On Thursday June 27 fifteen Year 12 Chemistry and Physics students travelled to Victoria University to experience Chemistry and Physics workshops. During the two hour Physics workshop the students got to observe magnets, superconductors, and liq-uid nitrogen and carried out an investigation into a radioactive substance. In the chemistry laboratory each student synthesised a component of aspirin while looking at ‘designer drugs’ then analysed their reaction product using thin layer chromatography. The students involved thoroughly enjoyed their day and were particularly impressed by the laboratory facilities available at Victoria.

Our school is taking part in a nationwide survey through CensusAtSchool NZ. CensusAtSchool is a biennial online census involving students from Years 5 through to 13. It is part of an international project where some questions are in common with other countries to provide comparisons between countries, while tailoring the remainder of the questionnaire to reflect the interests of New Zealand children. Other countries participating are Australia, Japan, South Africa, UK, Ireland, USA, Korea and Canada. Schools take part voluntarily once teachers have registered to get a code for their class. Students complete the survey during lesson time, and then submit their data online to contribute to an international database. CensusAtSchool does not gain any information that would in any way identify any student‟s response so it is an anonymous survey. A census of this type provides teachers with a collection of real, relevant student data which is supported by…

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Horowhenua Rock Climbing Club is a school club that meets every Wednesday during terms two and three. The club is made up of a variety of students from Year 9-12 with a mix of gender. Students work on increasing their climbing strength and skills while progressing from top rope climbing to leading. At the end of each term we visit Hangdog Climbing Gym in Lower Hutt to test our skills and fitness in another setting. With the upcoming National Boulder Series being held in Lower Hutt this year it is hoped a number of students will take part.

Recently Horowhenua College student, Lisharna MacKay competed in the BMX Nationals in Cambridge She rode very well and is now ranked fourth in New Zealand for 16 year old girls age group. She also got 2nd in the national series which is an event that is held over a few race meetings around the country and riders collect points at each meeting. Lisharna is also a member of the BMXNZ junior development program. Congratulations to Lisharna for her excellent results. A real talent for the future.

Kirsten Campbell and Ryan Elliot represented Horowhenua Collage at Nga Tawa interschool equestrian event in March.  Both riders had two ponies competing to form a team.  Kirsten was placed 2nd in the 80cm 2phase and 8th in the 80cm speed round on Ali and on her other pony Blue Rose- 3rd in the 95cm speed round and 7th in the 95cm accumulator.  Ryan 7th in the 95cm speed round on his pony Spirit.  The two riders finished 5th overall sitting on 28 points.  This was a great result as they were up against 45 teams from all over New Zealand, with top riders.

The Year 10 Tutor Group Quiz Challenge was won by 10GYA, Ms Grey’s tutor group.  They managed to answer 123 questions correctly and were closely followed by 10JAA, Mr Jacobs tutor group, who answered 112 questions correctly. This was the second challenge undertaken by the year 10 tutor groups during the longer tutor time on Wednesday morning.   Questions ranged from ones such as:  Who leads a gang of outlaws in Sherwood Forest?  to questions in the animal questions category such as:  On which continent are no bees found?  Students showed they could work well in teams and  exhibited a strong competitive spirit. The first challenge undertaken was the ‘Tug-of-War’.   This was an extremely noisy but exciting challenge to observe.   Tutor’s entered into the spirit of the competition by assisting their tutor group students and there were a couple with very sore muscles on the following day.   It was really great…

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On 22 March, five Nua canoe polo teams headed off to the nationals which were held in Feilding this year. The teams had performed well at the recent regional events but it is always hard to gauge how teams from other regions in New Zealand had performed at their regionals. The junior girls struggled initially to get their game together but with confidence and enthusiasm they improved as the tournament continued. They eventually made it to a memorable play off for third but lost to the Feilding High team. The divisional 2 girls also took a while to get things together and play some attractive polo. Their best game was in the medals play off. It all seemed to click and they easily beat their opposition for the bronze medal. A great effort from this team! The senior girls had some thrilling games and were the top team after the…

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Dear Parents and Caregivers Parent Conferences are being held on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th of March.  The conferences will be with Tutor teachers and will be held in their normal tutor rooms.  Students will be released at 1.05pm on Wednesday and there will be no classes Thursday. All students are expected to attend these conferences with their parents and will escort you to their tutor room for the interview.  Deans will be available in their offices in the administration area.  If you have yet to make an appointment with your child’s tutor teacher please contact the college office. Yours sincerely Brenda Burns Principal

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