Rock On!

Welcome to another busy newsletter with details of some of the myriad of activities going on in and around school. 

Firstly it is fantastic that there are five bands in the regional Rockquest final with members from Nayland College. Getting through to the finals is a major achievement and I wish all the performers the best of luck for this event which is on this evening (Friday 11th June) at the Theatre Royal. 

The banks of Poorman Valley Stream were buzzing earlier this week as a major planting operation was underway involving multiple staff and whole classes of student volunteers. This was a real collaborative community event as Nayland staff and students were joined by expertise and manpower from Nelmac and Nelson City Council among others. You can read more about this project in the article. It will be amazing to see these plants grow and create an enriched environment in this area. Well done team!

Nayland College choirs are rehearsing hard in preparation for The Big Sing competition which takes place next week in Blenheim. The snippets I have heard from rehearsals sound fantastic and I am looking forward to an incredible show and to sharing the outcomes with you in the next newsletter.

I would like to draw your attention to the importance of good attendance at school and the strong link between attendance and achievement. All our evidence and experience shows that students who attend school regularly are much more likely to achieve success. We notify you of absence and attendance concerns in a number of ways. The easiest way for you to monitor your child's attendance is via the parent portal. A text is also sent every day if a child is missing from one or more classes and we have not received a notification from caregivers. Your child's tutor, the attendance officer or dean may also make contact if students have missed a significant amount of school. Even a student with an attendance percentage of 90% is missing an average of 1 day per fortnight. If a student has 80% attendance throughout their school life they will miss the equivalent of a full year of classes. Of course if your child is sick this is a justified reason for an absence. When the mornings are dark and cold and it can be tempting to hide under the duvet please be mindful that good attendance is vital for success.

Our senior ball is taking place tomorrow evening (Saturday 12th) and I am looking forward to seeing everyone dressed up and looking glamorous. Get your dancing shoes on and rock on!

Have a great weekend! Kia pai tō rā whakatā!