November 2020 Newsletter

Kia ora Koutou

Senior Prizegiving

What a wonderful evening we had on Tuesday with our Senior Prizegiving - an opportunity to come together after a challenging year and celebrate, not only academic success and effort in our senior school, but also outstanding leadership, citizenship and service.

Thank you to all who attended. We look forward to celebrating the achievements within our junior school in early December.

NCEA Exams

Today marks the final day for our senior students before external NCEA exams start on November 16.

Due to the interruptions caused by Covid-19 earlier this year, we have kept the students in class for as long as possible so that they have maximum time with their teachers.

To ensure success in NCEA however, a consistent effort needs to be applied outside the classroom.

Some simple ideas to support our students include:

Being prepared

• Making use of subject tutorials being offered.
• Having up-to-date course notes.
• Reviewing/practising past years assessments and exam papers.
• Knowing what is required for each external Achievement Standard.

Planning

• Setting regular routines with study.
• Choosing a quiet, airy, well-lit place to study.
• Setting study goals around what needs to be studied and when.

Relaxing

• Taking breaks e.g. every 50 minutes take a 10 minute break.
• Eating healthily, sleeping regularly and exercising.
• Asking for help from teachers during the exam period. That's what they're there for!

Junior School

With the departure of the seniors to exams, the strong message to our junior school is that it is business as usual for the next four weeks.

There will be some slight changes to routines e.g. Year 9s enjoying the three-day, two-night camping experience at Orohaki, but for most of this time, the timetable remains the same.

Therefore, it is important that our students continue to be prepared for all classes and arrive on time. You will find further reference to this elsewhere in our newsletter.

Staff Only Days

Finally, please note, we have two teacher only days that will take place before the end of November.

Last year, the Government announced that there would be a series of teacher only days set aside to support teachers with the implementation of changes to NCEA and the wider strengthening of curriculum, progress and achievement practice.

The first of these days will be Thursday 19 November for Christchurch High Schools. Riccarton High School will not be open for instruction on this day for junior students.

In addition, we will be having a second teacher only day on Wednesday 25 November.

This is to allow our own staff to continue to review the initiatives put in place this year and begin forward planning for 2021.

We thank you for your support as we undertake this important mahi.

Ngā Mihi
Neil Haywood
Principal