Principal's Page
Reminders and Apologies:
Kia Ora and apologies that I was unable to get a newsletter out last week. It has been a very busy time, and I have a lot to do and a lot to catch up on. We will get there, though.
A couple of really important reminders for you:
School will be closing at 12:30 pm this coming Tuesday, 15 November.
This is to allow our staff to attend their annual Paid Union Meeting. In the past, we have been able to remain open by having teachers attend meetings in various venues, with small groups out at a time. This year there is only one venue and one time. Therefore, as almost all staff are Union members, we have no choice but to close early.
After School Care, for those enrolled, will start at 2:40 pm / 2:50 pm as usual.
Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this causes our families.
We are holding a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday, 5 December - school will be CLOSED.
We have booked a full-day workshop with Adrienne from Liz Kane's acclaimed Structured Literacy programme. This will occur on Monday, 5 December - week 7 of term 4. This programme is dedicated to bridging the gap between evidence-based research and the teaching of reading, spelling and writing.
We celebrate some cool events and achievements in this newsletter.
Our two senior Touch Football teams are western Zone Champions yet again - for the fifth year in a row.
Our senior school athletics day brought more than just the usual challenges of trying to jump higher and run faster than our friends. There were added challenges of slippery grass, showers, and then high jumping in our hall when it just got too wet outside. We even broke our high jump bar, but luckily Duct Tape came to the rescue.
Check it all out, and next week I will add a YouTube compilation of mostly slo-mo movies from athletics day - the high jump segment is super cool and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all soon.
WHS Kids on TV
Kia ora Ash,
My name is Lucy, and I am a Production Coordinator for The DownLow Concept. I’m reaching out to inform you that our show My Favourite Dead Person has now been released, so your lovely tamariki that featured in the series and their whanau can finally have a watch!
The whole series can be found on TVNZ+ here:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/my-favourite-dead-person
Thanks again for helping us with the series through Covid and all sorts of obstacles. We are super proud of the show and could not have done it without the help of Western Heights School. We hope you enjoy the series!
Ngā mihi nui.
More on this later in this newsletter.
Finally, a couple of massive 'good luck wishes' to three very special teams.
Our senior and junior Jump Jam teams compete at the National Champs in Tauranga today. They have trained very hard, and their coaches, Jenna Aalbers and Rebekah King have put a huge amount of time, effort, creativity and focus into preparing both teams. Our senior team are competing in the 'Ultra' division, limited to the top six teams in the country. That is a massive achievement in itself!
The third team needing our support and best wishes is our Mighty Black Ferns Women's World Cup Rugby Team playing in the World Cup Final tomorrow. It will be a huge challenge, but they have the heart, skills and flair to rise to that challenge.
As always - if you have questions or concerns about anything school-related - email me at macash@mac.com, and I will get back to you asap.
Take care all -
tofa soifua
noho ora mai
Ash Maindonald
Principal.
