Kia Ora koutou,

The start of 2024 has been overwhelmingly positive. It has been wonderful to see familiar faces returning and also to be able to welcome a number of new students to our cohort this year. Year 10 is a time to uphold high standards and build on the strong foundations developed last year within academic, sporting and cultural pursuits while continuing to make positive connections within our community.

The whakatauki chosen for this year is 

He waka eke noa | We are all in the boat together 

This whakatauki has particular relevance for our school as a lympad boat is the symbol of Cashmere High. It symbolizes our school community working together, with a clear vision, to journey forward, discover and achieve our best in life.

The beginning of a year is a great time to ‘adjust your sail’ and set goals for what you want to achieve. Think about what you can do every day to work towards success. This should include the basics like bringing your equipment, getting to class on time, doing your homework, wearing your uniform correctly and with pride.

This year marks the start of NCEA for our Year 10 students as they will be sitting the Literacy and Numeracy co-requisites later in the year. It is important that studies are taken seriously and students work consistently to make sure they are achieving their best.

Excellence is a value that we strongly support and which all of us can strive for throughout our academic and extracurricular pursuits. I would like to acknowledge the achievements of these students in particular.:

• Greta Prince who has been awarded the Beasley cup for academic excellence among deaf students nation-wide.
• Anna Wright, Finn Groer and Greta prince who were members of the Cashmere Junior Adventure Racing Team which won the national competition in December last year
• Pera Gordon, Isla Vick and Ashlee Hazlett who came 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in Pole Vault at the NZ Secondary School Athleatics Championships in December
• Lucy O'Connor 1st Girls U19 Quad, Micah Whitley 2nd Girls U16 Quad at the South Island Rowing Club Championships.

Sarah Miller and I look forward to working with this year’s lead students and the year 10 council to further build community within our year group and school. The lead students for 2024 are:

• Leads: Pieta Bennett and Cameron Fairhall
• Deputy Leads: Kahutaiki Calman and Harry Durdin.

As always, feel free to reach out to the pastoral team if there is anything you need extra support with or to let us know about successes we can celebrate.

Kind Regards,
Johanna Stewart | Year 10 Head of School