It has been a tough week for many of our families/whānau with many still without power, and road closures affecting most of us. I have been constantly reminded this week of just how supportive our communities are. Otamatea High School escaped relatively unscathed, and with power and internet services up and running, we are now back to the important business of teaching and learning.

Buses: Thank you for your patience as we work with our bus contractors to get all our bus routes back up and running. This is the situation at the moment but we will be in touch with affected families before Monday should this change. 

- The BICKERSTAFFE Rd bus is still not running, due to access issues.  Please make your own arrangements to get your child to and from school.  

- The GLENMOHR ROAD buses will now depart from the monument in Waipu at 7.30am and make their way to school via Cove Road. They will return to the same place in the afternoon at approximately 4.30 pm.

- MOUNTAIN ROAD is still not accessible by our buses.   Please make your own arrangements to get your child to either end of Mountain Road to be picked up.  This will be 8am at the Kaiwaka end (drop off at 3.55pm) and 8.10am at the Maungaturoto end (drop off at 3.45pm).

Heads Assessment for Year 9s: Otamatea High School is pleased to support a positive health initiative that provides an opportunity for all students in Year 9 to receive a health and wellbeing assessment by our school youth nurses. These will occur throughout the year and you will receive a letter soon with more details. 

Student Success: Congratulations to year 9 student Ary Freeman who is a Mangawhai local bowl skater. Ary placed 6th in both the open men’s Skateboarding Nationals in Gisborne late last year, and also in the under 16’s Mangawhai Bowl Bash which was held over Waitangi weekend. Well done Ary! I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more skating success from you in the future.

Athletics: Please join us for our Y9-13 Athletics Day next Thursday. The weather forecast is good at this stage, and I am looking forward to high rates of student participation on the day, with all the iwi colours on full display. Normal classes for year 7s and 8s will run. We will host a separate athletics day for these students in term 4.

Kapa Haka: Well done to our small contingent of kapa haka students who went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum today to perform for their powhiri. This performance is a lead up toward the national haka competition, Te Matatini beginning on the 22nd of March. What a great experience for these students who have grown significantly in their skills over the last 2 years. Ka pai

Dirk Smyth
Principal