Newlands College
Encyclopedia
Newlands College is a state co-educational secondary school
located in Newlands
, Wellington
, New Zealand
, and is adjacent to Newlands Intermediate. It is a uniformed school
. The current principal is Grant Jones. The current deputy principals are Deb Mills, David Pegram, and James Rasmussen. John Murdoch, former deputy principal, is now the current principal of Taitā
College. The school colours are white, red and blue. The school also offers community education for adults. The school offers several art, sport and recreation options, along with each student belonging to a house.
Supporting the Executive is the School Council that has representatives from all year levels. Each form class has two Form representatives, of which two of each year level are elected to be Year level representatives. A form class is similar to a homeroom
. These groups meet regularly to facilitate all student related activities from the extensive inter-house arts and sports competitions, school dances, and senior ball through to community based projects.
, Matai
, Rimu
, and Totara
which are named after native New Zealand trees. Each house can earn points in inter-house events such as the annual Tabloids sports day, and the House that has accumulated the highest number of points is awarded the Inter-house Cup at the end of the year. The house emblems are placed in order from left to right (first to fourth place) in the school hall for the current status of the standings. Each Tabloids sports day is generally on the last Friday of February.
The school is heavily involved in the arts, with several opportunities available to students.
Annually hosted is the school Variety Show which consists of a variety of performances (as the name suggests) such as Kapa haka
, solo singing and drama performances. The next variety show will be hosted on August 18–19, 2010. Almost every year, the school is involved in a production which students and teachers alike can sign up for. Examples are Guys and Dolls
(2007), Les Misérables
(2009) and Grease
(2010). Along with the school production, the Year 12 and 13 Drama
classes must produce a production separately. The latter was performed from May 18–21. The school also partakes in a competition known as the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition.
The school has a building specifically for the Visual Arts
and languages
, the Language and Art Block. This was available at the start of 2006. The school also has a Whare Kura which was named the Te Ao Marama. This was opened on May 10, 2007. At the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009, the school rebuilt the Learning Support Centre, the A Block toilets and the cafeteria.
Each year, Media Studies
classes participate in the production of short films. These short films are edited with Mac OS X
's iMovie
and/or Final Cut Express
and the most appropriate (with Excellence or high Merit marks) are submitted for the Noscars (the Newlands College Oscars) after being classified by the OFLC. If the Office gives a restricted rating, it cannot be screened at the Noscars. The Noscars are held annually at the Wellington Paramount Theatre. The last Noscars event was on October 29, 2010. Similar to the Oscars, there are awards and prizes.
, Cricket
, Soccer, Hockey
, Golf
, Rugby
, Netball
, Orienteering
, Smallbore rifle shooting, Softball
, Squash
and Underwater Hockey
. The uniform code for sport is also present, with most sports needing standard Newlands College P.E. gear.
The school has an annual Peer Support camp at El Rancho (Waikanae Christian holiday park), which was first held in 1975. The camp is for newcomers to the school, along with final year students. For year 9s, the camp is to settle into the school with friends and a good knowledge of who is who, before setting foot into the classroom. For year 13s, the camp is to learn new leadership skills and sociability. Students are involved in a variety of activities including kayaking, rock climbing, go karts, and team initiative activities. Peer support training is held for year 12s after the NCEA
examinations, and the actual camp is held in early February, usually near Waitangi Day
. The annual tradition however, was broken for the first time in 2011, but will resume in 2012.
Other camps include the year 12 and 13 Geography trips to the St. Arnaud/Lake Rotoiti
region and Tongariro National Park
.
Throughout the years, the college has grown substantially, having 1000 students in 2010. B block was built with similar architecture to A block. C block is substantially smaller, with only two classrooms and a storage room. H block has the school hall and a classroom primarily for drama. D block was also built to accommodate the learning support programme. However, in 2009, the building was demolished and rebuilt, while being renamed to the Learning Support Centre. L Block was built in 2006 for languages and visual arts. The Te Ao Marama is a Whare Kura, primarily for teaching Maori and hosting meetings. There is a large P.E. department building, hosting the largest gymnasium in North Wellington, a mezzanine classroom, a room for meetings and drama performances (formerly the cafeteria), and a cafeteria. The college also has a large administration area and staffroom. There is a pavilion that overlooks the sports fields for classes, meetings and seating for sports events.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in Newlands
Newlands, New Zealand
Newlands is one of the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. It lies approximately 8km north of the city centre and to the east of its nearest neighbour Johnsonville. Newlands is located in a valley and covers two ridgelines, the side of one of which overlooks Wellington Harbour and up to...
, Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and is adjacent to Newlands Intermediate. It is a uniformed school
School uniform
A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...
. The current principal is Grant Jones. The current deputy principals are Deb Mills, David Pegram, and James Rasmussen. John Murdoch, former deputy principal, is now the current principal of Taitā
Taita, New Zealand
Taitā is one of the easternmost suburbs of Lower Hutt City in New Zealand, situated toward the northern end of the city...
College. The school colours are white, red and blue. The school also offers community education for adults. The school offers several art, sport and recreation options, along with each student belonging to a house.
Ethnic composition
Newlands College provided the following statistics for the month April, 2009: European 54%, Asian 21%, Māori 11.2%, Pasifika 5.4%, Other 8.4%. On the International Languages Week of 2009, it was reported that the school was composed of 42 different backgrounds.Uniform policy
Newlands College is a uniform school. Students are expected to follow the dress standards and to wear their uniform with respect for themselves and pride in their school. Parents are asked to support and uphold the regulations regarding uniform. The school logo, displayed on the school jersey, represents many things. The torch represents enlightenment and passing down knowledge; the book represents knowledge itself; and the stars represent the crux, or southern cross, as seen on the New Zealand flag.School executive council
Newlands College has a school executive with several roles for students. The executive consists of a Head Boy (Roshit Bothara, 2011), Head Girl (Rachel Berryman, 2011), four House captains (for each House), International Students' Representative, Komiti Maori Representative, Sports Captain, Arts Captain, Academic Captain and Board of Trustees Representative.Supporting the Executive is the School Council that has representatives from all year levels. Each form class has two Form representatives, of which two of each year level are elected to be Year level representatives. A form class is similar to a homeroom
Homeroom
Homeroom or advisory is the classroom session in which a teacher records attendance and makes announcements. It can also be called Registration or Planning Period...
. These groups meet regularly to facilitate all student related activities from the extensive inter-house arts and sports competitions, school dances, and senior ball through to community based projects.
Houses
The school has four houses, which students are randomly selected for. They are KowhaiKowhai
Kowhai are small, woody legume trees in the genus Sophora native to New Zealand. There are eight species, S. microphylla being the most common. Kowhai trees grow throughout the country and are a common feature in New Zealand gardens. Outside of New Zealand, Kowhai tend to be restricted to mild...
, Matai
Prumnopitys taxifolia
Prumnopitys taxifolia is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura but is uncommon there....
, Rimu
Dacrydium cupressinum
Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The former name "red pine" has fallen out of common use....
, and Totara
Podocarpus totara
Podocarpus totara is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at elevations of up to 600 m.-Description:...
which are named after native New Zealand trees. Each house can earn points in inter-house events such as the annual Tabloids sports day, and the House that has accumulated the highest number of points is awarded the Inter-house Cup at the end of the year. The house emblems are placed in order from left to right (first to fourth place) in the school hall for the current status of the standings. Each Tabloids sports day is generally on the last Friday of February.
| Name of House |
Colour | Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Kowhai | Yellow | Sophora microphylla |
| Matai | Blue | Prumnopitys taxifolia |
| Rimu | Red | Dacrydium cupressinum |
| Totara | Green | Podocarpus totara |
Arts
Annually hosted is the school Variety Show which consists of a variety of performances (as the name suggests) such as Kapa haka
Kapa haka
The term Kapa haka is commonly known in Aotearoa as 'Maori Performing Arts' or the 'cultural dance' of Maori people...
, solo singing and drama performances. The next variety show will be hosted on August 18–19, 2010. Almost every year, the school is involved in a production which students and teachers alike can sign up for. Examples are Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...
(2007), Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
(2009) and Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
(2010). Along with the school production, the Year 12 and 13 Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
classes must produce a production separately. The latter was performed from May 18–21. The school also partakes in a competition known as the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition.
The school has a building specifically for the Visual Arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
and languages
Human language
A human language is a language primarily intended for communication among humans. The two major categories of human languages are natural languages and constructed languages...
, the Language and Art Block. This was available at the start of 2006. The school also has a Whare Kura which was named the Te Ao Marama. This was opened on May 10, 2007. At the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009, the school rebuilt the Learning Support Centre, the A Block toilets and the cafeteria.
