Acting Principal's Notes

Cross Country: Well done to all students who participated in our annual cross country event. The weather turned out to be great and the mud proved to be either a challenge for the serious competitors, or a source of entertainment for those not too worried about their finish times. Congratulations to all our age group winners - Olive Woodman & Luca Troost (sub juniors), Jaime Warrington-Grace & Dean Sheppard (juniors), Sophie van Harlingen & Matai Hartles (intermediate) and Natalia Orchard and Morgan Bull (seniors). We had nearly 300 students competing on the day - an outstanding effort. 

Schools Pride Week: The 14-20th June is New Zealand Schools Pride week where schools across Aotearoa show support for our rainbow young people, to have a sense of belonging in their schools and communities. These students are often the most vulnerable and marginalised in our communities so it is a great way for our school to show support for these students, and a timely reminder to all that we are an inclusive and tolerant school community. There were activities on offer during whānau time, a bake sale during the week, and stickers were handed out to students who wanted them. Some staff even celebrated the newly dubbed 'Flamboyant Friday' by dressing up in bright colours for the day. Well done!



Prefect Leadership Course: I am looking forward to taking our prefects to Auckland on Monday for the GRIP (Generosity, Responsibility, Integrity, People) student leadership conference being held at the Vodafone Event Centre. This unique conference concentrates specifically on training student leaders for their role as school leaders. The style, topics, and content of this conference all focus on what the students can do right now. The goal is that our prefects leave the day with a clear vision, a solid understanding of leadership, and dozens of ideas for their time as prefects at Otamatea High School.

Kapa Haka: Next Friday our kapa haka group will be performing here at school for our contributing primary school students. They are back at school this weekend for another noho, putting even more hours of practice into their performance. I know our visitors will be inspired by our amazing kapa haka students and I look forward to more students getting involved in kapa haka in the future.

Dirk Smyth