It's the middle of term 3, so let's reflect; Covid effects and readiness; the student drone takes to the air.

Kia ora tatou

Henry and Ittai's drone flew!! The first test flight was last Friday, bravely in front of an audience, and it was amazing to see. To think that our students researched, designed, engineered and then piloted their own UAV made me very proud. 

Since lockdown, and especially since the return to Alert Level 2, we're seeing more students seeming 'lost' and many acknowledging stress. Often there is no specific cause, but uncertainty and a constant social-media-driven whirlwind of problems must be hard to deal with. Some students are fine, others really aren't. 

Since lockdown, we're seeing increases in wandering out of class, truancy and smoking rates. I suspect there is an increase in alcohol and substance use. This mirrors the adult community. GHS is still very much an alcohol and drug "zero tolerance" place and works hard to keep our school free of such stuff, but we also recognise that there is a trade in cannabis especially that is very hard to stop. Our pastoral team is working beyond capacity trying to keep up with support and guidance.

What we all need to do is to consider the issue of Covid more logically and to avoid the extremes of response that increase stress. If we do the basic good behaviours we've planned for, we will all be OK (and in fact we'll be in better health by avoiding other viruses). Make sure everyone identifies 'fake news' and sticks to the facts - make time for that at home and we'll build it into lessons here to reinforce your work. Smoking/alcohol/substance use increases stress, not decreases it, and parents need to make the time to have these conversations with their children even if they don't think their child has a problem. Gossiping doesn't help either - if you hear something, question its source until you're sure and, if you think it's an issue that needs to be challenged, do that directly and please let school know. If you're unsure, please feel free to call school in confidence.

Aside from this, the recent move to Alert Level 2 was a good reminder that we need to be resilient. Please check your internet connectivity and children's Chromebook condition so that if we do have to go to Level 3 you're ready for learning from home. 

We're not on our own in this - every school is dealing with Covid-related issues - but I would like to think that with an open leadership team here and strong parents we can make a difference to help our teenagers.