It’s hard to believe that we have reached the end of Term 3 and what a busy and very successful 10 weeks it has been with numerous achievements both inside and outside of the classroom. Just a reminder that we endeavour to capture and acknowledge these achievements through our newsletters and social media platforms. We also rely on our wider whānau to share with us their child’s amazing achievements outside of school. Please don’t hesitate is sharing these with us by emailing me directly; Pr@riccarton.school.nz.

Obviously, we have just experienced Board of Trustee elections throughout New Zealand. The Riccarton High School Board are a fantastic team of professional people that add significant value to the school. I congratulate Janine Ogier, Andrea Dowty and Mark Paul on their re-election to the Board and not only congratulate but also welcome both Monique Lindsay and Warren Poh to their first tenure with us. I look forward to working with our team as we enter an exciting and challenging time for the school particularly with our redevelopment project and national curriculum changes on the horizon.

On the theme of our redevelopment, we have been advised that October 3 is the date in which hoardings and fences will start to be erected prior to some minor demolition and groundwork being done as part of stage 1 of the project. Careful management plans are being formulated around the NZQA exam period with work completely stopping on the project if required. We will give you greater detail around this at the beginning of Term 4.

Finally, can I wish everyone a restful end of term break. It will be particularly important for senior students to ‘recharge’ before coming back to school for a short period of 3 weeks prior to external exams starting. These 3 weeks will be essential in terms of consolidating the years learning and placing our students in the best possible position before they go on study leave.

Noho ora mai

Neil Haywood

PRINCIPAL