Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa. Welcome to the Westland High School newsletter for June 2022.

Tēnā koutou katoa, warm greetings to you all

We are midway into Term 2 and the NCEA journey is well underway for our Senior students. It is important for them to continually monitor their achievement as the year progresses to ensure they are heading in the right direction and know what credits they have recorded. The student portal on KAMAR can be used by students to check both their progress and attendance to date.

Over the past few days, we have experienced a large number of students away and also staff succumbing to winter ills, including several covid positive cases. If the trend of unwell students and staff continues to grow, we may be forced to consider the ‘learning from home’ option, similar to what occurred the last two days of term one this year.

This, of course, will be the last option as face-to-face learning is the best learning environment. However if the situation changes, and we do need to move to a ‘Learning from home option’ we will let you know and attempt to provide as much forward notice as possible.

If this happens, we will continue to offer a school-based service for families that are unable to provide supervision at home, with a small team of staff remaining at school; thank you for your continued support for our school during some challenging conditions.

Remember to keep safe, wear your mask and stay home if you are unwell.

Sadly Mrs Monica Hulme has tendered her resignation, Monica will be missed along with the tremendous work she has put in as our junior school Academic and Pastoral leader. We thank Monica for her professionalism, leadership, kindness and support she has shown during her time here at Westland High School.

Koru Games trials are on! After a hiatus of two years, let the games begin… Finally after a long wait the Koru Games will take place again this year. The Koru Games are for Year 7 and 8 students and takes place predominantly in and around the Selwyn district (Rolleston area). Students should be putting themselves forward by trialing for selection into one of the teams. Good luck to everyone having a go and seeking a position in a team.

It is pleasing to see the majority of students have very good attendance, on that note a reminder to students that a 95% attendance is required to represent the school for non-curricular activities such as sports teams and the school ball.

Attendance can be checked at any time by logging onto the parent portal (contact the school office if you need access), attendance is also included in the end of term reports that have been progressively sent home over the past few days.

With so many winter stressors currently abound I remind you that 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 at 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