Ok People of Rangitikei College
Exams are here.
They may be mock exams but they may just become important for you in November.
Every year unsuspecting students have to apply for compasionate consideration as they have had something happen that meant they couldn't get to their exams.
Won't happen to you? Our very own editor Crystal said that too. Then she didn't make it to her final exam. I won't say why, did she get extremely sick? Did a family member die? Did she wake up unconsious? She just did not make it.
The markers had to go back to Crystal's mock results, look at the people above and below her and allocate her a mark in between, where she most likely would have come.
What would happen if you failed, or were bottom in the class? Well, I'm sorry but you are out of luck. Do bad in your mocks, then miss your end of year exams due to unforeseen circumstances and you are out of luck. Do well and you have a chance. That's the morale of the story.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Focusing Point: NCEA
NCEA. Definitely a hairy subject in the minds of students and parents alike. Ugly debates are constantly hashed over NCEA, its merits and its faults. But first, what is NCEA?
Well, NCEA is New Zealand's nationally and internationally recognised qualification. Students sit what are known as Unit Standards or Achievement Standards to achieve credits. These credits are put towards a total amount which determine whether the student has achieved NCEA. There are three levels to NCEA. Level 1 is the first Level of NCEA which Year 11 students (or 5th form) aim to achieve. The student must acquire a total of 80 credits to achieve Level 1. This should not be a difficult task as the five subjects the student can take at Rangitikei College should equal at least 80 credits or over. This is true for whatever subjects the student may take. This also includes Exams also known as External Standards.
Year 12 students (6th form), are required to be on to Level 2 of NCEA. This also involves accumulating a total of 80 credits in which 20 can come from Level 1. The same is true of Year 13 students (7th form), who study NCEA Level 3. They also need 80 credits, of which 20 can come from Level 2.
NCEA is the new equivalent of School C. It is argued that School C is a superior system to NCEA in regards to fairness. In the School C system you were marked by percentages. If you got all questions right you would get 100% or a pass. If you got, say, two or three questions wrong then your mark would be reduced to around 75% or so. This would still count as a passing mark.
With the NCEA system you either sit Achievement standards ot Unit Standards. An Achievement Standard is the usual paper a student may sit. A Unit Standard is a standard that has been simplified slightly to make the paper easier to pass. With these papers a student may have to answer all or a number of questions correctly to achieve. In most cases it is all questions need to be answered correctly. A question answered incorrectly can mean a fail, but there are usually re-sits.
It has been suggested that the two systems seem imperfect on their own and may be superior to the existing NCEA system if the positive attributes are fused together.
I will be posting a poll later on to find out your views on the NCEA system.
Next weeks topic will be Smoking and Drugs.
Thanks again,
Crystal :)
Well, NCEA is New Zealand's nationally and internationally recognised qualification. Students sit what are known as Unit Standards or Achievement Standards to achieve credits. These credits are put towards a total amount which determine whether the student has achieved NCEA. There are three levels to NCEA. Level 1 is the first Level of NCEA which Year 11 students (or 5th form) aim to achieve. The student must acquire a total of 80 credits to achieve Level 1. This should not be a difficult task as the five subjects the student can take at Rangitikei College should equal at least 80 credits or over. This is true for whatever subjects the student may take. This also includes Exams also known as External Standards.
Year 12 students (6th form), are required to be on to Level 2 of NCEA. This also involves accumulating a total of 80 credits in which 20 can come from Level 1. The same is true of Year 13 students (7th form), who study NCEA Level 3. They also need 80 credits, of which 20 can come from Level 2.
NCEA is the new equivalent of School C. It is argued that School C is a superior system to NCEA in regards to fairness. In the School C system you were marked by percentages. If you got all questions right you would get 100% or a pass. If you got, say, two or three questions wrong then your mark would be reduced to around 75% or so. This would still count as a passing mark.
With the NCEA system you either sit Achievement standards ot Unit Standards. An Achievement Standard is the usual paper a student may sit. A Unit Standard is a standard that has been simplified slightly to make the paper easier to pass. With these papers a student may have to answer all or a number of questions correctly to achieve. In most cases it is all questions need to be answered correctly. A question answered incorrectly can mean a fail, but there are usually re-sits.
It has been suggested that the two systems seem imperfect on their own and may be superior to the existing NCEA system if the positive attributes are fused together.
I will be posting a poll later on to find out your views on the NCEA system.
Next weeks topic will be Smoking and Drugs.
Thanks again,
Crystal :)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Kiwi kids playing sport-Not sponsored by Mcdonalds
Sport,Sport,Sport now what can i say. i myself,am not the most athletic person I've ever met to say the least in fact, my philosophy in life is this:you can't get sporting injuries if you don't play sport. this is why i chose to participate in activities that require as little contact and effort as possible.
Like blogging for example! other than a couple computer viruses there's not much damage you can do.So this is why I've decided to interview some kids who actual have the guts to go out and represent our school even if it does mean (god forbid) breaking a nail.
My first subject is Jessica carter Who plays Girls hockey for rangitikei college this is what she had to say.
