Principal's Message....

By Rebecca Meek | Posted: Friday June 17, 2022

Our Purpose: To prepare students to be active participants who will contribute to their community.

Tēnā koutou katoa, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Bula vinaka

Like many, I was unlucky enough to get COVID a few weeks ago and it would be fair to say that it has taken me a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. On top of this, I am also well aware that we have the nasty flu and tummy bug doing the rounds. This has certainly prompted me to slow down and rethink my recovery plan.

On this note, I appreciate that the winter is upon us and the mornings are becoming a little colder. It is important that your child is here to start the day at 8.45 am. This sets their day up for success. Research shows that students who are late to school fall behind academically, are generally unsettled throughout the day, and are least likely to take responsibility for their learning and actions. Please prioritise your children’s learning by ensuring they are on time for school every day. If transport is an issue, we still have bikes and scooters that have been donated to us to support students coming to school so please get in touch with the office.

I am very conscious that for some students energy levels are low and students are struggling to re-engage with their learning from having time off. If this is ringing true for your child, then I encourage you to make contact with your child’s teacher, especially if your child is having regular time away from school unwell.

Matariki is next Friday 24 June and is now a nationwide public holiday, so no school next Friday. It is also a time to gather with family and friends to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future. Matariki, the Maori New Year, is rich with tradition. Matariki is the Maori name for a group of 7 stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Note, some hapu know Matariki as 9 Stars (although the last 2 can be hard to make out with the naked eye). Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with 6 daughters and is often referred to as the Seven Sisters.

We are kicking off our celebrations with

  • Monday - a whole school Assembly at 9.15 am.
  • Tuesday - we have a group of students from W.B.H.S coming over to help us put our Hangi down, we plan to start this at 5.30 am.
  • Tuesday 6.30 am - 8 am Breakfast and star gazing Damian McNamara from the Oamaru Observatory is coming in to support us with his wealth of knowledge in astronomy and star gazing. Evidently, there will be a few planets and lots of constellations we can see. We will have telescopes and binoculars available.

Mrs Genet along with a few other teachers will be serving breakfast. We do ask that parents must come along with students.

For those of you who have responded to join us for Hangi celebrations, we hope to be eating at 1.00 pm.

This week at Assembly we celebrated our Year 8 students who put submissions into the Waitaki District Council regarding Forrester Heights. Gary Kircher came to the Assembly and shared how impressed he was with the quality of submissions, and how well students spoke who gave verbal submissions. This is a perfect example of our students speaking up and using their voices to make a difference in our community.

With another week fast drawing to an end I again take the opportunity to reflect on another week full of opportunities.

  • Year 8 students have been working with Youthtown

  • Classes working with Waitaki Sports programmes

  • Year 8 students participating in our Youthline programme

  • After School Music and Art programmes running

  • Tahuna and James Hargest Exchange trials for a number of sports teams

  • Kapa Haka training

On a final note, it never ceases to amaze me how generous our community is. This week we asked for donations for our Hangi. A huge thank you for your support in donating products for this. I am very conscious that in the last two years we have had limited opportunities for whanau to come together as one. We really do appreciate your support.

“He waka eke noa”

We are all in this together.

Rebecca Meek