Kia ora whānau. I don’t know about you, but I was delighted to hear that New Zealand was officially COVID-free and that we were moving to alert level 1 on Monday night.

This means that we are one giant leap closer to our “old normal”. However I have been stressing to the students in Mōhua that there are a number of things from our COVID-19 experience I would like to keep and make part of our “new normal”.

• Being kind: Throughout our COVID-19 experience Jacinda Ardern has emphasised the need to be kind. I would like us all to keep doing that no matter what level of alertness we are at. Our students are showing kindness to each other by completing the “Caught Being Kind” sheets which are then shared with their classmates.

• Having empathy: We have all had different experiences during the COVID-19 crisis and we have been very understanding of each others’ individual needs and feelings. I don’t see any reason for this to stop now.

• Asking for help: The really clear message for families across the country has been that you are not alone, and if you need help we (a team of 5 million) are there for you. If your whānau needs help in any way please contact me at mt@hornby.school and I will be very pleased to arrange whatever support I can.

• Keeping healthy: The government’s consistent message of “stay home if you are unwell” should continue. If your child is unwell please help him/her to get better faster by keeping them at home. This will also minimise the chance of other students (or staff) becoming unwell also.

• Looking after yourself: We were often reminded of the safety message on planes - “If an oxygen mask drops down put your own mask on before helping other people”. Please look after yourselves so that you are in a good place to help others when they need it.

• Being resilient: This is one of our school’s core values, and being flexible in times of great change is a key way we show resilience. While we have now moved to level 1 we need to remember that there is still a pandemic out there, and at some stage in the future we may need to move back to a higher level of alertness. We should plan for this and be ready - it would be a shame if we didn’t learn from our experience.

Other things worth sharing:

• Sport: After school sport options started a couple of weeks ago and have proven very popular, with hockey, netball, football, rugby, basketball, small bore rifle shooting, dance, and basketball, opportunities being well attended.

• Friday sport: Our Year 7/8 Friday sport is now well underway, with students having selected their sport from the range of hockey, netball, football and rugby. This term we have coaching in Period 4 and then we are playing against other Hornby High School teams in Period 5. In Term 3 we will be joined by other schools to make our round-robin competition more interesting.

• Arts kete: This week we had a re-launch of our Arts Kete from last term. You may remember that this was interrupted by the lockdown, so we have started again in Term 2. Students go to art classes of their choice during Wānanga time on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays over the next three weeks to learn some very interesting artistic skills. There will be an opportunity for students to display their art in the last week of the term (more about this in a later newsletter).

Keep yourselves safe and well, and remember to be kind - you might be someone else’s light at the end of their tunnel!

Ngā mihi

Terry Mitchell

Mōhua Kahui Dean