is intended that this project will be able to be carried through year after year so some significant progress can be made by the students in their effect on the state of the environment. This will start at Year 10. Credits will be achievable from this work too, at the appropriate levels.

Options for 2005 are available at Years 10, 11, and 12 with the latter at NCEA level 2.

The allocation of a Curriculum award from the Northland Regional Council to construct the worm farms has allowed the collection of worm tea. This is a fertiliser that can add to the Agriculture and Horticulture programme and also improve the waste management in the school.

Other projects will happen at the instigation of the students as part of the course. Interesting times are ahead of those students willing to accept the challenge of thinking for themselves – with a little guidance.

Terry Baker – Teacher Agriculture / Horticulture

Meningococcal Disease Vaccination Programme:

NZ has one of the highest rates of group b meningococcal disease in the developed world.

It is a disease that can be difficult to distinguish from other illness but can kill or permanently disable a previously healthy child in a matter of hours or days.

The Ministry of Health has advised that the vaccine to give protection from the most common strain of meningococcal disease in New Zealand has been approved and licensed.

An immunisation programme has begun in Counties Manukau and some eastern suburbs of Auckland this month. The vaccine will gradually become available throughout the country with other schools likely to begin vaccinations in early to mid 2005.

Once the vaccine is available in our area, public health nurses will visit our school and distribute consent forms that parents need to sign before their child can be vaccinated. More information will be supplied at that time.

The vaccine is free to all 0-19 year olds. School students are to be vaccinated in schools, and under fives and young people who have left school, will be vaccinated by their doctor or practice nurse.

Ministry of Education & Ministry of Health

Past Students:

Janelle Thomas, a Year 13 student last year has been awarded a bronze medal at the Junior Culinary Championships held in Auckland in June. Just four months into a two year training course at Kerikeri’s Culinary Institute, Janelle and five other Kerikeri students were medal-winners in their classes at the prestigious competition. The championship is judged by industry experts and is the biggest live kitchen event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Peter Preesman, Andrew Pratt, Marc Graham and Jonathan Costello, all ex Kamo High School students have recently graduated from the Northland Farm Labour Agriculture course. They have completed the 26 week course and are all now in permanent employment.

Enterprise News - "Smart Juniors" Do It Again!!:

Kamo High School’s Young Enterprise teams have tasted success for the third time in this year’s competition. All three teams that entered the Oral Presentations did the school proud, demonstrating a very high standard of business development and communication skills.

The Y.E.S. programme is becoming so popular in Northland, thanks to the support of Enterprise Northland, Northpower, Top Energy and the numerous supporting local businesses and community organisations that this year’s "Orals" had to be held in three heats at different venues throughout Northland.

"Smart Juniors" won $200 in gaining first in their heat for Oral Content, and second for Visual Effect. "Party Packs" were third for Visual Effect, and "Natro Heat" also did a great job. The competition organisers have been impressed by the extremely high standard of this year’s teams across the North.

Kamo High School was also present at this year’s Chamber of Commerce Northland Business Excellence Awards. Last years Northland Y.E.S. Company of the Year, "Incredible Edibles", were recognised and awarded certificates at the dinner. Interestingly enough many of Kamo High School’s past pupils were prominent amongst the Business Excellence Awards Winners. Also a former Y.E.S. winner, now rebranded as "Burst Limited" (part of the Young Entrepreneur Programme), went close in the Technology Category. Craig Martin, a Year 13 student, and Matthew Morgan, a past pupil, are part of "Burst", which runs a Northland Youth website.

Other happenings saw Eliza Waiomio, a member of the Year 12 CME class, attend the NZ Business Week in Palmerston North during the holidays. This was a valuable experience for Eliza, who is a determined young woman.

The teams involved in the NZX Stockmarket Challenge are certainly learning about "Timing" and "Time" in the market.

Students should remember to ask Mr Bayly or Mrs Green about the Enterprise Leadership Awards – these cover areas across the curriculum and extra-curriculum activities.

Keep up that ‘Can Do’ attitude.

Alan Bayly – Northpower Enterprise Co-ordinator

Advance Whangarei:

If any family is not wanting the glossy book sent to them by Advance Whangarei, oddly enough called "Whangarei" – we in the Social Sciences Department would love to have them. Thanks.

