Tēnā koe, Kia orana, Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Bula, Nǐ hǎo, Namaste, Kumusta, Xin chào, Salaam Alaikum, salutations to all whānau.

I hope this finds you breathing a small sigh of relief that Aotearoa is slowly but surely moving down the alert levels. I understand that some whānau have been working and this includes students. I know that some students have been very focused and diligent when it comes to their learning while others have not. It is what it is. There has also been the issue of students not having devices or wifi, and hopefully this issue will soon be remedied. Thank you for your patience.

I want to thank you all you for what you have done during this time as it has not been easy but we should all be proud of the sacrifices we have made. I ask that if you have changed your cell phone number or address to please let the school office know. I have sent out emails and texts to all students and their whānau, and some of them bounce back to me saying the number is no longer in service.

As a teacher, I have had to modify my lessons and get used to taping myself and sending voice messages with the slideshows. It didn’t help when my dog decided to bark in the background. I have learnt all about google meetings and connecting with students online. It has been an interesting experience and I have learnt some new skills including how to work the camera on my school laptop!

I can guarantee that all teachers have sent out learning via google or on their website. Please encourage your teenager to engage in their learning and if they don’t understand the learning, they can email and contact their teachers. We are all ready and willing to help.

Just a conversation each day asking what they have done school work wise, would be useful. At the end of the day, it is up to the student if they want to achieve NCEA this year or not, we can only encourage and support them. I remember a saying my father often said ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’.

For those of you who are still waiting for a device, fingers crossed they will be with you in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, stay safe and thank you for your continued support.

Ngā mihi nui

Chris McLaren

Year 13 Dean