Property Matters

Last Friday I met with the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, and the Head of Property and Infrastructure, Scott Evans, to convey our continued concerns regarding property matters. As you may be aware these are ongoing concerns, particularly with the high demand for places at Cashmere High.

Last December we were informed that our Technology build would not be proceeding due to the Ministry of Education (MOE) revising the allocated budget. I conveyed to the Minister that delaying, revising or terminating the build of this project would severely impact our school community and would place us in a situation in which we will struggle to accommodate further increases to our roll. I also explained that this decision would have a major impact on other school-led property projects and at a potentially significant financial cost to the school.

Ultimately the MOE needs to understand that they need to provide classrooms that facilitate the growing roll of our school and community. Despite on numerous occasions pointing out the growing demand for places at Cashmere High School the MOE continues to use data that does not reflect or capture the realities of our community. Consistently underestimating school roll predictions and providing build rolls significantly lower than the number of students attending our schools has meant that they are unable to allocate resources ahead of the problem and instead they have found solutions in providing temporary classrooms. We do not consider this a viable solution. Temporary classrooms take up valued green space, are often substandard and not fit for specialist classrooms, and are simply indicative of poor strategic planning.

I also conveyed our concern that the MOE has overly bureaucratic and protracted processes in place which make it very difficult to access property support. We are often left in the dark when key decisions are made, even the process of identifying the appropriate MOE staff to deal with can be a challenging process to navigate. Most importantly there is an almost total disregard for any formal communication from the MOE regarding building projects.

Unfortunately this is becoming a nationwide issue, affecting schools across the country. However, during our conversations I found the Minister to be very reflective of our situation and I believe she was focused on solving these issues. I am hopeful that we will be able to make some progress in the near future.

House Chalk Drawing Competition

Congratulations to Rutherford House who won the House Chalk Drawing Comp!

Year 12 Academic Assembly

Last year our students achieved some phenomenal results in their NCEA assessments. Last Wednesday we took the opportunity to recognise the Year 12 students who achieved Level 1 Excellence Endorsements. To receive an Excellence Endorsement you need to achieve at least 50 credits at Excellence.

Whānau Hui

A big mihi to all the whānau and friends who came to our Whānau Hui on the 15th February. We enjoyed great food, company and most importantly manaakitanga. Ko Te iringa o Kahukura ko te korowai matauraka ō tātou tīpuna.

Year 9 Meet the Teacher Evening

Many thanks to all of our parents and whanau who attended our Year 9 Meet the Teacher Evening last week. We always appreciate the opportunity to connect with our wonderful community. Thank you.

Scholarship Afternoon Tea

We invited our NZQA Scholarship recipients and their parents back to Cashmere to acknowledge their success and to reconnect with their teachers before they head off to university/work. NZQA Scholarship is the highest form of academic achievement in school and we are incredibly proud of their success. Special mention to Luke McPherson who achieved four scholarships with an Outstanding in Statistics.

Cricket Gillette Cup

Well done to the 1st XI Boys for winning the Gillette Cup Qualifying tournament over the last week. Fantastic performances from a number of players saw us come out as top after 4 wins / 1 loss. The team now moves onto the next stage of the tournament and face Christ College in a few weeks.

Big thanks to Sydenham Cricket with their ongoing support of cricket in the community from the use of their great indoor facility, coach and facility help.

Charlotte Murphy Swimming Success

Congratulations to Charlotte Murphy on her first swim at the Para Swimming World Series in Melbourne. Coming in at 2:02.32 for her 100m Backstroke, Charlotte took out the 16 & Under New Zealand Record.

Miro Luxford - National Sailing Champion

Congratulations to Miro Luxford who is the 2024 Starling Class National Champion!

Volleyball South Island Champs

Over the weekend we had three Senior Volleyball teams competing in the Mainland South Island Volleyball Championships. All teams competed exceptionally well, during some long days of competition.

The Senior B Boys team finished 3rd in their division 3 playoff. The Senior A Girls team had a great run through pool play on day 1, winning all their games comfortably. Subsequent to this they had a strong day on Saturday, earning a place in the semi final against St Margarets College. The Girls ended their weekend a valiant 4th place. The Senior A Boys also had a good first day of competition and capped off their weekend with a pretty comfortable win over Riccarton High School for 5th place.

Upcoming events are Canterbury Champs from the 8th-10th of March at Pioneer, followed by New Zealand Secondary Schools Nationals from in Palmerston North from the 18th - 22nd of March. 

Open Water Swimming

On Saturday 24th February we had 12 students compete in the South Island Secondary Schools Open Water Championships in Akaroa. As a school team, we were crowned the Top School in the South Island! 

Congrats Mr Riepen!

Congratulations to our very own Mr Riepen who completed the longest day Coast to Coast event in 12 hours!

CPG Event: Student Support Talk

The Cashmere Parents' Group are hosting our first evening presentation of 2024 with the Student Support Team!

• Tom Wilkinson - Head of Faculty for Student support
• Anne Ogilvie and Fay Manning - Nurses School Health Clinic
• School Counsellors
• Youth Workers

They will introduce themselves and their role in supporting students at Cashmere High School, and this will be followed by the opportunity for parents to ask questions.

Please come for a cuppa and korero from 6.30 pm in the staffroom for a 7pm start.

Student Support Talk

• Monday, 11th March, 7.00pm-8.30pm
• Venue: CHS Staffroom. Upstairs in the Admin block, look out for the Cashmere Parents Flag.
• Entry off Barrington Street. Car Parking available on school grounds.

RSVP Cpg@cashmere.school.nz

From the Archives

1958 1st XI Cricket Team

Who’s Who at Cashmere High School - Heads of Faculty

Performing and Visual Arts - Mr Shaun Edwards-Brownebs@cashmere.school.nz

English - Mr Brett McKersey meb@cashmere.school.nz

Languages - Mrs Lylian Carrasco cal@cashmere.school.nz

Mathematics & Statistics - Dr Michelle Dalrymple drd@cashmere.school.nz

PE & Health - Miss Tessa Te Kahu ttt@cashmere.school.nz

Science - Mr Chris Trewern trc@cashmere.school.nz

Social Sciences - Mr Nick Moyle mon@cashmere.school.nz

Technology - Mrs Karen Kennedy kdk@cashmere.school.nz

Learning Support - Mr Tom Wilkinson wkt@cashmere.school.nz

The Fortnight Ahead