Stratford High Times

Kia ora whanau,

As 2023 draws to a close, I want to say thank you to you, our community, for your ongoing commitment and support of our school. 2023 has been a significant growth year and we cannot be prouder of the achievement of our students. A recent NCEA analysis of our student achievement before starting the exams showed that we were well ahead of previous years at all three year levels. In 2024 we have 158 year 9 students enrolled with us, which is the highest intake (by a long way) for many years. As we grow our roll, it allows us to offer more opportunities as we move forward. Bring on 2024!

2024 will come around very quickly and we will be back at school before you know it. Below are the key dates for the start of the year and you can find the keys dates overview for 2024 in this newsletter, as well as on our school website under ‘school information’.

Office Hours during the Holiday Period
The school office will open on the 22 January 2024. Stationery lists and uniform outline can be found on our school website. Start of the year reminders will be sent out via SchoolApps, Facebook and emails.

Wednesday 24 January 2024: Second Hand Uniform Sale - 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm in the school hall. Any uniform items you no longer require can be dropped off at the hall on Tuesday 23 January 2024 from 11.30am to 1.30pm.

Wednesday 24 January: 12.30pm all year 13 students meet at school for planning afternoon. More information will come via email.

Friday 26 January: Course confirmation in the hall – students enter via Shakespeare Suite. Please bring your NCEA results with you. Year 11 9.00am - 10.30am, Year 12 11.00am - 12.30pm, Year 13 1.30pm – 2.30pm.

Wednesday 31 January

First day of attendance for Year 9 and Year 13 only.

Students to meet in the school hall at 9.00am. Students will be given a short welcome (Powhiri will be on Friday). Uniform to be worn and students to bring pens, paper, computer, and sports gear in house colours for Tabloid Sports. Buses will be running.

NB: Y9 students will get their timetables on this day.

Thursday 1 February:

Year 9 and Year 13 only: NB: Year 13 students can go home at 1.30pm

Friday 2 February: Whole school attend.

Students meet in form classes. Students’ form teachers and classrooms will be emailed prior to the start of school. All new students to Stratford High School go to the hall. Powhiri in school hall at 10.00am for all.

There will be an email come out in the next few days with further information for 2024.

Have a wonderful Christmas and we hope you find some time to reconnect with family and friends. See you in 2024. Meri Kirihimete!

Cam Stone

Principal

Last Tuesday we farewelled a true legend. Raewyn spent almost 60 years committed to the Stratford High School community. Thank you for your contribution Raewyn and all the best for your retirement.

The end of the year is always a time of busyness and rushing around and that was certainly true at Whaimana Ako this year. Along with the usual panic to finish assessments and clean up the classroom for the holidays, we also found some time to unwind and have a little fun. It was some well-deserved excitement after a successful year of mahi and raising little ones. Our first activity for the week was kayaking down the Waitara river and although it is December the river was still very cold! Some of us unfortunately felt the full blast of that icy water as we tried to traverse some larger rapids and ended up in the river. Despite the occasional fall, some tired arms, and sunburn, most of us loved the adventure of it all and felt very accomplished at the end of the day. Our next activity was not quite so adventurous but a lot more competitive as we took on ten pin bowling and laser tag. We were lucky enough to have our two newest arrivals join us on that day, so we enjoyed lots of pēpē cuddles too. Our final day of activities was jam packed. First up we raced each other on the luge and attempted to beat the par on the mini putt course at the Hillsborough car museum. There may have been a little bit of cheating to make sure our handicaps were not too bad! It was a lovely warm day, so after mini putt we ordered fish and chips and ate at the beach. We followed this up with strawberry picking at Paradise Valley Berry Farm. Some of us could not resist those big juicy strawberries and may have gone a little overboard with the picking, so we gave some to Koru Kindy and the tamariki really enjoyed them. Finally, and most importantly, we celebrated all our students' achievements at a prize giving on Thursday. It was wonderful to recognise all the successes they have experienced and to celebrate and tautoko each other. Now it is time for a well-deserved brain break to get ourselves ready to tackle all the challenges 2024 will bring. Meri Kirihimete and a wonderful summer break to all.

Whilst we provide paracetamol to students in extreme cases, we are seeing quite a few students regularly coming straight from home asking for pain relief before the bell rings. We don't provide paracetamol before the first bell. If your child/ren are sick, please keep them at home. We are monitoring students who often come asking for pain relief.

With the weather warming up please ensure all students carry a drink bottle on them at all times as we've noticed students getting dehydrated and presenting with headaches.

Please inform the school office of any student achievements so that we can join in celebrating with them.

There are a variety of ways that you can make payments to cover school costs. The main office receives cash and EFTPOS payments and you can also pay online via direct credit. Parents can also set up an automatic payment to cover schooling costs. When setting up the automatic payment, consider a minimum payment of $15.00 per week, which is sufficient to pay for all school, curriculum and sport costs for a student during the year.

Payments will be automatically applied to “required payments”. Subsequent payments will sit as a credit on the student’s account. If you would like to have payments allocated to the “voluntary payments”, please email ts@stratfordhigh.school.nz with the details.

You can set this up by either using your bank’s online banking services or downloading the Automatic Payment Authority form and taking this to your bank. Please remember to use the students’ name for any payments.

Have you moved recently? Have you changed your phone number or email address recently? Please fill out the following form to advise us of your new details. Also fill out this form if you have not been receiving emails from the school. There are a number of families who we don't currently have an email address for.

It is very important we have the correct information for your child in case there is an emergency and we need to contact you immediately. If any contact details change throughout the year please let the school office know.

As we progress through the year, remember to check your son's or daughter's results on the Kamar app or portal: https://stratfordhigh.school.kiwi/ If you have any questions, please contact the subject teacher in the first instance.