Ashley Hart – HOD Social Sciences

Community Education – Whangarei:

Do you want to learn a new skill? We offer a wide range of both vocational and recreational courses to support the learning needs of individuals, groups and businesses within the community. Classes are for adults only and are held at Kamo High School in the evenings and on the weekends. There are a variety of classes available this term including:-

⇒	Website Design	⇒	Tikana Maori
⇒	Paintshop Pro	⇒	Brain Gym
⇒	Introduction to Computers	⇒	Culinary Herbs
⇒	MS Access	⇒	Copperplate Writing
⇒	Autocad	⇒	Terracotta Sculpture
⇒	Excel	⇒	Flax Weaving
⇒	Powerpoint	⇒	Drawing Landscapes
⇒	Printing Digital Photos	⇒	Pastels
⇒	Movie Reviews	⇒	Oils and Acrylics
⇒	Italian Cooking	⇒	Watercolours

Which course are you doing? For further details check out our website www.cew.ac.nz or email cew@kamohigh.school.nz or phone/fax 09 4350889. Course booklets are available from your local library or Kamo High School.

Learning for Fun – Learning for Work – Learning for Life

International Student’s Department:

To date the students have undertaken field trips to:

An exciting start to Term 3 saw 21 new international students arriving from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Denmark and Brazil. They are a fantastic group of senior students and we warmly welcome them to Kamo High School and New Zealand. Their orientation day consisted of a powhiri, meeting their Kiwi buddies, an English assessment and a delicious lunch of BLT’s followed by the kiwi standby, hokey pokey ice cream.

Below are messages from two of the students who left at the end of last term. We wish all the students who left happiness and success with their return to Germany, Brazil and Korea.

A message from Livia Cruz:
My time here was great! I loved the country, the people, everything! It was awesome getting to know so many things, learning a lot about the culture and how to live away from home. It was a bit hard at the beginning but after a while you get so involved with everything and everybody around you that when it is time to go home you don’t want to! I had an amazing time here which I will never forget. Thank you so much for everyone that became my friend, that supported me, that made my year in Aotearoa unforgettable!

Livia Cruz
Sao Paulo, Brazil

A message from Mareike Wellhausen:
Hey guys! I really enjoyed my stay here in N.Z. It was such a great experience to meet so many people from all over the world. Thanks to all of you for making my year unforgettable, especially Erin and Nikki! Miss you all a lot.

Love Mareike XXX
Oldenberg, Germany

Gaylene Sanford – International Student Coordinator

Homestay Parents Meeting:
Monday 23rd August 7–8pm, in the library. This is an opportunity to meet the team, ask any questions you may have regarding the programme and share ideas and experiences with other homestay families. Please do not miss this evening, mark your calendar now! For homestay parents only, so please leave your student at home.

Michelle White – Homestay Manager

Student Support Centre News:

Muna
Congratulations to Lisa Moffatt, Daniel Richards and Kowhai Yukich for successfully representing Kamo High School at the Model United Nations Assembly. If your son or daughter is interested in public speaking and current affairs they would enjoy being part of this team in the future.

Peer Support
Congratulations also to our Peer Support students who play such an important part in keeping our school environment a positive one. These senior students work quietly behind the scenes befriending new students, leading mediations, and running committees like the Student Team Against Bullying (STAB) and Students Against Driving Drunk (SADD). We are always impressed by the compassion and commitment these students show towards their peers. This year’s Peer Support leaders are no exception.

Express IT!
We are encouraging students to enter our Express IT! competition, a healthy way to express emotions through writing a song, poem, story, etc., or creating an artwork which expresses feelings. Getting creative is a good way to shake off the winter blues, so encourage your sons and daughters to enter!

Sick Bay
If your child is sick and we need to contact you, do we have the correct phone number? Please be sure to keep us up to date with changes. It is also very helpful to have an emergency contact – a relative or friend who can look after your child if we are unable to reach you. If you have changes or additions (cell phone numbers can be handy too) please send a note to the school office with the details. Thanks.

Arts News ’04:

Kamo High School Arts Centre
A Personal View

After years of planning, the dream of having an Arts Centre has now become a reality. Our new Arts Centre is the beginning of a new era in the Arts and I feel both fortunate and honoured that I am part of a team of staff that will work in such a tremendous facility.

I am grateful that I have been here long enough to have seen where we have come from and to be able to compare where we are now. Over the past few days as I have shown my senior Photography students through the building, I have been really moved by their reactions – for both them and I – it is still hard to believe how good we now have it.

Last week – Tuesday 27^th August was the day that the first students were officially taught in the Arts Centre – it is fitting that those Year 11 and 12 plus students were attending a course run by Kevin Capon – a man I respect and admire tremendously. Kevin has been coming to Kamo High School for over 10 years, and travels NZ teaching photography at both secondary and tertiary institutions. He commented that this Photograph suite is the best he has seen in any secondary school. He was also very impressed with many other facilities within the building.

