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

This newsletter marks the end of 6 weeks at Kamo High School - we are well over halfway of this term and I feel like we are just settling in. I am hoping by now our junior students have settled into the pattern of the high school year and in particular I look forward to Year 9 Camp being on our school calendar again.

We have two camps heading out next week to Tuparehuia and Bland Bay. First group on Monday to Wednesday and the second group from Wednesday to Friday. We very much thank our team of teachers and organisers who make this experience happen for our young people. I know a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make this opportunity happen and I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable experience.

We have been having a few niggles here at school with some poor student decision making. I have reminded our students of our school expectations. Here is a link to the message that the students have received from me today so that you can support me in getting the message across clearly. We have worked so hard to make this school a safe environment and I know our learners are capable of better.

It is hitting very much the business time of the term for our seniors. As parents I encourage you to have discussions with your students about their NCEA assessments.

The following things will assist you to have those conversations, and can assist our learners to become self managing with their schedules. Especially as assessments will be all happening at a similar time.

1. Course outlines - Every student has received a course outline for every subject that they take. Here you will see what week the assessments are due, what type of assessment it is (internal or external), how many credits it is worth and what assessment type it is.

2. It is important to note that every student must be offered 20 credits for a 5 subject course in each term. Please check that that is happening for your child.

3. Check with your child about what assessments they have due, right now. Assessments are often broken up into pieces so have a discussion about the different checkpoints that are offered.

4. Please note the assessment date is often placed on the last possible day that something is due. Ensure you and your child are aware of the pre tests and preparation tasks that lead up to a final submission. This is key as over the years I have taught many students who leave things to the last minute and find themselves in states of stress.

The assessment calendars are available on our school website under the Academic tab. These calendars are also on the student intranet under "NCEA information".  We are currently preparing to place all course outlines for every senior subject on the website so that if your child has “misplaced”, “lost” or "can not find" it on their google classroom it will always be found.

Working together as a school and home will ensure the best outcomes for our learners.

Nga mihi

Whaea Natasha and the SLT