Year 7 and 8: He waka eke noa; We are all in this together

Tuesday 2nd April 2019

2019 has brought about a fair amount of change in the junior school.


Our young McGlashan men watched over by Bryn Jones' McGlashan Man sculpture
Our young McGlashan men watched over by Bryn Jones' McGlashan Man sculpture

If indeed, change brings growth, then we have established a good foundation for our teachers and junior students to work from, to transform learning behaviours and outcomes. Read on to be introduced to our new staff member, David Beazley, and find out more about the Term 1 learning programmes and mindset of the boys in Year 7 and 8.

The youngest boys of our college have made an exceptional start to this year and have proven on many occasions that they are up to the challenges set by Andrew Duncan, our new Dean. They have been asked to:

  • work on making good impressions
  • give new things a go
  • push on past their first accomplishments to tackle bigger challenges
  • take responsibility for their learning, to build pride;
  • learn the power of “yet” over “can’t”

One of the better examples of meeting these challenges can be found in the various projects underway in our SEEK programme. A selection of projects can be seen in the images and we are always impressed with the scope of some boys’ creativeness. They are becoming self-motivating and regulating as they follow an area of learning that inspires them. This, so far, has boys working on a variety of projects from scaled popsicle models of buildings to sports commentary.

Another example of the boys working towards the aim of not resting on their laurels is the high participation in extra-curricular activities and indeed some high achievements to match. Congratulations must go to the cricket team who beat Balmacewen in a very close regional final to qualify for the NZCC national championships later in the year. Also of note, are the number of placings in the Dunedin triathlon, coming from a field of our biggest ever group competing for JMC.  

The learning programme has been running rapidly too. Routines are well set in place now. Our boys have been delving into what it means to be a part of our John McGlashan Community and the history of the wider area of Maori Hill. "He waka eke noa – We are all in this together" (everybody belongs) is a guiding theme to the first term. Parents have been welcomed to be a part of our programmes through being guardians within our google classrooms and by viewing the Year 7 online portfolios. 

Motorskills has been revamped for 2019 and Food Technology is a new subject for both Year 7 and 8. There are also exciting changes ahead in terms of the inclusion of future-focused digital literacy and technology within our homeroom programmes.    

Staffing Changes and Responsibilities:

We warmly welcome Dave Beazley to our teaching team. He certainly has the boys buzzing about their learning and he has the Link (our flexible learning space) humming with activity in his Year 7 homeroom, Te Reo, and Year 8 mathematics classes. He has taken on the responsibility of providing ways for our junior boys to develop skills and literacy in digital technology.

Michele Rodger returns to the Year 7 team after teaching in Year 8 for two years and continues her role as Head of the Department.

Andrew Hore has shifted to Year 8 and is responsible for sport and physical development of our junior boys.

Andrew Duncan remains as a Year 8 homeroom teacher and has taken on the role of Dean.

Taking part in Get NZ Writing - Year 7s constructing their poems to send to our buddy school in Cambridge
Year 7 Cooking
S.E.E.K. Cospaces: digital literacy and coding.
Current events presentations in Year 7
Year 7 Prefect Formtime with Billy Sheard and Archie Calder
Building word banks
Our Get NZ Writing Poster
Taking part in Get NZ Writing - Year 7s constructing their poems to send to our buddy school in Cambridge
Taking part in Get NZ Writing - Year 7s constructing their poems to send to our buddy school in Cambridge
Year 8 learning about the History of Dunedin at Toitu.
Year 8 mathematicians hard at work in the Link
Daniel O'Brien competing in the Dunedin Triathlon
NZCC Team - 2019 Finalists
Year 7 Haka Practice
Triathletes
S.E.E.K. Bandquest practice - hard at work
S.E.E.K. Bandquest practice
S.E.E.K. Construction
S.E.E.K. Music
S.E.E.K. Visual Art
S.E.E.K. Technology
S.E.E.K. Technology projects 
S.E.E.K. Cospaces: digital liteacy and coding. 
S.E.E.K. Cospaces: digital literacy and coding.
Week 5 Dean's Awards Recipients
Week 9 Dean's Awards Recipients
Dave Beazley - Year 7 Homeroom. Year 8 mathematics. Year 7 Te Reo. Year 7 & 8 Digital Technology development.
Andrew Duncan - Year 7 & 8 Dean. Year 8 Homeroom. Year 9 mathematics. 
Trialling some virtual reality headsets
Andrew Hore - Year 8 Homeroom. Year 7 & 8 Sports Development. Year 7-10 Physical Education.
Michele Rodger - HOD Year 7 and 8. Year 7 Homeroom. Year 7 & 8 Physical Education.