Nau mai haere mai.

Welcome back to EOHS for Term 4! 

The senior students were straight back into it with their practice examinations in the first week of the term. They followed this up in Week 2 with a Health and Safety course allowing them to gain credits which will not only go towards their NCEA qualifications but make them more attractive to potential employers.

On Monday we had a special assembly to acknowledge our two Class Act recipients. The Mayor of the Waitaki District, Mr Gary Kircher, was invited to present the girls with their certificates and badges. In any other year these girls would have been presented their certificates by the Prime Minister of New Zealand at an event in town with all the other recipients from across the Otago region. Unfortunately this was not the case due to Covid 19 but this should not detract from the amazing achievements that these girls have made and their ongoing contribution to the culture of this school. They are great role models for not only academic attainment but also leadership in the school community, participation in sports, and volunteer work within the wider eastern community.

On Tuesday we had the East Otago Primary Schools athletic sports at the school. It was great to host our contributing schools and also have our staff and Year 10 students helping with the day. It filled me with pride to see how our students interacted positively with our visitors and made them feel welcome and part of our community. This reminded me of the wonderful collection of students at our school doing amazing things in and outside of the classroom.

Unfortunately, as is the case in all schools, some of our students make mistakes. These mistakes can have significant effects on other students, themselves, families, the school and the wider East Otago area. When these issues are presented to us at school we have a process that we work through to repair the harm.

1. Our pastoral team (Deans, Deputy Principal or Principal) will run an investigation into any incidents we become aware of. This can take time depending on the number of students involved, the complexity of the issue, attendance of students or staff, availability of pastoral members to conduct the investigation (we all have classes that we teach, meetings we have calendared) and time during the school day to complete this.

2. We will contact the caregivers as soon as we can so that you are informed of an ongoing investigation that involves your students. Again this may take a bit of time for the reasons listed above.

3. There is always more than one side to the story so the need for accuracy is important so that we can make informed decisions about our next steps that promote the wellbeing of all the students involved. We interview a number of students involved on the periphery to get a balanced account of what has happened.

4. Repair the harm: We are a restorative school so we look at repairing the harm that has been caused by any incident. This can be a restorative conversation with the teacher and student for minor class related incidents. This is a 5 part process.

1. Tell the story.

2. Explore the harm.

3. Repair the harm.

4. Reach an agreement.

5. Plan follow up.

For more serious incident we run restorative conferences with the students and their caregivers which follows the above principles. Our pastoral team have been trained by renowned restorative practices facilitator, Margaret Thorsborne, https://www.thorsborne.com.au

This approach is educative as opposed to punitive (although through the conference consequences for wrong doers are formed). The purpose of this approach is for the wrongdoers to understand the harm that it has caused not just the victim but the wider community they live in. This approach makes them accountable for their actions in front of their peers, families and other interested parties. This should develop empathy within these students and understanding where they learn the consequences of their actions and do not want to repeat them.

Often when we are dealing with these incidents there are a number of additional facts, actions and background that add to the complexity that are not known to all parties, hence the reason to investigate thoroughly to give all involved a fair voice. and protect our most vulnerable students.

If you hear a rumour about an incident, or see something through social media, please do not hesitate to contact the school to seek clarification. We may not be able to tell you all the detail due to privacy reasons but rest assured that we will work hard to educate all students through our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Motivation, about being a decent citizen in our community. That is our job as teachers as well parents and community members. 

"It takes a village to raise a kid!"

Nga mihi nui.

Marcus Cooper