Kia ora and welcome back to all of our Year 9 students and their whanau as we set off into Term 2 for 2021.

After a very successful Term 1 the term ahead will be busy and a time for students to put their heads down and focus on embedding the good habits that have been forming both in and out of the classroom.

During Term 1 and over the school holidays there have been a large number of students gaining success both in and out of the classroom. In particular there have been some outstanding sporting achievements that I would like to highlight. Brynne Gordon (9VNC) has made an excellent start to her time at Cashmere High School gaining a number of successes on the track as part of our Athletics squad. Brynne is a talented runner and already in 2021 she has placed 1st in the U14 Girls 800m and 1500m at both the Canterbury and South Island Secondary School Championships. In the process Brynne also set new school records in both races. Brynne has also won the Year 9 Girls Secondary Schools Road Race that was held in Week 2 of Term 2 with a time of 10:49.

Success in track and field seems to be a theme amongst Year 9’s with Charlotte Murphy of 9VHV attending the Halberg Games over the school holidays. The Halberg Games is a national three day sports competition for young athletes aged 8-21 years old with a physical or visual impairment. Charlotte competed competitively with a para classification in six swimming and six Athletics events and achieved new personal best times in the process. Charlotte’s sportsmanship and dedication to the event saw her recognised and awarded the Joyce Fischer Cup for Spirit of the Games (Female Athlete). This is an outstanding recognition of not only Charlotte’s sporting ability but the positive way in which she represents herself, school and club at all competitions.

Cashmere has a strong tradition of citizenship and giving back to others. Two of our Year 9 students have already demonstrated this in an exceptional way through their involvement in Shave for a Cure 2021. As part of a CHS team that raised over $12,000, Sullivan Heyward and Thomas Lyall both raised over $1000 each. Well done to these two students who are living out our school’s COVE values.

During Term 1 our Year 9 Student Council organised and delivered a multisport competition which saw our 17 form classes competing against each other. After a week of intense competition it came down to 9WYK vs 9SZP in a tense final. 9SZP came out the eventual winners however the sportsmanship and ‘give it a go’ attitude displayed across the entire week was brilliant to see. The Year 9 Student Council, with the help of Assistant Head of School Mr Jones, organised a great event and we look forward to seeing more events from them in the future.

With the majority of students settled in well now to Cashmere the focus turns to making the most of the learning opportunities. In the classroom the cohort has gained wonderful graduation grades in Term 1 with 80% of the cohort scoring above 90% in their graduation. I am very happy with the way in which students are working in the classroom and I look forward to seeing some positive academic results over the next few months.

As always if whanau have any questions please feel free to contact me, door is always open for students and whanau to discuss any aspect of school.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Tom Wilkinson
Year 9 Head of School