Kia ora whanau

It is lovely to be enjoying the longer days and increasingly good weather. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your children.

It is that time of year we need to be very conscious of the effects of the harsh NZ sun on our skin. All students must wear sunhats from 10.00 am and preferably to 4.00 pm when outside. If students, including Year 8s, have lost their Heaton sunhats they must buy a new one from the school canteen. The cost is $12. Students should also bring sun block to school and apply at lunchtime in particular. We would appreciate you talking to your children about sun safety as well.

We have had a great start to the term with a very successful Inter-intermediate schools indoor tournament. Thank you to Tim Evers, our teachers and parents who coached, managed and supported out students.

There was a good attendance at the BYOD evening that was run by Craig Robinson and Lucy Watson with over 100 people attending. The culture of BYOD is becoming well entrenched in the school as a powerful tool for learning. While our school still does have a good number of devices for students to use, we strongly encourage students to get into the routine of bringing their own one every day, if they have one, so that every student can have easy access.

Paula Dore organised our annual high school students' visit for our Year 8 students. We had many Year 9 and 10 students from our local schools and other schools here to talk and answer questions from the Year 8 students who will be attending their particular school next year. This is a very valuable and useful opportunity for our Year 8 students to have any questions they may have answered.  The Year 9 and 10 students who come along are always ex Heaton students and it is so lovely to see them all looking much taller and grown up.

Nga mihi