Mrs Mortimer's reflections at Grey High/Māwhera

Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou Thank you to everyone who attended our junior parents evening on Thursday night. It was great to see so many of you there and meet a number of you too. Thanks to everyone who came up and introduced themselves to me. If you were not able to make the evening or still need to talk to one of our staff members please call the school office to make appointments. Community is one of our school values and on Saturday morning I went to the Westland Recreation Centre to watch the netball grading. It is a great example of our students and staff building strong, positive relationships in our community by working hard on the courts as well as coaching and managing teams. I know how much dedication and hard work coaching and managing teams takes, so thanks to all of you out there - staff, students and parents! On Saturday night I got to experience a real sense of belonging when I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Passover meal which was a really fun ...

Tēnā koutou katoa Nga mihi nui ki a koutou It was a busy week at Grey High last week. We are well into the swing of it and everyone should be settled into routines. Akoranga is an important value at our school and all of our teachers are working hard with our students to ensure that they are making progress across their subjects. Our senior students should be focusing on NCEA and their career pathways. Our junior students have their first family meeting on Thursday and this is a great opportunity for us to work together to ensure our 9s and 10s are realising their potential. Still in terms of akoranga, I would like to remind you about the Akoranga Learning Hub which you can find on our website. Again, this is a great way for you to know what your young people are doing in class! Learning can happen anywhere and this is one of the reasons why we support experiences outside the classroom. Our year 12 Biology class visited the shore line at Punakaiki on Monday as part of their “Rocky Sh...

Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou We were all hit pretty hard by the news of Simon Norris who passed away in a traffic accident. Whenever anything happens like this I always want to hug my own children close and be grateful that they are safe. The funeral was a sad but beautiful time and I was so proud of our students who came to say goodbye and our kapa haka group who did an amazing job. Ciaran Tangney and Jana Roos spoke beautifully for our school and really captured the essence of what Simon was like as a young man. I can only say again that our thoughts are with Simon’s family and offer support where needed to them and our community. The arch deacon who was co-ordinating the service talked about us acknowledging the loss and the grief and also celebrating Simon’s life and the contribution he made to his family, friends and our school which we have done on a page in this newsletter. He also talked about moving on and continuing with our lives; not forgetting Simon but carry...

  Finally, I am getting to speak to you all!    It has been an interesting term with regards to COVID changes, tsunami warning, fire drills (that we hadn’t planned), and I would like to thank you all for your co-operation and adapting and carrying on as best you can.   Firstly though I would like to acknowledge Simon Norris’ passing and thank everyone who had Simon in their thoughts, attended the funeral or performed in Kapa Haka.  The funeral was a sad but beautiful time and we were so proud of you all. A special thanks to the Kapa Haka rangatahi who pulled all of this together in a very short time.   The arch deacon who was co-ordinating the service talked about us acknowledging the loss and the grief and also celebrating Simon’s life and the contribution he made to his family, friends and our school.  Moment of silence here - please stay seated.  He also talked about moving on and continuing with our lives; not forgetting Simon. Let’s...

Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou As I started writing this newsletter during the weekend I didn’t have to factor in any mention of COVID 19. However, now I do! Thank you to everyone who is supporting us at Grey High in keeping all of our rangatahi, whānau and community safe. We will update you as soon as we hear any news. It’s a good reminder to ask everyone to join our Facebook page and download the free school app - Go to the App Store on your Apple or Android device and Search "SchoolAppsNZ' then Search Greymouth High - and when you do, check then regularly. Life in Level 2 does for the most part continue as usual, obviously making sure we follow the Guidelines set by the Government. So back to talking about other things. Last week at Greymouth High School was a full and fun one. Our first congratulations is to our Greymouth High School representatives who competed in the Coast to Coast last week. Callum Brown completed the Mountain Run with an amazing time of 4 ...