Stratford High Times

Tēnā koutou katoa, Talofa lava, Ni sa bula, Kumusta.

And just like that, week 6 of the term is upon us. Before we know it, the term end will be here, so it is important we support our students to stay focused on the purpose of school. Attendance has a significant impact on ones ability to make the most of school. More on that shortly.

A school's culture is driven by our student body and events such as Athletics and Swimming Sports are a huge part of this. This year was a step up on last year with our students continuing to excel by actively involving themselves in the day, conducting themselves positively and being willing to help out where needed. Attendance on both days was good and it was excellent to see a sea of red, green, blue and yellow with almost all students and staff dressed up in their house colours. Thanks must go out to the staff and students who organised and then ran these events. A big thanks also to the parents who attended.

Last year the School Board approved my leave from school to attend the Innovative Schools Summit in the United States. To attend this conference, I will be away from school for the last two weeks of Term One and Dr Michael Taylor will be acting Principal in my absence. The Innovative Schools Summit is run over 4 days with four conferences coming together as one. The four conferences focus on At Risk Students, Innovative Teaching, School Culture and Climate and Trauma Informed practice. I am extremely grateful for the support from the School Board and look forward to the impact this learning will have on our school culture.

Lastly, one of the most important things your child can do to achieve academic success is also one of the most basic: going to school every day. In fact, research has shown that your child's attendance record may be the biggest factor influencing their academic success. By making your child's school attendance a priority, you will be taking an important step in supporting your child's school success and setting a good example. The impact of non-attendance can be seen in the information below. Please consider this and we thank you for your support in ensuring your child is at school everyday!

A student who misses 1 day a fortnight will miss 4 weeks of school in the year.

A student who misses 1 day a week will miss 8 weeks of school in the year.

A student who misses 2 days a week will miss 16 weeks of school in the year.

A student who misses 3 days a week will miss 24 weeks of school in the year.

Take care and enjoy the autumn sunshine we have been experiencing.

Ngā mihi,

Cameron Stone

Principal

On Friday 17 February we held our school swimming sports. Participation was a little low in the morning until the sun warmed everyone up and students were more keen to participate in the afternoon.

The atmosphere was great, especially for the Synchronised Swimming (won by Trimble) and the Flying Squadron Mass House Relay (won by Amess).

When I heard it was a mufti, I was so happy I wore black and white all over. The food at the canteen was so good and the drinks were even better. This day was awesome, and I hope that more mufti days could happen because of the positive, like "I love your shoes" and the "I like your t shirt". And that is why I enjoyed mufti day. I hope Hawkes Bay, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty the best of luck and hope they use the money we raised to fix the school affected by the Cyclone Gabrielle and the floods.

- Aidan Rosser, yr 9

On the 1st of March at Stratford High School, we had a mufti day with a gold coin donation to support the school communities that have been affected by cyclone Gabrielle or flooding in the Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti schools. I found this day awesome because we are a school that uses uniforms and we got to wear black and white while also donating to the many schools in with a lot of other different schools around the nation. On the same day, our canteen was running, and I got to purchase a fizzy drink which I thought was cool. Seeing lots of people supporting the flooded areas with their donations was awesome! We raised quite a lot of money with lots of people wearing mufti, even one wearing a full panda suit! All up, this was an awesome day seeing people in black and white showing their support for the schools in Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay.

- Georgia Stevens, yr 9

Last Friday we held our school athletics and again had a great day with a lot of enthusiasm from the students supporting their Houses. Thank you to Daniel Hancock, Shayne Austin, Jack Whitikia and Rocky Olsen who all came and helped out at Field events on the day. Download the document below to see all of the results from the day!

Parents/ Caregivers of all students (Y9-13) are invited to make appointments through www.schoolinterviews.co.nz using the code:

hxsac

Please refer to the list of teacher codes to make an appointment with your child’s subject teachers. Your child’s timetable can be viewed on the KAMAR portal and it also displays teacher codes if you are unsure.

Please contact the school office on 765-6039 if you require any assistance.

Dr Michael Taylor

Deputy Principal (Curriculum)

Did you know that if a student misses 5 days of school each term, or one day a fortnight, they will miss the equivalent of one year of school over ten years?

Stratford High School has high expectations for our young people because we know that they can achieve whatever they put their minds to. One of our expectations is that our students attend school EVERY day, because we know that regular attendance is essential for educational success. A growing number of students are missing three or more days of school each fortnight. This is considered chronic absenteeism and will have a negative impact on our students' ability to achieve their educational goals. Regular absences mean a lot of missed work and having to catch up, on top of their regularly scheduled schoolwork, adding unnecessary stress and pressure to our young people's plates.