Kahu:hey Jessica,how long have you been playing hockey for?
Jessica: 10 years i missed a couple of years due to injuryWhat is the most severe injury you've ever got from playing hockey?
Well, it wasn't actually during hockey but my sister whacked me in the jaw with a hockey stick when i was about seven(now you see why we've got the anti-Smacking law)
What do you think of hockey?
pretty cool,like the gameDo you play/watch any other sport?
tennisDo you have any hockey role models?
nope,just kahu
Is there any improvements you think that could be made in your hockey team?
better uniforms,less fees
What is your most embarrassing moment?
When i was playing i had the wrong shoes and fell flat on my face?
do you have any famous last words before you go?(please don't sue me my chemical romance)
Train hard,what you do off field will pay off on field,getcha head in the game(laughs)
And finally what kind of pizza are you?
i would be a pizza with heaps of cheese...
Friday, August 17, 2007
Inside view on OPC
Interview with Joseph Calkin about the senior OPC
What did you hear/think about OPC before going?
My Sister and my Mother have been before. They told me it was great and it would be a challenge, a physical challenge.
Did you take a home luxury? If yes, what?
Most of my gear was better than everyone else’s so that was a luxury- good over trousers and stuff. There wasn’t much room in your packs because; basically you have to carry it everywhere so you take the bare minimum. I guess Tim-tams were a luxury (It was sugar)
What type of activities did you do? Did anything scare you?
The trust exercises! Everyone put themselves into their ‘Stretch Zones’ almost everyday.
I’ll give you a basic rundown of what we did
Day 1. ‘Bush-bashing’
Flying fox
High ropes course
Day 2. High ropes-including the ‘big swing’ and rock climbing
Caving (Multiple people got stuck in some of the tight cracks, especially Pooh Bears crack which was a tight squeeze. There were weta's and glow worms)
Day 3. We split into groups to do snowboarding and skiing. I went skiing and learnt how to do the ‘hockey stop,’ then I sprayed everyone with the snow from it. On the second to last run Joyce hurt her tailbone. (Editors note: Ouch!)
Day 4. We went on our overnighter. We had to navigate our way through tall toi-toi and we all got cut from it. We slept on a pile of heather , even Joyce did it. (Editors note: That’s determination Joyce! You deserve a chocolate fish!)
Day 5. When we got back to OPC we had a swamp challenge. We would have all made it except Cameron pulled the log out from under Braedon. Then we came home.
Was the food good?
Yes! The food was great.
(Editors note: I am not listing the food he described to me because I’d just eaten and it made me feel hungry all over again, and I just ate dinner and am too full too think of food again! But let me just say; I don’t get fed that well at home!) Pancakes for breakfast, chocolate dessert………………….
Would you rather be cold, wet or hungry? Were you any of these things on OPC?
Wet- if you are wet but not cold or hungry then you’re fine. We were well-fed, warm (Most of the time) but we were wet a lot!
Did you have early starts and late finishes?
My watch accidentally went off at 3 on the first morning! It woke Braedon who started clapping and woke everyone else up. We had to clap and wake everyone else up if we heard the alarm, but my watch went off too early! We had to get up at 5:30am and lights out was 10:30pm- but that didn’t stop some people from talking
What was your favourite activity?
Skiing, I learnt how to do the ‘hockey stop’ and then I went and sprayed everyone! (The hockey stop is when you are coming down the slope and brake by turning to the side. It throws up a lot of snow and sprays everyone around you.)
Would you recommend OPC to others?
Yes.
Would you go again if you had the chance?
Yes, in a couple of months....
Were you told any stories there that you would like to repeat to us?
Sasquatch and the hoofman……….. (More to come on this story)
What did you hear/think about OPC before going?
My Sister and my Mother have been before. They told me it was great and it would be a challenge, a physical challenge.
Did you take a home luxury? If yes, what?
Most of my gear was better than everyone else’s so that was a luxury- good over trousers and stuff. There wasn’t much room in your packs because; basically you have to carry it everywhere so you take the bare minimum. I guess Tim-tams were a luxury (It was sugar)
What type of activities did you do? Did anything scare you?
The trust exercises! Everyone put themselves into their ‘Stretch Zones’ almost everyday.
I’ll give you a basic rundown of what we did
Day 1. ‘Bush-bashing’
Flying fox
High ropes course
Day 2. High ropes-including the ‘big swing’ and rock climbing
Caving (Multiple people got stuck in some of the tight cracks, especially Pooh Bears crack which was a tight squeeze. There were weta's and glow worms)
Day 3. We split into groups to do snowboarding and skiing. I went skiing and learnt how to do the ‘hockey stop,’ then I sprayed everyone with the snow from it. On the second to last run Joyce hurt her tailbone. (Editors note: Ouch!)
Day 4. We went on our overnighter. We had to navigate our way through tall toi-toi and we all got cut from it. We slept on a pile of heather , even Joyce did it. (Editors note: That’s determination Joyce! You deserve a chocolate fish!)
