Term One Week 1
Vision and Strategy
Our Board of Trustees have identified three goals that the school are striving to achieve:
Students/Ākonga achieving excellent and equitable educational outcomes - Ki te whaiao, ki te ao marama – the continuous pursuit of excellence
Students/Ākonga seeing and feeling their identity, language, and culture on a daily basis -Providing a culture of extraordinary care
Developing Students/ākonga as guardians of our past, present, and future - Reviewing, growing, and embedding exceptional curriculum
We see whānau as key to the success of the school and as such we encourage parents/whānau to participate and engage in the many opportunities available, such as coming along to school events, meetings with students' Ākina Coaches, coaching sport teams or cultural groups, and ensuring students attend school regularly and uphold our school values.
Extra Curricular Activities
We have many wonderful ways that students can add value to their school experience, by joining a committee, sports team, or performing arts group. We encourage all students to participate in at least one extra curricular activity as it will help them to really feel a part of the school/kura.
Over the next few weeks students will be offered many opportunities via the Student Notices in Kamar or from their Ākina Coach but below are some good starting points for students to think about.
Te Huia Kaimanawa: If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact your Amorangi, Caity MacDonald, maccai@hastingsgirls.com.
Sports: We have lots of sports on offer such as Rugby, Netball, Basketball, Hockey, Badminton, Volleyball, Ki O Rahi, Touch, Cricket, Tennis, Football and many more. If you are interested in playing any of these sports, please see Whaea Bartlett sport@hastingsgirls.com or your Sports Captain, Isabella Bradley braisa@hastingsgirls.com.
We have a summer Hockey experience running after school from week 3 onwards. If you would like to participate contact Mrs Mills smi@hastingsgirls.com.Performing Arts: We have a number of cultural groups at our school including Kapa Haka, Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, Kiribati, Cook Island, Fijian, Filipino, Sabhyachar, dance and choir. If you are interested in joining one of these groups or have a suggestion for a new group, please see Mrs Ferguson mfe@hastingsgirls.com or your Performing Arts Captain, Turquoise Hawkins-Kemp hawtur@hastingsgirls.com.
The School Production will be held at the end of Term One and is open to all students. Auditions will take place 15-16 February. Rehearsals will start 19 February.
Music lessons are available for our students. A sign up sheet will be available next week.The Student Council liaise between students and the school to ensure student voice is heard. They also organise community events such as Pink Shirt Day, etc. Students can join the committee by contacting Julie Luong luojul@hastingsgirls.com. Students can also attend these meetings if they have suggestion or concerns and the Student Board Rep, Tahatera Apatu apatah@hastingsgirls.com will address these with our Principal or the Board of Trustees.
The Library Club is for students who want to be involved with Library activities including running activities during lunch and interval. See Mr Hewes hw@hastingsgirls.com if interested.
The Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) will be starting up this term. If you have any questions please see Mrs Beatty by@hastingsgirls.com.
PMP (Business Competition Opportunity) to run soon (maximum of 10 Year 11 students). If you are interested get in quickly by contacting Miss Burling kbu@hastingsgirls.com.
Pūhoro STEM will be held every Monday lunch time. If you want to participate, please see Mr Chamberlain cb@hastingsgirls.com.
Cellphone Free from 8 to 3
All state schools/kura are required to implement a phone rule that has student phones 'away for the day'. The Government has introduced regulations to put this requirement in place. At Hastings Girls, phones are to be turned off and kept in students' bags while at school from the beginning of the year.
Below is a quick view of our school process. Students will be made aware of the new policy when they return to school. Please encourage students to leave their phones at home to help reduce the risk of temptation that could lead to confiscation.
New Uniform Rules
In line with the changes to our 'cellphone free' rules, we have reviewed our process on how to manage the standard of dress to ensure that our students are wearing their uniform with pride and representing our school well.
As our school community will be aware, this year we made a change to our uniform and removed sandals as an option. Below are some examples of appropriate footwear for school - if you are unsure please do not hesitate to call the school for advice.
Unfortunately, last year saw an increase in the number of students wearing incorrect footwear and non uniform jackets to school. Going forward, the consequences for being in the wrong uniform will result in students needing to report to the Student Centre during break times as this sets a bad example to the rest of the students. We hope that this will not be a problem for students as we know they will want to spend time with their friends and will want to participate in school activities and trips, so we encourage you to check each morning to ensure that they are in the correct uniform.
Below is a quick view of our school process should a student be found to be in the incorrect uniform.
Lunches at School
We are so lucky to be funded by the Ministry of Education for free lunches for all our students. We have an amazing lunch team who work hard every day to make fresh healthy and yummy lunches. We ask that students respect our philosophy of healthy lunches, healthy minds and don't bring or have delivered to school 'takeaways'. Katie our Chef is always happy to take suggestions or have a chat about the menu she has created and if a student has special dietary needs, please make sure to contact the School Office so that we can update the student's file.
Junior Camps and Whānau BBQ
With the goal of getting to know each other quickly and making new friends, we decided to start our year with the Juniors going on camp/noho at the beginning of term. Our first group of campers went out to Waimārama on Thursday and stayed the night. Following each of the overnight camps, we have organised a BBQ for parents/whānau when collecting their students from school from 2.30pm to 4pm. We would love to see as many whānau coming along to this as possible so that we can work together on supporting students on their school journey.
Return to School Information
All the information that you need to know for returning to school in 2024 is available by following this link. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the School Office.
School Calendar
We have another busy/fun year ahead so ask that you keep an eye on the school calendar to ensure that students are arriving at school prepared for the day's activities. You can find the calendar in the drop down menu of our website or click on the link below.
Link to Calendar
Important Dates
Monday 5 February
- Year 9 & 10 Students Only
- Student ID Photos
- School Assembly
Tuesday 6 February
- Waitangi Day, No school
Wednesday 7 February
- Year 9 & 10 Students Only
- Te Whai, Tautua Pasifika, Te Ao Haka and The Studio Hubs on overnight Noho
Thursday 8 February
- Expression Through Visual Arts, Enterprising for Impact, Being An Innovation Designer and Engineering Your Future Hubs overnight Noho.
- Year 11, 12 & 13 at school only
Friday 9 February
- Year 11, 12 & 13 at school only
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Monday 12 February
- All students at school, normal timetable
- School Assembly
- Student Leader Photos
- Waikato University Experience Visit
Wednesday 14 February
- House Assembly
Friday 16 February
- Trades Academy Pōwhiri
Summer Hockey Games
Come along!!
