Senior School

Through becoming involved in leadership, students experience for themselves the close relationship between leadership and service.

Senior students are encouraged to suggest initiatives and new ways in which they might show leadership. The School Council is a student-led forum, chaired by senior students, that meets regularly and where students are able to discuss matters of interest, make recommendations and decide on the expenditure of funds raised by students.

A Year 13 Leadership Camp is also held each year in which all Year 13 students participate and for girls in year 13 there are several Prefect positions. Senior leadership opportunities are not, however, confined to Year 13 students. For example, senior students can participate and contribute as captains of sports teams or take a leadership role in a club or cultural activity; they can coach or mentor junior teams and students; be part of their year level formal committees or develop their skills through participation in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award, Spirit of Adventure or Outward Bound courses.

Careers programmes are aimed at ensuring the girls are knowledgeable about how to access careers-related information and are able to make a confident entry to the next stage of their education or the workplace.

All students in the Senior School have a special Careers Unit or Module taught by the Careers Adviser.  In Year 11 the focus is on increasing students’ self-awareness. Students are encouraged to recognise their strengths and weaknesses and the attributes they wish to develop further. The focus of the Year 12 programme is to explore opportunities and to begin preparation for the transition from school to tertiary study and the work place.  Year 13 is a time for making decisions and taking action. To that end goal-setting and action planning activities are provided.

All Year 13 students are interviewed and encouraged to develop a Career Plan. We wish to see all our senior students leave well informed about the world of work, tertiary courses, course pre-requisites, necessary qualifications for careers, how and when to apply for tertiary courses, well prepared for interviews and with up-to-date curriculum vitaes.

Old Girls and friends of Columba are invited to speak at special assemblies or the biennial ‘Careers Show Case Evening‘ about their tertiary courses and careers. Students and parents receive information about events such as the annual Otago Careers Festival and tertiary information days. The Careers’ Adviser is always available to speak individually with any student or parent.

Senior students have a wide variety of courses from which to choose.

Religious Education Careers, and Health and Life Skills are delivered as modules. In Years 11, 12 and 13, students have Religious Education as an eight-week unit. The topic covered are, respectively, World Religions, Church History and Ethics.

All the areas of the New Zealand Curriculum are covered:

• English Years 11-13
• Mathematics Year 11-13, Calculus Year 13 and Statistics Year 12 and 13
• Science Year 11 Agriculture Years 12 and 13, Biology Year 12 and 13, Chemistry Year 12 and 13, Physics Year 12 and 13
• Geography Years 11 -13, History Years 11-13, Classical Studies Years 12-13
• Physical Education Years 11 -13
• Digital Technology Years 11-13
• Chinese Years 11-13, French Years 11-13, German Years 11-13
• Art Year 11, Design Year 12 and 13, Painting Year 12 and 13, Photography Year 12 and 13
• Drama Years 11-13, Music Years 11-13
• Economics & Accounting Year 11, Accounting Year 12 and 13, Agribusiness Year 12 and 13, Economics Year 12 and 13
• Future Pathways Years 12 and 13

All Columba College students work towards achievement in the national secondary qualification, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA): Level 1 in Year 11 Level 2 in Year 12 Level 3 in Year 13 Scholarship in Year 13 (though Year 12 students may sit Scholarship)

Students usually study six subjects for Levels 1 and 2 though five subjects may be studied which gives a daily supervised study period. Five subjects is the norm for NCEA Level 3 but it is possible for an able student to study six Level 3 subjects provided she is committed and well-organised.

Education Outside the Classroom

Education Outside the Classroom opportunities in the senior school are based more around the curriculum with field-trips in subjects such as Biology, Geography and Physical Education.

Senior Students are also offered the opportunity for overseas experiences with-in the curriculum such as trips to Europe for Classical Studies or French or German students. China is a biennial destination for our Chinese language students and cultural or scientific trips also travel to the United States. Further overseas service opportunities are available through World Challenge and the Presbyterian Church.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award which senior students are actively encouraged to be involved with also provides opportunities for EOTC with its expedition component. The Award is balanced with four Sections providing a framework to encourage physical activity, mental challenge, individual perseverance, teamwork and interaction with other people. It is non-competitive and voluntary.