From the Principal’s Desk
Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa. Welcome to the Westland High School November newsletter.
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou katoa. Warm greetings to you all.
The school year is rapidly coming to an end, senior students leave Friday the 13th in preparation for external examinations and our junior and middle school students remain at school and will have the whole school to themselves.
As you are aware we have a significant amount of construction work occurring at the moment on the Hall and administration block, and with NCEA examinations taking place we have put steps in place to ensure any construction noise will cease during examination times should this be required. The examination venue/classes are on the opposite side of the school to the construction site, so noise should be mitigated to enable students to undertake the examinations without disruption.
A reminder to access the school entry is via the Park Street walkway next to the covered courts and a reminder to sign into the school office and scan the QR Covid code on arrival.
Exam time can be an anxious time for students as they build-up to their examinations, Parents/Whanau, please continue to support and encourage your young adults to remain focused as they start to move into exam mode, your support and encouragement will assist tremendously as they prepare for their exams. The staff are only more than happy to work with students if they need extra assistance.
If a student(s) needs to come into school for help they can simply email their teachers and make a suitable time to meet.
Some students need additional assistance completing their internal assessment, if this is the case the Academic and Pastoral Leader Mrs Krohn has been and will continue to make contact with the students and parents (where required) and ask that students stay at school to complete their internal standards rather than being at home on study leave. Contact will be made home on a case by case basis, it is important to note that study leave is a privilege not a right.
Examinations commence Monday 16th November and students sitting the NCEA examination must ensure the following.
- Students must be in school uniform.
- Arrive at least 20 minutes before the exam starts to check they have the correct location of the exam room arranged by the school.
- If you arrive more than 30 minutes after the exam has started you will not be able to sit the exam or enter an exam room.
- Students entered in digital exams need to arrive at their exam with a charged device and the charger cord. If you have digital examinations.
- Bring your entry slips with NZQA code, you will not be able to sit your exam without it.
- Bring all your necessary items (stationery, computers etc).
- Follow all instructions provided by the examiner.
Our building and grounds rejuvenation continues and as part of that the DWC Sport hub (Covered Courts) will be out of action until early January as the new Rebound Ace playing surface is laid. This will complete the final stages for the all weather covered courts. We are all looking forward to seeing the end result.
Our new student enrolments are higher than last year along with students enrolling from outside the district or returning from schools outside of our area. We are also looking at one of the largest Year 13 cohorts we have had for a number of years. This presents some exciting opportunities for the students, staff and school.
As the school roll continues to grow we are needing to appoint additional staff, to date we have advertised for an additional Mathematics position and also a Digital technologies leader. We expect these positions to be filled to commence at Westland High School in the new year.
As educators our staff are regularly engaging in further studies and professional learning to keep up to date with relevant changes in curriculum and areas of expertise. We congratulate Janice Sadler who has recently been awarded the The Betty Loughhead Soroptimist scholarship. The scholarship is named after Betty Loughhead MBE, JP. Betty was a long serving member of Soroptimist International. She served the organisation at many levels, including holding the position of International President from 1983-85. Clubs and members across New Zealand have continued to contribute to the Scholarship Trust, enabling women to progress their education and advance their careers. Janice was one of 90 applicants this year, and one of two recipients. Janice is only the second person on the West Coast to be awarded the scholarship in it's history.
At assembly last week we announced our Head students for 2021, we congratulate the following four students who will be formally acknowledged at the senior school prize giving.
- Head Girl, Kaiah Priest
- Head Boy, Logan Grainger
- Deputy Head Girl, Lelia Nolan
- Deputy Head Boy, Scott Martini
Our prizegiving's are approaching very fast, if you haven't yet seen the dates, then mark these in your calendar:
- Senior Prizegiving (Year 11 - 13) Monday 23rd Nov 6pm Regent Theatre
- Junior School (Year 7- 8) Friday 11th Dec 9.00am Regent Theatre
- Middle School (Year 9 -10) Friday 11th Dec 10.00am Regent Theatre
Students must be in full and correct uniform to be eligible to accept awards. If you are having trouble with any aspect of this, please see Mrs Reeves Deputy Principal.
We are delighted to announce that Red Streetwear will be the new supplier of school uniforms for Westland High School. The change over date has not yet been confirmed, but in the near future you will be able to source any uniform needs directly from their store in town. We think it will be a great way to support our local businesses in town and thank Red Streetwear for their support with this.
Ngā mihi nui
Iain Murray
Principal