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Science
Yet another successful year for the Science Faculty! Our academic results con nue to show that mixed ability class groupings at Years 9, 10 and 11 are working very well. We plan
to extend the mixed ability strategy to all our Year 11 classes in 2019. Mixed ability together with project/por olio work, group work and contextual and prac cal work have increased student engagement and academic success.
The increased interest in Senior Sciences op ons has seen further roll growth in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Agriculture and Hor cultural Science at both Year 12 and Year 13 levels. To further encourage Senior Science opportunity for 2019 we have again reviewed course entry prerequisites for students who see Science and Technology in their future voca ons.
The most signi cant subject growth in student numbers has occurred for a second consecu ve year in Junior Agricultural and Hor cultural Science. The School’s pro le
as an Agribusiness Hub and the con nued support and commitment of the Primary Industry Trades Organisa on, underpin the School’s designa on as one of the only two Regional Centres of Excellence in our province for Agriculture and Hor cultural Science and Agribusiness.
The following students from our Faculty received Scholarships, Grants and Awards in 2018:
Dr John Goodsir Scholarship to Canterbury University
Edward Langlands
Elman and Alfred Poole Scholarships to Otago University
Health Sciences: Tim Price
Science: Daniel Cocker
Elman and Alfred Poole Scholarships to Canterbury University
Tim Smith
William Murrell
Ian Welsh & Chris Boyce
Co–Heads of Faculty Sciences
Social Sciences
The Social Science Faculty has been in good heart this year as teaching programmes have con nued to be developed and the variety of topics on o er has grown. While we work hard to balance good quality local content in the teaching and learning we have also introduced units focusing on digital literacy and consumer rights.
As a consequence of a ending MindLab Postgraduate Cer cate in Digital & Collabora ve Learning through Unitec,
we have also been introduced to a wider variety of digital tools for assessment. These have allowed the students to engage more widely and deeply with content,
collabora on at home and digital tools. This has been par cularly successful at Year
9 – the students have commented that they have enhanced their understanding
of their whānau’s personal journey to New Zealand through the use of online tools. The combined use of tools such as Padlet, google maps/gmail/google docs, has brought life to their learning in a way that ordinary classroom teaching and learning can’t always access.
The NZ History contract which nished
in 2016 has provided the school with resources that are being more fully integrated into the teaching and learning programme across all levels. New resources are being purchased to support the
whole faculty as a consequence of this. In Commerce the students have engaged in interna onal contexts through AgriBus and events such as the BP Challenge. In Media Studies members of the Year 13 class are amongst the top 20 nalists in the Outlook for Some Day Na onal lm Compe on.
Collabora on with the library has been
a feature of our work over the last four years and this will con nue in 2019. We have made be er use of the resource the library has to o er and have integrated the Informa on Literacy Skills Framework into more of our current prac ce.
We are excited about 2019 and the courses that we have on o er.
Jacque Russell
HOF Social Sciences