Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!) We are looking forward to seeing you in 2023.

Kia ora koutou katoa

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou

Our final newsletter of the year and so much has happened in the last 2 weeks! We’ve had two amazing prizegivings and our Year 13 Leavers dinner. On top of that we had Project 2050. Thank you to everyone who organised these events. My special thanks go to Carla Beirne, Kiri Russell and Ian Johnson for their organisation of prizegivings and Rowan Haigh and Jane Wheeler for organising Leavers Dinner.

Please check out the speeches from prizegivings in this newsletter.

Farewell to staff

We say farewell to the following people and wish them all the best for their futures.

• Angela Seyb who is moving to the Ministry of Education to lead on NCEA change. So we will see her in the immediate future when she is supporting us in this.

• Lauren Evans who is spending more time with her family and also running her own business. However, Lauren will still be working with us next year on various projects so we are looking forward to this!

• Sydney Gay who is starting a Publishing course in Wellington in 2023 and following this dream.

• Harriet Wise who is moving to Christchurch Boys’ High School as an English and Drama teacher.

• Nisha Mitesh who is moving over to Christchurch to be with her family.

New staff members

• Laura Starling - who is joining the English department. She is a newly qualified teacher from Otago University

• Ann Zachan - who is also joining the English department and teaching QWest. She is moving to us from Te Aratika Academy in the Hawkes Bay.

• Susie Gilroy - Art, English and QWest. Susie has a wealth of experience, especially in Art. She has most recently been at Southern Cross Campus in Auckland.

• Dr Nic Petty - who is joining us from JPII and teaching Maths and QWest, Dr Nic has a speciality in Statistics.

KEY DATES for next year

• 17th January - Provisional NCEA dates are out. Please email Mr Johnson if you need any support johnsoni@greyhigh.school.nz and he will get back to you

• Wednesday 1st February - Course confirmation. Students will be contacted about this directly.

• Thursday 2nd February - Peer student leaders and Year 9s.

• Friday 3rd February - Peer student leaders and Year 9s.

SCHOOL OFFICE

OPENS for 2023: Wenerei (Wednesday) 18 Hānuere (January) - Paraire (Friday) 20 Hānuere (January). From 23 Hānuere (January)onwards, 8.30 - 4.30pm week days.

UNIFORM Shop

OPENS Thursday 19 January - Friday 3 February 2023, 12noon - 5.00pm (week days only).

From Tuesday 7 February, it will revert to normal hours, Tuesday & Thursday)afternoons, 1.30 - 4.30pm (Term time only).

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for their support over the last year. Yes it has been tough at times but I think overall we came out pretty well! Have a fantastic Christmas Break with lots of fun but also keep safe. We’ll see you back in 2023!

Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)

Samantha Mortimer

Principal