From the Senior Leadership Team

Thank you to all parents/caregivers/friends and whānau who attended our annual senior prize-giving event at school on Friday.  A special thank you to our special guest, Hannah Norton, for her inspiring speech. It is always such a pleasure welcoming back ex-students and hearing of their successes since leaving school. Congratulations to all our prizewinners, to next year's prefects, and to our year 13s for whom Friday was their last official day of school. 

All senior students in years 11-13 will now know if they have been granted study leave from next week onwards. Students who have not yet been granted study leave need to attend school each day in regular school uniform to complete additional credits towards their NCEA qualification. These students will receive personalised support during this time. Students who are on study leave only need to attend school for their external examinations, or to attend tutorials with their teachers. 

A reminder that we have a schoolwide cellphone ban for all year 7 to 10 students, and seniors are only allowed to use their phones at school outside of timetabled classes. Parents/caregivers will receive a letter from the school if their child is not meeting these expectations. Please support us by having a conversation with your child about their cellphone use, and the importance of following school rules. It is very noticeable when walking around the school during break time that students are more active and are talking to each other more. We are also seeing fewer distractions in the classroom.

Senior school reports have now been emailed out.  Please contact the school office if you have not received your student's report.  Apologies to a handful of caregivers who received two copies, there was a minor glitch with the emailing process.  

This link will take you to the tutorials on offer to students over the next few weeks.  Please note that all Year 11-12 students must wear full school uniform when attending school for whatever reason during the study leave period.  Students on study leave must also sign in and out when attending school for any other reason except sitting their NCEA examinations.  C1 will be a quiet, supervised study room for students to work in between tutorials and/or exams.  Alternatively, senior students may sign out and leave the school grounds.

If your learner has special assessment conditions (SACs) and does not intend to attend their examination please let Jess Whitehead know ASAP via jessica.whitehead@otamatea.school.nz as this will affect staffing. 

All students not granted study leave are expected at their whānau class each morning.  F1 (the Y13 study room) will be used as a learning space for these students.  However, many Y11-12 students will be attending a course in the library on Monday and Tuesday.

Throughout 2023 the 12 prefects have made an invaluable contribution to Otamatea High School.  They have been  fantastic ambassadors for the school and inspirational role models for all students.  It has been a genuine pleasure to work closely with them during the year.  On behalf of the school I would like to thank them all for their hard work and wish them all the very best for the future.