A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

End of term 1 already! What a jam-packed 11 weeks it has been. A huge thank you to all the support given to the school this term from parents involving themselves in trips, the feedback to help us improve and encouraging your children to get involved with things on offer. Also a sad note for us as we farewelled Mrs Lean after 18 years of teaching at Kaikoura High School. She will be immensely missed for her genuine care of students, her infectious support of Flower House and her overall positivity – not to mention the classroom bits! We wish her well and hope she enjoys some time for writing and other adventures.
Term 2 has a whole new set of challenges – an academic focus, camps and winter sports starts. I really encourage our Year 9-11s to take the opportunity to go on camp – especially as we are so fortunate to have the Fundraising Group and Mr Michael Hurst support students by heavily subsidizing and reducing the individual costs. There are plenty of winter sports options to get involved with or even to try for the first time – I know all teams would be keen for new members! Academically term 2 becomes very important – for seniors, there are internal assessments right throughout the term and for our middle school there is Lit/Num testing. Look out for some study tips in future pānui.
Lastly, good luck to all the school teams taking part in the Kaikoura Adventure Race – fantastic to see so many in such an awesome event that does so much for our town and our school – thanks KAR team! Also to our student leadership team who have ANZAC day in the second week of the holidays – we look forward to seeing you represent the school at such an important event.
Enjoy a break and see everyone refreshed in two weeks!

WHAT’S COMING UP?

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

• Please keep an eye out for end-of-term fee bills hitting your inboxes soon.
• If your child is going to be late or absent, please call the school office on 03 319 5138 or email office@kaikourahigh.school.nz any time after 8 am to let us know. We send texts out around 10.55 am for absent students.
• As we head into colder weather next term, please note that hoodies are not school uniform!
• KidsCan Jackets are back in stock for the colder months! Ask the school office next term.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Year 7/8 Hockey Summer Season Finale

After a whirlwind 5 weeks of playing local teams up in Blenheim, Kaikōura Blue and Kaikōura Yellow met each other in the draw for the last week, so they chose to play on the home turf! A huge thank you to all the whānau and staff who came to support the teams, it was an enjoyable way to finish school for the day and see how far they’ve all come. Congratulations to Kaikōura Blue for winning the match! A huge thanks to everyone who has supported the teams this term.

Year 8 Art
This term, Ms Ruiz, our art teacher, deepened her understanding of her students through their engagement with creating self-portraits and exploring “The Inner Me” task.
They did some artwork inspired by Robyn Kahukiwa and Alma Thomas, demonstrating an understanding of the artists’ styles and themes, incorporating vibrant colours and bold patterns inspired by Kahukiwa’s cultural influences and Thomas’s abstract expressionism. It was great to see how the students added their own creativity and interpretation into their artworks, reflecting the diverse influences of these two artists.
They also had a lot of fun creating clay monsters. They began by sketching their monster designs on paper, adding unique personalities and superpowers. Then, they brought their ideas to life by sculpting their monsters from clay. Finally, with colourful paints, they added the finishing touches, transforming their clay models into vibrant and imaginative creatures.

Canterbury Swimming Championships
Following on from our CCHS Swimming update last month, we are proud to report the successes of Sacha Surgenor, Harper Boyce, Chelsea Annen and Keagan Swimming at the Canterbury Swimming Champs on 4 April.
In the freestyle events, Harper and Keagan placed 10th and 7th respectively, and also both achieved new personal bests for their event.
Cheslea, placed 9th and got a new PB in her Backstroke event. Sacha earned a 4th place spot in her Breaststroke event and you guessed it… Hit a new PB too!
The successes of these students are a testament to their commitment and coaches, of which one of them (Kim Boyce-Campbell) took the team to Christchurch one weekend to train for the meet, due to the early closure of our local pool.
Thank you so much to Kim and Miss Nemeth for their unwavering support of our swimmers this year!

Term 1 Peer Support Program
This term we ran a Peer Support programme with the Year 7s to help them adapt to their new learning environment. We really enjoyed getting to know the Year 7s over the course of this term. We had a great time learning about them and their whānau. The Prefects enjoyed playing games and learning about everyone’s culture and way of life. We hope the Year 7s enjoyed the 2024 Peer Support program just as much as we did.
Going forward, we know the Year 7s will feel more comfortable in our school, and feel supported by the senior students. We hope that in the future when they are Year 12 and 13, they will aspire to be Prefects and Peer Support leaders as well.
Sylvie Reid, Grace Lamb (Whakatu) & Sophia Flavell (Hiratū)

Term 1 Kapa Haka
With the ongoing support of Te Ahi Wairua and Te Tai o Marokura, we have been able to connect our students with kapa haka again this year, this time on Tuesday afternoons. The first term has gone well, with the rōpu creating their own kawa for the space in the first few sessions. This was a great opportunity for ngā rangatahi to create their own, safe space for kapa. They have learned the mōteatea, Ko ngā waka, this term and have just started learning the waiata, Nei rā te kaupapa.
At the end of term, the rōpu overcame their nerves and performed Te Taukaea during assembly to Mrs Lean, who we are farewelling from Kaikōura High School.
The students will continue to learn new waiata, mōteatea and haka over the next few months in preparation for some bigger performances coming up… watch this space!

Student Volunteer Army
Does your child volunteer? Whether it be a little or a lot, it all counts! Download the SVA App, sign up (making sure you put Kaikoura High as your school) and log your hours! For more information, there is a poster further down the pānui and be sure to see Miss Smith or your Community Prefects; Freja Lister and Grace Lamb.

Friends Like Her
Shot in Kaikōura last year, Friends Like Her airs on Channel 3 next week!
Why are we so excited about this?
Some of our own students & alumni have starring roles in the drama, so we are sure to see them in some of our well-known locations.
It’s great having Kaikōura on the map!

Term 1 Cooking Fun
The first lot of year 7s have finished up their cooking term! It was an absolute blast to have these guys in the kitchen, watch out Gordon Ramsay! – Miss Smith

Information about School Trips
Due to the continuous rise in costs and ongoing arrears of trip payments, we have had to review how our school trips are structured.
For extra-curricular trips, which are opt-in and not compulsory, trip fees must be paid in full or an automatic payment arranged before the trip goes ahead. If a student is due to attend a future trip, they will not be permitted to attend until previous fees have been paid.
Trips requiring relief teachers to cover classes will see a slight increase in fees ($5 per student) to recover some of the costs of the relief teacher and trips of less than 5 students involved where a relief teacher is required are unlikely to go ahead through the school due to significant relief costs.
Non-teaching staff (Support staff) on overnight trips will also incur an overnight allowance cost under their collective agreement, which will be included in the overall trip costs.

Paramanawa (Morning Tea) Kai Club
In Term 2 we are looking to trial a kai club for all students on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday interval. There will be a selection of breakfast foods available and some days, possibly even a hot soup, butter chicken or some fresh baking! Tino reka!
Students will be expected to respect the cooking room and support with washing and drying their own dishes to ensure that everyone gets to class on time after interval and the classroom is suitable for use.
If there is anyone in our community who is police vetted and keen to tautoko the staff and students running the club, please get in touch with the school office at office@kaikourahigh.school.nz

COMMUNITY NOTICES