Newsletter #3 – Term 2 June 2020 Southland Boys’ High School Te Kura Tua Rua o n gà Tai tama Tàne ki Murihiku Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus Friends and whanau of the school. We are approaching the halfway point of an eventful year in the life of our historic school. The boys and staff have coped admirably, with the support of those around them, dealing with the upheaval and stresses caused by events beyond anyone’s control. The break at the end of the term is a well-deserved 'normal' term holiday. It has been pleasing to see just how well the boys have returned to normal and with sporting and cultural aspects of school life resuming then outlets for their energy are once again restored. As we move forward with educational goals and targets it is important to remember the past but not to dwell on it and use it as a crutch for too long. The Covid effect on education should be left as much as possible in Term 2. Strive on with the task in front of you for the remainder of the year and doors will be opened for you. It has been my pleasure to present Academic caps once again this year to an ever-growing number of young men who have excelled in their studies. We have also celebrated the successful Youth Mark Award recipients for 2020 and look forward to the official award ceremony later in the year. Some changes are to be made to the remainder of the school year and one change for your diary is the cancellation of the Term 3 Teacher Only day which was originally calendared for Tuesday 4 August 2020. We await further information from the Ministry of Education regarding any re-scheduling of this date. Please also be aware of the changes to NCEA external exam dates and the effect that this has on the last day of timetabled classes for our senior students this year. Please continue to encourage your young man to share his day with you and keep up to date with the assessments and tasks that he is completing. A report for our year 7-10 students will be available at the end of this term for you to access on the portal. Next term starts quickly, we have open night on Thursday 30 July during which we encourage the boys to be involved and share their school with prospective new families. This is close to our only winter sports interschool event when we will welcome Kings’ High School from Dunedin on July 28th. If you can support a team on that day the boys really do appreciate it. Simon Coe Rector 1 Tena koutou katoa Welcome to level one and a "new normal" after all the hard yards we have done together to keep COVID-19 at arm’s length the past 8 weeks. Staff and students have moved back into their daily schedules with relative ease thanks to your support and preparation. For the Board, it is business as usual working our way through the necessary governance items that ensure the Rector and staff have the resources and tools to lift student achievement rates. For this term, the Board will be reviewing policies in relation to Employer responsibilities as well as documentation and self- review. One policy ensures we are good employers for all staff and the other policy audits the work we do in lifting student achievement. For those interested in knowing more please check the school’s online policy manual, located at our website under "About us". Everything you could or would need to know about school policies and the requirements under the Education act to operate a school can be found there. We received 2019 faculty reports at our April Zoom meeting (Zui) and will meet with the Head of Maths later this month to discuss this report and what the next steps are from here for our learners. One of the very pleasing results back to the Board has been in Pastoral care. School suspensions were down in 2019 and the Board were aware of this as we are required to convene meetings when a hearing takes place. For 2019 we had less meetings than I can recall for the past 6 years and this is attributable to the effort of all our staff taking control and managing expectations of students and their behaviour. This is mirrored in the reduction of classroom referrals to Deans as expectations are clearly set. Finally, we celebrated 16 Senior students who received Academic caps for Excellence in NCEA Level 1 and 2. Academic caps were re-introduced by the Rector in 2019 after a 40-year absence. Last year six boys were the first recipients and this year has seen a 160% increase. That is an outstanding result and one that Whanau of these students will be very proud of. We certainly are! Be well and stay warm, nga mihi Janice Ormsby SBHS BoT Chair 2 Date Event Last day Term 2 Friday 3 July School reports released to parents Monday 20 July First day Term 3 29-31 July ODE Ski Camp 3-21 August Year 8 Deep Cove Camps 24-25 August Year 13 Alpine Camp 24-28 August Polyfest Each of these boys have been chosen from a very high calibre of candidates to receive a Youthmark Award. These awards are to acknowledge high achievement across sporting, cultural, community and academic fields. The awards will be presented in October during a ceremony at the Ascot Hotel. 3 In 2019 SBHS introduced a new academic award. In doing so we resurrected one of our oldest awards. For the first 70 years of SBHS’s existence scholars were awarded with an Academic Cap before being lost to the annuls of history. This coveted prize represented the very highest academic achievement in the school. We decided that our top scholars needed similar rewards and motivation to strive for perfection in the classroom. To this end we established the SBHS Club and brought back the scholars cap. ▪ At NCEA Level 1 a cap is earned by gaining 80 Excellence Credits in a single academic year ▪ At NCEA Level 2 a cap is earned by gaining 60 Excellence Credits at Level 2 or higher within a single academic year ▪ At NCEA Level 3 a cap is earned by gaining 40 Excellence Credits at Level 3 prior to the senior prizegiving In 2018 six students rose to this level of performance and were awarded with the inaugural caps. In 2019 16 students hit the benchmark. At a ceremony held on Tuesday the 10th of June these boys (who had to wait through the Lockdown to receive their prize) were awarded with their academic caps at an assembly with their families in attendance. 3 of the boys who were inducted into the club for their academic efforts in 2019 were repeat inductees, having been in the group that entered in 2018. These three boys are now striving to gain a Level 3 cap and be the first members of the Gold Club, having been awarded caps at Level 1, 2 and 3 in consecutive years. The SBHS Club Class of 2019 NCEA Level 1 Club Members NCEA Level 2 Club Members Bruno Burgess James Smith Tomas Gill Taine McKinnel-Stevens Vere Jukes Rory Patu Max Milne Ben Jennings Thomas Robinson Sam Clark Toby Smith NCEA Level 3 Club Members Kapila Tohiariki Repeat Inductees Blake Singleton Level 1 Cap [2018], Level 2 Cap [2019] George Heenan Level 1 Cap [2018], Level 2 Cap [2019] Callum Nimmo Level 1 Cap [2018], Level 2 Cap [2019] Jaxon Taylor Level 2 Cap [2018], Level 3 Cap [2019] 4 Student well-being survey - We have had over one hundred and sixty responses to our student well-being survey and will begin to analyse this data over the coming weeks. Thank you to all that participated as this information is crucial in helping us to better meet the needs of our students. Truancy - As a school we have implemented systems to deal with truancy. Notifications are sent home for any unexplained absences. This letter also explains the steps in our system and can initiate meetings withY ear Level Deans and/or AttendanceS ervices from the Ministry of Education if truancy becomes a regular occurrence. We also recognise as a school that errors can happen with attendance as some of our boys are involved in a range of extra-curricular activities during the school day. We continue to revise our systems but communication with the school for absences remains the most important factor for any absences. Lateness - We have a small number of students that are continually late for school in the mornings. We would ask that if your son is going to be late for school for any reason, that you contact the school to let us know. We will be tracking students that are continually late and notifications will be sent home. This letter will also inform you of steps the school is obliged to take as directed by the Ministry of Education. We will endeavour to work with you and your son if there are extenuating circumstances for recurrence of lateness. Students working during school hours - We have some of our senior students that are working during school hours. While we understand individuals’ circumstances and encourage our senior students to seek employment, we need our students to understand that they must be attending all classes if they are enrolled at school. Working during school hours is not a justified absence even if you as the whanau member/caregiver contact the school.