Mrs Mortimer's reflections at Grey High/Māwhera

Waitangi Day at Arahura Marae — Mrs Sam Mortimer, Ms Aleta Chowfin and Mr Deane Milne (back row) Mr Bernard Adams and Ms Ann Kieran (front row) Tēnā koutou katoa Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa What another beautiful week on the Coast! The weather and the people have all been fantastically welcoming! Thank you to everyone who has introduced themselves to me and said hello! Some of you may have seen the article in the Grey Star about my first couple of weeks or so being “crazy busy”? Well that has been true! This term my goal is to meet with all of our teaching staff individually to really try to get to know them and find out what they are most proud of in terms of Grey High and what they are working on this year in terms of quality teaching for our students. It is heartening to talk to our teachers and attend meetings where there is real excitement around creating a fantastic learning environment for all of our rangatahi. Last week we put on a morning tea for our teacher aides, Annette...

Samantha and her family in Franz Josef — Sam with her daughter Iona, husband Paul and daughter Yolanda by Sam Mortimer 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...

I have to begin this reflection with my two weeks in the South Island on holiday with my family. I was so lucky to spend three of these days in Greymouth where on the Friday I got to meet up with some colleagues for a drink and on the Monday went into school and met up with some others. I also managed to spend about 45 minutes with Andy which was excellent. I was so warmly welcomed - it was great! We also did some tourist things but not too much as there will be plenty of time for that. After our South Island holiday I went back to the Waikato and was in Te Aroha for three nights. Then I packed up on Friday 22nd January and I travelled to Greymouth via Christchurch and Hokitika airports. I spent the weekend in Greymouth where I managed to get into school and have a good look around and try to get my feet under the table just a little bit. On the Sunday I was visited by friends, whom I hadn’t seen for quite a while, who were on holiday in the South Island and happened to be near Grey...