Talofa Lava
Last week we celebrated Samoan Language Week with a well-attended cultural performance in the Cobham Hall. Some of our staff members also got into the spirit of things, wearing their cultural outfits. The theme of this year’s Language Week was ‘Be proud of your language and grounded in your identity’ – Mitamita i lau gagana, maua’a lou fa’asinomaga.
Uniform Drive
Thank you to our whole community for the support we have received with our uniform drive. With some exceptions, students have been consistently wearing school uniform this term and these higher standards have had a positive impact on classroom behaviour. There has been encouraging feedback from families, staff and even some students (!) about the difference this is making. We will continue pushing this until the end of the term and appreciate the support of families in making this possible.
New build progress
If you have driven along Harris Street recently, you will have seen the new classroom block taking shape. Despite some wet weather, Astley Construction are on target with the new building, due to be completed by January next year.
Year 10 Literacy and Numeracy co-requisites
Next week approximately fifty Year 10 students will be sitting the new literacy and numeracy co-requisites. There has been a great deal of preparation put in to making this happen and we wish them every success. This will be our first trial which will give us an insight into these assessments. More Year 10 students will then have an opportunity to sit these exams in October.
PPTA Industrial Action
The PPTA have confirmed further industrial action across secondary schools in New Zealand in pursuit of their pay claim. The main impact of this will be on rostering home of different year levels over the last three weeks of this term. Again, I regret the significant disruption this will cause to students and families.
On the days notified below students in the named year level will be rostered home. Teaching and supervision of other year levels not subject to the strike action will continue as normal.
| Week | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| 8 12-16 June |
Year 11 & 12 | Year 9 & 13 | Year 10 & 11 | Year 12 & 13 |
| 9 19-23 June |
Year 9 & 10 | Year 11 & 12 | Year 9 & 13 | Year 10 & 11 |
| 10 26-30 June |
Year 12 & 13 | Year 9 & 10 | Year 11 & 12 | Year 9 & 13 |
This means that on the days in the table above, two year levels will be rostered home.
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions regarding this.
Homework Club
A dedicated group of students and staff celebrate the end of each week on a Friday afternoon by attending homework club in the school library. Thank you to the amazing staff who make this possible each week and to those students who regularly take advantage of this opportunity.
Mrs Sandy Wild
Sandy Wild will be returning to work on 9 June. Sandy has been away while a careful process has been worked through to ensure support facilities and processes are in place to ensure the safety of herself, staff and students to accommodate her mobility issues. This will include providing Sandy with the assistance of a teacher aide when appropriate. This will be a graduated return to work, to enable Sandy and the school to bed down and ensure the practicability of the arrangements which have been made to facilitate her return. The school has been through a careful process with Sandy to ensure that her return to work is on an effective and safe basis.
Ngā mihi,
Richard Barnett
