Kia ora whanau,

Only 3 weeks to go! No doubt the next few weeks will race by in no time. Over the next few weeks we are holding the catch up Water Skills camps for our Year 10 classes from the start of the year, and soon Year 10 Bushcraft will also begin. Notices will be sent to the students participating in these programmes.

Nga mihi nui (thank you) to all of the parents, whanau and community members who attended our Senior Prize Giving a couple of weeks ago. It was a great event celebrating the outstanding achievements of our students. We have been evolving this event to better capture and acknowledge the growth of all students while still ensuring that academic excellence is acknowledged. We still have some work to do in this area, but we believe we are finding the right balance between the two.

On December 9th, from 10am-12pm, we will be holding our Junior Prize Giving. This event will be in our School Hall. It would be great to see you all there.

Our senior students are now on study leave and many are in the middle of their NCEA exams. This is an important part of students' learning pathway and signals the end of their academic year. It has been another trying year for all students with a number of disruptions, yet our students have continued to show the care, courage and commitment to their studies we could only have hoped for - well done. We wish all the best to all of our senior students who are now moving on to their next chapter and look forward to seeing many of them back again next year.

On this note, we are seeing a number of senior students across the country leaving school earlier than expected. This is due to a variety of reasons, with the main driver being that there are a number of good job opportunities becoming available.

We are encouraged by the conversations students are having with their whanau and teachers about their pathways and opportunities. We will always support students to follow their dreams and pathways after their time with us. If your child is in the position of considering leaving school, we encourage them to talk to us about their options first and how we can support them. We have a great careers team that can help, and our Deans will be able to help map out the plan with whanau.

You may have noticed the media campaign on improving school attendance lately. Across the country everyone has been noticing increased absenteeism from students. We know that the more students are in school, the more learning they will be exposed to. We want all of our students to be at school with us more often, however we also understand there are a number of reasons why students are away from school. If your child is going to be away from school you can help us by letting us know. We can then look to support your child with their learning while they are away from school. If your child is away, can you please let us know by using the school app, calling the office or emailing our office info@tauhara.school.nz.

Thank you for your continued support of our school.

Nga mihi nui