Mount Roskill Intermediate

Mount Roskill Intermediate is a co-educational school for boys and girls in years 7 and 8. It is located in Denbigh Avenue, Mount Roskill, Auckland, New Zealand next to Mount Roskill Primary and Mount Roskill Grammar School. It currently has a roll of 670 pupils, with a teaching staff of over 43. Specialist subjects taken by students include Art, Performing Arts, Science, Food and Materials Technology and Hard Materials Technology. There are 4 accelerant classes in the school, 2 in year 7 and 2 in year 8. There is also a Special Needs Class and a Special Abilities Class, more known as the Tennyson Centre. The School's principal is Kristen Walsham as Mike O'Reily has left. The Deputy Principals are Ross Berry and Sandy Tritt

School Uniform

Mt Roskill Intermediate has kept the same uniform for over 10 years and the school principal, Kristen Walsham, is looking to change it.

History

The school first opened in 1956. It was completely remodelled during 1995, and the latest was an extra room by the PDU unit.

School motto

The school motto is "Strive, Seek, Find". It comes from the last line of a poem called Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find
And not to yield

Strive to reach their potential by:
• Setting and reflecting on personal learning goals
• Persevere - learn to never give up!
• Give new things a go
• Make the most of opportunities
• Value learning.

Seek to become better citizens in our community by:
• Being thoughtful
• Respecting others and the environment
• Valuing others differences
• Take responsibility for their own actions
• Celebrating diversity and difference

Find success and friendship:
• Feel safe
• Have a sense of belonging
• Learn from each other
• Make progress in learning
• Feel valued

School logo

Its logo is a green shield divided into three parts a book (strive), torch (seek) and a star (find), which is referring to the motto.

Sports

Mt Roskill Intermediate takes part in various activities and mostly entering competitions to compete with neighbouring schools and schools around Auckland. The main sports events are Rugby, Cricket, Netball, Soccer [football], Badminton, Tennis, Basketball, Table Tennis, Hockey. The school has been successful in all of the activities, staff of the school take up the coaching and responsibilities.

Specialization and enhancement classes

Specialization classes include Art, Performing Arts, Hard Materials, Food and Science. In Art,students develop different skills, clay to painting etc., the staff who teaches Art is Veronica Sheaff who take different days to teach. Extension classes or Enhancement are taken by the teacher who select the best students from each class to learn more skills in art. Performing Arts is taught by Claire Holmes. In Performing Arts, you learn skills in Singing, Drama, and Music. There is annual Production which demonstrate the drama skills that the students learn, but this is often the enhancement. Hard Materials is a class run by Glenn Payne in which students create and learn skills in wood work and create jewelry boxes, and many more. In Enhancement you create Electronic Cards and other. Food and Bio tech is taught by Kate Davies, in this class the learn obviously about food, but in more details in how to prepare, handle the food, how to cook, and also knowing the equipment. The Enhancement is chosen and develop extra skills. Science is taught by Marianne Levy and Jason Ormsby; in Science students learn and explore different parts science like Electricity, Magnetism, Newton's Laws, Reaction, Acids, etc., and in enhancements students learn about Horticulture Composting, Water Testing, Ecology, etc.

Mt Roskill Intermediate also offers a range of enhancement programs.

Korean enhancement
Taught by April Huang. Students will learn the basics of Korean, pronunciation and stroke. Lessons take place once every week over a 2 year period.

Japanese enhancement
Taught by Atsuko Sato. Students will learn the basics of Japanese, pronunciation and stroke. Lessons take place once every week over a 2 year period.

School orchestra
Ms Claire Holmes takes the orchestra and gets together once every week, in the Performing Arts room.

Maori enhancement
For the Maori students in the school, Jackie-Jade Ruri takes the enhancement. Students meet on Fridays and boosts Maori vocab.

Chess Club
Chess club is for the ones who show interest and willing to play on a Thursday lunchtime. Mt Roskill Intermediate became national chess champions in 2014.

Robotics Club
Robotics club takes place in the Hard Materials room every Tuesday afternoon.

Electronic club

Notable alumni

• Doug Howlett (born 21 September 1978), New Zealand All Blacks Winger.

External links

• Mount Roskill Intermediate Website