18 November 2022 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Caregivers
Kia Ora Tatou

This has been the last full week of students working on site for the year and it has been a very busy week. On Tuesday the whole of Year 9 had the opportunity engage in some environmental and scientific field work which included tree planting, water and soil testing. Talking to students on their return they told me that the day was great and that they enjoyed the experience. Thank you to Ms Murdoch for planning the day and coordinating the visiting scientists to work with our students on this piece of work.

Covid cases
Our region is seeing an increase in confirmed cases and the school is no exception to this. Once again thank you to those parents who keep their child at home if they are unwell. Please do be vigilant and use caution if you think your child may be unwell. A number of staff have returned to wearing masks and students will be supported if they decide to do so as well.

Science Roadshow
A couple of weeks ago South Otago High School hosted the Science Roadshow with students from many of our contributing schools attending and experiencing hands on science activities. This week I received a letter commending the school and also the students who supported this event:
‘The students who assisted our staff as “explainers’ showed leadership and responsibility and the are a credit to your school’

We appreciate the positive feedback and I hope that all of our guest students had a great time during their visit.

Activities days
Plans are well underway for the end of year activities. As a school we expect all students from Year 9 and 10 to participate. We know that students have a great time and thoroughly enjoy their activities. We are also aware that for some families finance, in the lead up to Christmas may be a challenge. If this is the case I welcome parents to contact me to negotiate a solution so that students do not have a barrier to participation.

Former student success
This week I received confirmation from Victoria University in Wellington that former student, Bligh Pringle, has completed his Masters of Architecture having passed with Merit. Congratulations to Bligh on his success following his hard work.

Year 8 School visits
This week we have hosted Year 8 students on during their orientation visits. My thanks to our Year 10 students who met them and escorted our guests into school. We look forward to welcoming our new Year 9 students in January 2023.

Year 9 and 10 Merit and Excellence Badges
In last Fridays assembly we had the pleasure of handing out Merit and Excellence badges to Y9 and Y10 students. These badges represent hard work and academic achievement in the junior school. To gain a Merit Badge a student needs to have 50 credits at the Merit or Excellence and for an Excellence Badge they need 50 credits at excellence level. Our aim is to encourage students to be working at a level in junior school that will see them gaining NCEA endorsements as seniors.

In English, Maths, Social Studies, PE and Science pieces of work are worth credits. For a Y9 student to gain credits they need to be working 4A / 5B for Merit and 5P / 6B for an Excellence. In Y10 students need to be working at 5A / 6B for a Merit badge and 6P / 6A for an Excellence badge. I would encourage students to talk to their mentors to make a plan to achieve their badges. We look forward to awarding more Merit badges and upgrading Merit badges to Excellence in future assemblies.

There is still time for students to complete work in order to receive a Merit or Excellence badge before the end of the year.

Student success at Southern Institute of Technology
We are very proud of the following students who came top of their class with the Southern Institute of technology (SIT). These are opportunities we provide to students who can experience Tertiary study while continuing with their studies at school:

Mark Condino - Introduction to Nursing at SIT in Invercargill
Kaitlin O'Neill - Agriculture at Telford
Olivia Soper - Salon Skills in Gore

Mark Condino Top Of The Class Principals Report Photo

Olivia Soper Top Of The Class Principals Report Photo

Salon Skills Award Principals Report Photo (Rotated)

Finally
This weekend a number of our staff will be running in the Queenstown marathon events. There may also be students participating as well!! A number of our students will be competing in a touch tournament in Arrowtown so it will be very busy in that area! We wish all those from South Otago High School who are participating in these events the very best and I look forward to hearing the results next week.

Ka kite ano

Upcoming Dates

Boys’ Basketball Report and Prize List 2022

Year 8 Visit Science Guides

Year 9 Food Technology

House Competition - Tug of War

Boys Cricket Update