Latest news with #PortobelloSchool
Otago Daily Times
02-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Heading for the fundraising trail again
Portobello School teacher Cheryl Neill gets some steps in along Otago Harbour before she sets out to Portugal to once again complete an ancient pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela later this month. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON A Portobello primary school teacher will take on the challenge of walking a 280km ancient pilgrim path in Portugal to raise money for a Dunedin Charity. Almost two years ago, Portobello School teacher Cheryl Neill headed off to Portugal to walk a whopping 1000km on one of the tracks for the Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St James. Her purpose was to raise money for the Dunedin Night Shelter. This month, Ms Neill will be again strapping up her trail shoes and embarking on another pilgrimage through Portugal. She will start in Camino in Porto. In total, she planned to walk about 280km over two weeks in the midst of the southern European summer. "Like last time, I'm raising money for the night shelter. It's definitely a worthy cause." When she tackled the challenge in 2023, Ms Neill raised more than $5000 for the charity. "It's important, I mean, we have this situation in the Oval, and if you can do something to support those who need some help, why not get started?" The Camino de Santiago is a series of walks that converge at the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where St James — one of Jesus' 12 apostles — is said to be buried. Unlike last time when she had her sister for company, this year she was heading out alone. "I'll be fine, you meet lots of people ... It's all about the camaraderie and the people you meet, even though some can't always speak English, You make friends anyway." One of the challenges she would face was the weather. June in Portugal, she had learnt in 2023, was definitely summertime, and the temperatures could climb into the mid-30s. She would try to get the bulk of walking done in the morning before the hottest part of the day at 3.30pm, but it would still be a warm walk. Ms Neill did have plans to return one year to complete another Camino. "I'm not getting any younger, I'm 62. But, yeah, I think so," she said. Ms Neill, who would be posting a Givealittle link in the coming days, said people would be able to find the link posted on social media by the Dunedin Night Shelter or on her own social media pages.
Otago Daily Times
25-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Peninsula left out of school zone
The Otago Peninsula community feels it has been put in a "ridiculous" and "impossible situation" after being left out of the enrolment zone of its closest all-girls school. The Ministry of Education has proposed introducing an enrolment scheme to Dunedin's Queen's High School next year due to fears of overcrowding. It left the Otago Peninsula out of the proposed home zone for the school, much to the dismay of many in the community. Portobello School board presiding member Emily Larkins was very surprised to find out the peninsula had been left out of the Queen's home zone as it was so close. She said families living on the peninsula generally sent their children to one of the three closest schools: King's, Queen's or Bayfield High Schools. With the proposed Queen's home zone in place, families would only have a guaranteed spot for their girls at Bayfield. Otago Girls' High school also had an enrolment scheme. The peninsula community was outside that zone as well. Ms Larkins said her daughter Ivy would have been in the third generation of women in her family to attend Queen's. She had been looking forward to attending Queen's for years but was now having to consider other options. "It's a massive change for a 12-year-old girl to be having to consider. "My daughter panicked a little." Ms Larkins felt her daughter was not suited for a co-educational school like Bayfield and would have benefited hugely from the single-sex environment at Queen's. There was a "natural expectation" her daughter would be able to attend the school with no issues and she was shocked to find out she might miss out. "It doesn't make sense at all." She had made a submission to the ministry on behalf of the Portobello School board and as a parent. The three peninsula schools, Macandrew Bay School, Broad Bay School and Portobello School, would not contribute huge numbers of students to the Queen's roll so it made sense to include them in its home zone, Ms Larkins said. The South Dunedin area was really important "access-wise" to peninsula families for getting their older children to school. Ōtākou Marae whanau member Nadia Wesley-Smith said Queen's had a relationship that spanned decades with the marae and the Ōtākou Runaka. She could remember being a child and seeing students from Queen's come to the marae and looking forward to one day attending the school herself. "Queen's High was a very natural progression because of that existing relationship. "At the time, when I was a child, it was just the school that all the girls went to. There was no question of any other school." Ms Wesley-Smith had whanau who were a part of He Waka Kōtuia, the kapa haka group that King's and Queen's students belonged to and her daughter had hoped to join. She said her daughter thought it was really unfair that she would not be able to be a part of the group when her older brother, who went to King's, could be. "It hurts a little that our kids who live close to the marae and live close to the Māori reserve are potentially going to be excluded," Ms Wesley-Smith said. Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said the home zone had made it "out of reach" for peninsula families to send their girls to a single-sex school. He wanted to encourage future, present and past parents to write to the ministry to have the proposed enrolment scheme overturned because it was a "silly, kind of ridiculous situation" they were put in. "The community here have been put into an impossible position, and we really need to get this overturned." Tahuna Normal Intermediate School deputy principal Roddy Scoles said out of the 140 year 8 girls it had last year, 70 went to Queen's. He said the proposal was creating unnecessary stress for parents who were worried about their daughters' place at the high school. He encouraged parents at Tahuna to also submit to the ministry to overturn the enrolment scheme. Queen's principal Barbara Agnew encouraged parents in the school's community to provide feedback on the proposal directly to the ministry. Ministry south leader Andrea Williams said no final decision had been made regarding the peninsula and encouraged every one with a view on the enrolment scheme to visit its website and complete a survey before consultation closed. The consultation was open until June 5.
