Stratford High Times

Malo e lelei, Talitali fiefia, Kia ora, Hello,

Another busy (and wet) month in August, but there have been some impressive efforts from our students during this time.

During Winter Tournament Week, I travelled around the lower North Island to watch our teams participate in their competitions. Our Senior A Netball team were impressive, improving on their placing from last year amongst the lower North Island schools. Our Hockey team played some stunning hockey, winning two of their games in the last moments, one including a penalty shoot-out and our two basketball teams played some spectacular basketball in Palmerston North. Both teams competed hard and had impressive wins throughout the week.

Not least was our conduct on the sports field. It is important to play to win, but sportsmanship should always come first. This was certainly the case for our teams throughout the week and I couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them.

The talent shown at our Lions Music awards was outstanding. It sounds very cliché, but the performances get better every year, and this is a credit to Mr Orr, our itinerant music teachers and the music programme that is available to our students. Special thanks must go to the Stratford Lions Club for their support each year to allow our students to shine.

As we near the completion of our Derived Grade Exams (these may have finished by the time you read this), it signals that the end of the year, and our NCEA examinations, are just around the corner. It is paramount that our students give themselves the best opportunity to be successful by setting up a daily routine of revision and planning for these exams. We don’t want our students to be in a position where they are saying “if only...” when the results come out in January. Hard work now will allow students to acquire the results that set them up to be able to excel in the world beyond school.

Two weeks to go in the term, we hope you are able to connect with your family in some way during the two-week break.

Nga mihi

Cam Stone

Principal

The 2023 Lions Music Awards were held on Wednesday 23 August, at Mountainview Vineyard Church.

This annual awards collaboration with Stratford High School and the Stratford Lions Club was a huge success, with so many incredible performances.

This year there was a distinctly theatrical feel to many of the performances, with music from huge Broadway hits such as Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera, and one of Queens greatest hits, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Judges Ben McLeod, Mary-Anne McCallum and Lauren Nottingham deliberated, and awarded the 5 categories as follows:

Best Solo Instrumental - Connor Barrow Liebestraum No 3 (Liszt)

Best Solo Vocal

1st Indi Single Burn
2nd = Bryan Adams Isn’t She Lovely and Brenna Johnson When He Sees Me

3rd Charlotte Frazier Don’t Rain on My Parade, The Phantom of the Opera

Best Group Performance - Expiring Youth Wonderland

Best Original Song - Bryan Adams Isn’t She Lovely

Most Polished Performer - Indi Single

Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Term 2 and 3 have been a whirlwind of sporting events. We have had teams participating in Winter Sports Leagues for netball, basketball, football, hockey and rugby. We have also had numerous TSSSA events, our annual exchange with Taita College in the Hutt Valley, and NZ Secondary Schools Tournament week.

We brought home the Taita exchange trophy with wins in both netball games, both basketball games, and the girls rugby. Taita won both volleyball and the boys rugby game. All games were played in a good competitive spirit. Our students enjoyed their visit to Taita.

Last week we had our Senior A Netball team, both Senior A boys and girls Basketball teams and our Boys 1st XI Hockey team away at various tournaments, and they all represented our school with pride.

Thank you to all the parents, staff and community members for your commitment to our teams, whether coaching, managing, transporting or supporting. Thank you also to those who travelled to the tournaments with our teams.

Another huge thank you to NZCT and Team Hope for helping with funding our students and to the parents who organised the many fundraising opportunities for the teams.

Next week on the calendar there are TSSSA Road Relays (Monday) and our Tough Boy, Tough Girl Challenge (Friday) and then our Senior Girls Basketball team are heading off to Nationals in the school holidays. We wish them good luck in that tournament.

Have a great break over the holidays.

Philippa Smith, Sports Coordinator

Twelve students from Te Rangimārie participated in Horses Helping Humans - Hoiho Hapai Hapori.

Horses Helping Humans™ is an internationally recognised, award-winning programme which empowers vulnerable youth/rangatahi, providing them with lifelong skills to proactively manage anxiety, anger, stress and pressure.

The students received their certificates and trophies in assembly last week. Congratulations to: Mondy Breakwell, Cearne Cameron, Renee Eagar, Deontae Gooch-Marr, Isaac Giblin, Emily Grant, Josef Haisman, Ruby Peters, Levi Sherman, Shania Taylor, Kylah Willing and Shannon Wyllie

It is not just Te Rangimārie students who have benefited from Horses Helping Humans. A total of 32 Stratford High School students have now completed the course.

The course costs $1000 per student and we appreciated the support of Laura Menzies from HHH in sourcing funds so our students could participate at no cost to their families. We held a mufti day to thank HHH for their support and to raise funds for improvements to their facilities.