We ask that our parents, caregivers and whānau support our school by ensuring that their young people attend school every day.

However, if your child is unwell or unable to attend school, please let us know - you can call the office, email us or use the school app to inform us of an absence.

You can also contact your child's teachers to request class work that could be done at home.

If you need to speak with someone regarding your child's attendance, please contact your child's form teacher or Dean to discuss. We are here to support you and your child, so please get in touch.

Ms. Kelly Jennings

Deputy Principal

Congratulations to the following students who received an NCEA Endorsement for 2022. All students were acknowledged at Assembly on Wednesday 8 March.

Merit endorsements: Lara Abraham, Bryan Adams, Molly Gernhoefer, Jessica Harris, Zara Jackson, Lucas Jacobson, Madi Mattock, Benjamin Parrett, Bailee Robertson, Pippa Waite, Keira Whitehead.

Excellence endorsements: Ellie Brady, Aidan Campbell, Mackenzie Caskey, Judah Harvey, Maia Hussey, Hannah Kidd, Eva McGeoch, Ryan Nickel, Ciara Staines-Hurley, Cady Webb.

Merit endorsements: Arabella Barber, Amber Cox, Hollie Eagar, Charlotte Frazier, Xanda Kerr, Anina Loveridge, Victoria Payne, Kurtis Potroz.

Excellence endorsements: Hannah Burroughs, Troy Gibbons, Ryan Johnson, Zoe Pitcher, Heidi Sextus.

Merit endorsements: Sam Clothier, Keisya Gunawan, Elyse Kerr, Aidan Renshaw.

Excellence Endorsements: Kelly Armitstead, Rebekah Hodge, Korban Johnson, Brooke Pirie.

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.

On Saturday 25th March we have a team of students and staff taking part in the 2023 Relay for Life. Through fundraising, our team has already gained "Dream Team" status! This year our goal is to make $10, 000.

We would love it if you could get behind us! Support us and the Taranaki Cancer Society by donating to our team. No amount is too small, every dollar counts!

www.relayforlife.org.nz/stratford-high-school

The funds raised will go towards the Taranaki Cancer Society's supportive care services, education and awareness programmes, and life saving cancer research. If you would like to help us with our fundraising efforts, please follow the link and donate to this worthy cause or donate directly to one of the students taking part.

It is a chance for us to join hundreds of others in our community to “celebrate, remember and fight back against cancer!” We are so proud of our team already, can you help us reach our goal?!

There has been some confusion around study periods for our year 13 students. For study period only, year 13's may study independently at home if the study is in period 1 and/or period 5, so are not required to be at school. They must sign in before the start of period 2 if they are at home during period 1 and may sign out after period 4 when they have their year 13 study class during period 5.

This does not apply to WITT, STAR or Gateway study lines, which are considered timetabled classes where attendance is expected every lesson.

As we begin the new year I thought it best to send a reminder about how students can access counselling. Due to the high demand and to ensure equitable access, I run an appointment system.

Appointments can be requested by:

1. Email: lalbers@stratfordhigh.school.nz
2. Text: 0223185158
3. Instagram message @ heart_shs
4. or you can fill in an appointment slip and drop it into the locked ballot box. (both of which are directly outside my office door).

When I receive a request, I fit the student into the next available slot and the student is then notified via the way they contacted me or an appointment card is given to their teachers. I can only allocate an appointment time when there has been a direct request by a student or parent, or if an SMT/Dean or teacher has asked me to touch base with a student.

Liza Albers

School Counsellor

MCouns (Honors)

Click on the photo to the right to expand our bell times for the school week. A reminder that Wednesday's look a bit different to the other days of the week due to school starting later on that day.

Please ensure you notify the school office for each day that your child is absent. You can do this via the school app, absence phone line (option 1 when you call the main line), or KAMAR Parent Portal.

As a part of the ongoing industrial action, union members across the nation have voted for a one-day national strike in term one. The date has been set by the national executive for March 16th. The nature of this action sees continual withdrawal of all work related to school for a 24-hour period on March 16. As a result of this, normal teaching and learning will not be taking place on this day. We will have limited supervision available to whānau who do not have a suitable alternative for students under the age of 14 but please explore all alternative options first as we will have very limited staff on-site. We will keep you informed if the circumstances surrounding this situation change.

