Kōrero

Respect/Whakaute is one of our key values at Craighead and at Assembly this week I spent a bit of time unpacking what this means at Craighead. This ultimately comes down to showing regard for our people, our place and our learning. By valuing people’s abilities and worth, their feelings and views, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them, and that we accept people on an equal basis – so giving everyone the same consideration you would like to receive is showing respect. Therefore, it starts with oneself and is extended to others and is captured beautifully in the golden rule of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Treat other people with the concern and kindness you would like them to show towards you.

In assembly three main categories of respect were identified – respect for people, respect for place and respect for learning. At Craighead we expect our students to show respect to those people they interact with on a daily basis – their peers, teachers and other adults that work in the school, their parents and members of our community. Respect for place is defined as showing care for our environment, our grounds, buildings and communal spaces. Ensuring that our surroundings are left free of rubbish, that our classrooms are left clean and tidy is key to ensuring our campus remains beautiful. Finally, respect for learning, which is key to achieving success. That respect for learning is shown by engagement in class, completion of work on time and meeting assessment deadlines. But it is a bit more than that, it is recognising and respecting the desire that parents have for their children, of being the best person they can be, and that comes through recognising the importance of learning.

Linked to this concept of respect for learning is the focus on attendance under the “Every Day Matters” tagline. Attendance at school is vital to ensuring that progression in learning and understanding is not lost. You can find additional information from the Ministry of Education here https://parents.education.govt.nz/essential-information/attendance-every-day-matters/ about illness and attendance. We have already alerted parents to the increasing spotlight of holidays in term time and unjustified absences. If you are interested in reading more about this then you will find some interesting information at the following link https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/attendance

Perseverance was the message in Chapel this week with Rev Steph who told us a bit about New Zealand author Joy Cowley and the significant obstacles she overcame to become one of our most prolific writers of children’s books. Cowley began writing at 16 and later in life, when it was discovered that one of her sons had difficulty learning to read she began writing books for him. In all she has written several books for adults, but it is possibly the 41 picture books including the classic, Mrs Wishy Washy that she is famous for. However, the message that we all took from this Chapel though was the perseverance that Cowley displayed. Without access to blogs, vlogs, substack and other writing and editing aids that the internet provides to aspiring writers today, Cowley, like other authors of her time, sent manuscript after manuscript to editors and publishers before one was accepted, by The Listener, and printed. It is this type of perseverance, in which one continues to work on something until success is experienced, where one faces rejection and yet continues to seek opportunities that builds character and resilience, this can be applied to all facets of our lives.

Sport is now well underway for the term. We have had some great successes in Rugby, Cycling and Football. On Monday our First XV took out the inaugural game against Columba College 35-29, in what will become an annual fixture and, in time, a traditional fixture between the two schools. In Cycling Olivia Greenaway-Ewing represented New Zealand in the MNCF Malaysian President Cup in Kuala Lumpa where she won a Silver Medal in the 3km Team Pursuit and a Bronze medal in the Elimination Race, a superb effort from a young cyclist! In football both our First and Second XI travelled to Ōamaru where they took on St Kevins and Waitaki Girls respectively with the Firsts coming away with a 5-2 win over St Kevins. Netball and Hockey have now started their seasons and games are underway on Saturday and Sunday at the Aorangi Stadium.

We were thrilled to have fifteen of our students involved in the music exchange to Ōamaru on Wednesday. Hosted by Waitaki Girls High School, students were involved in learning and then performing mass orchestral items allowing them to learn valuable skills such as working together, following good ensemble practice and listening to those around them. Thank you to Ms Emma Hall for her support of the girls in this Exchange.

We did alert parents to some important dates that are coming up, quite soon now. On Thursday May 16 there is a regional Paid Union Meeting (PUM) for all members of PPTA from 1.30pm. School will close at lunchtime and students will be released home for the afternoon. There will be limited supervision provided at school between 1.20 and 3.20pm – please contact the school office on admin@craighead.school.nz or 03 688 6074 if your daughter needs supervision that afternoon. Sunday May 19 is our Open Day and we will be welcoming prospective students into the school between 2 and 4pm that afternoon. If you are unsure of what is happening that day, then please refer back to last week’s Newsletter. Finally, on May 31 all teachers in the region are involved in a Teacher Only Day and school will be closed for instruction that Friday. Matariki also falls in Term Time this year and school will be closed on Friday June 28.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and to all our Mum's - Happy Mother's Day for Sunday!

Ngā Manaakitanga

Mrs Lara Hearn-Rollo

Principal