Kia ora e te whānau, I hope that the term break has been a good one. It’s been a productive time at school, and I want to thank all the staff who have been running workshops and tutorials across the break with students - it’s really good to see students motivated to do well.

We’ve also had a lot of property and maintenance work completed over the holidays, including the painting of L Block and new drainage to help prevent surface flooding on the turf. Thanks to the Property Team for their work over the break.

A huge amount of effort also went into moving the Science Faculty into our new Science Building at the end of last term. The team did a phenomenal job getting everything packed, moved and set up, and we are really excited to see lessons begin in the new building at the start of Term 4.

Looking ahead

For our senior students, Term 4 is short and sharp with only three weeks before study leave begins. For our junior students, there is lots to look forward to across the rest of the term with our Beach Education programme, Softball Day, and BP Challenge. Below are some important dates for the start of Term 4:

Key calendar events (start of Term 4)

Uniform

Demonstrating respect for our school by wearing the correct uniform is important. Our uniform has a wide range of items to choose from, so all students should be able to find a suitable combination, and we have plenty of uniform items for students to borrow if they need to. Please make sure that uniform items are named so that if they are lost, we can quickly find the owner.

Please remember; Socks should be plain black, and any undershirts should be white. Backless slides, including Birkenstocks, are not appropriate footwear for school. Sports hoodies are not part of the school uniform. Please look on our website to find a full description of our uniform guidelines.

Phones

A reminder of our school guidelines;

• If a student chooses to bring a cellphone to school, it must be switched off and in their bag when the bell rings for the start of period 1 until students leave the classroom at the end of period 5.
• If cellphones are brought to school, they must be kept in a student’s own school bag.
• It is important to note that if students do make the decision to bring a cellphone to the school grounds, they do so at their own risk.
• The school is not responsible for any loss or damage caused to any cellphone. If phone accessories (including buds, AirPods and headphones) are brought to school, they must also remain in bags throughout the school day. Cellphones should not be connected to smartwatches.

Any student with an exemption will be issued a pass through Deputy Principal Sandy Begg; this will be recorded on KAMAR and the student will have a physical pass.

A note for parents

If you need to get a message to your child urgently during class time, please contact Student Services (817-8173 ext 205).

We’re looking forward to a fantastic Term 4.
Ngā mihi nui
Fiona Barker PRINCIPAL