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

Kia ora koutou e te whanau,

It was great to see at a large number of students at school from our contributing schools as part of our new students' orientation. We had students from St Mary’s, Kaniere, Hokitika, Ross, Kokatahi and Greymouth attend. Enrolments for 2020 are significantly higher than last year along with students enrolling from outside the district or returning from schools outside of our area.

We have now received our confirmed ERO report and it is full of positives. These were highlighted in the Thursday edition of the Hokitika Guardian and have been reprinted in this newsletter; it makes for satisfying reading and highlights the positive steps the school has made.

With an increased role we have the need to employ additional staff to cater for higher student numbers. We are pleased to confirm Mrs Amy Waldie has been appointed to the position of Year 7 and 8 Homeroom teacher for 2020, this takes our junior school 7 and 8 staff to four full-time homeroom teachers.

We have a number of other positions we are advertising and will give you an update in the final newsletter of the year.

In 2020 Westland High School will not be asking for school donations, we have entered into the school donation scheme with the Ministry of education. The school will, however, be able to seek contributions toward non-compulsory activities such as sports trips, transport, accommodation etc. With the donation scheme coming into place from 2020 we believe this will benefit both the school and families.

Examinations are well underway. Most students will have completed their examinations by the time you have read this newsletter. Our data to date shows an increase in student achievement rates compared with last year; a pleasing trend.

Thank you, everyone, who contributed to the recent Uniform and Cell phone survey, we had an overwhelming response, probably one of the highest survey feedbacks we have received from staff, Whanau and students. The results of this survey are within this newsletter. The school will now be considering the results and making a decision(s) on the next steps. Any changes will be shared as soon as possible and prior to the start of the new year.

The Sports Hub and Gym are not far away from completion, the structure of the covered courts is up and most of the covered canopy in place, the sides and playing surfaces are to be constructed soon. The Gym renovations, toilet bock and pavilion are almost complete too.

Three old classrooms will be demolished over the Christmas break, rooms 24, 25 and 26, and replacement spouting carried out throughout the school.

Our A Wing renovations are also well into the swing of things with the classroom modernisation project well advanced, we expect to see these rooms completed before the commencement of the 2020 school year.

Ngā mihi nui
Iain Murray
Principal