by AJHS

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa, warm greetings to you all.

Thank you to all those who attended our annual Learning Conferences last week. It was such a fantastic occasion, welcoming our school community to meet our teachers to hear about our students’ learning progress and goals. Thank you to all those parents who attended, and to those who continually show us support in our educational endeavours with our teachers (kaiako) and for our learners (nga akonga).

Thank you also to those parents who attended our online Whanau Forum on Tuesday evening. We had such an enriching experience, exploring the themes impacting our students during this time, and how our school learning and pastoral care pathways respond to their adolescent needs (slides can be found here).

Additionally, we are very grateful for the support for our Ministry of Education Accord Teacher Only Day on Wednesday. Our staff thoroughly enjoyed the day learning, reflecting and planning, to provide greater effect to our New Zealand curriculum to support Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and our bicultural values.

At AJHS, we aim to provide a safe physical and emotional environment and a positive, inclusive school culture which supports wellbeing and learning. This involves a whole-school approach through our school values, policies, and procedures, and collaboration with families, the community, and support services. The guidelines we have in place at school are created to support our students' health and wellbeing. We cannot emphasise enough the assistance and partnership needed with our parents to maintain our expectations at school; including uniform, punctuality, and attendance.

Our teachers balance the growing personalised learning needs of many diverse students, various health and wellbeing issues, personal needs, and effectively teach the curriculum in an environment that has been impacted so heavily by our pandemic. Please ensure you check-in with your child actively about manners, respecting others in all contexts, use of social media, and taking pride in their values. Your guidance is pivotal in developing our students’ dispositions towards citizenship.

We are pleased to announce a new website providing information about online safety. This is also accessible on our school website under ‘BYOD & Cyber Safety’. The platform is a rich and meaningful resource for parents and caregivers to gain knowledge about the digital world (apps, websites, games/reviews etc) and the known risks involved. www.ajhs.onlinesafetyhub.nz

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. Success is not the work of one but the work of many.

Take care whanau,

Cushla Shepherd, Principal / Tumuaki

Albany Junior High School