Dear Parents and Caregivers, This really has been a remarkable term.

Speaking to our students and staff, there is a general consensus of feeling a little flat and it is coming at a time when our seniors are entering their last few weeks of school before starting examinations. I believe that this term break has come at just the right time. The best advice I can give to you as parents is to continue to have those chats with your children, make sure you are connecting with them and that you understand the pressure, but also understand the need to do the best they can, no matter what that looks like.

We are holding onto the belief that we will be able to have our school formal next term and everyone is excited for this to happen. It will mean that we will have a very full five weeks with the formal, leavers' assembly and prizegivings all happening in this time. We are counting on moving to Level 1 and, hopefully, we will see many of you at these special events. I would like to just quickly mention that the leavers' assembly is a school-only event and parents are not invited to this. This is about our school farewelling our students and, whilst I know that many of you would enjoy it, it is very private and personal for us.

I also wish to inform you that we have decided to allow the Year 13s to be in mufti for Term 4. They have had to endure a very difficult year and this is one of the few things that we as a school can do to support those students in their final year of high school.

This term has been incredibly busy outside of the classroom, with music performances, dance competitions, university visits, and cultural events happening. We have also had a huge amount of sports events happening and some highlights have been:

· Our senior boys made the semi-final of Tuesday night basketball.

· Both our Saturday boys' basketball teams (U15 & U17) are in the semi-final this weekend.

· The intermediate girls were in the final of the premier intermediate grade for basketball, and we had five teams in total that made it to the final in the Friday night competition.

· The girls' hockey team had a great tournament and placed well in 6th place. This team is in the finals of the Wednesday competition this week.

A number of these teams are coached or managed by parents and they have done an incredible job supporting the school. I also want to thank all the students and teachers for giving up their time to coach and/or manage.

It is incredible to see that we have over 60 girls wanting to play volleyball next term. If you have an interest in coaching, managing, or helping with transport, please let us know!

Our students have really been amazing this term. Yes, we have had some young ones forget how we act and behave at times, but 95% of our students have been well mannered, full of respect and integrity, and focused on achieving personal excellence. Next year we have 250 Year 9 students coming into school, our largest roll ever. It certainly is looking to be an interesting and entertaining year.

Ngā mihi nui

Bruce