South Otago High School News

7 February 2025 Newsletter

Kia Ora Tatou

This week has seen the school full of life and a really positive atmosphere as all students returned to school and by mid morning on Monday were on their way to timetable classes. It has been a pleasure to hear from many teachers that students are engaged and have returned, refreshed and ready to work for the new school year.

Mihi Whakatau
On Monday morning we hosted our annual Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new students and staff into South Otago High School. Each year this event gets better and better and this year was no exception. All speakers at the event emphasised the importance of a new beginning and the importance of being involved in the life of the school as well as achieving to one’s full potential.

There was an emphasis placed on working toward the school values of:

Respect
Excellence
Perseverance

The manuhiri (guests) gave a strong performance of a waiata at the conclusion of their speakers address. At the conclusion of the event the whole school, without prompting, applauded them as they left to receive kai. This was a beautiful and genuine acknowledgement to our new arrivals.

Cell phones, away for the day
At the start of 2024 the school rolled out the policy for student cell phones to be away for the day as mandated by the Government. Since then, the school has noticed improved student engagement and social interaction and fewer issues with the mis-use of social media. Earlier this week a letter was sent home with details of how whanau can apply for an exemption for their child to have a cell phone at school and some frequently asked questions.

There are just three categories for students to have a cell phone exemption, they are:

Medical: to control a medical device or access monitoring information for a specific condition.
Learning difficulty: to use specific apps or functions to support learning.
Exceptional circumstances: Teen parent or emergency responder.

Whanau who would like to apply for an exemption should complete the Cell phone exemption request form.

Attendance
In the last couple of year, post pandemic, the school has worked to improve student attendance at school. Whanau will be aware from the media that nationally school attendance is a concern. I am please to report that South Otago High School made good progress in improving student attendance in 2024 and will be continuing with this as a goal for all students.

The Government expectation is that all students should be attending 90% of the time that school is open for instruction.

There is some confusion with regards to explaining a students absence and how this is recorded. Included in this newsletter is the guidance that has been made available to all schools titled ‘Attendance Code, Decision Tree’ and ‘Descriptions’ This clearly identifies what is an ‘Explained and approved’ absence (Code J) and ‘Explained but not approved’ (Code E)

Finally
I hope that everyone had a good relaxing day on Thursday for Waitangi celebrations. This day is so important as it celebrates how the Crown and Maori should work together as stated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is a founding document for New Zealand. The treaty is unique and is what makes New Zealand such a special place where we should value and respect the culture and beliefs of Maori and work together for the benefit of all society.

Ka kite ano

Recent News

Wellbeing: Student Support

What to do when I have a question or concern? If you have any questions or concerns about how things are going for your child at South Otago High School there are people that can help.

Peer Support and Year 9 Students

On Friday our Year 13 leaders completed the second of their training days and spent time welcoming and supporting Year 9 students.

Mihi Whakatau 2025

This morning we held a special Mihi Whakatau welcoming our new staff and students to our fabulous school.

Itinerant Music Concert

This week some of the itinerant music teachers from Dunedin visited our school to play to our Year 9s and showcase the great variety of musical instruments the students can choose from if they decide to do itinerant music lessons.

Student Vehicles

For students that bring a vehicle its a great time to be gaining more independence and I am sure we all remember getting our first vehicle.