Below are some of the ebooks Year 7 students have created in Science this year.
Year 11 Prize Winners
Year 11 Prize Winners
Year 11 Prize Winners
Year 11 Prize Winners
Year 11 Prize Winners
Year 9 Class Photos
Year 9 Class Photos
English Language Learners
Principal's Message
Linwood High School 1954 - Te Aratai College 2022
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā hau e wha, nau mai, haere mai.
Warm greetings to Te Aratai College community. Tēnā koutou, Talofa lava, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bula vinaka, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Kumusta.
We acknowledge and honour mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, kaitiaki of the whenua on which Te Aratai College stands, both at our Aldwins Rd and Avonside Drive Technology Centre sites.
In Term 2, our school returned to Aldwins Rd after three years on the Avonside Drive site, Linwood College at Ōtākaro, where we had been for our rebuild. We mihi-honour the decades of Avonside GHS before our time and note that our Technology Centre now being there is furthering the proud history of 103 years of education on the site.
Of course, it has been very exciting to have a brand new $44 million school to return to, and a school with purpose-built buildings and spaces that arise from these community values of relationships and personalisation of learning. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.
In particular, we are very grateful for the positive partnership we have with our architects - Architectus, the Ministry of Education, Southbase - our construction company, and RDT Pacific - our project managers.
We deeply valued having the Prime Minister formally open our school on 15 June, symbolising the sustained commitment of the Ministry of Education, and local and central government to our community and the east of Ōtautahi-Christchurch. It was inspiring to see the hundreds of students waiting outside and cheering for Ms Ardern to make her way to her vehicles. She did not disappoint them, taking nearly 30 minutes to make the 100 metres, stopping for countless selfies and signing autographs. One student shouted out, “Miss, Miss! Can you please sign my timetable!” as he shoved this rather worn piece of paper forward. And the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern did just that.
Equally we all know that Rome wasn’t built in a day, so we are very aware of all the generations of students, whānau, boards of governors-trustees and staff who have gone before us and paved the way for Te Aratai College. We mihi to them all.
In fact, the title to this article could read: Linwood HS 1954; Linwood College 1996; Linwood College at Ōtākaro 2019; Te Aratai College 2022. Above the entrance to Te Puna, our auditorium, surrounded by both the Linwood and Te Aratai crests-logo, is the whakatauki, Titiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua: Look to the past in order to move forward.
I wish to thank our Board of Trustees, chaired by Mr Finlay Laird. Our Board understands the kaupapa-purpose and is centred on the moral imperative. The Board sets our direction by keeping our attention on what really matters, and avoiding what does not. We thank the Board, who are most certainly putting in those hard yards that come with governance of any kura-school, but particularly a kura that is growing faster than had been forecasted.
One event that was very symbolic of our return was the holding of our first senior dance for three years. Our students chose to hold this here at school in Te Puna. With Covid, our seniors have missed out on so much, and we deeply admire their adaptability and resilience. As has been noted, one bonus for our Year 13s is they are leaving with the first Te Aratai College leavers’ hoodie, soon to be a designer collector’s piece!
I mihi to every student, every whānau, and every staff member who did what was required and made the best of 2022’s continuing complex circumstances so students received the very best care possible for learning, for hauroa-wellness, for personalised success.
Likewise, I acknowledge and thank our partner primary schools. We are in two Kāhui Ako-Communities of Learning: Tamai and Aupaki. Tamai is the wider Linwood-Woolston area: Bromley, Linwood Ave, Ngutuawa, Tamariki, Te Aratai College, Te Waka Unua and Whītau. Aupaki is the schools of Heathcote Valley, Lyttelton, Mt Pleasant, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Redcliffs, Sumner and Te Aratai College.
Our school is growing. We have a marked increase in the number of students coming to Te Aratai College from across our diverse community’s primary schools and we welcome them all.
As many of us know, the school site is already master-planned for Stage 2 and for Stage 3, 1200 and 1800 students respectively. Right now there is urgent discussion with the Ministry of Education to enact Stage 2 as we are over-capacity for this, our present Stage 1. And by the time Stage 2 is completed, we will be in similarly urgent need of Stage 3, so we are endeavouring to have Stages 2 and 3 planned together for coherency and at least overlapping.
Many businesses and organisations are active and valued supporters of our school, assisting various individuals and initiatives. We are very grateful to Ara Institute of Canterbury, Lincoln University and the University of Canterbury for their active commitment to our school.
