A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

There has been some interesting debate recently in the media (including here at school!) about the use of teachers’ first names or should they be Mr/Mrs/Ms/Whaea/Matua etc. Much of the debate seems to be around whether it is respectful or not. I found it an interesting point that respect is hinged on an address – I personally feel respect is so much more than that and comes down to tone, how the student is addressing the adult, is the adult giving respect to the student etc etc. I can also see the argument that it is creating a boundary or a line so the students see the adult in the context of they are ‘instructing’ and not as a friend. For some staff, this may mean being more comfortable with a title and for some, it would not be and they are happy with first names. The safest bet is to have that discussion as a class and then abide by the person’s preference.

Respect has many different meanings in different settings, but for us, at Kaikōura High School it is a value. As a value, Respect means accepting someone for who they are even if they are different from ourselves or differ in their opinion to us. It means caring enough to think about how you impact that other person. So at Kaikōura High School as a value it has nothing to do with liking or not liking the other person – it is about accepting them and their views. As a student, respect is embracing being part of positive change in the school and wanting to make things better rather than just moaning about what we don’t like. For teachers, if they feel respected they then are more likely to feel valued which improves how they do their job. For students being respected they are more likely to feel valued and improve their engagement. In class. It takes both sides to establish respect – and to maintain it, it’s hard-won and easily lost but if we want our school to be a positive place then respect is an excellent place to start.

I think respect most definitely has to be earned and should not be confused with a title – although a title can be a nice way of showing it!

Just some Friday afternoon thoughts!

WHAT’S COMING UP?

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

• Our order of school shirts and socks is due in June, however, we have received some more shorts and winter skirts. Please contact the school office to enquire.
• Please text, call, or email the school office before 8.30 am if your child will be absent from school.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Combined Country High Schools Swimming
Miss Nemeth and Kim Boyce-Campbell took a group of our most competitive swimmers from Swimming Sports to Rangiora last week, for the Combined Country High School’s Swimming meet.
Our students all performed beautifully on the day, despite a few mishaps! It was a great experience for our U12.5s, who we’re sure will progress in CCHS Swimming during their time at school.
Keagan, Harper, Chelsea and Sacha have now qualified for the Canterbury Championships in April!
Ka Rawe!

A taste of the Year 7/8 Adventure Day! More to come!

Basketball
The Kaikōura High School mixed basketball team have been travelling to Waiharakeke (Blenheim) each Wednesday for the last month, competing in the Marlborough Basketball Association Pre-Season competition. The season has been competitive, with some extremely close games. The mixed grade in Marlborough features a mixture of high school and adult teams, so the style and difficulty of each game can vary quite a lot from week to week. As I write this the team has a record of four wins and one loss. The loss was suffered in the game we played on athletics day, which was extremely tough for our athletes, having competed all day in the sun. We faced the same team last week, which was tough again as this time we were missing two athletes due to illness and combined school athletics. This time we managed to overcome them in an extremely narrow win – 2 points! Pre-season league is decided on table points so we will need to win next week’s game and then await the results of the other games to find out if we have managed to follow the 2023 season with another victorious season and go back-to-back!

Library Update
Ronda has been busy finding ways to make our whare pukapuka more accessible for all and has found us our brand new library app: Accessit! https://nz.accessit.online/KKR01/#!dashboard
This virtual school library is an online space that’s available 24/7. Students and whanau can find and access the library catalogue and multiple digital resources. Have a browse! There is a short video showing users how to best use the web app.

Whānau Korero – Goal Setting Day
We would like to thank everyone who came in on our Whānau Kōrero (Goal Setting) Day last week.
It was fantastic to see so many of you meeting with form teachers to discuss goals for the year.
If you didn’t get a chance to book in, or would just like to keep in touch with your child’s form teacher or subject teachers, please do not hesitate to flick them an email to book an appointment.

Combined Country High School Athletics 2024
This Wednesday, a group of our top athletes travelled South to Ngā Puna Wai to compete against other schools in Canterbury in various Athletics events. It was a great day of success for our school, with 19/30 events entered having place-getters from Kaikōura!
It was also a great experience for our U12s, who compete in the U13 category there – some rivals maybe 2 years older!! It was an opportunity to give it a go, learn how the day works and aim high for next year, our youngest athletes did extremely well, despite the odds against them.
Thank you to Mr Norozi-Iranzad, Lou and Sarah Jenkins for accompanying the group!

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Alumni striving to be the BEST!
Te Kore Manawatu, (Whakatū, Braddock, 2022) has opened up to Māori Motivation, a clothing brand that uses profits to support aspiring athletes.
Te Kore & his Dad talk about his rugby history and his aspirations to be on the world rugby stage as an All Black! We wish Te Kore all the best for his journey.
Check out the video Te Kore – Māori Motivation on YouTube!

Save the date!