Kia ora,

As we come to the end of Week 4 we have noted some increases in both staff and student absence due to sickness and COVID alongside our continued effort to run curriculum based trips.  On Thursday this was particularly difficult, and some classes were ‘joined together’ to support the teaching and learning process.  It is important that we continue to try and manage on-site learning using a range of strategies.  On Friday we were able to cover all staff absences with relieving teachers.  At the moment this is a bit of a challenging space, our priority is to try and keep all our students at school every day of the week, however if this trend continues or worsens then there is a possibility that rostering home may be required.  If this were to be the case we would inform our community in a timely manner.    

In line with looking to increase our involvement in the wider range of school related activities as mentioned last week, we had a very large group of enthusiastic students, staff, and community supporters participating in the Cancer Society Relay For Life on Saturday. The team spent all day walking and running around the 400m track, and completed a total of 2462 laps which totals to 984.8km!  We are very grateful to our sponsors and to the generosity of the school community.  Our school team has raised a current total of over $12,000 to go towards the Cancer Society.  An article with photos can be found on the following page.  We also, earlier in the week had the school cross country, fun run, and well-being walk held in perfect weather conditions, which was positively engaged in by our students.  The career workshops, visits to and from tertiary institutions are taking place, winter sport is underway, and we are preparing for the upcoming school wide Matariki celebrations. 

Our senior students are looking forward to the Senior Formal, which this year will be held at the University of Canterbury Students’ Association. This year's theme is "Forest of Stars". The Formal committee are working hard behind the scenes to make this a fabulous night, and we are all looking forward to what is always a great occasion for our senior students.

Next Wednesday sees the beginning of winter.  I would like to remind parents and caregivers, that if you need assistance with items of winter uniform for your child, please contact Miss McConnel, our Assistant Principal, email [email protected] 

COVID Update

We will maintain a watching brief in this space and continue to keep all of the required health measures in place at school. This includes ventilating all of our learning spaces, so students are advised to wear all of the layers of uniform the keep themselves warm.  We would continue to appreciate families/whānau notifying us of new cases via the email: [email protected]   [email protected]  

Next week I will be away attending the Secondary Principals’ Association conference, returning on Thursday, and in my absence our Associate Principal, Stacey Fry will be Acting Principal. 

Ngā mihi nui

Jeff Smith

Principal