News Roundup 21 June 2024

Below are the Young Enterprise Teams that are busy bringing their products to market. They are focusing on innovation and sustainability. Having recently pitched their ideas to a panel of local business judges they are now set to start selling. Please contact them if you would like to support our students’ journey towards entrepreneurship.

‘Wise’ Candles – Study enhancing candles
We are WISE, a year 13 business. Our product is a study-enhancing candle with focus-inducing scents and a visual timekeeper to help students put down their phones and hit the books!

Follow us on Instagram @wise.candle You can pre-order by emailing lamberts@stu.otc.school.nz

‘Fruitfix’ – Fruit Leather
We are an Ōtūmoetai College business group that has created a product for our studies. We have come up with the product of fruit leather and we are called Fruitfix. Fruitfix leather is a convenience snack for kids lunchboxes, made from natural fruit and honey combined to create fruit leather-like bits. We have one flavour with an apple base and honey. Our product will be sealed in an air-tight craft paper bag to lengthen its shelf life and keep it fresh. Fruit Fix is a healthier alternative to similar products and is made from fruits that would end up in waste.
Follow us @fruitfix24 We can deliver at school during next term!!!

‘ReelClean’ – Environmentally friendly soap that removes fish smells from fisherman’s hands
ReelClean is a eco-friendly, biodegradable soap designed for fishermen to provide a more convenient and easy way to remove the smell from your hands. Our unique blend of NZ pumice and aniseed oil allow our soap to combat the smell after just one wash. Our soap can also be used in saltwater or freshwater, with no damage to our beautiful New Zealand marine life.

If you would like to order our product please email bainsh@stu.otc.school.nz
Instagram – @reelclean_soap

Whai Ako – Te Reo card game
Hello, We are Whai Ako. Our mission is to Ignite a passion for te Reo Māori in tamariki by crafting an engaging and interactive card game. We empower them to explore Aotearoa’s vibrant cultural heritage through the joy of language. To do this we have created a card game called Whai Ako that is a quiz Card game where you want to guess as many of the correct translations for the Māori word as possible by answering the multiple choice questions. If guessed correctly, the person collects the card. If you have the most cards at the end you win the game!

Te Ruamano Kōmiti is holding the annual Matariki Art Competition on Wednesday 26th June, 5pm-7pm, in the PAC. Kai (supper) served at 6pm. Come along and vote for your favourite artwork. All welcome.
Mānawatia a Matariki!

Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki
Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi
Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau 

Celebrate the rising of Matariki
Celebrate the rising of the lord of the sky
Celebrate the rising of the New Year

On the 23rd & 24th of May, 66 year 12 Biology students visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to learn more about a pristine New Zealand forest ecosystem.

Maungatautari has a predator-proof fence surrounding it, meaning the ecosystem is similar to what Aotearoa would have looked like before the arrival of introduced mammals such as possums, deer, goats, rats, mice, and stoats.

It was a cold and cloudy day. We spent time both in the education centre, looking at biodiversity in the New Zealand forest, and then entered the forest to look at stratification among the tree species. We got to see the differences in lower and upper canopy trees.

While birdlife wasn’t abundant due to the cold, some groups were lucky enough to see some amazing species we often don’t get a chance to see in the wild, including Stitchbird, Kaka, Robin, Saddleback, and Bellbirds.

In the afternoon, we went to the wetland enclosure and had an amazing experience seeing a breeding pair of Takahē with their 6-month-old chick. We also had a successful Tuatara hunt, with one group finding five. 

This trip wasn’t only linked to the current assessment on forest environments but was also a great biology enrichment field trip.

To learn more about Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari please visit here.

Year 12 student Rhea Lal was accepted and will be privileged to participate and represent our school at this all-expenses-paid event in Christchurch during the holidays.

Grapple 2024 is an event where innovation meets competition.

Over an intense seven days, participants will grapple with a problem presented to them.  Competing in teams of up to five, students will work to maximise their points across the judging criteria, while receiving coaching and mentoring from 4C staff and industry experts.

The pitch event provides an exciting opportunity for participants to showcase their skills to the fullest and impress the judges.  It also offers a great chance to connect with future employers!

During their stay, competitors will have 24-hour access to the 4C makerspace – equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, iPads with Procreate/animation software, robotic equipment and a range of other creative and digital makerspace tools.

“Over the past few weeks, over 60 Year 12 Sport Science students have been actively involved in facilitating six lessons of skill development at the Ōtūmoetai Intermediate. These lessons focused on sports and activities in which the Year 12 students were both confident and competent.

Year 12 leaders aimed to enhance the Intermediate students’ skills. Effective teaching keeps students involved and motivated. Great teaching, however, involves focused planning, looking at delivering activities from simple to complex in a closed-to-open environment.

Our leaders strived to improve individuals’ abilities while applying essential leadership skills, including communication, group and gear management, and motivation. Students reflected on their practices by answering focused questions and will complete a final report addressing the following question: What is the best leadership strategy for coaching intermediate students?

This final report will earn student 4 credits towards their NCEA.  The experiences our Year 12 SPSC students have gained will support their written reports. 

Mr Farey and I look forward to reading their insights. We also thank Ōtūmoetai Intermediate for working with us to give the College students an authentic learning experience. See you next year.” – Ms Boubee