Stratford High Times

Term three has seen several changes of staff in our school.

Mrs Riejanne Campbell has taken a position at Te Paepae o Aotea and will finish at the end of the term. She has been a wonderful asset in our hospitality classes and as senior academic Dean.

Mrs Karla Ralph will be taking a career change in early November when she departs to take the position as Regional Sports Director for Sport Taranaki. I am sure we will see her at many of the TSSSA events encouraging our students.

Miss Keely Burnell will be starting as a part-time learning support assistant in Te Rangimarie

Mrs Emma Bolger has taken the reception and attendance position so you will see her in the main office now. I would like to thank Ms Jane Tobin for filling in so admirably this year until this appointment was made.

On the 24th of August, the Year 13 physical education class ran Stratford High School's annual Tough Guy, Tough Girl event. The class began researching safety management and the risk and hazards involved in running such an event, as soon as that was done, we cracked into it, with the helping hand of Mrs. Ralph, Philippa Smith and our school caretakers. Our class had 24 obstacles to prepare, with the addition of 3 new obstacles this year including the climbing wall, spiders web and the ramp. None of which would’ve been possible without the help of Brad Gibbons. We also brought in the big guns and hired a digger for the long jump pit, which was 2 meters deep and sure to get participants dirty on the day!! Our class was out digging holes in the midst of winter and there was a real sense of teamwork within the class. The week coming up to the event Stratford High Schools other PE classes joined in on the action, all working together to get this course to completion.

The term flew by, and the day of the event was finally on our doorstep! The signage was out on the course and our 46 volunteer marshals were all stationed at their posts. The 400 primary school participants started rolling in, some even travelling for an hour! We sent them out in waves, each student was filled with anticipation and excitement. Each student came back coated in mud but what was even more noticeable was the big smile on their faces. We allowed them to have 2 laps each, but some students crammed in 4. We also had our Te Rangimarie students and the TPU join in on the fun. It was awesome to see the participation and seeing our Te Rangimarie students get out of their comfort zone. Philippa was waiting for the students at the finish line with a large fire hydrant hose, which was almost unavoidable but meant students were clean before leaving. Our Year 13 hospitality class was kind enough to take care of food for the day, they gave everyone a sausage and hot raro before we sent the primary schools on their way!

The afternoon came by, and we were finally ready for our Stratford High School students to give our course a go. It was great to see the participation amongst our school and everyone giving it their all. The primary schools had broken the course in for them, and it was muddier than ever. Students and teachers had no chance of keeping clean. The day finally came to an end and our Year 13 PE class gave each other a well-deserved pat on the back. Our Tough Guy, Tough Girl course was a massive success, and we can’t thank our volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without you. We also thank Sports Taranaki, Tu Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund, Hire 2 U, Stratford ITM, Brad Gibbons Builders, Fire & Emergency New Zealand for sponsoring our event and making it possible. Our Year 13 PE class made it through thick and thin to put this course together and it came out great! I’m sure the course will continue to be great in future years to come.

Troy Price

After a three year absence, the Lions Music Awards were back – bigger and better, and more full of musical talent than ever before. Stratford High School and the Stratford Lions club have a long history of staging these awards, so it was amazing to be able to continue this tradition in 2022. Mountainview Vineyard Church provided the perfect venue for a spectacular event.

The evening kicked off with accomplished piano instrumentals from Hannah Burroughs and Connor Barrow, with Connor’s flawless rendition of Chopin’s Nocturne in Eb Major leaving the audience feeling as though they were in a concert hall in London or Paris.

There was strong competition in the Solo Vocal category, with Breezy (Bryan Adams) and 2EZ (Ephraim Ingram) performing original songs - showcasing their song-writing and singing talents. Indi Single powerfully took on A Thousand Years, Chrissy Manuel-Isaacs had great audience rapport,with Feeling Good, and Emily Grant’s angelic voice was a perfect match for her song choice Take a Bow. The soulful tones of Te Awe Ngatai Turahui as she performed a new original song, Hard to Say Goodbye, and powered out Better Days were not to be missed.

Solo performers re-grouped to perform in the Group category. Bryan and Ephraim became EZ Breezy - breezing through their original song, Home. Indi and Kauby (aka Moana and Maui) harmonised to All of Me, brother and sister duo Grant and Te Awe Ngatai Turahui sung original song, High Vibrations, The 3 Musketeers (Megan Joubert, Jason Joubert, Jack Sullivan) rocked out to 90’s hit, All the Small Things. The final act for the night, The Crawlers, really know how to light up a crowd. Their electric performance had audience members up and dancing to their hits, Nightmare and Rockstars.

