Students tackle an exciting Bridge-Building Challenge

Students in the two Year 10 Advanced classes have recently been involved in an exciting Science challenge involving the design and construction of bridges. They were given 25 x 30cm bamboo skewers, a bottle of PVA glue, 2  clothes pegs and 1m of string and instructed to produce a structure to span a 40cm gap.

Last Tuesday evening the students gathered in the Library with many parents, teachers and family members for the grand final when the strength and stability of their bridges was put to the test. Each group of students and their supporters nervously watched as their wonderful constructions were placed on a specially constructed stand which enabled pressure to be   applied. Huge gasps were audible throughout the Library as each bridge, one, by one was destroyed.

The winning bridge was able to withstand a huge 90 kilos. It was produced by Tammy Lushai, Amber Campbell and Shannon McBride. Two teams tied for runners up. Their bridges both took 88kg worth of pressure.

Photo -  Mr Jones mourns the demise of yet another engineering masterpiece with Hamish Graham (centre) and Jarrin Kistanna.
       
      Mid Year Exams for Senior Students Start Next Week!

The mid year examinations for senior students in Years 11 – 13 are starting next week. It is important  that students take these exams very seriously. In some of their subjects they may be doing a final internal assessment for NCEA. This means that the grade they get will count towards their qualification. In other subjects, they may be doing a practice exam for an external standard. In this case they can use the results to identify areas of strength and weakness and build from there to achieve a higher grade. These results are also used by NZQA should something prevent them from attending the examinations in November. If there is no examination in a particular subject, teachers are holding intensive workshops and will expect all students to be working hard. Hence, senior students are expected to be at  school all day. There is no exam leave.