In Term 3 we will be undertaking a trial to increase the number of students bringing their own devices to school.  We would like to focus on our Year 9 cohort and our teachers have been working towards adapting their delivery of subject material to have a more digital focus. To help with the provision and usage we will be encouraging any Year 9 student who has a device, to bring it to school for Term 3 especially. We have taken a great deal of notice from the survey that was completed earlier in Term 1 and have put things in place in regards to security and general awareness around the school. There is no question that learning in schools will be more digitally focused in the years to come. We are trying very hard to find what the best way is to implement this strategy and also finding the right balance between some more traditional forms of teaching and learning as well as the exciting new opportunities that technology provides us. We are very conscious of such issues like:

• amount of screen time;
• digital citizenship and what it means to be a digital citizen in our social-media linked world;
• and of course respecting both the schools' and personal property.

I would like to congratulate everyone who was involved in the Stage Challenge this year. We gained  3rd place overall award this year along with an additional five other awards that recognised specific aspects of the performance. Our philosophy around Stage Challenge is that it is very much student led although it was well supported by members of staff. Our students have a great deal of input from the concept through to the final performance and we can be very proud of everyone who is involved. This is a large undertaking for us with just over 10% of the school involved in Stage Challenge in some way. There are certainly a number of schools that dedicate a far greater budget than we do however our students' dedication and commitment came through and it was an outstanding performance on the night. My thanks to all the parents who helped and supported their child and especially to the staff members Mrs Louise Buckley, our Deputy Principal, Mrs Weller, Ms Deane-Freeman, Ms Kelly and Mr Carr for all the work they have put in to make this event an outstanding success.

At the time of writing we have a number of staffing changes happening. This is due to a number of reasons and we are currently working through these positions. One of those reasons is the expansion of our Year 7 & 8 area with the addition of another combined Year 7 & 8 class. We welcome Mr Rob Jolly to our staff for the remainder of this year and he will be setting up and establishing this class. Mr Jolly has a vast range of experience and will no doubt quickly gel with our students.

It has been confirmed that we have an Education Review visit in Term 3. The exact nature and schedule of the review has not been confirmed as yet but I imagine there is an opportunity for parents to be involved as part of the review. More details of this will be made available once I have them.

As this is the last newsletter for Term 2, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.  I hope that you manage to spend some quality time with your family and return refreshed and ready for another busy Term 3. As usual we will be holding a Teacher Only Day on Monday 25 July which is a very important Professional Learning and Development day for our staff. School will resume for students on Tuesday 26 July.

Nāku noa

Neil Harray | Principal