On Thursday 7th September Whaimana Ako (our Teen Parent Unit) travelled to Palmerston North for a Netball Tournament against the Lower North Island Teen Parent units. The day started with early pick-ups from New Plymouth and Waitara before 6am. We placed 4th overall with a win over Wellington and Levin. The girls' skills improved with each game. After prize giving, we went to the Lido pools for a soak and slide, followed by McDonalds for dinner on the way home. Big thanks to Ms Kay for sorting the uniforms for us and to Pip and Kayanna for the coaching and managing!

Preparations are well underway for the jubilee at Labour Weekend.

Last week some of our current students dressed up in the fashions of previous generations of Stratford High School students.

We have had some of our former students graduate from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington between June 2022 and May 2023.

It is with great pleasure to acknowledge and celebrate the students' wonderful success.

Kate-Lyn Edser - BA - Bachelor of Arts - Political Science

Sian-Marie Utton - GDTCSC - GDip Teaching (Secondary)

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is very proud of the achievements of these students, as are we at Stratford High School.

We strongly encourage students who have a device at home (other than a cellphone) to bring it to school on a daily basis. We are aware that some students are choosing not to bring devices which puts pressure on our internal loan system. Thank you for your support as we continue to embed the BYOD process at school. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school office who will put you in touch with the right people.

If there are any students who are unable to bring their own device, they can speak to classroom teachers to support them in acquiring a borrowed device from school.

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)

We've got a small favour to ask. When you pick up drench for your stock and get new webbing and sliders, could you please hang onto them for us? We are all about recycling and promoting sustainability in our sewing class, and these items can find a new life with us. Thank you for joining hands with us to reduce waste and promote a greener approach.

Our metal department are on the lookout for any scrap steel that can be donated to the school Anything will be considered; old horseshoes, angle iron, anything.

Please email Colin Franklyn fc@stratfordhigh.school.nz

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.

• MoneyHub has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2024.
• https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/scholarships-nz.html is the link.
• The comprehensive list includes scholarships offered by every university as well as those specifically available to local students.
• A list of privately-funded, Maori, Pacific and International university scholarships completes the list
• Applications close throughout the year, with tens of millions of dollars available.
• MoneyHub has also published a list of tips for scholarship success.

Massey University Open Days

All campuses REGISTER NOW

Canterbury University

Wednesday 20 September REGISTER NOW

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
• Vision and hearing

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.

Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust are once again offering FREE Water Safety Lessons at Wai O Rua – Stratford Aquatic Centre these holidays from 25th September till 29th September 23.

These are great lessons and being FREE opens up from every family/person 8 years and older to attend.

Te Kawa o runga, te kawa o raro, ko te kawa ora, ko te kawa ora! Tēnei au te rukuruku iho ki rō te iaia o Hāhā-o-te-whenua, puai rā ki te kōtihitihi o Te Kāhui Maunga, tēnā te ahurewa tapu o te Kāhui Kāhika, ka kā te whaititiri, rarapa te uira, he tuhi rangi, he tuhi ariki.

Āwhinatia tō hapori kia whakaputaina ngā whakairo

Help your community have their say

Tēna koe

The 2023 General Election will be held in October and we want every eligible New Zealander to enrol and vote.

Voting starts on Monday 2 October and finishes at 7pm on election day, Saturday 14 October.

We’d like your help to get as many New Zealanders as possible to have their say. Let’s work together to make that happen.

You can help by sharing information with your community about enrolling and voting in this year’s General Election.

On our website vote.nz you’ll find information and links to resources you can download or order to share in a variety of ways – on social media, on your website, in newsletters or direct communications, or as display materials at your workplace, marae, library, or community centre to help spread the word to your friends, whānau and community.

Resources are available in different languages, te reo Māori dialects, and alternate formats. We’ll continue adding new resources to share as the election approaches.

We value your support in helping us make information about enrolling and voting available to your community and encouraging their participation in the 2023 General Election.

Enrol. Vote. Be Heard.

I am a registered social worker, who has also studied Child Centred Play Therapy, as well as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. In addition, as a solo mother I have experienced the gauntlet in range of emotions a parent could face, and behaviours a child could exhibit. Probably the biggest lesson I have learned is how heartbreaking parenting can be if you don’t get it right. Hence my website www.nextchapterparenting.co.nz.

In addition to the resources on the website, I offer individual or group parenting classes for parents of preschool and school age, as well as a course for parents of teenagers.

Brigid Carkeek

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.

I am an experienced singing teacher formerly from New Plymouth, now residing in Stratford. I am available to teach contemporary and musical theatre and vocal private lessons at the address below.

All enquiries please phone 0211905054

Mrs Mary WIlliams

38a Flint Road West

Stratford 4332

Advanced after-school coding lessons available for ages 9 - 18. To give your child the opportunity to learn how to programme technology apply now at codingnz.com/signup

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