20 September 2024 Newsletter |
Kia Ora Tatou
This week has been very busy as secondary schools start their planning for the new school year of 2025. Whilst some decisions are made now we have senior options and confirmation of staffing for next year the work really starts and significant decisions are made with regard to programmes for next year. Whilst we do this planning we also are at the busy end of the year as we work to support students to complete courses and prepare for their transition from school to tertiary study, employment or training.
Final week of the term and practice exams
Next week is the final week of the term. For senior students, they will commence their practice exams in the first week. Whanau and students are encouraged to work with course teachers to ensure that some time during the holiday can be used by students to prepare for these important assessments. Grades from the practice exams may be required if a student is unable to complete the official NZQA exams in November.
Cultural Competition
Despite it being a very busy week it was a real pleasure to watch the cultural competition and each of the houses perform. In the whole school assembly prior to the event I commented that the cultural competition has grown and improved dramatically over the last 9 years that I have been watching. Not only has there been an improvement in the standard of performance but our students take the initiative and lead for their houses and encourage and support one another.
This year’s event was no different. Each house provided their own input into their performance of the haka and waiata. Students were proud to lead and the response from audiences was positive and encouraging.
Worthy of a very special mention are the Kapa Haka group and one of our special students, Saryn Semmens. Saryn has difficulty with as coordination and movement as well as communicating verbally. She is learning sign language and is supported by the school to participate in the whole life of the school. Despite these challenges, she stood proudly in front of the school with our kapa haka students and joined their performance. Our kapa haka students have been amazingly supportive and caring of Saryn. I spoke to Saryn’s mother earlier this week and know that as parents they appreciate the kindness shown by students. I hope the parents of kapa haka students are proud that their caring attitude is recognised and appreciated. It was my great pleasure to acknowledge this with the whanau group on Thursday.
Maori Language Week
This week has been Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Maori Language Week. It has been great to see that the whanau group have been running a number of activities during lunchtime for students to join. These include a movie, flax weaving and on Thursday the most popular, fried bread.
This is another example of great student leadership and organisation. These events are a new initiative and have raised the profile for Maori and inclusion across the school.
Community event for Maori Language week, postponed
Last week in the newsletter we did advertise the community event that was scheduled for this Saturday. Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond the control of the organising committee the event has been postponed. A new date will be confirmed and advertised in this newsletter in the future
Student Board of Trustee Elections
This week students had the opportunity to vote for their preferred candidate for the Student Board of Trustees Representative. I am pleased to announce that Elri Geldenhuys has been elected to this position. Congratulations to Elri and I look forward to her working with the Board of Trustees.
Finally
This term has been extremely busy and we are leading towards the final weeks of the year with just over 8 weeks for term 4. Senior students will have even less time as many will gain study leave from the end of October. For junior students there will be end of year activities to look forward to but also a number of end of year assessments and assignments to complete. In the last week I will be encouraging all students to get a book to read during the holidays. Reading is a vital skill and reading for pleasure is an easy way to improve this skill. It is also a great opportunity to reduce screen time for young people.
Ka kite ano |
Recent News
SOHS Cultural Comp 2024
SOHS Cultural Comp 2024 | |  |
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Maori Language Week Celebration Postponed
Maori Language Week Celebration is postponed till 19th October. | |  |
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Kia Manawaroa September
Kia Manawaroa is the Ministry’s dedicated pānui for whānau Māori. | |  |
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Senior Speech Competition
On Wednesday afternoon we held our Senior Speech Competition. All our speakers spoke incredibly well on mature, personal and insightful topics. | |  |
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Mr Douglas Overseas Trip
Mr Douglas has been to Tokyo over the last week. He meet up with the principal, Ms Kawahara, from Nichidai-Tsurugaoka school in Tokyo and with the students that visited us a few weeks ago. | |  |
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About Mental Health Awareness Week
MHAW is run annually by the Mental Health Foundation. MHAW is endorsed by the World Federation for Mental Health and is marked in over 150 countries at different times of the year. | |  |
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