The ball has begun rolling on a plan to redecorate and bring life back to some important facilities at Ashburton College. A group of teachers have taken it upon themselves to redecorate the school’s toilets to try and change a culture of vandalism and damage that exists currently. Teacher Shelly Robson, a self-proclaimed Facebook addict, said she was scrolling through the social media platform one day and saw photographs of school toilets that had been redecorated and painted with positive messages. “I liked and shared the post and a few other teachers commented saying that would be really cool for us to do,” she said. Robson said the group of teachers behind the project are operating off a zero dollar budget, but hope to have one set of boys and girls toilets done before the end of the year. The toilets are currently painted with an anti-vandalism paint, which will require multiple layers of different paint to cover to be able to decorate the bathrooms with the positive messages they want. “Our painting contractor has offered to help us getting paint at a discounted price but with the zero budget and applying for funding taking time, we are on lookout for any donations (of old paint that is no longer needed, or equipment such as rollers, brushes and drop cloths), or labour,” Robson said. Those looking to offer support can either get in contact with Shelly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by contacting the school office on 03 308-4193. –

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 22 November 2018

Ashburton College community services committee members Brittany Fowler, Ann Moriarty and William Hii get some practice in before the Ashburton College community services day. Photo Jaime Pitt-MacKayAshburton College’s youngest students will be giving back to the community next week when they take part in the college’s community services day next Wednesday.

The day has been launched by the college’s new community services committee which is headed by William Hii.

“We want to give something back to our community through actually getting out there and rolling up our sleeves,” he said.

More than 250 Year 9 students will take part in the day, supported by about 50 staff from Ashburton College, and volunteers from Safer Ashburton and Volunteering Mid and South Canterbury.

The activities will range from weeding, planting and landscaping in areas such as the Harris Reserve, Wakanui Beach, Argyle Park and an emergency and community organisations car wash.

It is hoped the day will become a regular on the Ashburton College calendar, alongside other initiatives the committee started this year.

These initiatives include regular visits to the Terrace View Retirement Village and assisting the Ashburton Youth Council with events such as the Bite Nite.

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 21 November 2018

Ross PreeceAshburton College’s Year 12 student numbers might be dropping, but they’re dropping for all the right reasons, says principal Ross Preece.

The school year had been marked by a steady outflow of Year 12 students who had gained level 2 NCEA and who had managed to secure jobs, he said.

Those were students who had no intention of returning for level three and were actively in the job market.

And the good news for those students was that they were finding meaningful employment.

Most who left for employment did so from August on, but a few had achieved level two and found jobs as early as the end of term one, Preece said.

“There seem to be heaps of jobs around. Every day in our notices there are job offers  – we had three really good jobs on one day last week – and there’s good competition for those jobs among students and it’s good to see there’s also competition among employers for good employees.”

Preece said he was pleased with the way employers were coming to the college looking for students.

“They’re cottoning on to the idea that the best place to come for employees is to schools.”

The school was also being proactive in working with students to find work opportunities, he said, because every young person who gained a job in the district was a young person kept in the community. It was also part of the college’s drive to keep every young person in education, training, or in work, he said.

The growth in Year 12 students keen to move into the workforce was part of a growing trend where young people were becoming less willing to take on debt or huge student loans.

“They recognise you can make a really good living with a trade. If you’re bright and capable you don’t necessarily need to go to uni and get a big student loan.”

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 17 November 2018