If students have dietary requirements that have not already been advised to the school, please email mail@stratfordhigh.school.nz. Please note, Compass Group (provider) only cater for students with a dietary requirement, not for those who dislike certain foods. Lunches are distributed during form time each day.

University Liaison Visits are information sessions for Year 12 & 13 students who are interested in finding out about diploma & degree level programmes.

Parents/caregivers are always welcome to attend these info sessions.

You must sign up on the list on the Careers Notice Board in the Library & get permission from your teacher before attending.

First Round

Venue - Library

AUT - 16 March 8.45am-9.45am

Otago Uni - 24 March 9.45am-10.45am

Lincoln Uni - 05 April 11am-11.45am

- Viv Milner, Careers Advisor

The Arts team are excited to announce the school production this year will be 'Madhouse' - A Madcap One-Act, by Todd Wallinger.
There are over 20 roles in this play, so there are plenty of opportunities to get involved - either onstage, or behind the scenes!
There will be more information about the roles, auditions, and dates available soon.

We always appreciate help from the school community, so if you would like to help out in any way please contact Kate Hansen hka@stratfordhigh.school.nz

- Kate Hansen, Arts Coordinator

All year 9 students at Stratford High School are offered a free health and wellbeing check, with the Public Health Nurse or Youth Worker.

This is intended to identify any health needs that your child may have that may affect learning and behavior in the school environment. It is also an opportunity for your child to start the process of understanding and contributing to getting their own health needs met.

The assessment will include measurements of height, weight, and blood pressure as well as a basic assessment of your child’s hearing and vision.

Other topics will be discussed, such as:

· Enrolment with GP

· Health factors related to home, school and friends

· Nutrition and exercise

· Interests outside of school

· Drugs, alcohol and sexual health

The health assessments will be completed over the course of the year, commencing at the start of term one.

Consent will be presumed unless parent or caregiver chooses to opt out. If you wish to opt out of the health assessment, please contact the school office

- Public Health Nursing Team

The Public Health Nurse will be at school every Wednesday 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, Bridget Powell on 027 263 4996 or 06 753 7790 or email bridget.powell@tdhb.org.nz.

Dates to add to your diary

We continue to encourage students to bring along their own devices to school this year to support our BYOD programme. If there are any students who are unable to bring their own device, you can speak to classroom teachers to support you in acquiring a borrowed device from school.

Lost your printed timetable? Download KAMAR and have it at your fingertips any time you need it! You can also get access to academic results, attendance details, school notices, student details, and finance information through the portal.

Have you downloaded our school app yet? Moving forward, our app will be the one-stop-shop for communication between school and home. Download it and check out the features that are available!

After the holidays and summer break, disrupted sleep patterns can wreak havoc for the return to school. I’ve mentioned before the importance of sleep for teens and the start of the year is a good time to remind ourselves of this. Research is showing teens need more sleep than their younger siblings, in fact 9-10 hours of sleep a night. As parents it’s important we help support our children with routines and structures to support sleep. Here is an article on the subject of sleep from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Liza Albers

School Counsellor

MCouns (Hons)

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

All enquiries please phone 0211905054

Mrs Mary WIlliams

38a Flint Road West

Stratford 4332

This course is available to youth aged 15 - 18 years. The focus of the programme is to prepare youth for their future, such as gaining confidence in the job application process, setting goals and learning how to budget and prepare various meals. Further information and enrolment forms can be picked up from the school office.

Give your mobile phone another life, keep it out of landfill and donate to Sustainable Coastlines Charitable Trust at the same time through the Re:Mobile phone recycling scheme!

Drop your old cellphones into the drop box in the school office reception area.

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

To register for U18 Hockey Rep trials, see the registration links below:

U18 Men registration link:

https://www.playhq.com/hockey-new-zealand/register/8c2972

U18 Women registration link:

https://www.playhq.com/hockey-new-zealand/register/bfe108

Please note that to be eligible to play in the National Under 18 Tournaments, the players must be under the age of 18 years old as at 1st January of the year in which the tournament is played and must be 15 years or older as at 1st January of the year in which the tournament is played.

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: Diane Lithgow

School Board Secretary: 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: Liza Albers

Learning Support Coordinator: Lisa Dent

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

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.

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

Fern Energy - FUEL for SCHOOLS

The Fuel for Schools sponsorship programme has helped put over $1.6 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:

• 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 99 99 89 or visit their website fernenergy.co.nz/community/fuel-for-schools