Also actively supporting the school this year were:
All Souls Parish of Merivale, Argyle Schoolwear, ASB, Canterbury District Health Board, Catholic Social Services, Charitable Company Ltd, Coast to Coast Rangers, CDN Kids Camps, Christchurch City Mission, Emerge Aotearoa, Ferrymead Rotary, Graeme Dingle Foundation, He Waka Tapu, Lynette Stock from Frontrunner, Joshua Foundation, Linwood/Woolston Rotary, Lyttleton Rotary, Mana Ake, Methodist Mission, Ngā Maata Waka, Ōranga Tamariki Partnership Community Workers, Pak n Save, Phillipstown Community Policing Team, Police Youth Aide, Port Hills Uniting Parish, Rutland Street Church, Linwood Avenue Community Corner Trust, Purapura Whetu, Presbyterian Support, Q-Topia, Rata Foundation, Right Service Right Time, Shakti, Social Worker in Schools, Southern Health School, STAND, Sumner-Redcliffs Parish, Rotary Club Woolston, Tama Mai Saute, Taiwan Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation NZ, Te Ora Hou, The Royal Commonwealth Society, Variety the Children’s Charity, Waipuna St John of God, Wayne Francis Trust, Woolston Club, Youth Cultural Development, Youthtown, 180 Degrees Trust, 24/7 Youth Trust and Youth Workers, 699@Worcester, and a number of private individuals who have asked not to be named. We thank these individuals and organisations.
To our leaving staff, and former Board members, we are deeply grateful for all that you have done for our students. We thank you for your service. Our very best wishes for 2023 and beyond.
A lot can happen in a year, and we acknowledge the gap of one specific person among the many in all our lives. I refer to Ms Helen Mora, our former Head of Science, who took medical retirement last year but was present for the 2021 prizegiving. Our feisty Helen died of cancer in May this year and, as many said in the various end-of-year events, we remember her warmly.
To our leaving students: go well in your next steps. We all outgrow school – that is the whole point of it – and now you move into the big wide world which is ready for you and you are ready for it. You know that with every positive deed on your poutama you are honouring your whānau-family-aiga – those who are here now and those who have gone before. Go well. Farewell. Haere rā.
Notwithstanding the present rise, again, of the national Covid numbers, we look forward in hope to 2023, and before then, ngā mihi nui-best wishes for the festive season and summer holiday.
Richard Edmundson
Tumuaki-Principal
From The Board Of
Trustees Chairperson
Finlay Laird's Senior Prizegiving Speech
Kia ora koutou
I am Finlay Laird, the Presiding Member of the Te Aratai College Board. As the saying goes, it has been quite a journey but it is good to be back on our home site here on Aldwins Road in Phillipstown. This is where the original building housed Linwood College and it is here that these stunning buildings are Te Aratai College.
When Ngāi Tūāhuriri gifted the name Te Aratai College to our school, I could relate to it straight away. When I look back on my own life growing up in Lyttelton, now living alongside Ihutai the estuary, and working as a pilot for Lyttelton Port Company, I realised that like everyone in our community I have always had a connection to the Pathway to the Sea.
From the start of the rebuild, I can remember hearing of the many discussions between the architects and the various staff groups as the new school design was brought to life. I always had the good feeling that the
design was being done with us, not to us. The light-filled spaces, amazing views, and practical layout have already had the effect of uplifting students and staff. Te Aratai College won the education award at the
recent Property Council New Zealand Awards. This recognises our school as an outstanding property project when compared to the best the rest of the country has to offer. There is no doubt these buildings will have a significant impact on the educational outcomes of our students for many years to come.
From the name comes our new logo, the visual representation of our school. The maunga in the middle represents the Southern Alps. On each side are the two awa that are significant in our area, Ōpāwaho and Ōtākaro, the Heathcote and Avon rivers. The name is in the shape of the waka in which we all travel together. This is the basis of our turangawaewae, the place where we all stand and belong.
All the parents here had the opportunity to cast a vote in the recent Board election. One pleasing aspect of the process was the affirmative stance taken by some of our senior students who had a clear idea of the importance of having people who share their and our community’s values in positions of influence. This was civic education in the real world with real consequences.
All of the parents who were elected as Board members were part of the Board over the last term so bring with them experiences and provide continuity. We are grateful that they put themselves forward for election and for the time they gave in service to our school.
Due to the roll growth since the initial rebuild was first planned, we are now working through the design of Stage 2 which is the extra teaching spaces needed to accommodate a roll of 1200. It has taken a while but we will soon be back to, then above, our pre-quake roll numbers. This will mean more construction on site but this will be behind the existing structures so there should be little disruption to school life. We hope!
This evening is a world away from the headline grabbing actions of young clowns seeking 15 seconds of fame on TikTok. By comparison our departing Year 13s have put in five years of effort, some seven, been to three school sites and experienced countless hours of teenage angst to make it to the end of their high school days.
We are proud of every one of you and wish you all the best as you leave Te Aratai and follow your own pathway to wherever it may lead.
Ngā mihi nui
Finlay Laird
Leaving Comments From
Our Head Students
Sophie Watson
Sophie's leaver's speech
at senior prizegiving
Kia ora koutou. First of all I would like to dedicate this speech to the late Miss Helen Mora, who was my first teacher at Linwood College when I started in year 9 in 9MOR and inspired and introduced me to my love for science. Thank you Miss Mora. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sophie Watson and I am one of the head students of Te Aratai College. Now I would like to share one of my favorite memories from the old Linwood College site. In winter, my best friend and I would get to school really early and be freezing. So we would take off our socks and shoes and put our socks under the hand dryer in the science block bathroom to make them nice and warm for our cold wet feet. The old boiler system was so useless so we are very lucky to have the new heating system at this 44 million dollar school.