Otago Daily Times
05-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Pupils' safety request met with questions
Portobello children, pleading their case for safety improvements around their school, did not escape a few tough questions from one Dunedin city councillor. At yesterday's long-term plan hearing, three Portobello School pupils asked the council to finish Te Awa Ōtākou, which they said would fix dangerous roads around their school. Also known as the Peninsula Connection, the project aims to improve road safety, forming part of a shared path around Otago Harbour, but sections on the peninsula remain incomplete. Pupils Robin Luff, Bella Monteith and Ivy Larkins had submitted on the same topic at last year's annual plan hearing and again "respectfully" asked the council to finish the project. After their submission, Cr Lee Vandervis had some questions. "Are you aware that we've already spent over $100 million on the cycleway out to the peninsula?" he asked. "Are you aware that the extra bit of cycleway you're talking about doesn't meet [NZ Transport Authority Waka Kotahi] safety priorities? "And are you aware that the data that we now have on the last four years of cycleway use shows that despite all the money we've been spending, that cycleway use hasn't increased in the last four years?" Portobello School teacher Cheryl Neill stepped in to answer. "We do know that you've spent an awful lot of money, which we appreciate, but we would really like it just down to the end of Harington Point Rd." Cr Brent Weatherall asked if it was fair the final stages of the project would be entirely council funded. Ms Neill said in an "ideal world" there would be government funding — "but no, it's not fair". The pupils told the council the road past their school was unsafe — a section of road some called "the death hole". "It is a place where many people, including me, walk when we go to school or take our young siblings to kindergarten," Ivy said. Speeding locals and tourists and big vehicles did not leave much room for error, she said. "The road is old and dangerous. We don't want it to be dangerous." Yesterday, four other submitters spoke in support of Te Awa Ōtākou, including Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou ūpoko Edward Ellison, who also asked the council to complete the project. Speaking to the rūnanga's submission, Mr Ellison said he was pleased to see the completed sections of Te Awa Ōtākou were well used — completing the project would improve safety for all road users. "It came as a surprise to us to find that after the upgrade had been completed, that we are left in a bereft situation from Portobello out. "The traffic is faster, there's much more of it and people are not stock-aware, nor are they road-aware, many of them." The hearings are expected to run for the rest of the week.
Otago Daily Times
02-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
‘Keep your promise': children to council
Forty pupils from Macandrew Bay School have submitted to the Dunedin City Council regarding the unsafe footpath outside Portobello School. Holding their submissions are (from left) Gracin Stuart, 8, Zaxen McInally, 10, Nina Bransgrove, 8, and Willa-Mae Stuart (10). Photo: Stephen Jaquiery Dunedin school children are dipping a toe in the turbulent waters of local government, asking the city council to "keep your promise" on Otago Peninsula's shared pathway. Almost 50 pupils from Portobello and Macandrew Bay Schools made submissions, some complete with drawings, on the Dunedin City Council's nine-year plan (2025-34), urging progress on Te Awa Ōtākou. Also known as the Peninsula Connection, the project aimed to improve road safety and formed part of a shared path around Otago Harbour, but three sections on the peninsula remain incomplete. Some of the drawings which accompanied Macandrew Bay School pupils' submissions on the long-term plan. Drawing: supplied In their submissions, Portobello School pupils told the council about crashes and near-misses they had seen near their school. "All there is, is a tiny piece of off-cut along the side of the road," one pupil who was involved in a crash said. "If a car was coming along there at a high speed, which they usually do, it could easily collide into a pedestrian or biker." Drawing: supplied "Some of my classmates call it the 'death hole'," another said. Others told the council their parents did not let them walk in the area and some shared concerns about the impact on local tourism. The council was considering funding $18.5 million through the nine-year plan to complete the project. Support from government agencies was unlikely, it said. Drawing: supplied Macandrew Bay School pupils were pleased with the completed section outside their school and hoped the council could finish the job. "Can you please finish the path you promised, but I love your work so far," one submission said. Another was concerned about fellow pupils: "How terrible for Portobello School to not to have a pathway! There might be an accident." Drawing: supplied "Keep your promise to Portobello School." Portobello School teacher and Otago Peninsula Community Board member Cheryl Neill made a submission on behalf of the school saying it was "essential" the council complete Te Awa Ōtākou. "In these three areas there are no walkways and no room for error. It is dangerous for our tamariki," she said. Drawing: supplied Macandrew Bay School principal Nic Brown said her pupils were lucky to be able access Te Awa Ōtākou so easily and they felt strongly the pathway needed to be complete. The submissions were a great way to practise persuasive writing and the "dying art" of letter writing, Ms Brown said. "It's really important for our children to see that their voice can actually make a real difference to things like this." A week-long hearing on the plan begins on Monday.