Day 5. When we got back to OPC we had a swamp challenge. We would have all made it except Cameron pulled the log out from under Braedon. Then we came home.
Was the food good?
Yes! The food was great.
(Editors note: I am not listing the food he described to me because I’d just eaten and it made me feel hungry all over again, and I just ate dinner and am too full too think of food again! But let me just say; I don’t get fed that well at home!) Pancakes for breakfast, chocolate dessert………………….
Would you rather be cold, wet or hungry? Were you any of these things on OPC?
Wet- if you are wet but not cold or hungry then you’re fine. We were well-fed, warm (Most of the time) but we were wet a lot!
Did you have early starts and late finishes?
My watch accidentally went off at 3 on the first morning! It woke Braedon who started clapping and woke everyone else up. We had to clap and wake everyone else up if we heard the alarm, but my watch went off too early! We had to get up at 5:30am and lights out was 10:30pm- but that didn’t stop some people from talking
What was your favourite activity?
Skiing, I learnt how to do the ‘hockey stop’ and then I went and sprayed everyone! (The hockey stop is when you are coming down the slope and brake by turning to the side. It throws up a lot of snow and sprays everyone around you.)
Would you recommend OPC to others?
Yes.
Would you go again if you had the chance?
Yes, in a couple of months....
Were you told any stories there that you would like to repeat to us?
Sasquatch and the hoofman……….. (More to come on this story)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Focusing Point: Bullying
Now this a new part of the Rangitikei College Blog where myself, or another person in the team, will be talking about issues surrounding our teenage lives and other issues that may affect us directly or indirectly. This week I have decided to focus on bullying.
Now last week was Friendship Week as you may, or may not, have known; but how many of us have friends? Do we treat them well? Do we respect them as equals?
The answer is not always yes.
Mason Rivers* is a loner. He is what we call "a tall poppy". He does well at school, particularly at English and Computing, and receives attention from his teachers a lot for his achievements. Mason should be a role model for his peers. They do not see it this way. Through no fault of Mason's he is bullied recklessly day after day, for no particular reason at all. Constant harassment does nothing good for Mason as his grades slip lower and lower. He begins to show signs of depression and one day, he finally snaps. Mason is expelled from school for this and only after his mother asks him why, the situation is finally revealed. *This character is completely fictional folks!
Should this kind of thing be accepted and ignored? Hopefully no. But sadly we can't detect everything that is happening around us or in our schools and workplaces. No, its not only children who bully each other, it can happen with adults as well. No one should have to put up with bullying. In fact, almost all of the bullies around us today were once bullied themselves at some point in their lives, or came from a violent background. So if they didn't like being bullied themselves, why do they do it to others and pass on the torch? I can't really answer this question, but I hope you have taken note of how bullying can affect others. Try to talk to people you don't usually talk to, stick up for people who you think are getting the raw deal in life. Be aware of bullying, don't tolerate it!
Thank you,
Crystal
P.S. Next weeks topic will be NCEA. See you then!
Now last week was Friendship Week as you may, or may not, have known; but how many of us have friends? Do we treat them well? Do we respect them as equals?
The answer is not always yes.
Mason Rivers* is a loner. He is what we call "a tall poppy". He does well at school, particularly at English and Computing, and receives attention from his teachers a lot for his achievements. Mason should be a role model for his peers. They do not see it this way. Through no fault of Mason's he is bullied recklessly day after day, for no particular reason at all. Constant harassment does nothing good for Mason as his grades slip lower and lower. He begins to show signs of depression and one day, he finally snaps. Mason is expelled from school for this and only after his mother asks him why, the situation is finally revealed. *This character is completely fictional folks!
Should this kind of thing be accepted and ignored? Hopefully no. But sadly we can't detect everything that is happening around us or in our schools and workplaces. No, its not only children who bully each other, it can happen with adults as well. No one should have to put up with bullying. In fact, almost all of the bullies around us today were once bullied themselves at some point in their lives, or came from a violent background. So if they didn't like being bullied themselves, why do they do it to others and pass on the torch? I can't really answer this question, but I hope you have taken note of how bullying can affect others. Try to talk to people you don't usually talk to, stick up for people who you think are getting the raw deal in life. Be aware of bullying, don't tolerate it!
Thank you,
Crystal
P.S. Next weeks topic will be NCEA. See you then!
Welcome to two new 'spies'
We have more eyes to watch your every move!!
Well, no actually, that's illegal but we do have two new spies. Shonee Hancock and Olivia Blakely. They are going to be starting a 'gossip' column- with your permission!! No article will be printed without written consent by those affected by it, we will not use names in certain circumstances and there will be no photographs with named captions. Bloggers promise.
Welcome guys, dig deep and have fun!!
Well, no actually, that's illegal but we do have two new spies. Shonee Hancock and Olivia Blakely. They are going to be starting a 'gossip' column- with your permission!! No article will be printed without written consent by those affected by it, we will not use names in certain circumstances and there will be no photographs with named captions. Bloggers promise.
Welcome guys, dig deep and have fun!!
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