With comments like Kevin’s, I know that you will be impressed as well. We are opening our Arts Centre to you and the rest of the Kamo High School community on Saturday 21^st August, 10–2pm. I hope to see you there.

A large thank you to those senior students who gave up their time over the holidays to assist with the art department shift. Their generosity and hard work is appreciated by all concerned.

Finally a huge thanks to everyone involved in making this project happen – special thanks to Richard Abel, Shirley Kearney, the Board of Trustees, Foundation Members, John Cooper (Architect/Project Manager), Rhys Wasson (Foreman), Keith Dickens (Caretaker), and Alex Wallace (Music).

See you on the 21^st.

Ian Pritchard – Arts Co-Ordinater

Stage Challenge
Students taking part in Stage Challenge To date the students have undertaken field trips to: A big congratulations goes out to the students involved in this year’s Stage Challenge. A lot of hard work, passion, energy and time when into producing this year’s production and in the end it paid off. The Kamo High School team walked away on the night with 7 awards of excellence and an overall 2nd place in the regional event. The regional event was held on the 1st of July and the casts and crews of the competing schools spent the day at Forum North rehearsing and adding the final touches to their performance before the final event that night. The top three schools in this event now go on to compete in the Television competition, which is a whole new ball game. It is a nation wide event and the schools are judged on how effective it is for the television screen. This new competition is being televised on Channel 2 on Sunday evenings over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for our school.

In order to show off our fabulous Stage Challenge production we held a small variety concert in the school hall on the evening of the 29th of July. The students performing enjoyed themselves immensely and we hope that the audience did too. A big thank you to all the parents and supporters who came along and watched as well as the support for the event and the students over the last couple of months, it is greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to next year’s Stage Challenge, full of energy and ready to go.

Brenda Meyer – Dance Teacher

Music Department
A huge Pat on the back to Pat Sheilds and her pupils for making an amazing contribution to this year’s Chamber music festival. Those of you who will be here for the Arts Centre open day on Saturday 21 August will get a taste of these budding musicians’ raw talent.

Congratulations to our three Rockquest finalist bands: "3PM, Anima, and, for the second year in a row…the Jive Bunnies! Amazing for one school to have three bands make the finals! Good work guys, but now the real challenge lies ahead… The Regionals. Let’s support these bands Kamo, by making a presence at this year’s "CokeSmokefreeRockquest" finals (say that five time fast)! The largest rock’n bandfest Whangarei will see this year!"

Mark Harris – HOD Music

Kamo High School PTA:

All parents/ caregivers are welcome to attend our September meeting.

Date: Wednesday 8^th September in the school library
Time: 7.00pm for a short meeting followed at 7.30pm by a talk on the ERO Report

Jenny Powell – Chairperson

UNITEC - STEP UP 2004 - Revision Classes – September 2004

Need help with NCEA Level 1 – 3 exams? These revision classes can help you to get the results you want. Dates – September school holidays, these can be viewed on-line on their website: http://schools.unitecnology.ac.nz/stepup/

Fees		Class Size
$35.00 (inc GST) per half day NCEA class		All classes are limited to
$65.00 (inc GST) per full day NCEA class		16 students.

Courses Available

NCEA Level 1	NCEA Level 2	NCEA Level 3
Accounting	Accounting	Accounting
Economics	Biology	Art History
English	Chemistry	Biology
Geography	Economics	Chemistry
Mathematics	English	Economics
Science	Geography	English
	Mathematics	Geography
	Physics	History
		Maths – Calculus
		Maths – Statistics
		Physics

Enrolment
Places can only be confirmed by completion of the STEP UP Enrolment Form and payment in full. Please specify a second preference in case your first choice is full. Enrolments close Wednesday 1^st September or sooner if classes are full. A withdrawal in writing is required at least seven days before a course begins for you to be eligible for a 90% refund of the fees. Don&t delay – Send in your STEP UP Enrolment Form now. Faxed enrolments can only be processed if the credit card form is complete.

