Kōrero

Despite it being a short week there has been a lot going on in education, and at Craighead.

In a staffing update we have now appointed Mrs Nicole Gerber to our staff as a Fixed Term Full Time teacher in Maths and Science. Mrs Gerber comes to us from Opihi College, and will be working with predominantly in our Junior and Middle Schools and will be joining us in June. It is with sadness that we will farewell Mr Jacob Mulholland on April 29. Mr Mulholland has accepted the General Manager’s role for South Canterbury Basketball and we know he will be fabulous in this position – we wish him all the best in his future endeavours!

There will be changes to timetables next term as we move staff into new roles – Ms Emma Hall will begin her new role as TIC Music and Mrs Kathryn Ford will take over the teaching of 7EH as their Homeroom teacher. There will be some additional changes for students at various Year levels as we adjust timetables. We are trying to keep the disruption to the minimum across the board but we do apologise in advance for any concern this may cause. A big thank you to all staff for their flexibility and support as we welcome new staff and transition existing staff into new roles.

The Timaru District Council has just advised us that they will shortly begin installing new speed limit signs around the school. According to the flyer the streets around Craighead, including Craighead, Collingwood, Chalmers, Sealy and Melrose Streets along with part of Kitchener Square will be reduced to 30km in order to ensure the safety of school students and Tamariki. Please see the article later in this newsletter, also additional information will be available from TDC on their website from April 8. www.timaru.govt.nz/

In a past newsletter I wrote briefly about holidays in term time and what this can mean with regards reporting absences. I would like to clarify this further as addressing absenteeism and truancy from schools is one of the governments action points. Evidence indicates that parent condoned absenteeism is increasing – this is when parents or caregivers take their child or children who are enrolled at school on holiday or to an event during term time. Addressing this is not something that schools can take an independent approach with. Instead, schools are directed in their responses to follow the lawful requirements and rules in the Education and Training Act of 2020 and the processes and procedures set out by the Ministry of Education. Going forward, giving permission for holidays in term time therefore is something that we will rarely be able to approve and we ask you to carefully consider any future requests for this. It is also important to note that teachers are not expected to provide work for students who are away on an event or holiday in term time. Teachers are only expected to provide work for students who are absent if they are representing the school, or involved in school commitments. Should students miss assessments, or course completion requirements, due to events or holidays in term time, then this could compromise their ability to gain their qualification. In particular in the Senior School should an Internal Assessment for the Year 11 Diploma and NCEA Levels 2 and 3 be missed due to an unjustified absence there will be no additional assessment put in place to make up for this.

We have also just had advice from the Minister of Education - Erica Stanford that the implementation of the new NCEA Levels 2 and 3 has been pushed out by another two years. Therefore Level 2 will be implemented in 2028 and Level 3 in 2029. Additional information will be provided by the Ministry of Education over the coming weeks, along with further updates for the Year 1 – 10 Curriculum refresh, we will share this with you as this becomes available. For Craighead, we will remain working on the implementation of our Year 11 Diploma as a standalone and unique qualification for our students at Year 11. This will continue to be informed by the existing Level 2 standards and underpinned by best practice.

It was lovely to see so many of our students, parents, Old Girls and people associated with Craighead at the Mackenzie Show on Easter Monday. Although a cooler day than what we have experienced for the last couple of years, there was lots of laughter and conversations at the Craighead site. It’s always fabulous to see our students compete in the Highland dancing and in the ring on the ponies/horses.

It's been another great week for Craighead students in sport, with a number of both current and Old Girls, being selected in the New Zealand Under 18 and Senior Women's teams for the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championships. We would like to congratulate Charlotte Blake (Y12) who was selected for the U18 Heptathlon and Orla Motley (Old Girl) who was selected in the U18 Hammer Throw and Javelin. Congratulations also to Niamh Motley (Old Girl) who was selected for the Senior Women’s Steeplechase. Lauren Crawford continued her run of success at the World Skate Oceania Speed Skating Championships held in Timaru between 29th March - 2nd April. Competing in the Cadet Girls (Under 15) Grade, Lauren won two Golds, one in the 21km Marathon in a time of 42.52 minutes and the second in the 3000m Relay. She then went on to add a Silver in the 5000m Elimination and two Bronzes in the 1000m Sprint and 5000m Points Races to her overall medal tally. Congratulations to you all!

Today, Mrs Bradley (HOD Performing Arts) hosted the regional Aoraki Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival at Craighead. The calibre of the performances was high, and it was a pleasure to watch these young performers, from around the region, take on some really tricky Shakespeare pieces, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was wonderful to see the support for these young performers. There will be a full run down of the regional festival in the next newsletter.

With one week to go until the end of the term can we please remind parents to check winter uniform and ensure that kilts are the correct length, shirts are fit for purpose, that Year 13s have the correct tie and that blazers are drycleaned over the break to be ready for the transition to winter uniform.

We finish the term with the School Cross Country at West End park next Friday afternoon and you are more than welcome to come along and watch the girls complete the course – Craighead Connect will be there manning BBQ’s with a sausage sizzle and there will also be a coffee cart there for those hot drinks should the weather be chilly.

Have a safe weekend

Ngā Manaakitanga

Ms Lara Hearn-Rollo

PRINCIPAL