Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa

Last Friday we held a very successful Sports Day. This is always a fun day and is a great opportunity for students to get involved and support their House. It is also an excellent opportunity for our sporting stars to shine and shine they did with a number of records broken during the day. The House and Staff and Prefect relays are always a highlight and this year was no exception. The Prefects took out their race, much to the joy of students looking on, while the staff threw themselves (in some cases literally!) into the task. As always we had a number of students who did not attend the day. Please be aware that learning to participate and be part of an event is an important skill, as is the ability to push yourself outside your comfort zone. Young people who struggle with these skills often form a pattern of avoidance behaviour which really limits their social development and prevents them from fulfilling their potential. Please work with us to encourage your daughter to take part in school events as those who do not want to attend are usually those who would benefit most from doing so. All of our school activities are specifically and carefully designed to support students’ growth and development.

Coming up next week are the Year 9 Camps. Just like sports day these camps are an important event in the school calendar and have many benefits for students. It is an expectation that all students attend. If the financial contribution requested is a difficulty for your family, please contact the school as we have various sources of funding we can access for just such events.

It was wonderful to see many parents at the Athletic Sports on Friday. Home/school partnerships are important to us and we welcome communication from you face-to-face, via email or a phone-call. If you have any worries or concerns, or if you think we have done something well, we would appreciate knowing as that is how we can continue to work to provide the best possible environment for our students.

In recent days there has been coverage in the media about school attendance and physical violence in schools. Attending school every day is a critical ingredient in academic and life success. When students do not attend regularly they miss critical academic, social, sporting and cultural contact and begin to feel less a part of a school. This in turn leads to outcomes that are far from beneficial. Expecting and modelling that everyone in the house gets up in the morning and goes to school or work every day is critical. It is also normal to not feel like going to school or work some days, but once we get up and get going we get involved and usually end up enjoying it.

Fortunately incidents of physical violence are very rare at Otago Girls’. In large part this is because of our Positive Behaviour for Learning framework and Restorative Practice approach which create clear behavioural expectations and an educative approach to solving conflict. Like any other organisation however, we do have to deal with instances of bullying or unkind behaviour at times. We can only do this when we are aware of the situation so I would urge you to contact the school if your daughter is dealing with any social difficulties she feels unable to deal with herself. Our student led Sticks’n’Stones group and whanau teachers are good contacts for the students themselves to approach.

Ngā mihi mahana