Professional Documents
Culture Documents
If, within 28 days of this notice being published, 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the Board to
hold a by-election to fill the vacancies, then a by-election will be held.
The Chairperson
Glendowie College Board
bot@gdc.school.nz
by Friday 4 December 2020
It is important to understand that the hardware system requirements needed to run Adobe Creative Cloud on a
device are quite high. Different Adobe apps have different hardware requirements. The software will not run
properly on devices that do not meet these specifications and may run slowly on devices that only have the
minimum specifications. Students should install only the apps that they will be using. Students should discuss the
apps to be used in the various courses with their course instructor prior to installation.
To view Adobe’s recommended hardware requirements for running Adobe Creative Cloud, please visit the following
web page: https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html#Systemrequirements
PARENTS/CAREGIVERS: If you would like to enrol your child(ren) to participate in this opportunity in 2021, please
complete the registration form: https://forms.gle/qaDyYH8Mr7Go7uPN7. A registration form must be completed
for each student. The registration deadline for 2021 is Friday, 13 November 2020. There are a limited number of
licenses available. Registration acceptance will be on a first come, first served basis.
These days are set aside to support the implementation of changes to NCEA, and wider strengthening of curriculum,
progress and achievement practice.
Due to the impact of Covid-19, the Accord Sub-Group, along with the Secondary Principals’ Association of New
Zealand (SPANZ) and New Zealand Secondary Principals’ Council (SPC), have agreed to make the following changes
to the yearly allocation:
• There will be a Teacher Only day on 19 November 2020 (Thursday) for Auckland schools which will occur
while senior students (Years 11, 12 and 13) are sitting their external exams.
• The focus of the Teacher Only day in November will be on changes to NCEA.
• The Teacher Only day originally scheduled for August 2020 will now be used in 2022. This means that the
eight days will now be allocated as follows: one day scheduled for 2020, three for 2021, and four for 2022.
On Wednesday 28 October the Arts Faculty recognised students who have committed time, energy and excellence
to the co-curricular programmes in our four arts disciplines in 2020. The college hall was filled with art work,
students waiting to receive awards, musicians, debaters, dancers, actors and theatre sports artists.
Our guest speaker was Jeremy Hinman. Jeremy is a performer, choreographer, director and producer. He has been
seen as ‘Miss Understanding’ in ‘Priscilla’, ‘Queen of the Desert’ for Showbiz Christchurch and ‘The Midtown Boys’
for Doug Kamo Creative Management. His direction and choreography credits include national tours of ‘California
Dreaming – The Music Of The Mamas And The Papas’, ‘Carole King – The Songbook Of Her Life’, ‘A Fine Romance –
The Magic Of Fred Astaire’ and ‘Bugle Boys – A Salute To The Andrews Sisters’, all for JTM Productions. Jeremy has
recently worked as a member of the creative team on the choreography for ‘Mary Poppins’ (G&T Productions).
Jeremy spoke eloquently about his experiences in the New Zealand arts scene and we appreciate his contribution
to the evening.
We would like to thank the staff, students and whanau who contributed to the evening and to a positive year in the
arts. Special thanks go to Ms Adele Whittaker and Mr Andrew Lile for their leadership of the Art and Music
departments, to Mr Patrick Carrigan for his photography on the evening, and to Miss Clare Thomson and Mr Oliver
Humphries for their management backstage and in sound/lighting.
Congratulations to all our prize winners. Here's to the Arts at GDC in 2021!
Ms Clare Jennings, Arts Faculty Leader
Chelsea Ferguson (Best All Round Girl) Nelson McKenzie (Best All Round Boy)
Our next challenge was to cook dinner. Each group was asked to
prepare a dish – pot luck style. The first task was to build a fire using a
fire bow to make a friction fire, which was the most difficult part of this
challenge! Once we finished cooking, we enjoyed a tasty, fun filled
shared dinner! We then sat down to discuss strategies for next year and
to discover our leadership type. This was a hugely helpful activity
because it helped us to understand the different types of leadership
and how to work together.
On the 2nd and last day of the prefect camp, we were challenged to make our way back to Glendowie College in an
‘Amazing Race’ activity. Before we arrived back to school, we had to visit places like Devonport, Takapuna, the Sky
Tower and other landmarks around Auckland where we had to complete team tasks. Again, we had to apply the
principles of ‘Mahi Tahi’ along the way in order to successfully complete this challenge. A great example of this was
that our house, Tawhirimatea, and Tangaroa happened to link up on the first bus to Takapuna. By the time we made
it back to Mt Taylor Drive, the final stop before school, we realised that winning wasn’t the most important thing
but that the bonds we had built between ourselves was.
The camp helped us develop our leadership skills and learn to understand our different types of leadership. We
learnt that ‘Mahi Tahi’ will be the key to a successful year in terms of the way that we function as a group of leaders.
We thoroughly enjoyed the camp and learnt so many new things which will also be useful in other aspects of our
lives.
We would like to thank Mrs Hewetson, Mrs Rothbart and Mr Thompson for their leadership wisdom and being the
main source of knowledge throughout the trip. We look forward to applying our skills next year.
Phoebe Videbeck (12MKA) and Madison Nouwens (12PVN), Gold Duke of Edinburgh Participants
Bees at GDC!
On Thursday 22 October, a swarm of bees were found on the school grounds. While the
students were kept away from the swarm by teachers during break time, a few year 12
and 13 Biology classes had the opportunity to watch the swarm’s removal and see some
Biology in action (from a distance)!
Students were amazed at how the bees were removed without any protective gear or
equipment (except some smoke to calm the bees). We discussed how the bee swarm
follows the queen bee when they are trying to find a new location for their hive. Queen
bees can’t fly very well, so the bees need to have a rest sometimes on the way to find
their new home. We also discussed why bees are important, why they are endangered,
and how bee removal can be done (by experts of course!) – by gently scooping up the
bees from the swarm, into an artificial hive, and locating the queen bee. Once the queen bee is found, the other
bees will follow her into the hive. Swarms are usually quite calm, so the bee remover does not have to be in
protective gear.
Safe travels to the bees to their new home!
Are you looking for a way to give a little back? By giving just a few hours each term, you can be a PA star! It’s easy
– a couple of meetings each term, help out at a few events, eat cakes and chit chat with other parents, Senior Staff
and Board Members about life at Glendowie College. Many hands make light work!
No applications are required, simply email: gdcparents@gmail.com to join us in 2021!