The standard of the performances was high, but after much deliberation from the judges (Tecwyn King, Mary-Anne McAllum, Heidi Seales), the winners were announced:

CATEGORY WINNERS

Best Solo Vocal – 2EZ (Ephraim Ingram)

Best Solo Instrumental – Connor Barrow

Best Group Performance – The Crawlers (Chrissy Manuel-Issacs, Elysse Kerr, Reuben Barker, Coby van Pelt, Kauby Ngatai-Northcott)

Most Polished Performer – The Crawlers

Best Original Song – Ephraim Ingram, Heart Strings

Below is the first of the videos taken on the night. Please go to the youtube channel to see more.

This season we had two boys and two girls teams competing in the “Hipp Accounting” Secondary School League, as well as three boys teams in our local Stratford Winter League.

The Junior Boys team was entirely made of year 9 students with great potential, they were coached by Jacki Berry and showed a huge improvement over the course of the season. Our Junior Girls, under the coaching of Willie Banks, continued their form from 2021 with a very strong season. They ended the round robin competition as top qualifiers which earnt them a direct path to the finals.

The Senior Boys and Girls teams both played well throughout the season and earned the right to playoff for the winters of Tier 2. Thank you to Daniel Gibbons for coaching the senior girls’ team and assisting and learning from Willie in the process.

Finals day for all sections was held on Saturday 10 September at the TSB stadium in New Plymouth. Thank you to all the families and staff who came to support our teams. The Senior Boys had a good win over Hawera High School 84-65, this was a great result as we had narrowly lost to them during the season. Peyton Powell was named MVP for the match. The Senior Girls also had a good game with a win over NPGHS Snr A by 63-53, Arabella Barber was named MVP for this game.

The Junior Girls had a great battle with NPGHS 9A who pulled away towards the end and took the win by 94-71. This was a tough game for our girls and they should be super proud of their efforts. Zeta Barber, Addison Whitikia and Camryn Austin were all named in the “All Star Five” team for 2022.

At the beginning of September we had three teams attend NZSS tournament week. The junior girls, whose tournament was in New Plymouth, had some very close matchups and managed to finish in 4th place.

The Senior Boys and Girls travelled to Palmerston North to compete in the NZSS North Island tournament for schools with a roll of under 600 students (or 300 for single sex schools). With the goal of finishing in the top 7 and therefore qualify for the National Tournament in October, both teams started well with two wins each, putting them in the top half of the playoffs. After losing a couple of games that were within reach, they both finished in 8th spot. However, with the withdrawal of some other schools, both teams have now been accepted into the NZSS National Tournament in Palmerston North from 3-6 October. Thank you to the four junior girls who also played in the senior team this season.

Thank you to Jacki, Willie, and Daniel for your commitment and dedication to our teams and also to Hayley Loveridge and Gemma Whitikia for managing the girls’ teams. Without all of you the teams would not get the opportunities that they do. Thank you also to Mr Dan Kerr for coming to the recent tournament with us as the boy’s manager. I am also extremely grateful to ex-student Quintin Bailey, upon completion of his own season, who agreed to come on board and coach the senior boys for me prior to the North Island tournament. Unfortunately, he was unable to come to that tournament because of other commitments but will be travelling with the boys to Nationals.

To the teams, please work hard and train hard for the next three weeks to finish the year on a positive and successful note.

Philippa Smith

Sports Coordinator

All students have started to receive our School Heart Values rewards which we call our Heart tickers both inside and outside the classroom from their teachers and support staff members.

Heart tickers are given to all students who promote our school values and school expectations. These are given in subject classes, during EOTC activities, field trips, sports, cultural, arts, practices and events. Other ways of receiving a heart ticker are as follows: being an upstander, helping another student, picking up rubbish.

Our Heart values are below:

Students are beginning to redeem heart tickers for prizes.

The canteen will be open to collect prizes once a week during Thursday lunchtimes.

Hot Food Prizes are available in week 5 and week 10 each term.

Chocolate bars, school equipment are ready now.

If your child has reached a milestone and received 30, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 heart tickers, you will have a KAMAR email sent home to whanau acknowledge their efforts.

Ways your child redeems a Heart ticker for a Prize

1. Your son or daughter can tell their form teacher
2. The form teacher will be checking Heart ticker totals within their form class.
3. They can complete a Heart ticker prize slip kept with their form teacher and give it back to their form teacher.

