EOH EAST OTAGO HIGH SCHOOL

Stour Street P.O. Box 58 PALMERSTON 9443, Otago Phone: 03 4651 513 Fax: 03 4651 605 Email: office@eohs.school.nz

Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu - SMALL AND PRECIOUS

Principal’s Comment Kia ora, greetings to all parents, caregivers and friends of the school. I wish to extend a warm welcome to you all, particularly the new members of the East Otago High School community. We are delighted to have you with us and we, as a school, will work hard to ensure our students have a highly successful year at what is a very successful school. The recent NCEA results once again showed that our students can achieve a high level of success as in both NCEA Level 1 and NCEA Level 2, our pass rate was in excess of 90%. Not only was the pass rate high, also pleasing was the level of success achieved by our students

with 44% gaining NCEA Level 1 with Merit. These students were Paige Church, Ida Keith, Ashley Knox, Emilee Oldham, Olivia McKean, Courtney Martin, Oliver McLelland, Alex Keen, Huriawa Parata, Zion Tokona and Andrew Grubb. Three students gained NCEA Level 2

with Merit which is a very good level of success and congratulations are extended to Tom Lindsay, Isaac Williamson and Joe Saunderson. One student, Michael Lister achieved NCEA Level 2 with Excellence which is a truly outstanding result.

As a school we welcome two new staff members. Mrs Nikki Meyer joins us after five years at Hawera High School where she was Head of Chemistry. Mrs Meyer will teach Science at most levels, and senior Chemistry and Physics. Mr Mark Dunn graduated from the Christchurch College of Education at the end of 2012 and will teach Physical Education and Junior Science. We also welcome back Mrs Phillippa Sutton who has accepted a Long Term Relieving position with us for Term 1 and Term 2. This arose due to the resignation of our Head of Science Mrs Jean Hesselin who has accepted a teaching position at James Harg-est College, Invercargill. As a result Mrs Meyer will be Acting Head of Science.

A feature of Term 1 will be a visit from the Education Review Office. They are visiting us as part of their normal three year cycle. They will be in the school during the week starting March 11. As a school we welcome their visit and hope they get the full opportunity to see all the superb things that are happening at our school by both the students and staff. We have much to be proud of that we wish to show them. As was signalled towards the end of last year, we intend to ensure that students both look the part and act the part. Throughout this newsletter are some key parts of school life we are going to work on, starting today. These cover uniform, lunch passes, and the use of mobile devices in school. We want our students to have and display pride in their school and with your help and support, we will work hard to ensure this occurs. Finally, it is our intention to welcome all new students and staff to East Otago High School with a Mihi Whakatau on Tuesday 5th February starting at 10.00a.m. in the D.G. Murray Hall. Parents/caregivers and friends of East Otago High School are welcome to attend.

Principal: Mr Lennox Sharp 1 February 2013

Our Values are based on the acrostic - ’RELATIONSHIPS’ where R = Respect towards self & others, E = Empathy for others, L = Loyalty to family, friends and school, A = Acceptance of those around you, T = Tolerance of other opinions, actions & differences, I = Integrity towards all aspects of life, O = Ownership of actions and change, N = Nurturing skills, talents and attributes, S = Sensitivity of any situation, H = Honesty in thought, word & deed, I = Inclusiveness of all, regardless of age, ethnicity or characteristics, P = Patience with and to those around you, S = Support for fellow students, family & teachers

S

Photo: Mr Campbell “the Review”

East Otago High School Mobile Phone Rules 1. The use of mobile phones in the classroom MUST be at the discretion and direction of the teacher.

2. Students must not use their personal audio devices in class.

3. Mobile phones MUST be turned off during formal occasions, such as assemblies.

4. If a student is using their phone inappropriately or without the direction of the teacher, the teacher will

ask for the phone to be handed over and place it in the office to be picked up after school. If a second of-

fence occurs the device will be held at the office until a parent or

caregiver picks it up.

5. Students must not use their phone inappropriately around the school, such as videoing or taking photos

of others students or staff. If this occurs the parent or caregiver will be contacted and asked that the stu-

dents phone be kept at home until further notice.

Confiscated phones can be collected from the

office at 3.05pm and no earlier

School Jackets

Jackets that were ordered last term are available at the office to be collected and paid for. A new order for jackets will be sent in mid-February. These can be ordered at the school office and paid for on delivery.

Kill the Speed, Not the Child!

