Acting Principal's Notes

Cross Country:  A massive congratulations to Morgan Bull who has won the senior boys age division of the Northland Cross Country competition held at Barge Park in Whangarei on Thursday. This is an outstanding achievement, and the first for our school for a long time. What makes this even more impressive is that Morgan is only in Year 11 and with two more years at school, has the potential to only improve on this fantastic result. Well done Morgan!

Matariki: This year the matariki star cluster rises on the 2nd July, representing one of the most important Māori celebrations - the start of the New Year. Next year there is the first official public holiday here in Aotearoa celebrating Matariki and it falls on Friday 24th June 2022. Matariki was a time for people to come together, celebrate the year gone and embrace the promise of the year ahead. At assembly last week I encouraged our students to do some research on Matariki, learn some of the names of the stars in the cluster, and to look out for Matariki rising in the night sky.

Tableau Vivant: Whānau classes wrapped up their entries for the annual inter-iwi tableau vivant competition this week. A tableau vivant, French for 'living picture', is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. Students have had to choose a picture (photo or painting), organise their costuming and background set, and take a photo of their own "living picture". All entries have now been submitted, voting has taken place and now the final judges get to decide who will win. Mrs Clist will announce the winners on the last day of term.

Sports: Well done to our students who have participated in sports games over the past week. Matoma Cup Netball - Otamatea won 34 - 22. Their next game is next term against Mahurangi to find out the winner for the Matoma cup. Collegiate Hockey - Otamatea played Hora Hora Red, winning 5 - 1. The team is sitting 3rd on the table and are improving with each game. In boys football, we played Dargaville High School and in a pulsating game lost narrowly 3-2. The girls football team played well against Keri Keri High School, but lost 4-0. Students who are actively involved in the school's broad range of extra-curricular activities are more likely to earn leadership positions as seniors, and tend to do better academically as well. I strongly encourage students who have yet to take up an extra-curricular activity to do so.

Parent-Teacher Evening: Next week Wednesday the 7th July is our term 3 parent-teacher interviews afternoon. These run from 1pm to 6pm. Parents and caregivers would have received an email with information on how to book an interview time with their child's teachers. This online booking facility closes on Wednesday at 10am so please make your bookings before then.

Syndicate Events: All the best to our year 7 students who are holding their annual Poetry Cafe in A-block on Monday, and to our year 8s who are holding their Consumers and Producers event in the hall on Tuesday. These events get better and better each year and I am very much looking forward to these.

Dirk Smyth