24 March, 2023 Newsletter |
Kia Ora Tatou
This week a letter has been sent home to whanau of all Year 11 students detailing the possibility of disruptions as we endeavour to continue to provide opportunities for students with field trips for PE and Geography. It is likely that some Year 11 classes will be combined and the students supervised for their studies. If there is further staff absence then we may need to roster the Year 11 student group home for a day or more. We will notify our community as soon as possible of these disruptions.
Further industrial action
The school is also aware of a potential teacher strike on Wednesday 29 March. As I prepare this newsletter item this is not confirmed. As soon as the school receives notification of strike action we will inform the community. We expect to be informed of any strike action by Sunday, 26 March. Whanau will be informed of the arrangements on Monday 27 March via email. As with the industrial action on 16 March, the school will need to close for instruction and we will not be providing supervision.
School attendance
A trend which is starting to develop for some of our students is that Friday may be an extra day off to add to the weekend. Whilst nearly a third of the senior school does attend work experience or tertiary courses which do count towards positive attendance. However, there are a small number who do not attend school. I ask that whanau please ensure that students do attend school on Friday and support their child making sure that they maintain a positive attendance record. On Friday students do have a number of options which are provided to support students who may need assistance with study, wish to gin extra NCEA credits, life skills and study programmes as well as courses to support student wellbeing.
Attendance at school on Friday is valuable and we expect students to participate and engage in the learning opportunities provided.
Last full week of the term
Next week is the last full week of the school term with the school term finishing at the end of school on Thursday 6 April. This week in assembly I reminded students that we acknowledge this has been a long term and that we are all getting tired. However, we have the same high expectations for students at the end of the term as we had at the start of the year. We are also aware that a number of students will be working towards finishing items of work for assessments. So, it is important that students focus and persevere to ensure that they finish the term on a positive note so that they can enjoy a good break over the Easter period.
Finally
I hope that everyone had a great long weekend last week. This week the weather has been significantly cooler. Whanau, please ensure that students have the correct uniform. Students may choose to wear the new fleece jersey or the traditional woolen jersey. Jackets must be either black or navy. Hoodies from sports teams are not part of the school uniform.
Ka kite ano |
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