Kia ora whānau

Despite this being a year when many of the usual activities we participate in have been cancelled, there have still been some wonderful successes for our students and staff.

The kapa haka were amazing in their performances in the Christchurch Town Hall last Sunday. They won the trophy for the best singing. Congratulations to all the students involved. They worked very hard and performed giving every ounce of their effort. Thank you so much to Chrissy Calder, Janiene Hill, Sonny and Tui for their hard work and commitment to our students and school. Koia kei a koe.

Well done to our students who have competed in the Future Problem Solving finals. They have also worked very hard and come a long way. FPS is not easy! Thank you to Joan Green and Jane Boniface for all their support and encouragement.

The CAIMS swimming went ahead after several postponements and our students did very well. Congratulations to all our students who were involved. Thank you to Tim Evers and other teachers at Heaton for their support.

Once again, the Heaton Jump Jam teams achieved outstanding results. Fortunately, this competition was able to go ahead due to the benefits of technology. The students were just so enthusiastic and energetic in their performances it is not surprising they did so well. A big thank you to Jenny Halligan and Adelaide Wilson for all the time and hard work they put into ensuring the teams were superbly prepared.

Well done to all our students who were successful in House, Rotary and the Intermediate Speech Competitions.  Writing and delivering an informative and engaging speech is a complex task.  Thank you to Sarah Cumming and class teachers for preparing and supporting our "speechmakers" so capably.

We are very fortunate to have John Parsons coming to talk to us about Well Being and Cybersafety on Thursday, 19 November. John is booked out over a year in advance as he is such an informative and inspiring speaker on this very important topic. Year 7 and Year 8 students will hear John speak through the school day. He will speak to our staff after school and to you our families and whānau at 7.00 pm in the evening. John is particularly good at tailoring his messages to different audiences. Students may attend the 7.00 pm talk. I strongly encourage you to come along and listen to John. Issues around cybersafety are rapidly increasing and affecting the well being of young people and their families/whānau. You will come away from listening to John with practical ways of keeping your children safe.

Ngā mihi

Andrea Knight, Principal