As schools go back, Rural Women New Zealand would like to remind rural school communities of the 20km/h speed limit in both directions when passing a school bus that has stopped to let pupils on or off the bus. In the 23 years from 1987, 23 children were killed in NZ when crossing the road to or from school buses. 47 were seriously injured and 92 received minor injuries. If drivers observed the 20km/h speed limit, these lives would have been saved. Please slow down. Thanks Jackie Edkins Communications Officer Rural Women

Uniform

We seek your continued support to ensure our students wear their uniform correctly. As advised last year we intend to insist on regulation uniform being worn

School Calendar

Please check on our website (EOHS) for detailed calendar of events. Sports events can be found on Christine’s Sports Co-Ordinator’s page Tuesday 5th February- Mihi Whakatau 10am DG Murray Hall (All welcome) Wednesday 6th February- Waitangi Day School Closed Thursday 7th February– School Photos Thursday 7th February– Meet the teachers evening for Year 7 followed by Camp Iona Meeting Monday18th– Friday 22nd February– Camp Iona Year 7 Monday18th– Friday 22nd February– Glenorchy Camp Year 9

Meet the Teachers’ Evening A meet the teachers evening will be held at the school on Thursday 7th February at 6pm. All parents of Year 7 students, and parents of all other new students are invited along for a BBQ tea (food supplied) to mix and mingle with the staff of the school. At 6.45pm there will be a meeting about arrangements for Camp Iona which will be February 18th –22nd. It is important to have at least one representative from each family at the meeting.

SPORTS CORNER with Christine Week 1 Term 1

Co-ordinator details: Christine Ollerenshaw, phone 4651 513. Email sport@eohs.school.nz or text 0278 645 871. COMING EVENTS: Wednesday 13th February – School Athletics Day (Postponement day Friday 15th) Thursday 21st February – Otago Southland Secondary School Triathlon, Cromwell Sunday 3rd March – South Island Secondary School Duathlon/Triathlon, Oamaru Thursday 7th March – School Swimming Champs 8-9th March – Otago Secondary School Athletic Champs, Dunedin 15-16th March – Otago Southland Secondary School Athletic Champs, Dunedin Wednesday 20th March – North Otago Swimming Champs Yr 7/8, Oamaru 5-6th April – Otago Intermediate and Secondary School Swimming Champs, Dunedin 5-7th April – South Island Secondary School Athletic Champs, Invercargill Friday 12th April – Tokomairiro Sports Exchange, Edgar Centre, Dunedin

NATIONAL ATHLETICS

The National Secondary School Athletic Champs were held in Dunedin on the 7th, 8th and 9th December last year. East Otago High School had 14 students competing in this event and for several of the students it was either their first national event or their first year in senior grade. (Under 14 & 15 compete together as juniors, Under 16 and older compete as senior). There were over 1400 athletes competing at this event and our 14 students did very well. We had eight top ten finishes, four school records were broken and several personal bests. Courtney Martin had an outstanding weekend placing 2nd in the junior hammer throw on the Friday, 5th in the junior discus on the Saturday and 4th in the junior shot put on the Sunday. Other worthwhile mentions include Paige Church who placed 8th in senior hammer and 10th in senior shot put (this being her first year in senior grade and up against older competitors). James Bungard ran the Year 93000m road race placing 23rd out of 106 competitors and smashing his personal best time by 33 seconds.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS OTAGO REGIONAL SUMMER GAMES

This event was held at the beginning of December 2012. Libby Sheppard represented North Otago at this event in the swimming. Libby did extremely well gaining silver medals in the 25m Freestyle, Backstroke, Breastroke and Freestyle Relay. What an amazing effort Libby!

RODEO

Good luck to Paige, Sam and Renae Church who will be competing in the Waikouaiti Rodeo this Sunday.

HOCKEY

I have information on hockey training camps for anyone intending to trial for Otago Under 13, Under 15, Under 18 and Under 21 teams. Cost for these camps in $100. Also available are development clinics at a cost of $100. Entry closes on 8th February so if you are interested and would like more information please contact me. (details above)

2013 SPORT

Another busy year is already underway. Senior and junior volleyball starts next week, secondary school touch starts the week after, and our school athletics day is in week three! There are going to be a few changes for the 2013 year: ~Permission slips will be returned to the school office by the due date or your child will miss out, and if this means letting the whole team down then that is on you and your child. ~Payment must be made at the school office by the due date. If it is not possible to make payment then arrangements must be made by ringing the school office by the due date. ~All teams will require a team manager to organise transport rosters and be a contact for students if they are unable to play. No manager, no entry into competition. Remember that the job of the sports coordinator is to organise team’s entry into competition and pass on relevant information. It is the job of the team manager to organise team transport and the day to day running of the team. Thank you to those parents that showed an interest and did their share in 2012. If your child plays sport then as a parent you should be involved in some way, whether it be coaching or managing a team, driving the minivan, taking a car load of players or simply supporting on the sideline. I am looking forward to having more support from parents for the coming sporting year.

Photo: Mr Campbell “the Review”