Dear Parents/Caregivers

We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some information about some of our sporting and performing arts opportunities and processes this term. There is a lot of information that needs to be communicated with our new year 8 students and their families, and some important reminders for all of our returning students. I have outlined some specifics below that I hope will be useful in getting off to a great start this year.

• At Heaton, we have both a school Sports Blog (https://heatonsport.wordpress.com/) and Performing Arts Blog (https://sites.google.com/heaton.school.nz/ngatoioheaton/home) which are the platforms where students can learn about the opportunities we offer, and can express their interest in various events, tournaments, competitions, clubs and opportunities.

• All of our opportunities at Heaton will also be advertised in the daily notices (https://www.heaton.school.nz/calendar/) and the expression of interest forms will be uploaded to the relevant blog. When filling in a google form to express their interest, students will have to provide a valid email address. As their school accounts may not yet be fully registered and available, students can enter a personal email address or a parent/caregivers email address. The reason why we ask for this detail, is because a confirmation email will be sent that outlines an expression of interest has been received. If your child does not receive a confirmation email to confirm their expression of interest has been received, please ensure you re-submit another form to avoid disappointment.

• A'New Student Information F.A.Q' tab (https://heatonsport.wordpress.com/new-to-heaton/) has also been created on the Heaton Sportsblog to provide additional details about the sporting opportunities available for term one, how students express their interest for various events, deadlines and why we have these, and tips for students who miss out on an opportunity.

• Parent/Caregiver Helpers: Over the years, we have been extremely fortunate to have the support from many parents/caregivers/family members who have offered to help coach and/or manage some of our sporting teams or individual athletes or assist with our performing arts programmes. If you have a passion and feel you would be interested in discussing ways that you can get involved at Heaton, please contact Tim Evers for sport (everst@heaton.school.nz) or Janiene Hill for performing arts (hillj@heaton.school.nz). Any support we receive is greatly appreciated, and directly impacts our ability to provide further opportunities for our students.

Thank you for your support in making this a great year for your children.

Tim Evers (Assistant Principal / Sport Coordinator)

Janiene Hill (Head of Performing Arts)