Nau mai haere mai

What a roller coaster of a ride we have all been on in the last three months. Term One finished abruptly when the nation went into Lockdown on the 25th of March. This was no ordinary Term break for our teachers who had to pivot and prepare for online learning to begin on the 15th of April. Luckily we were reasonably well placed due to our focus of professional development being on growing the capacity of our teachers to use google suite functions including; Google Meets, Google Classroom and Google Docs. It was a real challenge for our students and staff to both teach and learn online. Some really enjoyed this time and made the most of this opportunity but for the majority it highlighted what a difference having face to face interactions with the teacher can have on their learning.

On the 28th of April we opened our school door to students of essential workers under Alert Level 3 guidance. A dedicated group of teachers were rostered on to supervise the group of 8 students (varied day to day). The students worked online with their normal classroom teachers but had the added support of the supervising teacher. Regular walks led by Ms McLachlan became a highlight as we made ourselves familiar with the streets of Palmerston on scavenger hunts with an endless bag of lollies keeping the students motivated and alert.

On the 18th of May students returned to school under Alert Level 2 which brought in the era of sanitising and social distancing. It was great to get the students back into school and I am sure it was also great for parents to have them back at school.

Very quickly we moved into Alert Level 1 which has seen the return of organised sport at the school. This is a huge part of the overall experience of being at High School. It is a pleasure to go along and watch our students participating in Netball, Rugby, Hockey and very soon Basketball.

Friday saw the Year 12 students organising and running the annual cross country and fun run event at the school. This was a slick operation with many favourable comments coming to me from students staff and family members. Well done to all involved.

I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate all our students on surviving this unprecedented event called Covid 19. While we all need to continue to remain vigilant with our personal hygiene and keeping a track of our whereabout and the people we come into contact with, life is nearly back to normal.

The lessons learnt and the resilience developed will put all students in a strong position moving forward. 

This has been a long term, 12 weeks in total, so please enjoy the July holidays and make sure you make the most of your time off. This could be spending time at home or exploring the amazing attractions around NZ. We are certainly lucky to have such an awesome country with an amazing team of 5 million to share it with.

Nga mihi nui.

Marcus Cooper