Kia ora koutou,

How super to watch our students on TV last week. Firstly our young female football stars Alyssha Eglinton (11BQ) and Zora Tavernet (13TJ) on 1News on Tuesday and then on Seven Sharp a HVHS Gateway Programme graduate Hamish Jackson who now works at Steam Incorporated in Paekakariki.

Our young football stars are members of the school’s Football Girls 1st XI who are having a fantastic year and spoke so well on national TV. As well as being involved in one of the fastest-growing women’s sports in the world, they are walking proof that co-educational schools from the Hutt Valley can beat single-sex, integrated and private schools. We are working on a new school sports strategy and building ‘belief’ and ‘confidence’ in our abilities is a key feature. It is great to see that coach Mark Oates has already begun that work.

The new Performing Arts space hosted 20 superb performers from Toi Whakaari (NZ Drama School) this week. The group performed through song, dance and drama the Māori creation story. It was impressive, funny and entertaining. The new space is just fantastic. I hope many of you were able to come along to the Year 11 and 12 Drama Productions that continue next week or plan to attend Year 11 productions later in the term.

We also hosted the ERO (Education Review Office) team for two days this week. Our last formal review was in 2018. ERO checks our compliance, especially around health and safety. I’m happy to say that they were pleased with all aspects of our work. ERO also visited a range of classrooms and commented about our calm and purposeful classrooms. There was good energy and enthusiasm in each class we visited. Additional to this ERO will oversee one strategic goal over the next three years.

A reminder that all school policies, procedures and guidelines can be found on SchoolDocs on HVHS' website.

Our newly elected Board of Trustees met on Wednesday. The Presiding Member (formerly called Chairperson) is Miranda Cross. Other parent representatives on the board are - Julie Chuor, Charles Darr, Graham Dyer, James Wilkinson, Susan Dunne (co-opted) and Jason Tierney (staff representative).

Many thanks go to our outgoing board, in particular Hamish Bowen who has served two terms (over six years). Other parent representatives were Michael Kerr, Katy Cook, Asad Abdullahi and Laurence Fauatea. A big thank you also to Fiona Pearson (staff representative) and Seren Lewis (student trustee). Seren will continue on till the end of September when we will welcome a newly elected student trustee to the board.

These volunteer positions are a vital part of ensuring community voice influences the decisions and direction of the school. This board has weathered more than its fair share of crises - cyber hack, a principal passing away, Covid-19 lockdowns and mould-related accommodation and property issues. They all deserve a well-earned rest. On behalf of the entire school community, we thank you for your service.

Ngā mihi

Denise Johnson

Principal

In-Zone Applications

Enrolments for 2023 are now open for students who live in-zone. We ask that parents enrol now so that we can plan for your child's learning needs for 2023 and ensure a smooth transition to high school. A big advantage to enrolling now is that your child will be in the first group to receive the email with subject selections (some subjects have limited spaces). Please complete an online enrolment application.

Out-Of-Zone Applications

The closing date for out-of-zone applications for students in Years 10-13 in 2023 is Friday 14 October 2022. Out-of-zone applications for Year 9 students in 2023 are now closed.

Senior Visual Art students are currently working hard towards the completion of their folio board submissions. The folio board is a presentation format that allows students to show the generation and development of ideas in response to their chosen theme. There will be some outstanding individual works on show, as well as an interesting progression that reflects their personal growth as artists and designers.

See examples below of the wonderful work that is being created for our student's folio board submissions.

We are looking to appoint a permanent Principals' Assistant to work 8.00 am to 4.30 pm term-time plus additional hours during the holidays as needed.

You'll be someone who enjoys solving problems, being part of a team, is patient, likes detail and working to deadlines and who knows what it means to provide excellent administrative support to the Senior Leadership Team and Business Manager. We are looking for someone who can set up and implement systems and processes to ensure the smooth running of the Senior Leadership and office areas of the school.

Our ideal candidate is friendly with a positive can-do attitude, who can work collaboratively with a wide range of people, and excellent communications skills are essential. A position description and application form can be obtained from our website or by emailing jodie.murden@hvhs.school.nz.

Applications close Monday 15 August at 4.00 pm and must include our Application Form, a covering letter, and a CV.

There is a lot of action on the sports scene as winter sports wrap up over the next few weeks. There are plenty of exciting semi-finals and finals action coming up.

Congratulations to the following students:

Aaron Chong (10RI) played in the Hawkes Bay U15s Badminton’s Open tournament over the holidays. He won the U15 singles and placed 2nd in both the mixed doubles and boy's doubles competitions.

Nicholas Green (12SK) and Jonathan Green (11SP) placed 3rd school in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Orienteering Championship in the Premier School Competition.

Bree James (12CT) was in the U17 Wellington Girls Indoor Cricket team that won their division at the nationals over the holidays. She was also selected for the Wellington Women's Premier team who placed 3rd at the National Indoor Cricket Championships in Auckland.

Anna Jamieson (11LA) competed in New Zealand Powerlifting Nationals and came 2nd in her age and weight class achieving a squat of 125kg, a bench of 60kg, and a deadlift of 135kg. Achieving new personal bests (PBs) in her squat and deadlift weights.

Archit Nanda (10ANGL) made the finals of the Junior Boys CSW Table Tennis Championships. Ryley Chin (13PN) and Kieran Robinson (11BQ) played off for the Senior Boys Consolation Final.

Daniel Williams (11TH) competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships with outstanding results, including 5 PBs from 8 races. Daniel's results were 100m Backstroke (1st), 200m Backstroke (1st), 100m Individual Medley (2nd), 200m Individual Medley (2nd), 50m Freestyle (2nd) and 50m Backstroke (3rd).

Congratulations to Te Ariki Apanui (13RD) and Faenza Snowden (12CT) for being named to the U18 Wellington Rugby Māori Team.

Congrats to the Junior Netball team who placed 5th in the College Sport Wellington Junior Netball tournament at ASB.

If your student has achieved in sport, please let us know at sport@hvhs.school.nz.

Sun 14 Aug - Year 13 Geography & Tourism Trip departs for Rotorua

Tues 16 Aug - Year 11 & 12 Drama Productions, 6pm & 7:30pm

Wed 17 Aug - Year 11 & 12 Drama Productions, 6pm & 7:30pm

Thurs 18 Aug - Year 11 & 12 Drama Productions, 6pm & 7:30pm

Fri 19 Aug - Non-Uniform Day

Tues 23 Aug - Year 11 Mathswell Competition, 7-9pm

Wed 24 Aug - Year 10 Mathswell Competition, 7-9pm & HVHS Annual Acoustic Concert from 7:30pm

Thurs 25 Aug - Year 9 Mathswell Competition, 7-9pm

Fri 26 Aug - NCEA Teacher Only Day

Mon 29 Aug - Mid Term Break

Tues 7 Sept - Sports Photos (Day 1)

Tues 14 Sept - Sports Photos (Day 2)