Kōrero

Tēnā koutou katoa e te whānau o Craighead

Topics covered in this communication.

• Senior Study leave begins.
• November Board of Trustees meeting.
• Inauguration Day.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini

My achievements are not mine alone, but those of many.

Senior Study leave

Our Seniors students had their last day of formal classes on Tuesday 31 October. Following a shared BBQ lunch cooked by the Head Students and Senior Leadership Team, the Year 13 cohort continued the long-standing Craighead tradition of jumping in the school pool fully clothed. Because it was such a lovely day, they remained in the pool enjoying their time together for much longer than usual! We wish all our Seniors the very best for the upcoming external NCEA examinations, which begin on Monday 6 November.

Board of Trustees November meeting

The Languages Department presented their triennial report at this meeting, which was well received. As a school we value the benefits of learning a language, so we try to ensure our students are exposed to languages in our junior teaching programmes. Retaining students opting to continue with languages (French, German and Te Reo) through to the Senior school is always a challenge, and tend to reflect national trends. Our programmes are now more flexible in that they are tailored to individual student strengths. The Languages Department has a high profile around the school through the visibility of the Language Ambassadors, the Year 10 Master Chef competition, the Year 12 German Matariki celebration and with the ongoing connection to Multicultural Aoraki in Timaru. Two Year 12 Craighead students will undertake an exchange to Germany over the Christmas holidays, with their ‘sisters’ joining us in return at Craighead in February and March 2024.

Board members Ingrid Hanrahan and Quentin Cavanagh are standing down from serving on the Board of Trustees next month. Quentin has been fully involved in BOT Finance, and Health and Safety, while Ingrid was instrumental in supporting our transition to using SchoolDocs for policy management. Both have given excellent service to Craighead over several years, for which we are very grateful. The Board looks forward to welcoming two new members to the Board of Trustees after votes for the two actual vacancies are counted next week.

Inauguration Day

Our immediate focus is on students transitioning to Secondary School. Inauguration Day for our new students and their families is being held this Saturday between 10.30am and approximately midday, finishing with a shared lunch. We do appreciate the support, enthusiasm and assistance by our current Year 8 students on this special day. This is a chance to get to know our new students and their families/Whānau as they get ready to join the Craighead school community for 2024.