NZQA Top Art Success
This is an annual exhibition that showcases exceptional Visual Art portfolios from the top secondary school students in New Zealand.
Five streams are covered: design, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture.
Top Art serves as a valuable platform for both students and teachers, offering them the chance to witness the outstanding level of artistic talent nurtured within schools. It provides insights into the criteria necessary to attain Excellence or Scholarship in Visual Art at NCEA Level 3. Furthermore, it offers the general public an exciting opportunity to observe the highest calibre art from NZ secondary schools.
Grace O’Sullivan achieved an Excellence in Level 3 Photography in 2023 and her work has been selected to tour New Zealand in the National Top Art NZQA Tour.
“My work came from wanting to express my Māori culture but having no knowledge of it because I am half Pakeha. I have always lived such a Pakeha life that I didn’t know how to express my other culture. I therefore made my photography theme about expressing myself and showing my struggles throughout that journey. I wanted to show my spiritual awakening to tikanga!” – Grace O’Sullivan
Photography and Art Design Scholarship Students
Cole Jackson – Excellence in Level 3 Art Photography, Level 3 Art Design & Illustration and Photography Scholarship
“I am doing the impact of living with ADHD. This is a topic that is very close to me, with being diagnosed at a very early age and have had to learn and adapt ever since with it always being a struggle. And with there being a lot of misinformation out there surrounding ADHD. I want to show what it is actually like. ADHD feels like your brain is always running constantly with no off switch.” – Cole Jackson
Kesley Brosnan – Excellence in Level 3 Art Photography and Photography Scholarship
“I’ve shown my journey through deteriorating vision from a condition called CVI (Cerebral visual impairment) and double vision (Convergence Insufficiency). It has impacted my life in multiple ways from independence, to education, to everyday tasks. Around age 15, I suffered from severe migraines, eye strain, and nausea which significantly deteriorated my vision. Now, I primarily see through my left eye along with tunnel vision. Factors like clutter, glare, and visual noise affect my clarity and depth of vision. Due to misinterpreted signals between my eyes and my brain. Additionally, I suffer from Cerebral visual impairment, where muscle weakness causes my eyes to track at different speeds, resulting in seeing two images of a single object. My folio illustrates my adaptation to this altered visual reality.” – Kelsey Brosnan
Hailey Reece – Excellence in Level 3 Art & Design & Illustation, Digital Science and Design Scholarship
Design Brief
“Money Can’t Buy Happiness” is an adage that some people live by and others ignore. The saying means that true happiness comes from within, not from possessions that can be bought. People like to create value in their lives through material possessions. They use it to quantify their worth in the world. However, this way of thinking is an exhaustive cycle – one must burn out eventually under the stress of maintaining their image. The Price of Happiness is a PS5 third-person Adventure/Puzzle game directed towards young adults & teens. As dictated by the client, Apature Studios, the game intends to be designed for entertainment and didactic purposes. The gameplay will follow a ‘string of pearls’ narrative model (giving the story a general linear progression which can be influenced by the player).
Ōtūmoetai College Robotics Club off to Dallas
Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Triathlon
On Tuesday 20th February eight students travelled in the early hours to Ohope to compete in the BOPSS Triathlon. All of the triathletes represented the school well with four securing medals – Ari Harrop (3rd U13 Girl), Sophie Garrett (1st U16 Girl), Louis Cairns (3rd U16 Boy) and Charlotte Mobus (3rd U19 Girl).
Ari Harrop (3rd U13 Girl) (pictured above right), Sophie Garrett (1st U16 Girl) & Louis Cairns (3rd U16 Boy) (below left) and Charlotte Mobus (3rd U19 Girl) (below right).
Volleyball Championships
Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th February was the start of the Bay of Plenty Secondary School Volleyball Championships which occur over three weekends. We have 5 female and 2 male teams entered with many staff and volunteers assisting.
Their next games are over the weekend of Saturday 2nd March and Sunday 3rd March.
Games are played at Mercury Events Centre and QEYC and entry is free – come along to watch some impressive skills on display!
Netball Registration Day – Sunday 25 February
NETBALL REGISTRATION DAY is this SUNDAY 25th, 4.00-5.00pm at Ōtūmoetai College Performing Arts Centre.
This year we are super excited to announce Helena Hoult as our new Netball Director! Helena brings with her extensive high-performance netball experience as both a coach of the ANZ Premiership league and a player.
Registration Day is a great opportunity for players and their Whānau to meet Helena and discuss all the netball opportunities offered. We also can cater to social teams.
It is important that all players and their Whānau attend Registration Day, please contact Helena hhoult@otc.school.nz or Lara lrichardson@otc.school.nz if unable to attend.
Bay of Plenty Secondary School Futsal
Four teams competed at Mercury Baypark on Thursday 22nd February with our Junior Girls, Junior Boys and Senior Girls all coming 1st place in the competition.
Thanks to Joe, Jack and Niamh from Ōtūmoetai Football Club for being there on the day and coaching these teams.
Waterpolo – We have a Team!
Thanks to the perseverance of some of our senior girls at school we have a team playing in the competitive Thursday night competition and they had their first game this week.
They train on Saturday mornings and are always looking for more players to join the larger training squad to look to play again in Term 4 – so if you are keen to try the sport or return to playing after a break, come and see the sports office.
Archery Update
Belated congratulations to our Archery team that came third in the Archery in Schools Tournament that was held in Term 4, 2023 – Mia Paris, Cayla Louw, Tula Bowers and Cooper Stewart.
Cooper also scored a massive 285 securing second place in the U16 Limited Recurve Division.
Congratulations to ex-student Calum Stewart
Congratulations to Calum Stewart who has been selected for the U19 New Zealand Beach Volleyball team for Asian Champs!
Tauranga Rotary Club Book Sale
Tauranga Rotary Club are holding their annual Book Sale 2024 from the 1st-3rd March with the objective to promote literacy in the Bay of Plenty.
There are over 150,000 books, puzzles, records, music sheets and art pieces for sale.