We are looking forward to heading into Term 3 and wanted to remind students, parents, caregivers and whanau about how we do things at Stratford High School.

You will be aware the Prime Minister announced on Monday 12 Sept that Cabinet agreed to remove the COVID-19 Protection Framework as of Monday 12 September at 11.59pm.

This decision to move away from the traffic lights of the COVID-19 Protection Framework has been made based on public health advice and reflects high levels of immunity in our communities and declining case numbers, which in turn has seen declining demand on the health system from COVID-19. The two key changes impacting education providers are:

· The removal of the requirement for household contacts to isolate. Instead, they will be asked to test for COVID-19 for five days.

· Masks are no longer required on public transport or school transport and in line with other mask changes, they are no longer strongly recommended in school settings.

· Mask wearing at school will be a matter of personal choice.

· Positive cases remain legally required to isolate for seven days. Anyone who is symptomatic, including household contacts, should stay at home and get tested for COVID-19

With a rise in COVID-19, seasonal colds, flu and other respiratory infections in our communities, this guidance is to help you manage your child’s illness.

KEY WELLNESS INDICATORS

· Healthy young children can have up to 8 to 12 colds or upper respiratory tract infections each year. These are a normal part of childhood.

· A child should stay at home if they appear unwell or if they develop any of these symptoms: new runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, they are off their food and drink or show signs of feeling miserable.

· If a child becomes increasingly unwell and/or you are concerned about them, call your GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116. A child who is refusing to drink anything is likely to be very unwell.

· If an in-person appointment is required, follow your GP’s processes, which will include everyone wearing a mask if they can safely and practically do so.

· If you or a child you are caring for develops difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, fainting or becomes unconscious, call 111 immediately.

Find reliable information on how to manage colds and flus on KidsHealth and Health Navigator.

Information about health and wellbeing of tamariki and rangatahi – KidsHealth

Health information for New Zealanders – Health Navigator

· If a child has been unwell with an illness other than COVID-19, they can return to their school 24 hours after they have significantly improved and are behaving/eating normally.

· If a child still has a runny nose or dry cough without any other symptoms such as a fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, they are unlikely to be infectious and could be considered well enough to attend school. They should not be required to provide a doctor’s certificate or clearance to return.

· Any child who has a runny nose after a change in temperature – for example, moving from outdoors to indoors – or sneezes due to obvious stimuli (such as the sun or dust) does not need to be sent home.

· Hay fever and other allergies can show similar symptoms to the common cold such as sneezing, a runny or stuffy nose and coughing. If a child has a history of allergic symptoms and shows one or more of these symptoms, or an itchy face (especially around the eyes or throat), consider if hay fever or an allergy could be the cause. You may want to check with the child’s caregiver to confirm.

Follow this guidance to help keep children and whānau stay healthy during the winter months.

Provide children with healthy and nutritious food to eat. Healthy eating supports immunity and helps our bodies to work well and feel good.

Food, activity and sleep – Ministry of Health

Support children to get enough sleep. Sleep is important for restoring energy, maintaining mental and physically wellbeing, learning, and aiding healthy growth and development.

Helping young children sleep better – Ministry of Health

Encourage and create opportunities for children to be active. Being active at home, at school, at play during the weekends and in the community helps children maintain good health and wellbeing.

Activities for children and young people – Ministry of Health

It is a good idea to encourage children to play outdoors – they just need to be dressed warmly during the winter months!

Being outdoors helps to boost children’s immune systems through exposure to fresh air and enables them to make vitamin D from exposure to the sun.

Please advise SHS School office whenever your child is going to be offsite or absent from any classes.

Please note that any absences must be reported by parents/ caregivers to the school as confirmation of students' absence or sign in/out times. Students are required to always sign in/out at Student office using the vistab. Our office staff will check with the student as to why they are leaving and will contact you if there has been no communication. You child can show the office staff evidence by text, appointment card or parent note or can receive your phone call.

When reporting an absence, please be sure to mention:

• Student Name (first and last name)
• Tutor Group or Year Level
• Date(s) of absence
• Absent time (e.g. all day or from 10:30am to 12:30pm or signing out at 1:00pm)
• Reason for Absence (e.g. sick or appointment (doctor, dentist etc.) or late or holiday etc or government mandated isolation).

Please let the office know if the circumstances change for any reason.

19 September: Year 9 option changes

20 September: School photo day

21 September: NCEA Numeracy Pilot

22 September: NCEA Literacy Pilot

Monday 26 September: National Memorial Day for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. School will be closed for classes on this day.

