Kia ora whānau

Next week our Year 7 students will be going out to participate in 3 Activity Days. The purpose of these days is to support our new students develop new friendships and a sense of belonging at our school. From previous experience, these days have been very enjoyable for everyone involved. Many parents/whānau also come along and participate in one or more of the activities. Unfortunately, there is a cost for transportation and the use of trained facilitators. We therefore ask for some payment from families/whānau to subsidise the costs of these days. We could not provide these Activity Days for students if we did not have your support.

We are always very conscious of our students' safety. Early adolescents are impulsive and can take risks without thinking through the consequences. It has come to my attention that some students are riding/scootering on roads and footpaths with little consideration for the safety of members of the community or themselves. Some students are crossing roads without checking that it is safe to do so.

We talk to our students about safety when they are out in the community. This includes “stranger danger”. Unfortunately, there are individuals in our community who may approach a young person and ask them to get in their car, offer them sweets. This is a very rare occurrence but our children need to know what to do if this does happen. Teaching your child not to engage with the person and confidently walking away is very important. Children should go over to adults who seem safe or go into a shop and tell these adults what has happened. Children should remain with these safe adults until they can be collected by you. The safe adults or you should call the Police. We would appreciate you reminding your children about keeping themselves safe.

On Thursday, 21st March there is a paid union meeting for NZEI members in the afternoon. This involves most of our teachers so we will not be able to provide learning programmes for students. We would appreciate students going home at 12.30 pm. If you require your child to remain at school until 3.00 pm please notify the class teacher.

There is considerable talk and concern about the current measles outbreak in Canterbury. To our knowledge, no Heaton students or their families/whānau have been affected. If someone in your family/whānau does develop measles we would appreciate being notified so we can be aware of students/staff who may be at potential risk of the disease. This information will be kept confidential to me and our administration team. 

Ngā mihi

Andrea Knight, Principal