Kia ora e te whānau, Welcome to the new look of our newsletter!
You may have noticed that the principal’s monthly message now has a brand-new home. Welcome to our ‘live newsletter.’ This exciting format allows us to share news articles as they happen, rather than waiting until the end of the month to compile them. While this principal’s message will continue to be published monthly, it will also serve to draw your attention back to this new news platform—just in case you’ve missed out on any of the latest happenings at Kaiapoi High School.
Our live newsletter has been named Pīwakawaka Rere Tuku, inspired by the phrase manu rere tuku, which refers to birds (manu) flying (rere) to spread (tuku) news. Given that our school’s guardians are the pīwakawaka (fantails), it is fitting that these particular manu take up the role of spreading our messages.
By the time you read this, we’ll have less than two weeks left of school. What a year it has been! It has been one of significant change, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to ensuring these changes have had a positive impact on our tauira (students).
To our teachers: you have borne the brunt of countless changes within education this year, managing the challenges imposed by numerous external factors. Your dedication has shielded our students from any negative effects of these disruptions, and your commitment has ensured their learning and achievement remain our priority.
To the Board of Trustees: governing a school is a tremendous responsibility, involving many tough decisions. Your stewardship has ensured our kura is in safe hands, and we are grateful for your unwavering support.
A special thank you to this year’s head students—Mica, Ariana, Lucy, Estelle, and Johnathan. Working alongside you to serve our school has been an absolute pleasure. Your late nights, tireless efforts, and unwavering commitment have left a legacy that will benefit our school for years to come. These student leaders would be the first to acknowledge that these successes were not achieved alone. To our house leaders, student council, peer support leaders, sports coaches, captains, managers, and the many club and committee members—along with all those whose efforts may not have carried an official title but whose mahi made the difference—thank you for making 2024 a remarkable year for your peers.
At this point, I started drafting specific thanks to our support staff, caretakers, teachers, deans, heads of faculty, senior leadership, and the many others who contribute so much to the success of our school. However, listing everyone here was taking pages, and I was in danger of losing our readers! Therefore, I’ll make sure to express my gratitude to you in a more appropriate way for your diverse contributions to our tauira and their whānau. In short, every one of your contributions makes an essential difference in making sure the complex workings of a kura meet the needs of each and every student.
As the year draws to a close, we look forward to celebrating the achievements of our students in the coming weeks. Please mark your calendars for two key events: the Senior Prizegiving Evening at 6:45 pm on Tuesday, 10 December, and the Junior Prizegiving at 10 am on Wednesday, 11 December. We hope to see you there to honour our students’ hard work and success. We look forward to seeing you there!
This is likely to be my final principal’s message of 2024, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a joyful and restful holiday season. Spend time with your whānau, friends, and neighbours. For those who cherish quiet moments, also take a moment to appreciate the incredible beauty and opportunities of the country we are so fortunate to call home.
Ngā mihi mahana ki te whānau whānui,
Jason Reid