Principal's Notes

It is with a real sense of privilege and responsibility that I begin my role as permanent principal of Otamatea High School. This is an incredible school. Our teachers and support staff continue to amaze me with their dedication to our students, their professionalism, and the way in which they continue to adapt to new and unexpected challenges. We are currently experiencing strong roll growth which has led to the creation of several new teaching positions for next year, and this is testament to our school's growing reputation in our communities.  I am excited about the future of our school.

Schools across New Zealand have usually shown a significant drop in attendance when returning from lockdown, so I was pleased to note that nearly 90% of our students were back at school on the first day of term 4. I think this says a lot about how our students feel about coming here, and their resilience. I have thoroughly enjoyed catching up with our students this past week, and feeling the buzz and energy that comes with face to face learning.

With COVID-19 now in Northand I will continue to do my best to keep our school community up to date with new developments. We are currently making contingency plans for a possible return to level 3. As always, we take health and safety seriously and will continue to do so, especially during these uncertain times. I believe it is only a matter of time before this virus finds its way into our school community so I strongly encourage all those eligible for the vaccine, who have not already done so, to please get vaccinated. The public health message is clear. Vaccinations are the most significant tool we have in reducing the risk of serious illness in our communities. If most of us are vaccinated, we can also reduce the risk of outbreaks, which can lead to lockdowns and put our health system under pressure.

Senior Leadership Team 2022: I am very pleased to announce that our new senior leadership team for 2022 is now in place. After a rigorous appointment process, Nicky Cotching and Huia Coll have both been promoted to Assistant Principal positions from January next year. Paul Chambers, who did such a fantastic job as acting principal during term 3, will assume the Deputy Principal role. This is a strong leadership team and we are now well positioned to continue to improve as a school, and to realise the ambitious goals that I and the board will be setting for our school for the next 3-5 years. For now, my priority is to navigate us all safely through what is proving to be a challenging year.

Face coverings: I am very proud of the way our students have responded to the requirement that all 12 year olds and older must now wear a face covering whenever they are travelling on our school buses. I have been monitoring this closely and very few students have needed reminding of this new expectation. Masks have been provided to those who have forgotten theirs, and we will continue to encourage students to wear these each day. With COVID now in Northland it is crucial that we all take this health and safety measure seriously. 

Face coverings are also strongly encouraged when at school. A number of staff have been wearing these during the day and this role-modelling is helping send the message to our students that this is a normal thing to do. If your child wants to wear a face covering while at school, please encourage them to do so.

Seniors: There are only 3 weeks left of school for our senior students before they go on study leave, in order to prepare for their external NCEA examinations. Some students who are in danger of not passing NCEA will not be granted study leave at this time and will instead be receiving individualised support here at school to help them pass. Whānau teachers are currently working with all seniors - as their academic mentors - to ensure all seniors know what they need to achieve in order to meet the NCEA goals they have set for themselves. Please contact your child's whānau teacher if you have any questions or concerns about their NCEA progress. Should we move back to alert level 3 I will communicate to parents and students exactly what these examinations will look like.

Round the Loop Running Race: On Thursday 21st October, our students hit the track for the annual running race. This year the race was held on the country club walking track. Despite the weather we had 193 students complete the race. Congratulations to year 11 student Morgan Bull who won this year’s race in a time of 13.55. Second place went to Jack Hodgson (14.37), ahead of third place, Joseph Knight (14.45). Year 7 student Olive Woodman ran an incredible race to finish as fastest girl in a time of 16.56. Second was another year 7 student Jaime McCarthny (17.44) ahead of third place Jaime Warrington-Grace (17.58). A huge thanks to Tina Holst, the PE department and all other staff who contributed to making this such a successful event.

Clay Bird Shooting  Our school's year 9 and 10 clay bird shooting team consists of Matai Hartles, Kellan Antunovich, Max Cotching, Aaron Westlake and Connor Alcock. They participated in the Secondary Schools Clay Bird shooting competition at Whangarei on Saturday 2nd October. The team did a great job with Kellan Antunovich awarded "High Gun" for placing 1st in the junior competition with an overall score of 85/ 90. As a result Kellan was selected for the Northland squad where he will represent the district at Nationals. Well done Kellan, this is a fantastic achievement! A massive thanks to Richard Westlake for coaching the boys and having his traps set up, and to Phil Cotching for organising the team. 

University Success:  I would like to congratulate Cory Browne on his recent academic success. Cory completed level 3 calculus as a year 12 student, and as part of our gifted and talented programme, subsequently enrolled in a school funded university paper through the University of Auckland. Cory has since completed this paper, "Advancing in Mathematics", with a final grade of A-. In completing this course Cory was able to develop an understanding of the university system, how the assessments are graded, and the way that lectures are run. He completed topics in mathematical modeling, cryptography and graph theory. Well done Cory, especially since the whole course had to be completed online. Nga mihi Dirk Smyth