Kia ora koutou, welcome to the first newsletter of 2022.

I hope you have all had a refreshing summer, and are ready for the new school year. A particular welcome to whānau of new students to the school, and to Year 10 Mōhua students who previously had Mr Mitchell as their Dean

We have two more teachers joining the Mōhua Pastoral team this year due to roll growth in the school. There are four Mōhua Year 10/11 Wānanga classes whose Learning Advisors are Miss Abernethy (class AyM), Mrs Clark (CkM), Mrs Handley (HdM), and myself (DaM). We also have senior form classes with Mr Kane (12Ka), Miss Aitken (13Ak), and Mr Heath (13Hh). These teachers will be your first point of contact for issues such as attendance, uniform, and general academic issues. As the Dean, I have an overview of all of these classes and can hopefully step in for any issues that require it. I have been trying to get around as many classes as possible to meet those students I don’t yet know very well. I still have many names to learn but I’m getting there!

You are hopefully aware of the slight changes to our timetable for this year. If you aren’t aware, the main change is that form time has been removed from the beginning of the day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. This means school starts for all students at 8:40am on these days, straight into period one. There is no change for Wednesday however, so school still starts at 8:30am on that day. One of the most important things you can do for your child’s education is to ensure they are at school on time, and your help with this is very much appreciated. This also goes for Year 13 students that have a study period at the start of the day - we still expect them to be here at the start of period 1.

Finally, I want to share with you part of the message I gave the Mōhua students on the first day of school. I asked the students where they want to be in a year, 2 years, 5 years, 20 years, etc. Then, what are they doing to get there? This was not restricted to careers, but any dreams they have for the future. For anyone not sure of their dreams and goals, what are they doing to give themselves choices in the future when they do know? If students take an active part in their own education, rather than just stumble along without really putting in any effort, they are much more likely to be successful in the future, in whatever way success might look for them. For senior students sitting NCEA, get stuck in early to avoid the “scramble for credits” at the end of the year.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Ngā mihi nui.

Phil Daines

Years 10 - 13 Mōhua Kāhui Dean

(03) 349 5396 ext. 923

da@hornby.school.nz