Principal's News

Enrolment Scheme: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently working with the Board of Otamatea High School to implement a new enrolment scheme, to be put in place for 2023 student enrolments. This has become necessary due to the rapid roll growth we are currently experiencing. Enrolment schemes are needed to help manage the risk of overcrowding at schools. It will mean that only students living in the defined 'home zone' will have an automatic entitlement to enrol at Otamatea High School. A clear and transparent process is then followed for any additional out of zone enrolments. Before a home zone is implemented, the MOE is undertaking a consultation process with our communities. Please see the link below to have your say on the proposed establishment of this new enrolment scheme.

https://consultation.education.govt.nz/education/otamatea-es/

School Vision: The last line of our school waiata is "he waka eke noa" which translates to "we’re all in this waka together". It stresses the importance of cooperation, striving towards a common goal, and leaving no-one behind. Our common goal as a school is to realise our vision statement - "Ready for the World" or "Kia mataara ki te Ao", for all of our students. On Wednesday I spoke to the whole school about the importance of being in the Otamatea High School waka and what this means: being prepared, working hard, being a team player, being tolerant and accepting of others, and building resilience - with a very clear focus on the future. This year we will be creating a piece of art that visually captures our vision statement, for display on our website and around the school. I have asked students for their thoughts on this - what do they think it means to be ready for the world? I would love to hear your thoughts on this too.

Head prefects from Otamatea High School, Dargaville High School, Ruawai College and Rodney College

Principals and Head Prefects Visit: Each term, the principals and head prefects from Otamatea High School, Ruawai College, Dargaville High School and Rodney College get together to get to know each other, and to share ideas. Term 1's visit was cancelled due to COVID so our first visit of the year was on Monday when the head prefects and I visited Ruawai College. They were wonderful hosts and our prefects really enjoyed getting to know the student leaders from the other schools. There is clearly a lot of sickness, including COVID, around the Kaipara region and in Auckland at present. Please remember to keep  your child home if they are sick. We do have RATs available if parents and caregivers want to get their child tested.

Practice Fire Drill: We had a very successful practice fire drill on Thursday afternoon. All staff and students were at the assembly point within 6 minutes, with everyone accounted for. It is reassuring to know that the whole school can be evacuated in such a timely manner should we have a real emergency at school.

Headz Assessment: We are pleased to be able to support a positive health initiative that provides an opportunity for all of our year 9 students to participate in a health and wellbeing assessment by the School Youth Nurses. The aim of this assessment is to identify any health needs that students may have, so that we can support them in accessing relevant health services. The nurses will meet our Year 9 students prior to the completion of the assessment, to introduce themselves and explain their role at school. Students must give consent before this assessment is taken, and they have the right to opt out. Parents/caregivers of year 9 students would have received a letter earlier in the year with more details about this important assessment.

SPANZ Conference: I am very excited to be attending my first Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) Conference this weekend - starting Sunday, and finishing on Wednesday. Principals have been so busy dealing with COVID in recent times, it will be a welcome change to be able to meet other principals and share ideas about curriculum, pedagogy, NCEA and assessment, as well as to attend workshops and hear from the keynote speakers. I am sure to return with lots of great ideas about how to further improve our amazing school.

Ngā mihi
Dirk Smyth