Nayland College continues to be a thriving learning community.

Dear parents/caregivers

Despite all the challenges that Covid has presented this year, it is great to see so many student achievements still happening across all areas of the school.  A few things to celebrate over the past fortnight include:

• Two students chosen to exhibit artwork in National exhibitions - Emma Barnes-Wetere's photography has been chosen to be exhibited at the Ringa Toi Student Exhibition at the Asteron Centre in Wellington and Fabian Strauch has had his drawing of John Lennon chosen from among 129 other entries as a selection for the National Youth Art Awards, being held in Hamilton later this month. (See the article in today's newsletter for more info)
• Business Studies Young Enterprise Groups donating $1200 to the SPCA through business profits
• The amazing meals provided to staff and visitors at our student-run Manaaki Cafe
• The entertaining production of 'Dream On' presented by the Drama Company last week
• Our Dance Showcase that is being presented to a limited audience on Monday evening 
• The fabulous Cultural Week recently held, with the performance of our Pūaha Te Tai kapa haka group a highlight
• The Catch Up school that our staff are running on a Friday afternoon to support student learning
• The work that is happening behind the scenes to create new junior options (now renamed modules) for 2021.  Year 9 students will be choosing these over the coming week.
• With a reduction in community sport we are launching a number of lunchtime sport and recreation programmes next week including Indoor Hockey, Touch, Mural Art and Boardgames.
• Our Spring Festival will be held next Friday afternoon and looks to create a festive atmosphere across the school with a range of fun house activities

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).  This group of parents and staff work very hard behind the scenes to support school events such as the school ball, open evenings and graduation dinner.  This year they have set themselves a challenge to raise at least $20,000 to assist the school in retaining the services of our school nurse trial partnership with Whanake Youth.  This is a fabulous cause and the timing could not be better as Nayland College, like most secondary schools across New Zealand, look to trim budgets across the board as a result of the loss of income from International Students. You can read more about their fundraising drive here.

We are still seeing many students presenting with mental health concerns due to the extraordinary circumstances we have all lived with throughout 2020. Alongside the school many community agencies can support students.  Contact information for some is listed below:

Helplines:

• Youthline – Call 0800 376 633, text 234, email or webchat (7-11pm daily) for young people and their parents, whānau and friends.
• Rainbow Youth – Call (09) 376 4155 (11am-5pm weekdays) or webchat (3-5 weekdays) for peer support for youth in the rainbow community, their friends and whānau.
• What's Up – Call 0800 942 8787 (0800 WHATSUP) or webchat to talk about anything with trained counsellors. Call: Monday to Friday 12-11pm, Sat and Sun 3-11pm. Webchat: Mon-Fri 1-10pm, Sat-Sun 3-10pm.
• Kidsline – Call 0800 543 754 (0800 KIDSLINE) for young people up to 18 years old - 4-9pm weekdays.
• The Lowdown – Call 0800 111 757, text 5626, email or webchat to get for support for young people experiencing depression or anxiety.

Self-help tools and information:

• Aroha is a chatbot that provides practical, evidence-based tools to manage stress, maintain social connection and stay active. portal.habits.auckland.ac.nz/Portal/#/landing-covid19bot-trial
• Aunty Dee is a free online tool for anyone who needs some help working through a problem. www.auntydee.co.nz
• Melon Health has a kete of resources to support teenagers’ emotional wellbeing. There are videos, downloadable worksheets and a ‘First steps to managing anxiety’ mini-course. www.melonhealth.com/manual
• Mental Wealth has resources where you can learn more about mental health. www.mentalwealth.nz
• SPARX is an online self-help tool that teaches young people the key skills needed to help combat depression and anxiety in an interactive game-world. www.sparx.org.nz/home
• The Lowdown has some great resources about recognising and understanding depression and anxiety. thelowdown.co.nz

Daniel Wilson
Principal