Address Carrington Road, Mount Albert, Private Bag 92025, Auckland, New Zealand.
Phone 09 815 4321 ext 8181 Fax 09 815 4337 Website http://schools.unitecnology.ac.nz/stepup/

Sports:

Great Achievements

Mi Ri Joo has added another golf title to her already impressive list when she won the U17 North Island Golf tournament during the last school holidays.
Ersin Buckley, who recently raced in the Splash class world sailing championships in Belgium finishing 20^th (individual) and his New Zealand team finishing 3rd.
Hayden Smith won the bowls singles at the North Harbour vs Northland Secondary Schools’ Tournament. As the singles champ, Hayden will represent the Northern Region at the Auckland Secondary Schools’ Tournament in September.
Stacey and Carli Michelsen were members of the Northland Under 15s Girls’ Hockey team, winners of the New Zealand Tournament!
Trudy Williams competed at the national secondary schools Karate Champs, winning 2 silver medals in Kumite and 1 bronze medal in Kata.
Nicola Howes won the Under 19 "Surf Lifeguard of the Year" at the Northern Regional Surf Lifesaving Awards recently. Nicola, a 15 year old Year 11 student, is also a NZ Under 16 hockey rep
Katie Mullenger, Arijs Scott, Jared Murray and Brad Sworn who are Year 9 students involved in the NZ Soccer International Player Development Programme.
Erin McCulloch selected in the Tournament Team at the Womens’ Division 3 Basketball Tournament held in Auckland recently.

Rosehill Sports Exchange
On Sunday 25^th July two busloads of sports students travelled to Rosehill College, Papakura for the annual sports exchange. Being billeted with Rosehill families was a daunting thought for many students but turned out to be a great experience for our students. Eight games were played on Monday, and the game of the day would have to be the boys’ soccer as it was a hard fought evenly contested match between two very good teams. Kamo High School scored 2 goals in the first half, Rosehill pegged back to being even in the second half and then going on to score the winning goal with just 6 or 7 minutes to go. Our players were gutted!

Unfortunately we did not bring the shield home as the only victories we had were the hockey girls 9-0, and basketball girls (74-52), with a draw (1-1) to the hockey boys. Both soccer teams lost by just one goal each, with both netball and the boys’ basketball teams having losses. Despite the scores, all students enjoyed the occasion and look forward to another challenge next year here at our school. Spending time at Waiwera Hot Pools on our way home was a welcome bonus!

Special thanks to the staff and parent coaches/managers who accompanied the students and made this exchange possible – Ms Morgan, Mr Unka, Mr Harris, Crichton Christie, Adrienne Wong, Sue Dykzeul, and Liza Taurua.

Congratulations
To our Boys’ Soccer Team, coached and captained by Year 13 student, Daniel Richards, who showed great skill, team work and determination during their games in the Secondary Schools’ soccer competition to go through unbeaten, win the southern zone and qualify for the Northland final. Their opposition in the final was Kerikeri High School (the northern zone winners). The first final game played at Kamo High School was a 2-1 win to us with Om Jurisawalong and Jamie Stevens scoring our goals. The second final game played at Kerikeri High was another hard-fought match with our team having to defend strongly for much of the time and goalkeeper, Michael Robinson, making some brilliant saves. However, after more than 90 minutes game time, Kerikeri sneaked out a 1-0 victory. Because they had scored an "away" goal, they became the Northland Secondary Schools’ winning team. However we are very proud of our team – their result is the best for Kamo High School for many years.

Congratulations to…
Carla Frost (Collegiate Red Hockey) - Fairplay Winner for July
Gareth Shaw (College Day Soccer) - Player of the Day Winner for July

Nicholas Anson – Kamo High School Junior Boys’ Badminton Champion
Reon Wynyard – Kamo High School Senior Boys’ Badminton Champion
The girls’ final has not been completed yet – results next newsletter.

Our girls’ badminton team (Marina Urabe, Lynsey McQuin, Natasha Foster and Truc Nguyen) who won the Northland girls teams event and qualify to compete at the Regional tournament in Auckland next week; and to our boys’ badminton team (Reon Wynyard, Keiran Lynn, Gavin Ball and Reccardo Herewini) who came 2^nd equal at the Northland teams tournament.

Matt Watts, Vaughan Gillingham and Keiran Lynn who were members of the Northland Under 18s hockey team which placed 6^th at the nationals in Palmerston North recently.

Good Luck
To Sam Sparrow and Adam Nicholson who will be competing at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Cycling Champs in Auckland this weekend.

National Award to Kamo High School Student
Miri Joo, a Year 11 talented golfer, was the regional winner of the Canterbury Sports Award for the month of June for her outstanding sporting achievements. Miri is Northlands No.1 women golfer, earlier won the NZ Womens Under 21 title, the North Island Under 17s title, is our Kamo High School Champion and has won many other Northland and Regional Golf Tournaments. She will receive $200 worth of Canterbury gear and our school will also receive $200 worth of Canterbury gear – well done, Miri!

Volunteer Coach of the Year
We would like to encourage our students to nominate their coach for this Award. Entry forms are available at the Sports Office and require the entrants to tell in 50 words or less why their coach deserves to be awarded the title of Wattie’s Baked Beans Volunteer Coach of the Year for 2004. The winning coach will receive up to $5000 towards coaching development, all players who send in a nomination go into the draw to win $2000 cash and four chances to win $500 worth of sporting gear for the school. We have many coaches who would be deserved winners, but students need to nominate them!

