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Strike action and ChatGPT

Teenaa koutou,Dear Parents / Caregivers, It’s an unusual combination of items to share with you today: Strike action and Chat GPT. Strike Action While we are aware of the news items covering strike action, we are yet to receive official notice. We will confirm this as soon as we have been informed officially. We may be informed by the PPTA by as late at the 13th March if their members will strike on Thursday the 16th March. This delayed official announcement of strike action enables any chang...

Fundraising, Athletics Day and more

Kia ora e te whaanau, Good afternoon Parents / Caregivers,I want to start today by acknowledging the challenges that a lot of our community have experienced since Cyclone Gabrielle, especially to those of us connected to communities still affected in across the North Island. We have connections with Wairoa College and have reached out to offer them support. They are really struggling with many of their whaanau having lost everything. They have said that financial support at this time would be be...

Welcome to 2023

Teenaa koutou e te whaanaun o tatou kura,Dear Parents and Caregivers,Good afternoon everyone. Welcome back to school and the start of 2023! It has been great to see all of the students in today, sorting out their timetables, catching up with friends and getting their heads around being back at school. It seems to have taken a big effort from the students and the ones I caught up with are glad of the 3-day weekend to catch their breath.Over the past week we have enjoyed starting the school year i...

It's Summer Time

Teenaa koutou e te whaanau o te kura tuarua o Te Oko Horoi,Good afternoon to everyone in our CHS community, This is the final communication from me for 2022 and what a challenging year it has been. The scale of disruption has made this the most demanding of all of the COVID years and one of the most difficult years I have experienced in education. Looking back on the past 3 years, I am incredibly proud of how we have minimised the health risks to our community, supported each other and responde...

School Closures

Ata marie e te whaanau, Good morning everyone, Just a couple notice from us this morning about the disruption to CHS opening hours next week for a Paid Union Meeting and two Teacher Only Days. We have 3 days next week where the school is required to close early or be closed for the day. On 29th November the school will close at 12:10pm for a Paid Union Meeting. This is a contractual provision under the teachers’ employment agreement and is being used to discuss the most recent employment of...

Uniform shop, NCEA and Junior exam details

Kia ora e te whaanau, Good afternoon everyone, We have had a fantastic few weeks at CHS this term, celebrating the incredible success of our students with a range of prizegivings and final assemblies. Yesterday we held our final full school assembly where we announced our student leaders for 2023 and farewelled Deputy Principal, Mr McDonnell, as he retires at the end of the year. It was a fantastic assembly, and you are able to view it here on our YouTube channel. Today there are a few pieces...

Winter tournament, SADD and assessment weeks

Kia ora koutou, I hope that you are somewhere warm and dry today. I know spring can be changeable, but it feels like we have slipped back into the depths of winter out there today. A couple of things in this communication home today. CHS success in winter tournament week and the Kapa Haka Festival.SADD week and wellbeing committee events.BoT elections.NCEA information powerpoint.Update on measures to relieve pressure at CHS. Ongoing vaping concerns for our youth. Ngaa mihi Greg ThorntonPrinci...

Update on Facemasks and our Assembly

Morena e te whaanau,Good morning everyone, Just a couple of brief things from me this morning. Firstly, facemasks are no longer expected to be worn indoors at CHS. Nationally and locally the quantity of illness has decreased notably over the first 4 weeks of this term and student attendance at CHS is trending back upwards. Wearing masks is still encouraged and supported at CHS, but teachers will no longer be following this up with students in class. Secondly, we had a fantastic assembly on Wedn...

Plan for teaching adjustments in Term 3

Teenaa koutou e te whaanau Dear Parents and Caregivers We have had a challenging start to this term and need to make some adjustments to how we operate at CHS over the remainder of the term to support learning. Firstly, however, it is important to give you a context for our situation. We are not alone with the issues we are facing as the teaching profession across the country is stretched thinly. We are dealing with the legacy of COVID related issues and disruption and with problems emerging ...

Learning Recognition Credits in 2022

Good afternoon everyone, Earlier in the week the government announced the use of Learning Recognition Credits in 2022. The decision to do this was based on assessment evidenced gathered from across New Zealand, and is a measure that we have successfully used in the past to support our students with their performance in NCEA while impacted by such a disrupted year. Please read this attachment for details about the announcement.   Ngaa mihi Greg ThorntonPrincipal...

Week 3 Term 3

Ata marie e te whaanau,Good morning parents and caregivers, It has been an interesting first few weeks at CHS with staff absence and bomb threats stretching our capacity. Week 2 finished incredibly well with our Open Evening on Thursday 4th August. This is a great evening where we capture the wonderful opportunities we offer Cambridge, and provide our students with the chance to show off their school to prospective families and the community. A few significant items to share with you this mornin...

Welcome back to Term 3

Good afternoon everyone,Kia ora e te whaanau, I hope that you have enjoyed some downtime over the past few days. I certainly appreciated a few days space to recharge and reconnect with friends and family after what was a demanding term. Unfortunately, COVID and winter illness is continuing to have an impact on our community and my message today has important information around measures that we will have in place at CHS this term. It also has a summary of updates about uniform. Ngaa mihi Greg Th...

