School Ball

Written by: Jessica Menzie and Leo Laing (Year 13)

On the 20th of June, the Year 12’s and 13’s took time out of their busy Saturdays to get dolled up, and drive to Pullmans Hotel, ready to step on to the red carpet of old Hollywood! Paparazzi greeted them at the door, shaking hands and asking for autographs. Even Marilyn Monroe made an appearance! Students excitedly lined up for photos in front of a wall of gold and a backdrop of black, then made their way to photo booths to get their beautiful faces captured on film, giving them printed memories for life.

For the Year 13’s the balcony was open to give a breath of fresh air before the night got into full swing. The atmosphere was buzzing, a mixture of nerves, joy and excitement as the live band started to play, the dance floor picked up almost immediately with it only continuing to pick up throughout the night as nerves faded. Memories were made dancing and taking photos with friends and teachers that will surely be looked back on years later!

Dessert, dinner, and drinks galore were provided in a buffet from Pullman's staff. After dessert, ball awards were announced with a glamorous display from the MC’s, Valerie Shearer and Charlie Teviotdale, who crowned our royals. The prince and princess were also the cutest couple! Tyla Platt and Yan Barros. Our rulers of the night were JP Sass and Ella Garlick, our king and queen respectively.
The prefects finished off the night with their annual prefect dance, which caused immense crowd cheering!

This spectacular Saturday evening spent being movie stars, was organized by the lovely ball committee group led by Tui Whatling. They put a huge amount of work into organising this which all of the movie stars were grateful for!

Pick up and Drop Off Reminders

To help keep our learners safe, we would like to remind whānau of the Berdinner Road pick up and drop off at Whangaparāoa College.

Berdinner Road - Back Entrance

• 8:00 am - 4:00pm

Learners may be dropped off and collected from Berdinner Road, however, vehicle access to the school grounds is not permitted during the above hours unless a Special Circumstance Pass has been issued by the College.

We ask drivers to be considerate of residents and avoid blocking driveways or restricting access.

Delshaw Road Reminder

A reminder to all whānau that stopping or parking on the broken yellow lines along Delshaw Avenue is prohibited.

Vehicles stopping in this area can obstruct the safe flow of traffic, increasing the risk of accidents and creating safety concerns for learners using the footpath.

To help keep our school community safe, please arrange to collect learners from the upper carpark or another designated area where stopping is permitted.

The Big Sing

On Tuesday, 16 June, our Year 8-13 Bellissimo Choir proudly represented the College at the Auckland regional Big Sing competition, performing at the iconic Auckland Town Hall alongside 24 other school choirs from across the region.
The day concluded with a spectacular Gala Concert, bringing together talented young singers in a celebration of choral music.

It was an inspiring and memorable experience for all involved, and our choir members returned motivated and excited to continue growing Bellissimo in the years ahead.

Road Safety

We have had some near misses recently and are becoming increasingly concerned about road safety in the mornings. We are trying to build better habits in our learners and would love your help to encourage them as well please.

Learners are continuing to cross Delshaw Avenue at various stages between the school front gate and Stanmore Bay Road, including at the corner directly outside of the reception car park. These are high-traffic areas in the morning. We would love to see all learners take the extra 30 seconds to divert to the crossing to enter school safely.

We would really appreciate it if you could take the time to speak with your learners about the importance of road safety.

Trades Academy

Written by: Hailey-Louise Weaver (Y13)

On the 17th of June, the learners of the Trades Academy went on a trip to Comfortech in East Tamaki. Comfortech is made up of two companies (Tasman Insulation and Forman Building Systems). Comfortech is the owner of Pink Batts, which has been running since 1960. Pink Batts insulation is made up of 83% recycled glass, mainly sourced from glass windows, and is owned and manufactured in New Zealand.

When we first arrived, we were introduced to Dylan and Todd, who gave us a brief introduction about Pink Batts and what we would be seeing. We were then split into two groups and got to see how Pink Batts is made. As we walked around the factory, we saw glass shards being turned into molten glass, and then watched how that molten glass became insulation, in Dylan's own words, "it is like a massive candy floss machine." We also received samples showing the different stages of insulation, before and after cooling and the addition of colour. We then saw how the insulation gets packaged. 
Once we came back from the tour we were presented with a slideshow that goes into the depth of Pink Batts and how they are world leaders in the insulation industry. We get shown the right and wrong way of installing insulation.

Overall going to comfortech was a great experience and great learning experience for us learners.

Year 7 - 10 Conferences

Bookings for our Year 7 - 8 Learner Led Conferences and Year 9 - 10 Meet the Subject Teacher evening will open next week. Whānau will receive an email with booking instructions once the system is available.

Please note that school will close at 12:30pm on Tuesday 21 July for all learners in Year 7 - 13 to allow for these meetings. Wednesday, 22 July will be a normal full school day for all learners.

Options Evening - Save the Date

On Tuesday, 28 July we will be holding our annual Options evening. This event is designed to support our Year 10 - 12 learners and their whānau as they begin planning their future pathways and making informed subject selections for NCEA.

Further information about Options evening will be emailed to families at the beginning of Term 3.

Ikura Initiative

Our school is part of the Ministry of Education's nationwide Ikura initiative, which provides free sanitary products for learners.

The programme makes sure no young person has to miss learning, sports,
cultural activities, or feel uncomfortable at school because they don’t have
access to the products they need.

What products are available?

• A range of liners, regular and super pads and tampons are supplied.
• Products meet the needs of learners of different ages, preferences, and cultural
  backgrounds.
• Learners are encouraged to take as much as they need for each cycle, including
  for school holidays.
  

How can learners access products?

• Pads and tampons can be discreetly collected from designated pickup points: Te Whare Hauora, the Marae and the Gym. 
• Learners may also speak with a staff member if they need help accessing
  products.
  

Want to learn more?

More information is available on the Ministry of Education Website