Year 9-13, High School Prospectus 2022 - Murchison Area School - 'Living to Learn, Learning to Live'

Murchison Area School

                          Year 9-13, High School
                             Prospectus 2022

                          ‘Living to Learn, Learning to Live’

                           Ka ake, ka ora. Ka ora, ka ako.

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Kia ora, Moghrey Mie,

Thank you for considering Murchison Area School in the next step of your son or
daughter’s education. Your interest in and support for the school is greatly appreciated.
Murchison Area School is a unique and special place that has provided our families with a
high quality co-educational education since 1883. It is a school that supports and is
supported by the wider community which covers the large area of Murchison and
surrounding valleys and farmland, stretching as far south as Maruia, east to Lake Rotoiti,
west to the Buller George and north to Glenhope.
 I am very proud to be the Principal of our school, and I feel very fortunate to be able to
work alongside a talented, caring and student focused staff.
We are a very successful and high achieving school and are proud of our academic results
across all year levels. In Year 9 and 10 we are currently achieving at 81% of our students at
or above national goals in English and 86% in Maths. This is way above national averages
and almost twice the rate for similar decile and rural schools. We are very proud of these
ongoing results.
In NCEA we have over 50% of our students in Years 11 and 12 not only passing their
NCEA but also the NCEA level above their year group! This is due to providing targeted and
contextual course pathways that meet student needs and desires. In Year 13 students will
all pass NCEA Level 3 and gain University Entrance if that is their desired or required
prerequisite for further study. Our recent graduates from Years 11,12 and 13 have either
completed degrees in teaching, or foreign languages, or are embarking on employment in
the armed forces, or have started building, mechanical and electrical apprenticeships, are
working for DOC or working within the local hospitality, retail and dairy industries, or even
working still within our school. It is awesome to see and continue to see these students
maintain their strong connections with the school and their community. What role models
they are to our future leavers!

             Our Senior Leavers in their ‘Leaver’s Hoodies’ after Leaver’s Assembly, November 2020

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Our aim is to have each student reach their potential in a safe and caring environment. We
have high expectations of our students, and we focus on providing them with the
opportunities and pathways to be successful. A key element of this is to understand
that each student is an individual, and what success looks like for one can be very different
for another. Personalised learning and the provision of multiple pathways are very
important in providing successful opportunities for all.

Students need to feel safe and cared for if they are going to reach their potential.
Murchison Area School places relationships at the heart of what we do. Restorative
practices are used to build and maintain these strong relationships, and each student
is known by name by all staff and they often know their parents and caregivers well also.
The school has a strong Student Council that gives voice to our students and the ability
to contribute to make positive changes for all.
This prospectus provides an overview of the school, its environment and the large
number of opportunities it provides. You are welcome to contact the school if you wish to
seek further information.

Andy Ashworth
Principal

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Our 3 Guiding Principles:
      Healthy Relationships
      Personal Growth
      Raising Achievement

Our School Values:
Students will strive to be

      Respectful – Respect others, respect yourself, respect our environment.
      Responsible – Be reliable and dependable, be responsible for your own actions.
      Considerate – Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
      Honest – Tell the truth, do the right thing (even if no one is watching)

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Students at Murchison Area School are collaborative learners who are
reflective and develop the skills to be adaptable. They have a strong
sense of self-belief, creativity and community. They are critical thinkers
who believe that building strong relationships is at the forefront of being a
21st century global citizen.
Learner Vision:
At Murchison Area School teachers actively support students to achieve their full
potential. Our teaching strategies focus on engaging and motivating students to achieve
to the best of their ability, to feel valued, and to strive for excellence.
Our teachers:
•   Explore and implement approaches that build student engagement, while supporting
    students in gaining understanding and ownership of their own learning.
•   Lead collaborative learning opportunities.
•   Use technology to provide 21st century learning opportunities.
•   Are active, through positive relationships, in encouraging high expectations for
    students’ learning and well-being.
•   Role model and actively teach our core values of being respectful, responsible, considerate
    and honest.
•   Value the input of, and actively communicate with whānau.

“Respectful and caring relationships contribute to equitable and successful outcomes for
students. Students learn in a settled and supportive learning environment. Teachers know
students very well as individuals and as learners and focus on their holistic wellbeing and
academic success. Individual students’ learning is well tracked and monitored by
classroom teachers. The school and wider community work closely to support and enrich
students’ learning.” Latest Education Review office (ERO) report 2017.

 “Students benefit from a varied and responsive curriculum. Increased curriculum and
vocational/trade options at the senior level have resulted in greater choice, engagement,
attendance and retention. Senior students from Years 11 to 14 have individual mentoring
and pathways planning. A high number of students successfully transition to further study
or employment. Teachers and students make very good use of digital technology, including
distance learning, as a teaching, learning and communication tool. Isolation is not
accepted as a barrier to learning. Provision for education outside the classroom is a feature
of the school” ERO report 2017.

