End of Term 3 update (Friday 5 September)
End of Term 3 update (Friday 5 September)
As we near the end of Term 3, here are some important messages and reminders for you.
We hope you have been following our social media for news of significant success in and out of the classroom recently. There is much to be proud of, including our sportspeople at Tournament Week and in league championships, our Fashion students on the catwalk, and our mathematicians at Mathex.
https://facebook.com/
https://instagram.com/
Northcote College Board election
This is another reminder to vote. Please check your email inbox for the invitation to vote from Alan Curtis our myschoolelection.nz Returning Officer. The closing date is 10 September.
I would like to thank the current board members for their ongoing commitment and care for our school. Trina Lincoln (Chair), Greg Steele, Chris Eng, Ruth Cooper, Leanne Barlow, Guy Wilson, Kelli Kawhia-Conrad (staff representative), and Annabel Barlow (student representative) are supporting and guiding our school through significant changes and from strength to strength.
Senior Derived Exams: Monday 8 - Tuesday 16 September
Students have had all the information about these assessments shared with them. For your reference, here is the link to the exam schedule: https://tinyurl.com/
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori: Week 10
We look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in the last week of term. This site has good information about Māori Language Week: https://www.reomaori.co.nz/
PPTA Industrial Action - partial strikes Week 10
As signalled in an email earlier in the term, the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) has given preliminary notification of partial strikes in Week 10. This means PPTA members will not teach, instruct, or supervise students in certain year levels but will continue to teach all other students. Teachers will also continue to do administrative work in the time that they would usually have been teaching students in the affected year levels. The following plan requires these cohorts to stay home:
Monday 15 September - Years 12 & 13
Tuesday 16 September - Year 11
Wednesday 17 September - Year 10
Thursday 18 September - Year 9
Efforts went into the schedule of derived grade exams for seniors so that there is no disruption to these important assessments. We encourage students to make the most of this time by working from home to progress their learning and assessment tasks. All online material from Google Classroom will be available to support their learning.
The statutory notice period for unions is three days, so we will confirm this strike action on Friday 12 September.
Course selection 2026
Students in Years 9-12 should have selected their courses for 2026 by Wednesday 17 September via the Parent Portal. The Course Directory 2026 will help you have good conversations with your child about their subjects and pathways. Form teachers and deans have hard copies of the Course Directory for students, and there is a digital flipbook linked on our school website: https://www.northcote.school.
Proposal for changes to NCEA
You will be aware of proposals to change NCEA, our national qualification. You are encouraged to engage with the proposals and to give your feedback as part of the Ministry of Education consultation:
Information about the proposal: https://www.education.govt.nz/
Link to parent, family and student survey: https://allenandclarke.
Northcote College Board Medal
The Northcote College Board Medal of Excellence is awarded at Prizegiving by the Board in recognition of the outstanding achievements of students and staff members, present and past who have succeeded at a national or international level in academia, business, community service, the arts or sport, and through this have brought honour on themselves and also the School. A list of previous recipients is here: https://drive.google.com/file/
We welcome your nominations for the 2025 Board Medal. Please email smorris@northcote.school.nz with your nomination and reasons for nominating.
Year 9 camps to Motutapu Island
This is a reminder for Year 9 parents to please complete the camp permission form in the email from Louise Inwards, our teacher in charge of camps.
We understand the financial burden camp can put on families and want to support and work with you to ensure the cost is not a barrier to students attending camp. We also recognise some families are in the fortunate position to be able to support another child. If you are able to support another child, you can donate through the Kindo Shop; look for Camp Pay it Forward - there are different amounts that you can pay. We greatly appreciate your generosity in making this experience possible for all.
Traffic and parking
After reports of concern from our neighbours, this is another reminder to be mindful of parking around our school. Please do not park on broken yellow lines, and whenever possible drop off or collect your child from Gladstone Road. We have had a recurring issue in Wernham Place which we have reported to AT. We acknowledge that traffic and parking around our school can be challenging; thank you for doing all you can for the safety of all road users and residents.
Term 4 planning
To help you with forward planning, we want to highlight important events and key dates in Term 4, as below.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school. We encourage you to stay in contact; if you have any queries, please contact your child’s Dean in the first instance.
Ngā mihi mahana
Vicki Barrie
Tumuaki | Principal
Key Dates for the second half of Term 3
Week 9
- Monday 8 - Friday 12 September: Senior Derived Grade Exams (no timetabled lessons for seniors)
Week 10
- Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
- Monday 15 - Tuesday 16 September: Senior Derived Grade Exams continue (no timetabled lessons for seniors)
- Wednesday 17 September: Deadline for online 2026 option selection
- Friday 19 September: Election for Student Representative on the Board. Last day of Term 3
Key Dates for Term 4
- 6 October: First day of Term 4, Timetable Day 5
- 13 - 17 October: Year 9 camp (Group 1) to Motutapu Island
- 14 October: 2026 Welcome to Northcote College Evening
- 21 October: Whānau Prizegiving
- 23 October: Sports Prizegiving
- 27 October: Labour Day - school closed
- 29 October: Last day of timetabled lessons for seniors
- 30 October: Senior Prizegiving
- 4 - 28 November: NZQA Examinations
- 25 - 29 November: Year 9 camp (group 2) to Motutapu Island
- 11 December: Year 10 Prizegiving and last day
- 12 December: Year 9 Prizegiving and last day