Wrapping up Term 2

Dear Parents / Caregivers,Teenaa koutou ki a koutou, I hope that everyone enjoyed the long weekend with a celebration that is unique for Aotearoa New Zealand. I know there were a lot of celebrations around the country and families that enjoyed time together at the start of a new year. Thank you to our staff, students and the community who put on the CHS Matariki celebration on Wednesday night. It was an enjoyable night out with student performances, activities and food. Sorry it has been a wh...

Welcome back to Term 2

Kia ora e te whaanau,Good afternoon everyone, A very warm welcome to Term 2, well at least it is once that frost clears. I hope that you enjoyed some great time with your family and whaanau and feel well rested. It was fantastic to see so many students enjoying the cross country earlier this week and a wonderful performance of Pride and Prejudice by our Year 13 students. There are more great things coming up for our students this term, so encourage your children to get involved. In this email to...

Teacher Only/Accord Day - Monday 9 May

Dear Parents / Caregivers This letter is a reminder to parents that the school will be closed for students on Monday 9 May for a teacher only day as published on the parent portal calendar. This Accord day is the Ministry of Education's allocated time for secondary schools to plan for the NCEA changes that will be introduced in the near future. Kind Regards Carol WebbDeputy Principal...

Have a great Easter break everyone post

Kia ora e te whaanau,Dear Parents / Caregivers, Thank you for all of your support and input over the term. In spite of all of the challenges it has been a very successful term, as our final assembly for the term highlights. Staff, students and members our CHS community have been remarkable in the way they have contributed to the student learning experience at CHS and showed cared and support for each other. It has been a demanding but successful term when you consider all of the challenges we ha...

Rostering home will continue until the end of Term 1

Dear Parents / Caregivers, and studentsTeenaa koutou ki a koutou, In my communication last week, I signaled that we would like to stop rostering home our senior students before the end of term. Unfortunately, we will not be able to do this. We have seen a rise in numbers of our staff out this week and this is expected to flow into the coming weeks. The additional stress that managing all students back onsite will place on our staff and relievers during the final weeks of the term is greater than...

Parent evenings postponed to Term 2 and rostering home update

Dear Parents / Caregivers,Teenaa koutou ki a koutou, I hope you and your whaanau are doing well after the week that had a bit of everything including weather bombs, ongoing COVID disruption and government announcements about the easing of some restrictions. This latest piece provides us with the hope that, as the modelling points to case numbers declining, so too the government is easing the public health measures and gathering limits. This, along with vaccine passes no longer required for ...

Cell Phone Action Plan Update

Dear Parents / Caregivers,Teenaa koutou, Thank you for your support and feedback over the past 2 weeks with the implementation of our banning of cell phones during lesson time. Staff have noticed a real difference in the classroom, with students more focused on the lessons and far fewer confrontations than we experienced last year. We want to remind everyone at home that phones can be used be during movement time (5 minutes between lessons), break times and before and after school. There really...

End of Week 2 update

Dear Parents / Caregivers,Teenaa koutou ki a koutou, I hope everyone has a good book for the wet weekend ahead, or perhaps you want to read this attachment – there are a few things for us to get through for you today in preparation for next week, the first full 5-day week of the year. Uniform remindersCell phone procedureCOVID case protocolFacemasks Ngaa mihi Greg ThorntonPrincipal...

Final communication home for 2021

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Year 13 Camp Update

Dear Parents / Caregivers and Students in Year 13Teenaa koutou ki a koutou, Firstly, welcome back to you all and I hope that the first few days have gone well. It has been great seeing you fill up CHS again and talking with some of you about what your plans for the year. I want to thank the huge numbers of Year 13 students that had a big presence in this opening week. I appreciate the welcome you have provided our Year 9s as they get started at CHS and we have got 2022 off to great start. Secon...

SoundSplash and Ministry of Health requirements post

Good afternoon, We are aware that several members of our community were at SoundSplash and this has been confirmed as a place of interest from 6am on Friday, January 21, to 9.15am on Sunday, January 23. Anyone at the festival is being asked to self-monitor for Covid symptoms for 10 days. If you have symptoms please get a test and remain at home until the outcome of the test in known. As with all external places of interest, please follow the Ministry of Health requirements. In this instance yo...

Welcome Back - Start of 2022

Teenaa koutou e te whaanau. Nau mai hoki mai ki e te whaanau o te kura tuarua o Te Oko Horoi, Dear Parents, Caregivers and StudentsWelcome back to Cambridge High School I hope that you have been able to enjoy some down time with your friends and family and were able to re-charge after the particularly challenging year we had last year. In the face of the disruption, we were able to achieve an incredible amount as a school for our students and the community, but it took a lot of energy. Looking a...

Final Communication Home 2021

Teenaa koutou,Dear Parents / Caregivers, This is the final communication from me for the year, and what a year it has been. We have all been through a lot and I have certainly appreciated the support of family, friends and colleagues during such challenging and unprecedented times. I am really looking forward to taking time out to recharge and hope that you can also find time to refresh and reconnect with those close to you over the summer. It is easy for us to think that the whole year has been...