Acting Principal's Notes

Kia ora koutou,

It was great to be back at school on Thursday and both staff and students enjoyed catching up with each other after three weeks in lockdown. I would like to thank all the teachers, parents and students for their efforts in carrying on with their learning throughout this time. The senior students now need to be at school preparing for the mock NCEA examinations in the last week of this term. If there happened to be another lockdown around the NCEA examination time, these mock grades achieved by students will be used for derived grades for their final assessment marks. Although it is important for all students to be at school, if your child is unwell, please keep them at home. If a student becomes unwell at school we will contact parents/caregivers in order to pick them up immediately. 

Many school activities have been affected through this time. Otamatea Kapa Haka Festival has had to be postponed, as has the very popular Olla Podriga concert. There are plans for the students to perform in term four in a different format: “ Olla Podriga in the Park”. Details will be confirmed at the beginning of next term.

Other trips and sports events will be assessed on a case by case scenario. There are some educational trips which we will endeavour to complete as they are part of the student’s assessments. We have moved the Senior Prize Giving to the 12th November to give students more time to study with their teachers at school before the NCEA examinations begin on Monday 22nd November.

Prefect nominations will be happening soon and the Year 12 and 11 students will be getting details of how to apply for these 2022 leadership positions from their teachers. The Board of Trustee student representative election has had to be paused as we wait further guidance how to proceed with the official election of the position.

Finally, we have our school bubble, which the Ministries of Health and Education have deemed safe for our students and staff. Any visitors coming into the school, however, must wear masks and follow the Alert Level 2 covid rules and use the tracer app. displayed at school.

Paul Chambers