Mrs Mortimer's reflections at Grey High/Māwhera

Kapa haka by Emily Westacott From the principal: 2021 Week 8, Term 2 MRS SAMANTHA MORTIMER — JUN 24, 2021 Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou Welcome to Term 2 week 8. Young Enterprise Pitches Way back on the Friday of week 6 I was fortunate to be invited to watch some of our rangatahi present their Young Enterprise pitches. I was only going to stay for a short time but I moved some meetings around and stayed right to the end as I was so impressed. Our young people were so articulate and as I said to our staff at briefing on Monday “the world is going to be ok! These young people will make sure it is going to be!” That evening I went and bought a dog collar and lead from “West Coast Collie Co” who did a great presentation and brought their dog along - check them out on Facebook. I also saw AH Beerscuits present - another company I am going to buy from for my dog! The judges did a great job feeding back to our students and giving them lots of ideas to make their brands even bett...

From the principal: 2021 Week 7, Term 2 MRS SAMANTHA MORTIMER — JUN 17, 2021 Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou Welcome to Term 2 week 7. Support staff morning tea On Wednesday we had a morning tea for our support staff to thank them for all the amazing things they do for us and our school. Thanks to our volunteer teachers who are doing their jobs during the break so our support staff could enjoy their morning tea in peace!! Assemblies on Monday Below is a summary of what I talked about in our junior and senior assemblies. Respect As you know, one of our school values is respect - showing respect by caring for ourselves, each other, guests, and our environment. Recently, I had 3 year 12 health students come and see about the results of their survey on bullying and to talk to me about what we as a school could do. When I read it it made me want to come and talk to you about what I think. So, firstly, we all have a personal responsibility to make sure that everyone feels safe an...

Support staff morning tea Kia ora koutou katoa Ngaa mihi nui ki a koutou I thought that I would start by telling you that I talked about all of you in my newsletter last week (I know you know that because you’ve all read it!!) and at the junior and senior assemblies on Monday. I wanted to remind everyone about the people who work really hard to make sure we have a well run school! Of course we have all of our teachers and our senior leaders but I wanted everyone to think about all of you. You keep our school running smoothly. You name it, you do it, often behind the scenes and usually without any questions or any fuss - no job is too big for you. From sorting the finances, doing the admin, looking after all of us, our students, us teachers and our whaanau, running the library, fixing our computers, fixing things in general, doing technician things, making the grounds look great, cleaning, and generally making our lives easier. I know that I couldn't do my job without your ...

by Emily Westacott From the principal: 2021 Week 6, Term 2 MRS SAMANTHA MORTIMER — JUN 11, 2021 Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou Welcome to Term 2 week 6. Support staff week 2021 - 8th - 11th June This week is support staff week. I would like to thank, on behalf of our teachers, all of our support staff for the amazing things they do for our school! I know that I couldn't do my job without their "support"! They keep our school running smoothly. You name it, they do it, often behind the scenes. From sorting the finances, doing the admin, looking after our students, teachers and whaanau, running the library, technician support, fixing things, making the grounds look great, cleaning, I have to add organising my life, and I could go on and on! We have morning tea arranged for next week and I'm very much looking forward to catching up with them all. Thanks to our volunteer teachers who are doing their jobs during the break so our support staff can enjoy their mo...

  https://nzeals.org.nz/ll-article/leaders-in-action-2/ Tēnā koutou katoa Ko Mortimer toku whānau Ko Samantha toku ingoa I am Samantha Mortimer, a first-time principal at Greymouth High School , and I've been a member of NZEALS for a number of years. In this short article I am going to outline the process of applying for my principal position, the interview process and my first term. In 2020 when both of our daughters were planning to leave home, one to university and one on Rotary Exchange, I began to seriously look for a principal position outside of our area in the Waikato. I wanted to go to a school which aligned with my values; somewhere who welcomed and was successful for all rangatahi in the community and where equity and excellence went hand in hand. This school was Greymouth High School. The ad in the Gazette called to me as I believed that I could match what the school was looking for. I was impressed in the advert by their honesty about Greymouth having had challenges in...

Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou Talofa lava (hello in Samoan) Welcome to Term 2 week 5. I am writing this from sunny Blenheim (Tuesday 1st June) with around 200 high school principals across the country. It is a great opportunity to meet lots of new people and catch up with those I already knew. It was especially great to spend some time with the West Coast High School principals and grow our connections. Both Iain Murray at Westland High School and Andew Basher at Buller High School have been very supportive and I really appreciate it! Staff visit to Kati Waewae places of significance and the pūrākau that go with them Our thanks go to Lucy Tonihi, who is an ex-student of MSA at Grey High, who shared pūrākau about places of significance in our local area. Fifteen of us, teachers and their partners, met at the Arahura river up past Lake Kaniere. We walked down to the river's edge and after a beautiful karakia, we had a kōrero about Poutini Waitaiki. I am very much looking...