A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

It was a wonderful turnout for Pink Shirt today and great to see so many students get into the spirit of acceptance and inclusivity. It’s such a hard lesson for some people to learn but being able to understand that while you may disagree with someone else’s choices, they actually have no impact on you.

Leadership is a powerful thing for our young people – some are acclaimed as leaders by their peers and some have the role thrust on them by others who see something the student may not. It’s always interesting how this then plays out with students who rise to the position they have been given and then those who struggle and find leadership negative. Integrity is the key I believe – or quite often framed as authenticity these days. Being authentic as a leader requires a young person to be very true to themselves (integrity) and that can be difficult as a teenager with all the different influences around them. I have to say I’m pretty disappointed with the numbers who are going on camp – we put the Year 11 leadership camp in as they have had fewer camps than other year groups in the past and we are constantly asked by parents as to why we haven’t got camps. To then get less than a third go is irritating and then makes us wonder why we are spending the time and energy setting such opportunities up. Those who have gone are going to have an amazing week – the Lake Rotoiti setup is quite special and different to anything here. Sadly it’s a massive missed opportunity for many others.

Education has been in the news a lot lately -there is no doubt education in New Zealand is changing – and in many ways for the better. Many of the introduced policies make sense around aligning a standard for Literacy and Numeracy and being able to track how we are going for students, and by inference putting resources into the ones who may require more support. However, some changes are insidious and designed to divide the system. This is not the forum for politics but I will be most interested to see the outcomes of how what is already a chronically underfunded system manages the sidelining of more funds rather than helping to solve the very issues that are being complained about!

Big congratulations to the students who have already made representative teams this year – it’s so fantastic to see and hear them all come through, and watch their future development!

WHAT’S COMING UP?

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

• 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 this term, please note that hoodies are not school uniform!

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Winter Sports Kicks off in full force!

Hockey
This year we have one Year 7/8 team (Kaikōura Kōwhai) and our two senior teams (Kaikoura Black and Kaikoura Blue) entered the Hockey Marlborough Winter Comp. Our year 7/8s started last week, initially having entered 2 teams, but have unfortunately had to merge into one (Kōwhai). Thankfully we still get to keep our win from last week! Many of these Year 7/8s are also balancing netball and rugby commitments this season, so we have been blown away by their dedication (and their families) to regular training and travel for 2 sports!
Our seniors have also got off to a great start as they head into their 4th year in this competition. It has been great being able to enter two senior teams this year. This is a fantastic opportunity to compete against Marlborough schools and prep them for the SISS Mixed Hockey Tournament held during Winter Tournament Week.

Netball
Our school Junior SISS netball team is 8 weeks away from heading to Christchurch for their annual tournament and they have been busy with fortnightly trainings and weekly fitness trainings (very) early Tuesday mornings.
Many of our students have also been awarded spots in Kaikōura Netball Centre’s Youth Teams (KYNGS) and have had a lot of fun naming their teams after some well-known league teams (Storm, Dragons, and the Wahs!) They had a big day at the Centre’s Grading Day and fixtures have now kicked off. We wish them all the best.

Rugby
With the new age banding at North Canterbury Rugby, the club teams now align with the cohorts here at KHS (7/8, 9/10, 11-13). There’s been a few changes of students not playing with the team they’ve had in the past, which some have had to adapt to quite a lot, but it’s been great to watch a few of the fixtures and see how well all teams are coming together. We look forward to seeing how all of the JAB teams progress over the season! Best of luck to all of our students for club day this weekend!

Basketball
Our basketballers continue in the Marlborough Basketball Association Competition and this term has two new additions to the team – Phoenix Mallinder-Scott and Oaklea Woods.

Representative Honours

A huge congratulations to Annalise Harris, Harper Boyce and Hannah Reardon for being selected for North Canterbury U16 Netball representative teams. These girls travel down weekly to train, on top of their SISS and KYNGS Netball commitments
with the Netball Centre. What an effort!

Buster Ford has also been selected for the Marlborough U52kg “Red Devils” rugby team, which plays in the prestigious Seddon Shield competition.

Heidi Hutchings also was awarded third place in all of Canterbury for the Sea Week colouring competition! Congrats Heidi!

Careers Expo
Last Friday, Mandy and Miss Eilish took a group of Seniors to the Christchurch Careers Expo.
It was a great chance for the students to explore the endless career opportunities open to them!

Rōpu Parakuihi
This Term we kicked off Rōpu Parakuihi (Breakfast Club) which has been facilitated by staff and our student leadership. We have also received donations from Te Whare Putea to tautoko this kaupapa.
So far it has been really successful, with students piling into Miss Smith’s cooking room three days a week for a hearty breakfast!
It has been great seeing our students leaving feeling energised for their classes and there’s been some great conversation happening in there, with plenty of laughs.

Library
Make sure to have a browse through the new dashboards on the Library web app!

KHS Library

Kaikōura Attendance Services
Studies show that attainment and attendance are directly linked. Regular absenteeism at school has significant impacts on learning and achievement for your child. Through referrals from the school, Kaikōura Attendance Services work directly with whānau to support their children in maximising their attendance and engagement at school. There are many reasons for non-attendance and our attendance advisor, Kim Broadhurst is here to advocate for and support your child in getting the most out of their education. If you would like some additional support with your child’s attendance or engagement, please contact the school.

Pink Day Market
Our Year 9/10 Health classes took up the challenge of running a mini-market on Pink Shirt Day to raise additional funds and awareness of mental health, inclusivity and being anti-bullying.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

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