Message from the Principal

After much consideration and reflection, I have decided to step down from my role as principal of Otamatea High School. I have been at the school for over 15 years, and I am immensely proud of the accomplishments I have achieved during my tenure. It has been a privilege to witness the growth and development of our school as an organisation, as well of our staff and students, especially over the past three years. It is now time for me to pursue new opportunities and challenges that align with my personal and professional goals. 

I have met with the Otamatea High School board chairperson Llew Smart and I will be working closely with Llew and the rest of the board to ensure a smooth transition process over the next few months. The board will be working with the support of an external advisor to ensure we get the very best replacement. I am confident that the strong foundations that have been built will continue to thrive under new leadership.

Message from the Board Chairperson

To the Otamatea High School Community

It is with sadness that I am informing you that I have received the resignation of our Principal Dirk Smyth. We will miss Dirk’s leadership and educational expertise that he brings to Otamatea High School. The timing for moves like this are never great but you have to take the opportunities when they present themselves.  Dirk will continue in his role as the Principal of Otamatea High School until the end of term 2.  We have great staff and management who will continue to provide and deliver a quality education for our children.  The board has started the process of looking for the replacement for Dirk and will keep you informed. 

Regards
Llew SMART

 

From the Senior Leadership Team

“Kia Ora, Whanau who have a year nine student will be sent an email about the Year Nine 9 Heads assessment. The aim of the assessment is to identify any health or wellbeing needs that students may have, so that we can support them and their families in accessing support services. This will help to ensure that students are in class ready and able to learn.  The assessment is carried out by nurses from Youth Health Community Clinical services.  Every student is asked for their consent before an assessment is undertaken, and has the right to decline. Parents can also withdraw their child from the programme by contacting the school directly and requesting that they do not participate. If you wish to withdrawal your child please let the school know by the 1st of March"

If you  do not want your child to be participate please email hanna.stevens@otamatea.school.nz

 

Over the course of this year, our year 9 and 10 students will be working towards an Otamatea High School Year 9 Certificate and Year 10 Diploma, respectively.  To attain each of these awards, students need to gain at least 80 credits across all of their subjects.  Each assessment has a credit weighting attached to it and will be marked using excellence, merit, achieved and developing grades.  A developing grade indicates that the student has not yet met the standard of work expected and hence has not gained the credits for that unit. Students who achieve over 50 credits at merit level or above get their award endorsed with merit. Those who achieve over 50 credits at excellence level will gain an excellence endorsement on their certificate or diploma.  This mirrors the NCEA system and therefore should better equip the students to understand how things work when they begin NCEA Level 1.

 

 

 

KiVa - Bullying prevention program running for all Year 7 and Year 9 students

What is KiVa?
KiVa is a research and evidence-based bullying prevention program that has been developed at the University of Turku, Finland, with funding from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The strong effectiveness of KiVa has been proven scientifically through a large national trial as well as several different studies. KiVa is now being used around the world and it is the world’s most studied anti-bullying program.

How does KiVa work?
The goal of KiVa is to prevent bullying and to tackle the cases of bullying effectively. The program is based on decades of extensive research on bullying and its mechanisms. KiVa is based on three main elements: prevention, intervention and monitoring.

The cornerstones of KiVa: Prevention, intervention, and monitoring
Prevention: to keep bullying from happening
Preventive actions, such as the KiVa curriculum, are directed at students in Year 7 and Year 9 with a focus on preventing bullying. These are being taught by Mrs Antunovich.

Intervention: Tools to tackle bullying
The interventive actions in KiVa are targeted specifically to the children and adolescents who have been involved in bullying. 

Annual monitoring
KiVa offers the tools to monitor the situation through annual online surveys for both students and staff. This feedback provides schools with information on how to improve their bullying prevention work.

For more information, here is the parents' guide to KiVa https://data.kivaprogram.net/parents/