2021 Week 1, Term 1
Tēnā koutou katoa
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa
It is my pleasure to write this first article as Principal of Greymouth High School. I hope that all of you managed to have fun and find some time to relax over the Christmas break. As I was appointed in early December I spent a lot of December organising my handover to various members of staff from my previous school, Te Aroha College. I also spent some time talking with Andy England and other members of the Senior Leadership team trying to ensure a smooth handover.
In January myself and my family spent two weeks touring around the South Island. We even managed to come to Greymouth where I met up with some of my new colleagues, spent an hour or so at Grey High and an hour with Andy as he packed. We had fabulous weather on our trip around, including while we were in Greymouth, and we were told by many West Coasters that the weather is much better than it is portrayed in the media!
On this break I really enjoyed visiting some local attractions, including a visit to Waiuta, and finding out about the local history of Greymouth and other parts of the South Island. Plus of course seeing the amazing scenery.
Thank you to Ngati Waewae and especially Joe Mason and his team who welcomed me and all of the other new staff members from our area at the pōwhiri here in our whare at Greymouth High.
I have had a great first week and I would like to thank all of the senior leadership team and the staff for their hard work over the summer break and especially the last week of January getting ready for the new school year. We had an excellent induction day for new staff on Thursday and a very positive staff only day on Friday.
Course counselling was a massive event and again thank you to the staff for all of their hard work in organising this and ensuring that all of our senior students have a course that will support their current and future success.
Tuesday saw our pōwhiri for our year 9s and what an amazing event that was. The year 13 peer mentors were so supportive of our new students and everyone I talked to had a great time. As I said in the assembly if anyone (students and family members) have any questions, concerns or issues please come and talk to someone while they are small so we can sort them. We have mentor teachers, deans, peer support students in year 13, two guidance counsellors, or anyone else you feel comfortable talking to.
I’ve been told many times about the friendliness of the people on the West Coast and it seems to be true. I really appreciate all of the time people have spent making me feel welcome!
While in Dunedin I saw the following sign that I thought would be great for my first newsletter:
“He Aroha whakatō, he aroha puta mai. If kindness is sown then kindness you shall receive”.
I think that this is a great reminder for all of us to demonstrate respect and kindness to each other.
Finally, I am looking forward to meeting whānau in the near future and working with you so all of our young people find success.
Ngā mihi
Samantha Mortimer
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