Sports Day 2013

Wow what a blast we had! 2013 Sports Day was held at the Trusts Stadium in Henderson in Term 1. About 250 Deaf and hearing impaired students from Taupo to the Far North attended, along with KDEC staff supporting the students on the day. We had some parents and whanau visit to cheer on the students. 

The Deaf and hearing impaired students were very involved in all of the events and were impressed with the big day. First to third places got gold, silver and bronze wristbands. Some students didn't get any awards but KDEC is very proud of all the students who took part in the challenges and gave their best.

Sports Day offers the students an important opportunity to get together as a Deaf community, regardless of their communication modes, and socialise with other Deaf students. Sports Day also offers the students a chance to try athletics and perhaps aim to take part in athletics more seriously in future.  

Overall, it was a really high-spirited day celebrating the students. 

The Sports Day will be happening again in 2014 so make sure your child registers their interest with their Provision teacher or Resource Teacher of the Deaf. 

Daniel 

Sports Day Co-ordinator

Adventureworks High Ropes 2013

For over 20 years, the Transition students have spent the last week in February at the Adventureworks High Ropes Course.  Adventureworks is now on the UNITEC campus in Mt Albert.

 

The transition class of 2013 enjoyed the week climbing, belaying, and supporting each other to achieve amazing things.

 

The level of support, encouragement, enthusiasm and focus shown by all the students in the group impressed the tutors Sarah, Ken and Debs, who look forward to the KDEC week each year.

The Year 2 students, Ben, Ngawaiata, Dan and James, led each activity, receiving NCEA Level 3 credits in Leadership.  The Year 1 students learned and participated under the careful guidance of the Year 2s and the Adventureworks tutors.  They received 12 NCEA Level 2 credits.

 

It was heart-warming to see the way the group worked together to ensure all students participated fully and pushed themselves outside their own comfort zone.   

 

If you are a deaf student in Senior Secondary School (aged 16-18), and would like more information about our Transition programme, please contact Kerry Jelicich on kejelicich@kdec.school.nz

 

KDEC Speech Competition

HISTORY OF THE SPEECH COMPETITION

The very first Speech Competition for Deaf and hearing impaired students began in 2005 crowded into the KDEC hall. The night was just as nerve wracking for the first time organisers.  

Jamie Bassett-Burr, from New Zealand’s Shortland Street,  was in attendance as the first celebrity judge. Remember the speeches…. Pia talked about Egypt… Ishrat made his mark by talking about being a Muslim. Remember the famous quote; “the only good possum is a dead possum” expressed by one of our candidates in a later speech competition!

Over the years we have established an annual Speech Competition.  This phenomenal event is now lead by Deaf students. Every year the bar is raised and the speeches have become more sophisticated. The MCs used to be young Deaf adults and now we have Deaf and hearing-impaired high school students leading the night. Speaking of which our two MCs for 2012; Nerry and Joseph, were absolutely fabulous presenters and very well dressed. They were a memorable part of the occasion, as was Mojo Mathers - our famous deaf Member of Parliament.

 

BEHIND THE SCENES!

Moments like these, I sure needed the minties! At the earliest inception of the Speech Competition some people were unsure this would be a successful endeavour. It took a lot of hard work and dedication from staff and students to get this off the ground. One particularly memorable occasion was when the co-ordinator’s laptop died just days before the second speech competition, losing all the information necessary for the event! Seeing the students perform on the night makes all the work behind the scenes worth it.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR OUR DEAF AND HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS?

First and foremost – giving confidence and trust in Deaf and hearing impaired students to deliver a speech. This is an intrinsic part of leadership skills – making a presentation and convincing an audience. It will be great to see what happen to our Deaf and hearing impaired presenters in the next 15 years … where will they go and who will they be?   

Congratulations to all entrants in the 2012 KDEC Speech Competition.
RESULTS    2012

NZSL Research  1^st place      Dean

NZSL Research 2^nd place      Abdul

Oral Research 1^st place        Kahurangi

Oral Research 2^nd place       Karan

NZSL Storytelling  1^st place  Miriam

True Life Story 1^st place        Faaiu
 

Yours in sign

Sarah Cameron

Speech Competition Co-ordinator

To view the winning speeches from the 2012 KDEC Speech Competition, go to http://www.youtube.com/KDECTV

Find out how to enter the annual KDEC Speech Competition from your Deaf Provision teacher, Resource Teacher of the Deaf or email info@kdec.school.nz .

Totara Village hosts regional students

In the last week of term three, there was an Intensives Camp for students who are from the Waikato Bay of Plenty region.  There were three students from Tauranga ;Heremia, Hinemoa and Brandy, three from Hamilton; Monique, Felicity and Shania, as well as one student from Tokoroa.  They all attend High Schools in their area. 

We stayed at Totara Village in Matai and Lynwood Cottages with the other students.  That was neat, meeting other deaf students, having a big room and the food was yummy.  Three students made a special effort for us; Kahurangi made the girls feel welcome, Chelsea changed rooms for us and Henare gave us a great karakia before our dinner on Tuesday night.

We had a great time. We visited Auckland Museum, Waiheke Island, had a look around the central city and went up the SkyTower.  It was great to see and do new things, like Claybird shooting and Archery on Waiheke Island.

On the Wednesday night we came back early and cooked dinner for everyone at the Village and some other students from Auckland. It had to be an early meal because we were lucky to be in Auckland for the KDEC Speech Competitions.  The Speech Competition had two students from the Village in it.  Some of the speeches were in Sign Language and there was even a speech with dancing.  The dancing was cool, and we thought all the students who gave speeches were very brave.

The next day we had to go back home. The people who looked after us were so nice that some of the kids wanted to stay longer.

Thank you Totara Village we had a great Camp and we look forward to coming back for another Camp.