Each year, Media Studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
classes participate in the production of short films. These short films are edited with Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
's iMovie
IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
and/or Final Cut Express
Final Cut Express
Final Cut Express is a discontinued video editing software created by Apple Inc. It is the consumer version of Final Cut Pro and is designed for advanced editing of digital video as well as high-definition video, which is used by many amateur and professional videographers...
and the most appropriate (with Excellence or high Merit marks) are submitted for the Noscars (the Newlands College Oscars) after being classified by the OFLC. If the Office gives a restricted rating, it cannot be screened at the Noscars. The Noscars are held annually at the Wellington Paramount Theatre. The last Noscars event was on October 29, 2010. Similar to the Oscars, there are awards and prizes.
Sport
Newlands offers a wide range of sporting options to its pupils, 22 in total, with summer, winter and all-year-round sports. Sports that are available include BadmintonBadminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, Soccer, Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, Netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, Orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
, Smallbore rifle shooting, Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, Squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and Underwater Hockey
Underwater hockey
Underwater hockey is a global non-contact sport in which two teams compete to maneuver a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into goals.-Play:...
. The uniform code for sport is also present, with most sports needing standard Newlands College P.E. gear.
Recreation
NCEA
NCEA can stand for:*National Certificate of Educational Achievement, New Zealand's main secondary school qualification*National Council for Educational Awards, Ireland*National Catholic Educational Association, United States...
examinations, and the actual camp is held in early February, usually near Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.-History:...
. The annual tradition however, was broken for the first time in 2011, but will resume in 2012.
Other camps include the year 12 and 13 Geography trips to the St. Arnaud/Lake Rotoiti
Lake Rotoiti
Lake Rotoiti is the name of two lakes in New Zealand:*Lake Rotoiti, Bay of Plenty, in the North Island*Lake Rotoiti, Tasman, in the South Island...
region and Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand, located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as one of the 28 mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Sites....
.
Recreation Centre
The Recreation Centre was founded as the Newlands Recreation Centre for the community, as a joint venture between Newlands College and the Wellington City Council. The school now has full ownership over it. The facility contains a gymnasium, one set of male and female changing rooms, a large foyer area, P.E equipment sheds, a reception area, P.E department offices, a kitchen, squash courts and a classroom.History
Newlands College opened on 3 February 1970 with a starting school roll of 68 students. The foundation principal was Rex Sage, who was also the foundation deputy principal of Tawa College. However, the school was not complete yet, with the land of the site causing trouble for further construction. The first classes had to take place at Raroa Intermediate, in two classrooms. The site itself was finished by April, and on 27 April 1970, students and staff shifted to the modern day Newlands College site at Bracken Road. The first and only permanent building that was present was A block, and was unfinished at the time.Throughout the years, the college has grown substantially, having 1000 students in 2010. B block was built with similar architecture to A block. C block is substantially smaller, with only two classrooms and a storage room. H block has the school hall and a classroom primarily for drama. D block was also built to accommodate the learning support programme. However, in 2009, the building was demolished and rebuilt, while being renamed to the Learning Support Centre. L Block was built in 2006 for languages and visual arts. The Te Ao Marama is a Whare Kura, primarily for teaching Maori and hosting meetings. There is a large P.E. department building, hosting the largest gymnasium in North Wellington, a mezzanine classroom, a room for meetings and drama performances (formerly the cafeteria), and a cafeteria. The college also has a large administration area and staffroom. There is a pavilion that overlooks the sports fields for classes, meetings and seating for sports events.
Notable alumni
- Te Amo Amaru-TibbleTe Amo Amaru-TibbleTe Amo Amaru-Tibble is a New Zealand netball and basketball player. She attended high school at Newlands College in Wellington before transferring to Tū Toa, a Māori sports academy in Palmerston North. During her early high school years she focused on basketball, playing with the New Zealand U16,...
- New Zealand netball and basketball player - Jodi BrownJodi BrownJodi Brown is a New Zealand netball player. Brown was a member of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns from 2002–07, earning 28 caps...
- former Silver Fern - Phillip Burrows - current New Zealand Mens Hockey captain
- Jenny Duck - New Zealand Women's Hockey representative
- Kyle Pontifex - New Zealand Mens Hockey goalie
- Michel TufferyMichel TufferyMichael "Michel" Cliff Tuffery, MNZM, is a New Zealand artist of Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Island descent.He lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand...
- mural artist - Ross VerryRoss VerryRoss Alexander Verry is a former New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Wellington. He was a right-hand batsman and right-arm off-spin bowler....
- former Wellington cricketer - Luke Woodcock - New Zealand T20 cricket representative and New Zealand Black Caps
- Vaughan CovenyVaughan CovenyVaughan Coveny is a former football player, who frequently represented New Zealand from 1992 onwards. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soccer League era. He was primarily a striker although he also played as a...
- Former All White Soccer player and has currently scored the most goals for All Whites