From the Senior Leadership Team

New Principal Appointment: The Otamatea High School Board is pleased to announce that they have appointed a new principal. Mr Todd Malcolm, currently Deputy Principal at Waiuku College, will start his new position at Otamatea High School at the beginning of term 3. The board were fully prepared to re-advertise this position if they did not feel there were any suitable candidates, but were very impressed with Mr Malcolm's application and the strengths he will bring to this crucial role. It is reassuring for me as current principal to know that the school will be in safe hands when I depart at the end of this term.

CCTV cameras: This week we have been replacing and upgrading all of our CCTV cameras. Our previous camera system was out of date, and with our growing school, not fit for purpose. Our main reasons for using camera surveillance is to deter and identify anyone entering the school grounds illegally, and to identify anyone engaging in criminal activity, misconduct, or behaviour risking harm to health and safety. We have a comprehensive Camera Surveillance Policy (all our policies can be accessed through the school website) that complies with the Privacy Act 2020. Only key staff members have access to the CCTV footage, and camera surveillance is not used to routinely monitor students (or staff). Camera footage is only viewed if there are reasonable grounds to do so. We do have some internal cameras such as in the computer rooms (due to the high value of equipment in these rooms), the cafe (to view the till), the workshops (as there are strict safety regulations that need to be adhered to in these rooms), and in the common, shared area in front of the new K-block toilets (to deter vaping). Please contact the principal if you have any questions about our CCTV system.

School Ball: The senior school ball will be held in the school hall on Saturday the 14th of September. The theme for the ball is "A Starry Night in Italy". Year 13s will be able to bring outside partners, and year 12s and 13s will be given priority to purchase tickets before these become available to year 11s. These restrictions are necessary because of the increased number of students we now have in the senior school.

 A reminder that school will close at 12.30pm on Thursday the 23rd May for a PPTA union meeting. Buses will be running at this time.

Support Staff Day lunch

To acknowledge and celebrate our amazing support staff at Otamatea High School, we held a lunch to show them how much we love them! 
They keep our school ticking and help behind the scenes to make school events and activities wonderful. 
Support Staff are awesome!!

Parent Teacher Interviews

Thank you to all the parents and caregivers who attended our Parent Teacher Interview event on Wednesday 15th May. It was wonderful to see so many whanau come along.
At anytime you can always find your childs teacher - you can find their email here https://www.otamatea.school.nz/our-school/staff

We also had at our parent-teacher event lovely librarian's from the Kaipara Libraries. They had all the information on the resources and libraries available in the Kaipara. Students and their whanau could sign up for a Kaipara Library card. 

Bullying prevention programme for Year 9

From the beginning of term 2, until the end of the year,  Mrs Antunovich will be meeting with every Year 9 core class, to deliver KiVa - bullying prevention program. 
She will be covering 4 themes throughout the year - these are;   - Peer pressure
- The group dynamic
- What are emotional skills 
- Consequences of bullying
Here is the parents' guide https://data.kivaprogram.net/parents/ however you can always check https://www.kivaprogram.net/

Year 9 Study Skills session

Last week our Year 9 dean, Robyn Baker, organised a 'Learning to Learn' session for our Year 9 students. This began with a free sausage sizzle. Then the students moved into the hall where Patrick Sheratt from Innervate shared his tips and tricks for learning new material and revising previous learning. It was a very interactive and varied presentation and included a popular segment where the students learnt how to juggle.

Pink shirt day mufti day

Friday was pink shirt day mufti day.  It was fantastic to see so many students wearing pink in support of bullying prevention. All the money raised goes to the Metal Health Foundation of New Zealand to reduce bullying; through raising awareness about bullying prevention, funding education workshops, and supplying thousands of free resources that promote inclusive workplaces, schools, and communities. 

Pink shirt day is celebrated annually around the globe, it began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new student was harassed for wearing pink.