When I arrived at Linwood College, the culture difference was quite a shock, coming from a semi-private school. But as I adjusted, I learned so many things I would never have learned there. The people here are so diverse and the opportunities we are given, for free, such as the coast to coast experience and free lunches, are absolutely incredible and we are privileged to get those things. Don’t ever feel like being at this kura is a disadvantage because when we go into further education, or the workforce, we know what it’s like to have to work hard for things and we know what it's like to go through trauma and/or abuse behind the scenes and keep persevering, and that is not something that comes naturally to people who have been in comfort all of their lives. There is so much strength in this school through the different cultures, religions, sexualities, and backgrounds and I am so proud to have been a part of it.
On a lighter note, I would like to thank all of the teachers and staff for being there for us and putting up with all of our nonsense. You have been so incredibly supportive and understanding through all of the chaos these last few years have brought us. I remember going to my entrance interview in year 8 with Mr Harding and I was so nervous but he made me feel so welcome and excited for high school, and that feeling has never left me. I know I will miss Miss Cruz's hugs, Miss Blomfield's “good pumpkin”, Miss Nijdam’s “Alright let's keep up the pace here” and talking to Vicki about all of my problems. The list could go on forever.
I would also like to thank my family for supporting me and surrounding me with love and care so that I can be the best that I can be. I would not be able to do all of the things I do without them and God’s love carrying me through the tough times. Thank you to all the whānau and friends supporting us here today as we celebrate the achievements we have accomplished this year and look forward to the future of our lives. You are appreciated!
So thank you so much for listening, and have a great night everyone.
Alex Garcia
Alex's leaver's speech
at senior prizegiving
Greetings everyone I’m Alex Garcia. First I would like to start off by saying that this year has not been easy and it is such a huge achievement getting through the year up until this point, not only because of the assessments and such but due to the home rostering we had to do from people getting covid-19, plans getting cancelled and the process of moving into our new and beautiful site, so congratulations to everybody in this hall for persevering through this global pandemic. I also want to thank all of the staff for being there for us (the students). Thank you to the counsellors, especially Vicky I cannot say enough good things about you and I want to thank the science block for taking on half of my subjects and putting up with me. Thanks Ms Ryder, your humor is one of a kind and I enjoyed every single Biochem class we had, Ms Bugler I want to thank you for having immense patience with me and for naming your cat “CHICA” and I want to give a shoutout to everyone else in the department. I also want to thank all of my teachers for their outstanding efforts and I want to give a special thanks to my Ako teacher Ms Cruz for being there for me and helping me in every way possible way…. AND for putting up with me. All jokes aside Samantha “tu eres un ejemplo a seguir”. “You’re an example to follow”.
All of the obstacles that we as a community have faced this year have been special circumstances not all schools face on the daily, and even though things may seem difficult and almost lost in terms of exams, there is always that light at the end of the tunnel guys and even if we feel pressured during these exam times just know that it's okay to feel that way. You might not realise but a lot of us are in the same boat there. There have been a ton of things that were outside of our human power so we might as well work with what we have and make the most of it.
I would like to just say a huge thank you to my older brother along with my parents for being my number one support in everything I do because I remember when I first came to NZ I didn’t know one word of English and I had 2 months before I went to school and OH MY was I Stressed! BUT THEY WERE ALWAYS there as they sat down with me and we studied as much as we could. I remember coming home from my first day at school, I was terrified. I understood very little and it was that frustration that kept me learning, wanting to be better was my source of motivation even when I could have sworn I would never understand English.. I’m serious. I was the most introverted person you could know back in year 5. If I travelled back in time to Year 5 and told myself I would be giving a speech in English at this present time, I would have laughed right in your face.
My takeaway from Te Aratai is that everyone here is capable of whatever they put their mind into. This community has shaped a growth mindset within me and I feel like I’m leaving Te Aratai as a better version of myself because not only have the staff taught me but the bonds I’ve made with the students has taught me a valuable things. I’ll be very honest I WILL miss our fun physics class with the SPECTACULAR Ms Rowland. YES, I SAID something nice about you. I will miss our fun Math lessons with our short tempered Mr Hoffman, just kidding you’re great. Oh I almost forgot Ms Hardwicke, I want to thank you because you had a lot to do with me wanting to become a headboy. I remember in year 12 you sat down with me during an assembly and you told me “hey you should apply to become headboy” I remember laughing right at you because I thought then “I stand no chance” but you made me ponder on the question: ‘what if?’
A person who had a colossal impact on my learning was Ms Mora. Once in a lifetime people get to meet an amazing teacher like her. She always guided my brother and I in difficult tasks …. She taught me, mentored me and made me become the person I am today and that is why she will always be in my heart.
Lastly I want to mention the fact that I am honored for representing Te Aratai as its head student for 2022 and as I leave I will pursue my ambitions and I hope all of these come to fruition over time. From all of the challenges we’ve endured Te Aratai is shaping a stronger generation for the future each and every year.
Final quote: “Kindness is giving hope to those who think they are all alone in this world”. “Kindness is seeing the best in others when they cannot see it in themselves.” “Kindness is something anyone can give without losing anything themselves.”
Moral of the story? Give kindness, it’ll make my day. Thank you everyone!