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Property Modernisation/Upgrade:
We have recently completed six new classroom spaces, a new Secondary Science Laboratory,
new outdoor court areas, a new Learning Support faculty, a sensory room and in Term 4 of 2021,
will begin work on a new Hospitality and Art facility. With our continued roll growth across the
whole school we anticipate these and other building projects such as replacing our heated indoor
swimming pool roof and a new modern eco-friendly boiler to begin within 2022. We have also
started to upgrade our whole school site to cater for all students, regardless of any disability or
additional needs to ensure an inclusive environment for all students.

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Pastoral Care:

Murchison Area School believes in building and maintaining positive learning relationships.
To support this, Murchison Area School has adopted a restorative approach where
relationships are paramount. Restorative Practice is used to work through issues of
classroom discipline, bullying, misunderstanding and conflict, to ultimately strengthen
relationships and specifically teach social skills. The restorative practice model
focuses on building and maintaining positive and respectful relationships across the
school.
Murchison Area School supports students throughout their secondary schooling to
become well-rounded, balanced young adults.
The student body is divided into four Houses: Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. The House
system helps build a sense of identity and belonging within the school as well as
providing opportunities for leadership, and a healthy competitive element. The basis
of the High School’s pastoral care system are the Dean, the Syndicate Leader and the
Senior Leadership Team. Interviews can also be arranged with Teachers, Deans,
Learning Support and our Counsellor when parents/caregivers are concerned about any
matter concerning their son or daughter.
Murchison Area School has strong links to external agencies for any additional needs
and highly skilled, caring and experienced staff in all areas.

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Community:

The school organises and supports many activities and ceremonies. Our students and staff are an
integral part of both the Anzac Day and Matariki celebrations, with our head students and other
students delivering speeches and cultural performances.
We also provide our students with opportunities to share their ideas and have student voice
within community groups that plan events for the district, including the local Murchison branch of
the Tasman Youth Council.

                                        Matariki Celebration 2021

Within school there are a number of opportunities for our students to make positive change for the
school including:
• Student Council
• Head and Deputy Head Students
• Junior and Senior House Captains
• Sports Captains

                                          School Leaders 2021

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Sports:

Murchison Area School aims to assist students to ‘Be The Best You
Can Be’, in whatever field or interest they pursue.
Students are encouraged to become involved in a wide range of co-curricular activities.
Murchison Area School organises opportunities and support for students in their chosen sport.
The school is part of the Top of the South Island Area Schools group (TOSI) with an annual
week long tournament, leading to Canterbury and potential National selection. We also play in
many sports events within the Nelson and West Coast Area. We have annual sports
exchanges with Collingwood and Tapawera Area Schools.
Murchison Area School’s facilities include a heated indoor pool, a gym, large outdoor areas and
full access to the Murchison Rec Centre with first class high quality indoor and outdoor facilities.

                                            TOSI Team 2021

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Arts:

        We shouldn’t value the arts just on the basis that it has social or
        economic benefits, but because it expands the mind and soul.

The benefits of receiving an arts education are far-reaching, and essential preparation for
success in the 21st Century. The modern workplace demands different ways of working and the
arts teaches core skills necessary for this change – collaboration, creative thinking, the
confidence to take risks, problem-solving, communication and critical thinking skills.

At Murchison Area School, Years 9-13, the arts are offered including drama, music
(Peripatetic) and visual arts. For those who do not pursue the arts as an
academic pathway, there are opportunities for our students to become involved, through
things like the Step Up Concert, our Kapa Haka group, Arts Week activities and our
Speeches Competition.

 Our school’s size allows us to provide these opportunities, whilst not being so large as to
have to restrict involvement to certain year levels or abilities. Being involved in the wider
school life, in sports, culture or the Arts, adds colour and interest to a student’s time at
school. These are just some of the opportunities the school provides:

            Step Up Concert                         The Art Gallery – Arts Week

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Outdoor Education:
In Outdoor Education our students learn in some of New Zealand’s most
beautiful and wild environments from our native bush, lakes and rivers to
the rugged, snow-capped peaks of the Kā Tiritiri o te Moana/Southern
Alps.

In Years 9 and 10 we offer a taster of adventure-based learning that includes raft building, rock
climbing, kayaking, bush craft, first aid, survival and tramping. At NCEA Levels 1–3 Outdoor
Education becomes more challenging as students develop more advanced skills in rock climbing,
abseiling, overnight tramping, kayaking and expedition tramping in increasingly challenging
environments.

                                             Outdoor Ed class trips Yrs 9-13

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Trades:

Students from Year 11-13 can enrol through our school at either Nelson/Marlborough Institute of
Technology or Whenua Iti to complete one day a week Trade/vocational courses or block courses
in a huge range of industry-based courses. The school transports these students to and from
these courses each week at no cost and this provides a wide range of specialist courses, tutors
and facilities to provide pathways to further education or employment after school.

Further Information available:
For students and families considering joining our school in Year 11-13 there are also Course
Option Booklets available both online at our school website (www.murchison.school.nz) and hard
copy by contacting the school on 035239072.

Enrolment forms and bus details are also available as above.

We welcome any visits and would love to meet with you to discuss any questions you may have.

                                             A Year 12 Art Student’s work

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