Mauri or Hello in the language of Kiribati. Next week is Kiribati Language Week and the greeting Mauri means "life force and wellbeing," and goes beyond just "hello" to offer a profound wish of health and prosperity.

Congratulations to our students for such high participation and performances both at Swimming Sports and House Haka Competition. School Spirit is alive and well at Otago Girls’ High School.

In the holidays also we enter the time of Matariki. Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in midwinter and for many Māori, it heralds the start of a new year. Traditionally Matariki was a time to acknowledge the dead and to release their spirits to become stars. It was a time to reflect, to be thankful to the gods for the harvest, to feast and to share the bounty of the harvest with family and friends.

We will celebrate Matariki at this school in the first week back in Term 3 with a special Matariki Hui for all of our community on Wednesday 22nd July in the hall at 5.30pm. The hui is organised and run by Kahui Kōrero - the Māori Student Council - in collaboration with parents Caron Solomon-Ward and Tony Paku. Feel very welcome and come and enjoy this evening with us. If you have a picture of a loved one who has passed in this last year, please feel free to bring this to put up on a board for remembrance on the night.

When we return to school, Open Night will be just around the corner on Tuesday 28th July. It is important that students have let employers and others know that they will be at Open Night that evening. School will finish at 1pm that day. Please share widely to get as many young students there as possible from your communities. Although we have an enrolment zone, we accept students from everywhere.

Finally, students should take care and be safe in the holidays. They should ake time for themselves and their family. Rest and relaxation, with total breaks from the relentlessness of social media every day, are very important. I always remind students to make their bed every day. A made bed not only makes you feel that you have achieved something early in the day, it also means that if you have a bad day, you at least go home to a nicely made bed.

Matariki hunga nui.

Matariki of many people.

During Matariki festivities people gather together to celebrate the passing of one year and the hope of a new one. This whakataukī speaks to us about the gathering of people at Matariki time.

Ngā mihi nui