An update from the Principal.

Hello / Kia ora, Parents, Caregivers, Friends and Students of Waimea College.

Thank you so much for your patience over our need to roster students home due to COVID and other winter illnesses as we manage internal staff absences with the decreasing availability of relief teachers. We hope your families/whanau are coping as well. Not an easy time for all of us.

With winter here, this is a good time to think about all the extra-curricular or sporting events happening that our students are participating in. You can support and encourage our students by attending events in the evenings and on weekends as a coach, manager, spectator or as a caregiver. Some of these events are basketball, hockey, netball, football, rugby, performing arts and music events. We appreciate the continued support you give to our students and to Waimea College. 

With more layers of clothing to add, please ensure that your student wears the correct uniform. Please visit our Uniform page on our Website for full details. 

Enjoy the change in seasons too. 

Keeping our Students Safe – students off-site during the school day

Over the past few weeks, there has been an increase in occurrences of students leaving the school grounds during school hours for reasons other than for doctor/dentist or other appointments. With Burger King and Countdown offering discounted food there has been even more pressure. Waimea College is not gated, fenced or have many cameras, so we rely on our students to exercise caution about leaving the school without permission.

We have also received requests from some parents asking us to allow their teen to leave the school grounds during break times. Waimea College has a ‘duty of care’ to all students during school hours in order to keep students safe. We are reinforcing this with students here at school and I would be grateful for parent support in working together with the College to remind your teens that if they do not have an external appointment, they should remain on site, within the school boundaries, during school hours.

Representing Waimea College

A number of our students represented Waimea College at Young Enterprise, Rockquest Local Heats and other prestigious events out in the community and internationally, including car racing in Europe and Aquabots in America. 

Congratulations to the Waimea College groups that competed in the recent New Zealand Chamber Music district rounds in Nelson. The Guitar Ensemble won a Highly Commended award, along with Best Performance of a New Zealand work, with their performance of Reto De Cuatro by Mr Brett Smith. The Percussion Ensemble were named Best Group Overall for their performance of Drumming Part 1 by Steve Reich. Both groups have been invited to take part in the South Island Regional Final at the Piano Theatre in Christchurch on 2 July.

The feedback we receive about our students is amazing and we are very proud of the valuable contributions they are making during the school day and outside of school. 

This week we also celebrated our first official acknowledgement of Matariki in our Assembly on Wednesday, which had followed the wonderful Special Education Matariki Celebration on Tuesday evening.  

Wishing you a restful long weekend and your own Matariki celebration too.

Graeme S Smith

Associate Principal