We are almost at the end of what has felt like a very long and far from normal 11 weeks, and I know that there are many people in our school community who are now looking forward to a well deserved break!

Throughout most of this term we have had a steady stream of students and staff isolating as either positive COVID-19 cases or household contacts. What is quite remarkable is the fact that we have been able to keep our school operating on a near normal basis every day. Studies from the lockdown period over the last 2 years clearly show that an overwhelming majority of students engage best in face to face learning in the classroom and school environment, rather than remote learning. Student well-being is enhanced considerably by regular interaction with other students and their teachers. 

The continued support we have received each and everyday from our parents & caregivers, paired with the willingness of our students to follow our expectations in the current COVID-19 Omicron environment, and the wonderful collegiality and hard work of both our teaching and support staff to consistently provide the best education possible, whether it be with those students in our mainstream classes or Kohanga Ako, has enabled us to continue to deliver our everyday routines.

Our focus for term 2 will be to ‘reset’ and revisit our priorities for 2022, with an emphasis on our students being at school for their learning, as much as possible. We also hope that many of those events currently scheduled on the school calendar, which help so much in promoting the positive school culture that we have here at Riccarton High School, can go ahead.

I wish you all the best for a great Easter break and I hope that you get to enjoy some quality family time.

Ngā mihi nui

Neil Haywood