27 September: Sports team photos

Friday 30 September: Last day for term 3

During the holiday break there may be some classes held at school for revision. Students should have information from their teachers if this opportunity is being offered.

Monday 17 October: First day for term 4

Monday 24 October: Labour Day holiday.

Please find below a number of contacts for the staff at school. Your child will have their class teacher or form teachers email address on the Microsoft Teams pages.

Senior Leadership Team

Principal: Mr Cameron Stone - sc@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Deputy Principal Curriculum: Dr Michael Taylor - MTaylor@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Deputy Principal Pastoral and School Organisation: Mrs Karla Ralph - kralph@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Principal's PA: Diane Lithgow - dl@stratfordhigh.school.nz

School Board Secretary: Amanda Hill - Amanda.h@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Principal's Nominee

For all enquires regarding NZQA or Te Kura

Mr Dirk Vermeulen: extension 707 or email: dvermeulen@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Deans for 2022

Year 9: Mr Jeff Walker wj@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Year 10: Ms Peta Apperley ap@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Year 11: Mr Colin Franklyn - fc@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Year 12: Mr Bill McGeoch - mw@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Year 13: Miss Jodie Sullivan - sj@stratfordhigh.school.nz or
Miss Danica Beaton bd@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Academic Dean: Mrs Riejanne Campbell cr@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Guidance Counsellor: Liza Albers – lalbers@stratfordhigh.school.nz

Learning Support Coordinator: Lisa Dent – ldent@stratfordhigh.school.nz

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

We have been having a number of calls regarding access to KAMAR. Below is a step by step instruction to access the KAMAR website:

1. Go to SHS (Stratford High School) website
2. Click on KAMAR blue button under the photos on the front page
3. This will take you to website - stratfordhigh.school.kiwi
4. Logon at top right hand corner using your Kamar login
5. Click on Details - this is a drop-down box which has various options (including financials)

You can go directly to the website without going through SHS website.

By using the website portal you will have access to financials, reports, subject selection, and other important information. The app will only give basic contact information.

Have you moved recently? Have you changed your phone number or email address recently? Please contact the school office and update your details.

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.

This year the policies for review are our Health and Safety Management policies. See below for instructions to provide feedback on this policy.

1. Visit the website Stratford HS Policies and Procedures (schooldocs.co.nz)
2. Enter the username (stratfordhigh) and password (swansearoad4332)
3. Click on the tab for current review and it should show you the latest policies for review.
4. Read the policy.
5. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
6. Select the reviewer type "Parent".
7. Enter your name (optional).
8. Submit your ratings and comments.
9. If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

We had a total of 134 students through our Open Evening this year, 28 more students than last year. At the Open Evening we spoke about the changes to our Junior Curriculum and how we will embed these over a two year period. By the beginning of 2023 our curriculum will look significantly different to what we currently have in our junior school. Our year will be broken into two 18-week semesters and classes will be delivered in modules, with students completing 12 modules of their choice by the end of 2023.

To support this change, we have made the decision to move to a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program in 2023 also. As a school, we have a responsibility to ensure our students leave high school as digital citizens who can cope with the ongoing technological growth we are presented with in the 21st century. The digital technologies curriculum supports the development of digitally capable individuals. We strongly encourage all students to bring a device to school, preferably a Laptop, Chromebook, or Macbook. We understand that providing a device can be a challenge for some families and we will continue to have laptops available, as we currently do.

For more information on our BYOD program, please see our school website or click on the link below. This outlines the minimum specifications and possible locations for purchase.

We would like to thank New Zealand Community Trust for the funding we received to cover the cost of transport and accommodation for our teams taking part in NZSS tournament week. Without this funding the cost to our students and their families would have been astronomical and a lot of precious time would be required for fundraising. We were extremely fortunate to receive the amount we did so we, as a school, are very grateful.

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

The Fuel for Schools sponsorship programme has helped put over $1.5 million dollars of resources into more than 400 rural schools in the last fourteen 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 Northfuels, meaning that for every 2 litres of bulk fuel they purchase 1 cent is donated to their nominated school. 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:

• Makino Deer Ltd
• Palmerdell Trust
• G & M Collins Family Trust
• Cornwall Park Farms Limited
• Amberhay Limited

Rural communities and schools everywhere can enjoy the benefits of the Fuel for Schools programme. For more information about the programme, call 0800 4 THE KIDS (0800 484 3543) or visit their website www.northfuels.co.nz