- Dr. Michael Taylor

Deputy Principal (Curriculum)

Our Charter is now available to view on our website. The charter sets the direction for our school and identifies our priorities as a school community.

The Stratford High School Policies and Procedures are managed online, through School Docs. To visit our School Docs, click here.

Our school username is: stratfordhigh

Our parent password is: swansearoad4332

You will find policies for review and more information about the review process under the "Current Review" tab. We welcome your feedback via this review process.

Rummage around for those unwanted mobile phones to donate!

We have a Mobile Phone Collection Box in our office.

The Mobile Phone Recycling Scheme has raised over $3 million for NZ charities thanks to the support of Businesses, Government Departments, Organisations and many thousands of individuals from all over NZ.

Phones received are graded, data wiped and sim/memory cards removed and destroyed. Phones that can still be used are sold by tender to off-shore businesses that specialise in the resale of second-hand mobile phones. They are refurbished and sold as low-cost handsets to places like Africa and Asia. Phones that have reached their end of life are broken down and recycled in an environmentally friendly way with up-to 95% of their materials being recycled into other products. Regardless of condition, working or non-working, make or model all mobile phones are accepted by the Mobile Phone Recycling Scheme.

The Public Health Nurse will be at school one day every week for any health needs. Clinic is confidential and free.

• Health and hauora (wellbeing checks)
• General health concerns
• Contraception
• Condoms and pregnancy tests
• STI checks and the morning after pill

To book an appointment, see the school office reception or contact the Public Health Nurse, Steph Bakker on 027 406 4822 or email stephanie.bakker@tdhb.org.nz.

Please see the office staff if a hearing or vision test is required.

Please find below key contacts for staff at school.

Senior Leadership Team

Principal: Mr Cameron Stone

Deputy Principal Curriculum: Dr Michael Taylor

Deputy Principal Pastoral and School Organisation: Ms Kelly Jennings

Assistant Principal/Academic achievement: Ms Allana George

Principal's PA: Miss Diane Lithgow

School Board Secretary: Mrs Amanda Hill

Principal's Nominee

For all enquiries regarding NZQA or Te Kura

Mr Dirk Vermeulen: extension 707 or email

Deans for 2023

Year 9: Mr Jeff Walker

Year 10: Miss Jodie Sullivan

Year 11: Miss Peta Apperley

Year 12: Mr Colin Franklyn

Year 13: Mr Bill McGeoch

Guidance Counsellor: Ms. Liza Albers

Learning Support Coordinator: Mrs. Lisa Dent

For all other enquires please contact the school office 06 765 6039

Email: mail@stratfordhigh.school.nz
Website: www.stratfordhigh.school.nz
Location: Stratford High School Swansea Road, Stratford, New Zealand
Phone: 06-7656039
Facebook: facebook.com/SHSTaranaki

Instagram: @shstaranaki @heart_SHS @shs_SADD_team

Life101 Launchpad special offer

Concerned your teen doesn’t have the life and financial skills to survive or thrive in the real world?

Sign them up for the Life101 Launchpad — a fun and engaging online course for teens to learn fundamental life skills based on four key areas – Work-Ready, Financial, Investments and Identity. It contains a series of nine one-hour workshops utilising scenario based learning so teens understand the practical application of the skills in real-world situations.

9 hours of learning can change your teen's future! Sign them up before the end of January using the code LAUNCHPAD20 for a 20% discount.

For more information and to sign up go to www.101launchpad.co.nz

Part time Saturday work to start in the New Year is available for a fit student at Goldpine, Stratford. Work will involve some lifting and also sales. Interested Yr 11, 12 or 13 students can contact Jim Cooper

on 06 765 4256 or 027 4939 100 for more information.

For more information regarding Free Home Internet, please click on the link https://edos.kiwi/

Does your child require further support, over and above what can be offered at school?

Would your child benefit from bespoke and nurturing learning sessions from a highly experienced teacher designed to accelerate learning and boost confidence? We would love to help. We are a team of dedicated teachers, specialising in English and Maths support, for primary, intermediate and college students. Visit www.boostyourlearning.co.nz for more information or contact Jenny 021 223 3349 to book a free consultation.

We are delighted to advise Stratford High School are on the way to reaching the $1,000 threshold for redemption.

The current total is $912.34.

We are super excited to introduce our newest addition to the program: Vegepod's. At Fern, we believe in the power of connecting kids with nature. Hands-on gardening experiences not only teach crucial life skills but also creates social bonds and boosts well-being.

Once we have reached the $1,000 target we can redeem from a range of sports, technology, literacy, and music packages which will be hand delivered by your local Rural Sales Manager.

The Fuel for Schools sponsorship programme has helped put over $1.7 million dollars of resources into more than 600 rural schools in the last fifteen years.

Just a reminder of how SHS has received this donation...

SHS has been nominated by a local business/farm that receives bulk fuel deliveries from Fern, meaning that for every 100 litres of bulk fuel they purchase, 50 cents is donated to SHS. We would like to take the time to mention who those members of the community are that have contributed to SHS. They are listed as follows:

• Amberhay Limited - Finnerty Road
• Cornwall Park Farms Limited - AGO
  
• G & M Collins Family Trust
• Makino Deer Limited
• Palmerdell Trust 91 Only
  
• Palmerdell Trust AGO only
• Palmerdell Trust
• Cornwall Park Farms Limited
• WE & JJ Craig
• GN & RL Smith Trusts Partnership

Rural communities and schools everywhere can enjoy the benefits of the Fuel for Schools programme. For more information about the programme, call 0800 99 99 89 or visit their website fernenergy.co.nz/community/fuel-for-schools