March Update. This year term 1 has started with a real sense of excitement in the Senior School.

Our new Year 9 ākonga have started the year strongly and are supported well by their Puna Ako kaiako Carolyn and Braden. This year to support transition into the senior school we have based our Year 9's in one area for Maths, English, Health to minimise the transitions between blocks.

Our Year 10 ākonga have quickly settled into their work and are being prepared to start their NCEA journey with the new Literacy and Numeracy assessments. Our Year 10 ākonga are the first year of the new NCEA change package and as we plan what this looks like in 2024, more information will be shared with whānau.

Year 11 have already stepped up and shown they are ready for the challenges of NCEA. With prep already well underway for the first internal assessments of the year. The first assessments at Year 11 are always challenging as our ākonga get to grips with the requirements of Year 11. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Puna Ako kaiako in the first instance.

Our focus with our Year 12/13 ākonga this year is on Pathway planning, we have Mark Hamer and Michelle Mahuika leading this. As our senior ākonga prepare to leave school we want to make sure that they have all of the skills needed to succeed. A part of this work is setting up Personalised Pathway plans, this mahi has begun and the initial set up will likely finish by the end of the term.

Our 2022 NCEA results are out and we continue to improve. Our Literacy and Numeracy rates have increased again which is down to the real focus we have put into this area over the last few years. Our overall achievement for Level 1-2-3 continues to improve with some pleasing results. This is a testament to the hard work our ākonga and kaimahi put in, in what was possibly the most challenging year due to illness. We are hoping for a relatively disruption free year in 2023 to further support this upward trend!

Science Both the year 9 and 10 ākonga have both been working on Chemistry. We have been looking at physical (reversible) change and this has finished with a practical challenge in purifying water; which is so relevant after the recent floods in te Ika-a-Māui. The Year 11 ākonga have started with a practical investigation in physics, and are very close to completing their first NCEA Level 1 assessment. The classes are very settled and seem to have all made a very positive and productive start to the year.

Upcoming Events - We are hoping to take the Year 9 on a trip to a local section of the Õtākaro to study the water quality and tuna. Date yet to be confirmed.

Senior Volleyball head to Canterbury Champs 17th - 19th March and following weeks will attend the South Island Secondary Schools Satellite Competition from 28th - 30th March 2023.

Korfball for our HSPP students and Mini Ball for our young year 3-4s have been a great success so far in Term 1.

Our Senior Volleyball team have moved up to the Premier grade this year and are up for the battle it brings. So far winning 3 out of 4 games in their Monday night competition. They have also taken out Premier Div 2 in the Eastern Invitational Championship and competed in Mainland Champs taking 5th place. We couldn’t be prouder of how well they are doing representing our school alongside their amazing coach Sofia. Goodluck for your two upcoming tournaments representing Haeata at the Canterbury Championship and during Summer Tournament Week at the South Island Secondary School Satellite Competition