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

Mānawatia a Matariki — Happy Māori New Year!

I hope that you all are taking the time to celebrate our first ever Matariki public holiday. Here at Kamo High School we have been learning so much about Matariki, the nine stars, and what they stand for. For myself, Matariki is not something I have been deeply aware of and it has been an absolute privilege for me to learn alongside my staff and our ākonga (students).

                                       Titiro whakamuri, Kōkiri whakamua

                                Look back and reflect so you can move forward

Matariki is a time of reflection and an opportunity to make steps to review goals and in some cases adapt to ensure that our goals are going to be met. We have two weeks remaining and half of the year is behind us. We are urging our students to ensure that they are on track with their learning and that they know what they need to improve. Self management is something that we encourage in our students, this is not just being ready for learning with the right equipment, being at class on time and meeting deadlines. Self management is also about knowing what needs to be done and making plans to achieve any tasks that need to be undertaken to attain the goals that are set. You now would have received school reports and we encourage you to review what has been happening for your child so that they can look forward with next steps for learning. Please feel free to contact whānau teachers and Iwi Deans if you have any concern about the progress of your child.

I wish you a safe and peaceful long weekend.

Ngā mihi

Natasha and the SLT