He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa, warm wishes to you all.

Community service aligns greatly to our school value of Aroha Atu (Respect) and has been something we have been working hard to re-establish over the past few years.

This year in particular saw the introduction of the SVA service award in schools. The programme assists students to gain recognition for their efforts as young volunteers. Volunteering is the selfless giving of your time and energy to help others and benefit our community.

At Kamo High this year we have seen the emergence of the Student Volunteer Army alongside a lot of the charities that we usually support. This year a “Caring for our Community” initiative for Year 9 and 10 students at the end of the year was introduced to support our students to :

• Provide Aroha Atu (Respect) to our local school and Kamo community

• Provide more opportunity for students to explore more interest areas

• Remain engaged in learning right to the end of the end of the year

• Provide opportunity for students to explore pathways in the community.

The data and evaluations of the activities indicate that “Caring for the Community” was a great success, with our best attendance on the activity days for a long time for our Year 9 and 10 students. It really was a fabulous way for us to end the year at Kamo High School.

I want to thank all of our whānau, caregivers, students, staff and local community for supporting our school to stay focussed on providing a service of care whilst we support our ākonga (students) to attain both personal and academic success.

Meri Kirihimete whānau! Wishing you a safe, and happy holiday!

Natasha and the SLT.