The final week of the term means that an opportunity for our school community - especially our young men - to pause and 'take a breath' will soon be upon us.

COVID-19 continues to dominate both our news media and - directly or indirectly - our daily lives.  The lockdown, move to online learning, transitions down and then back up through Alert Levels, significant changes to teaching and learning programmes and NCEA assessment, the ongoing cancellation of events, winter weather, plus the inevitable 'ups and downs' of daily life has left many young men and staff in need of a break.

We all need to be aware of the impact the events of 2020 have had and continue to have on us.  It is important that we continue to 'look out' for each other and be proactive in providing support for those who might be struggling.  Alongside this, it is important that we are understanding of the fact that everyone's experiences have been different and therefore the impacts of COVID-19 on each of us have been different.  A little understanding can go a long way in all of our relationships.

Week 10 is a busy one with a combination of Shand Shield sporting and cultural events, the Year 9 Haka Challenge, Club Haka Challenge, senior student interviews with Year Level Deans and sports and cultural photographs, as well as timetabled classes.  Students who have completed school examinations will begin to have their marked examination papers returned.  It is important that young men view this as a starting point for their preparation for external examinations - identifying the topics they know well (not requiring so much revision time) and those not so well (requiring more revision time) - rather than an endpoint in themselves.

We hope that your son is able to use some of the time in the upcoming school holiday period, which hopefully will be completed under Alert Level 1 conditions, to simply relax and unwind so that he can begin term 4 positively.

Next week we will be distributing our September Newsletter.  Consequently, this Weekly Update is a little 'thinner' than usual.