Tournament Week – 23^rd to 27^th August
Good luck to the following teams who will be competing at New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Tournaments throughout the country:

Girls’ 1^st XI Hockey Team	-	to Christchurch for Federation Cup
Boys’ 1^st XI Hockey Team	-	to Auckland for Rankin Cup
Girls’ Golf Team	-	to Wellington for NZ Schools’ Tournament
Boys’ Soccer Team	-	to Auckland for Trident Trophy Tournament
Netball No.1 Team	-	to Waitakere for Upper North Island Tournament

These great sporting opportunities are only available to our students because of the support of their families and the dedication and commitment of coaches and managers – thanks so much.

Bon Voyage
It is with regret that we say goodbye to Jason Woods who has been a valued PE teacher and awesome volleyball coach for the past three years. Jason has been instrumental in developing the potential of our boys’ volleyball players and has enabled them to achieve the following:

2002 Junior and Senior Boys – Northland Secondary School Champs
2002 Senior Boys – Bronze medals Div 2 at NZ Champs
2003 Junior and Senior Boys – Northland Secondary School Champs
2003 Junior Boys – Bronze medals Div 1 at North Island Champs
2003 Senior Boys – Silver medals Div 3 at NZ Champs
2004 Senior Boys – Northland Secondary School Champs (Juniors to be played in November)
2004 Senior Boys – Gold medals Div 2 at NZ Champs

We thank Jason very much for all the support and assistance he has given the Sports Department and especially the volleyball teams. Because of our recent successes under Jason’s guidance we have become known nationally as the "Volleyball School of the North".

Help Needed, Please:
At the beginning of next term there are NSSSA softball, touch and volleyball tournaments for Yr 9 and 10 students and we need adults who are interested in assisting with these sports by coaching, managing, driving the van or providing transport, etc. Also the cricket Saturday competition starts early October and parent support is needed with forming a Committee and coaching/managing teams (probably 1^st XI, two 3^rd grade teams and a girls’ team). Please phone me at the Sports Office (435-1688) if you can help in any way.

Coming Sporting Events

17^th August	NSSSA Netball Finals at Kensington – Teams 1 and Yr 10A
23^rd–27^th August	NZSS Tournament Week – Girls’ 1^st XI Hockey in Christchurch Boys’ 1^st XI Hockey in Auckland Girls’ Golf Team in Wellington Boys’ Soccer in Auckland Girls’ Netball No.1 in Auckland
^st August	NSSSA Netball finals night at Advocate Stadium
2^nd September	NSSSA Year 9/10 Girls’ Basketball at Advocate Stadium
^rd September	NSSSA Senior Basketball finals at Advocate Stadium
3^rd – 4^th September	NZSS Gymnastics in Auckland
^th September	NSSSA Year 9/10 Boys’ Basketball at Advocate Stadium
11^th September	Trapshooting in Whangarei
14^th September	NSSSA Basketball finals night at Advocate Stadium
13^th – 16^th September	School Table Tennis Champs held at lunchtimes

Hope you all enjoy watching the Olympic Games over the next couple of weeks – and good luck to our local triathlete, Sam Warriner, equestrian Blyth Tait, and other Northlanders involved in hockey and basketball.

Failure is not Defeat … Until You Stop Trying.

Gloria Miller – Sports Co-ordinator

Community News:

District Council Possum Control
The Northland Regional Council has informed us that they will be carrying out possum control work in the Pukenui Forest and surrounds. More detailed information is available at the school if people wish to study it.

Kamo Kindergarten Garage Sale
Saturday, 21 August 2004 7.00am – 11.00am
5 Farmer Street, Kamo

**** All Your Treasures Wanted!!! ****
For any queries, please phone the kindy on 435 0378.

Thank you for supporting all the children at Kamo Kindergarten.

Coming Events:

20 August		Arts Centre Official Opening
21 August		Arts Centre Open Day to the Public
23/27 August		Tournament Week
27 August		Senior Reports Issued
30 Aug/3 Sep		Year 10 OPC Week
31 August		Subject Selection Day – no formal classes
3 September		2005 Option Sheets In
8 September		PTA – 7.00pm in the library – ERO Report
9 September		Board Meeting – 7.00pm
15/17 Sept		DOE trips
16 September		Next Newsletter
17 September		End of Term
4 October		Term 4 Commences

See the previous newsletters here.
Return to top of page.

Updated 16 August 2004 by N Beauregard