I thought it was timely to update everyone on our He Ara Tika programme here at Waitaki Boys’.

He Ara Tika (HAT) is our version of the PB4L framework, which is a Ministry of Education initiative that aims to enable schools to provide a positive school climate and to create a supportive environment for personal, social and academic growth for students and staff. It takes a tiered approach for schools to follow, with Tier One processes designed to be implemented and put into place before the school is allowed to move on to Tier Two, which then has to be implemented and assessed before movement to Tier Three.

We have had the long-term goal over the past 2-3 years to get ourselves in a place to undergo Tier Two training, and I am proud to say that this is something we have been able to undergo throughout this year. We are currently in the process of trialling a couple processes that come under this Tier, most notably the Check-In, Check-Out process.

With assemblies now back and running regularly after much covid disruption we have reinstated our weekly HAT draws, with any HAT reward cards that have been handed in over the week being in Monday’s draw for prizes. Encourage your son to hand his HAT cards into the Dean’s Suite. We would like to thank Subway Oamaru, PaperPlus Oamaru and Soul, Surf and Skate for donating some of these prizes.

We have had a badge ceremony this week and hope to have another one late this term, or early into Term 4. Students are awarded a Bronze badge for 20 HAT cards, Silver for 40, Gold for 60 and Platinum for 100 cards. Students who receive their Platinum badge also get a $50 voucher to a local retail store – we have only had two students reach this so far since this badge level was implemented in 2020.

If you would like any more information about HAT/PB4L at Waitaki Boys’ or would like to join the committee (this would entail three after school meetings per Term) please do not hesitate to contact me at erinm@waitakibhs.school.nz .

Erin Matthews

PB4L Lead