Nau mai ki te pānui whakamutunga o te wāhanga tuatoru — he mihi nui ki a koutou katoa!
Welcome to the final newsletter of Term 3 — greetings to you all!
So many exciting things have happened since our last monthly newsletter that this pānui is going to be a bit of a concise dip into many topics. Here goes…
Head students — This week we concluded the interview process for our 2027 Head Students, and we will be notifying applicants of the outcome before the end of the term. They have been instructed not to share the outcome just yet, so please don’t be offended if you ask a student how it went and they respond with, “Sorry, I can’t tell anyone yet!” We will announce our 2027 Head Student team to the wider school community at our Senior Prizegiving on 8 December.
Student trustee — On another student leadership note, voting for our Board of Trustees student trustee also closed this week. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that our student trustee is Eshan Raja! Following a short induction with our current student trustee, Eshan will pick up his new leadership role shortly.
Winter Tournament — It was an absolute pleasure to see our student teams in action during Winter Tournament Week. As happens every year, I have been inundated with positive feedback from parents, coaches, officials and even random members of the public about the fair play, respect and empathy shown by Kaiapoi High School students, balanced with their drive to perform at their best in each competition. That is something we can all be very proud of.
Once again, a huge thank you to our parent supporters, without whom the epic job of sending students across the motu to compete simply would not be possible. I also want to acknowledge our Sports Coordinator, Hayley Newton, and Assistant Sports Coordinator, Scotty Reid, for the many hours of work that go into making this incredible week a great success.
Year 8 transition — Term 3 is a huge term for enrolments and the events that support students in their transition from primary school to secondary school. I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of our Head Student team in meeting with parents and students as part of our Coffee and Cake evenings at primary schools this term. It was great to see such strong turnouts. We really value these informal Q&A sessions and the opportunity they give both students and parents to learn more about high school life. A big thank you also to our contributing primary schools and their staff for the time and effort involved in hosting us. Once again, if you know anyone who has not enrolled yet, or who has questions about a secondary school, get them to contact the school office.
Kapa haka and Polyfest — Our two rōpū represented our school community so well at the recent Tuahiwi Ka Matakura o Ruataniwha kapa haka festival in Ōhoka. It was fantastic to see the number of students involved and the energy they brought to honouring and celebrating our cultures. Just as impressive was the way they supported other schools throughout the evening. It was incredibly moving to see, and I want to personally thank our students for how they represented Kaiapoi High School and our values in our district.
Formal — Last weekend we held our school formal (senior ball), and the staff and student committee responsible for planning and running the evening did a phenomenal job. For our Year 13 students, the formal is one of the final school events they will experience together, which always makes it a somewhat bittersweet occasion.
We will formally farewell our leaving students next term at the Leavers’ Assembly (3 November), our annual Leavers’ Dinner (26 November), and Senior Prizegiving (8 December). Keep an eye on the school calendar for these and other important Term 4 dates — it is a packed term with plenty you won’t want to miss.
There are so many other Term 3 events and achievements I could have included in this message, so I encourage you to keep an eye on this newsfeed and our other official Kaiapoi High School social media pages. You may have noticed an increase in the frequency of articles and posts this year, and I would like to acknowledge our new Marketing Manager, Sarah Moore, who is working hard to showcase as many activities and accomplishments by Kaiapoi High School students as possible.
With the huge number of amazing things our students are involved in, we may occasionally miss an achievement or acknowledgement. If that happens, please contact the school office and let us know — we would much rather hear about it and have the opportunity to celebrate it.
So, as we reach the end of another busy term, thank you to everyone who has contributed to making it such a positive one — our students, staff, whānau and wider community.
Kia tino pai tō wā whakatā — we wish you all the very best for the term break, whatever it may hold for you.
Ngā mihi mahana,
Jason Reid
