Kia ora whānau

It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of Term 1 already. The Easter break was an extra treat this term.

Our Year 7 and Year 8 students are settling into their learning programmes and taking up many opportunities. We continue to work hard, to ensure our school is a safe and happy place for every student. Our Heaton values form the basis of respective and responsible relationships between all members of the Heaton community.

As you know, we have a wide range of extracurricular opportunities for students and unfortunately we cannot always cater for everyone. Year 7 and Year 8 students know that they have to sign up online for most of these opportunities. This is a 2-minute task online. Class teachers talk about this and ensure students know how to sign up. Because of the large numbers of students who want to be involved in activities, we must have a cut off time for signing that we strictly keep to or the organisation for activities would be impossible to manage. There will be a clear time frame, at least a week’s notice and a number of reminders in the daily notices. If students miss the deadline they will not be considered for trialling or participating in an activity. If a student has a reason for not being able to meet a deadline, they know to talk to their teacher or the coordinator of the activity before the deadline. 

Our teachers work extremely hard trialling students, coaching and managing teams and activities. Most of the time this occurs in their lunchtimes or after school. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated staff. We really appreciate support from parents/whānau as we work together to support our young people learn to take responsibility for managing deadlines. This is a very important life skill and attitude and success in understanding its importance will prepare them well for the expectations of secondary school and beyond.

I am looking forward to being involved in the full school leadership celebration next week on Tuesday in which student leaders, sports leaders and cultural leaders are congratulated and receive their badges. Students worked very hard to be selected. Well done to them all. You are most welcome to attend this celebration assembly.

My best wishes for a very relaxing holiday break with your children.

Nga mihi

Andrea Knight, Principal