Principal's News

COVID: As COVID-19 continues to spread through our communities we are seeing a daily rise in our number of active cases, which, at the time of writing, stands at 42 staff and students who are COVID positive and isolating at home. Many parents and whānau with vulnerable members in their household are also keeping their children at home, and this has resulted in about a third of our students being absent from school each day this week. Students working from home can access their classwork through our school website - simply click on the "Learning from Home" option from the drop down menu. Please note that from midnight tonight, the isolation period for Covid-19 cases and their household contacts reduces to 7 days, down from 10 days. 

Advice for anyone who is unwell
-  Anyone who is sick should stay home until they are well.
-  When a child has respiratory symptoms, they should stay at home and seek advice from their GP or Healthline. Staying home is key to controlling the spread of any virus in a school setting.  
-  Many children will have a long-lasting runny nose or cough after viral infections. If it is over 7 days since the onset of COVID symptoms and they are no longer feeling unwell, they are unlikely to
   be infectious and can therefore return to school.
-  However, if they are continuing to feel unwell or their symptoms are worsening after 7 days, they should not return to school and a GP visit, or a call to Healthline, is recommended.

Chromebooks: All year 12 and 13 students are expected to bring a Chromebook to school each day this year. We are issuing these as soon as students have completed the form that has been emailed out to them, and they have paid their $50 deposit. This is refundable upon the return of the Chromebook in reasonable condition at the end of the year. Students who have their own Chromebook or Windows laptop which they intend to bring to school, still need to complete this form.

Staff Only Day: Please put Wednesday the 23rd March into your calendars as our first staff only day of the year. There will be no school for students on this day. 

Parent Teacher Meetings: We have decided to postpone our parent - teacher meetings, originally planned for Wednesday 30th March, to Wednesday 13th April. We will review this at the end of the month, depending on the COVID climate at the time.

PTCA: Our amazing PTCA (Parent Teacher and Citizen Association) members are meeting at school on Tuesday 15th March at 7pm. New parents, caregivers and teachers who would like to assist with the PTCA's fundraising activities, are most welcome to join. As a registered charity, the funds raised by the PTCA go towards much needed improvements in the school. 

Kapa Haka Noho: This weekend is the first kapa haka noho of the year. Following last year's success, we have had a massive response from students wanting to be part of the 2022 kapa haka group and I am very much looking forward to seeing their skills develop over the course of the year. This is the first of three weekend noho this term and sets the bar very high for the kind of commitment required for students to be succeeding in this prestigious school group. 

Ngā mihi
Dirk Smyth