Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa. Welcome to the the Westland High School May newsletter.

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou katoa. Warm greetings to you all.

On Monday we will know if the country will move to level 2, if this occurs, it will be a positive move forward for New Zealand and a signal toward a return to school.

Once we have received formal notification and guidance from the Ministry of Education on what a move at level 2 will look like for schools; we will prepare a separate communication to all families on how this will work and look like. We would expect to send out this communication early next week with specific detail.

Staff Changes

Over the past term, there have been a number of staffing changes at Westland High School.

Departures:

It is with regret, Westland High School advises, Mr Craig Henderson mathematics teacher, due to a change in personal circumstances, will depart Westland High School to pursue other interests. Mr Henderson finishes at Westland High School on Friday 8th May, the school, staff and students will miss Mr Henderson we all wish him success and the best for the future.

Mr Henderson's classes from Monday will be covered by Mr Cook, an experienced mathematics and science teacher until a permanent appointment can be made.

Appointments:

I am pleased to announce Mrs Adrienne Reeves has been appointed to the position of Deputy Principal (Academic). Mrs Reeves has previously been the Assistant Principal, we congratulate Adrienne on her promotion.

Peter Brailsford continues in his role as Deputy Principal (Pastoral).

Option Changes for Year 7 to 10 students.

Next Monday students in year 7 to 10 will have class option changes in place. The new class option changes will be shared by email to students from this Friday afternoon, these will be emailed to students by Mr Brailsford.

Students in year 7 to 10 check your email for the option changes. Parent and Whanau please remind your child to check their emails too.

Term Dates

There has been a number of questions on whether the school terms will be changed given the COVID 19 pandemic and the effect this has had on schools. The following dates are still in place for terms 2, 3 and 4. If a date change is to be made by the Ministry of Education we will let you know.

Further information on term dates can be found here including any public holidays.

https://parents.education.govt.nz/essential-information/school-terms-and-holidays/

Term 2 Wednesday 15th April to Friday 3rd July

Term 3 Monday 20th July to Friday 25th September

Term 4 Monday 12th October to Wednesday 16th December** (see NZQA and NCEA below)

**NZQA and NCEA

There have been many calls in recent days to review the criteria for completing NCEA due to the disruption caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and also term 4 ending dates. At this stage, there has not been any decision announced if there will be any changes made. Senior students should, therefore, continue to strive for the best possible NCEA outcomes, work hard, participate in their online classes and continue to seek assistance from their teachers, there is no guarantee any change to the existing system will be made by NZQA.

Guidance Councillor

Fiona Lauder our School guidance counsellor is available to talk with students during normal school hours. To make an appointment to talk with Fiona email her on fionalauder@westlandhigh.school.nz, Fiona will get back to you with a time to talk. All conversations with Fiona are held in the strictest confidence.

Ngā mihi nui
Iain Murray
Principal