A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

A short note for a couple of short weeks! I think everyone is looking forward to something of a brief break with seniors being in the thick of assessments and juniors settling into routine after all the events of the start of year. We talked in assembly about how there is often negative talk about the school and yet much of what is criticized is from the students so they are the ones who need to take a look and think about their actions. Our student community is pretty amazing and we should be super proud of them – not only do they achieve well in sports as we have consistently seen this term, but there are many making a difference in little ways around school – picking up litter themselves, cleaning up someone else’s mess unasked, making sure a younger student knows where to be, bringing someone who is upset over to sick bay for some space. All these I have seen in the past week and it makes me feel humbled and gives a warm fuzzy to how many of our students are proud of their place and want it to be the best it can be! That’s what we are trying to build on by thinking about what we can provide that becomes a quality holistic education and what skills and attributes we want our young people to leave school with. Attached to this newsletter is our school’s strategic plan for the next year – thank you so much to everyone who gave their input at what might at times have felt like endless questioning! This is an interim plan and the full three-year Strategic plan will be developed toward the end of the year. I hope our students have a well-earned minibreak and everyone has some whanau time over the long weekend.

WHAT’S COMING UP?

FRIENDLY REMINDER

• Earpods are NOT part of school requirements and students should not have them at school.

KNOWLEDGE CAFÉ

We are holding the first of what hopefully becomes a twice-termly event for parents to learn more about our school. The first one will be on Wed 10th April, at 5.30 pm in the Library (Feedback about times and days to make sure it suits more in the future is appreciated!) No more than an hour, the first 20-30 minutes will be used to show/share something that we are doing or a program, and then we have 20-30 minutes for general questions about anything!  The first topic will be Kiva – how the process works and a sample script.
Possible future topics – Lit/Num help at home, Exam anxiety etc.

LOCKER TRIAL

We are looking to trial some lockers with Year 9/10 for a start. We have a set of 12 set up in P block and if there is demand and it goes well we will look to getting more. Lockers will cost $30 a year with $20 being returned at the end of the year. If you are interested in your child being part of the trial please email for the contract and information.
The locker size is 315mmWx420mmHx315mmD – designed not to hold a whole bag but books/shoes etc.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Work Experience Adventures
Thomas Reardon (Year 13, Whakatū) asked our Facebook community a few weeks ago if anyone was offering any work experience. Tom hopes to gain credits and experience in a real working environment to support his studies.
South Pacific Helicopters, local business and part of our school whānau, answered the ad and Tom has been busy as in his work environment! Here are some photos of what he’s been up to.
Tom’s been busy on planes, making coffees, setting traps and sharing his classic jokes with the team. Ka Rawe!

Basketball Summer League Final Update
After a short but competitive MarlboroughBasketball Summer League season the KHSmixed team played in the final last Wednesday, against Richmond View. The game was hard-fought and had the KHS team trailing for the first half. Thankfully we managed to pull it back and finish the third quarter up by 7 points. RVStied it up again in the fourth quarter but we managed to pull away and come away with the win! Kaikōura High’s mixed team are now back-to-back champions, having also won the term 4 competition in 2023. The team is now preparing for the Winter League Tournament in Term 4.

Canterbury Athletics
Two of our athletes from CCHS progressed to represent Kaikōura High School at the prestigious Canterbury Championships this week. During prelims, Keagan Sweeney hit a new PB of 1.55m and qualified for finals in his U14 High Jump event and Harper Boyce also qualified for 100m finals in her U15 event. This has been outstanding for the students, our school and for Whakatū house!!
On Thursday’s Final, Harper came a commendable 9th place in her 100m and Keagan came 5th in his High Jump event, making him eligible to compete in the South Island Athletics meet this year!

Year 7 Treasure Hunt
Our Prefects put together a chocolate treasure hunt surprise for the Year 7’s they have in Peer support to ease them into the long weekend. Heaps of fun and such a cool thought to do for the new students!!!

Outdoor Education
Over the last couple of weeks, our OED students have been out and about on their first few trips. The students have spent the term learning the necessary skills for these trips and have spent a lot of time preparing. Both trips great successes and now they are beginning to prep for the next ones which start up again next term. It sounds like our students have overcome some immense challenges, and personal barriers and have come out the other side with a huge sense of achievement!
Mr Wood has provided some photos of our students rock climbing at Cattle Stop Crag in the Port Hills, Christchurch and the challenging 3-day cycle tour on the St James Cycle Trail, in the Molesworth.

Year 7/8 Adventure
This term, the year 7 and 8 homeroom classes have been focusing on storytelling and writing recounts and narratives. We have been creating stories that are similar to tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and Ryuutama. Students have created alter egos, and within small groups have been creating imaginative stories based on a journey with the fate of all characters determined by a dice roll.
On Thursday the 14th of March the students were able to play out a journey with a small group of their peers and a game master (teacher/support staff). The Game Masters dressed up as different alter egos and kept in character for the whole day. They travelled from school across the peninsula and back on foot. On the way they would roll the dice to determine different quests and the outcomes of this, some quests included: eating crickets, building the tallest tower and tying themselves in knots. Upon returning to school, the students retold their stories to their parents at our evening BBQ.
We felt the day was a huge success, based on the enthusiastic renditions of cricket eating, epic battles and troll avoiding. We are really looking forward to being able to move into playing actual RPG games over the next few weeks.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Door sales available or emailjfissenden@kaikourahigh.school.nz