3 March 2024

Tēnā tātou e te whānau whānui o Tiriwā,

The week started with the acknowledgement of our top scholars which was followed by the naming of our Silver Tie Prefects for 2024. Our scholars' assembly drew in our Year 13 cohort, along with Summit classes from Years 11 and 12, and our Te Whare Āhuru students. It was great for our younger students to see the pinnacle of academic achievement cross the stage, providing inspiration for those looking to emulate their achievements.

On the subject of academic achievement, we also learned this week of alumnus Catherine Webb (class of 2014) graduating with her PhD from the University of Auckland in research into Alzheimer’s disease (See separate story).

On Thursday night we hosted parents and caregivers of Year 9 students, and students new to Massey across other year levels. The turnout was great to see, with the evening providing an opportunity for whānau to meet those staff members who will play a significant role over the next few years. Our Year 9 cohort has grown yet again – with our overall roll increasing from 1,701 at March 1 last year to 1,891 at the same time this year. It is great to see more families making Massey High School their school of choice.

On the sporting front it was great to get across to Long Bay College on Saturday morning to watch our Junior Boys Cricket team in action. It’s been a long time between innings for cricket at Massey High School and it is wonderful to see the sport return to our school. My thanks to the parents and caregivers who have assisted with this, and to the Kumeu Cricket Club. I look forward to cricket growing at our school in the future.

Punctuality and Attendance

A reminder to all that school begins with Hui Arotahi each morning (with the exception of Wednesday). Students are expected to be at school, and in Hui Arotahi/assembly for 8.40am. 

Our Deans and members of SLT are at the gates every morning – students arriving after 8.40am are logged as arriving late, should there be an unjustified reason for being late, before being sent to their tutor class or assembly. Parents/caregivers are notified of lateness (particularly in the case of recurring unjustified reasons for being late) with escalation through our pastoral care procedures occurring where necessary.

Ideally, students should be arriving at school at 8.30am to ensure they are ready to enter Hui Arotahi on time. For parents and caregivers who drive their children to school, we advise that cars should not be driven in the gates after 8.30am for health and safety reasons.

For those students who do arrive late, remember to head to Hui Arotahi/Assembly or your Period 1 class immediately after signing in so that you can be marked as being late (which is a present in class code). Failure to turn up results in an unjustified absence – for our senior students looking to go the ball, these quickly add up. Remember, you need to ensure that you have no more than 5% unjustified absence to be invited.

School Ball

Information pertaining to the school ball is being sent to parents/caregivers of students in Years 12 and 13. For students to be invited to the ball they must have met our behaviour and citizenship expectations and have no more than 5% unjustified absence. Our weekly attendance reports are designed to assist parents and caregivers in supporting their children’s regular attendance at school. Similarly, all students receive a daily attendance update via their school email address.

Academic Progress

Our first batch of Massey Way reports have been sent out, these are sent out fortnightly and provide parents and caregivers with regular updates on how their child is exhibiting facets of the Massey Way. These will be supplemented at intervals during the year with achievement reports that provide information on assessments completed and progress on current assessments. We ask that you discuss these reports with your children.

Phones Away for the Day

We are starting to see some students adapting to the initial moves toward the full implementation of the new government regulations. We are encouraging students to become accustomed to having their cell phones switched off and in their bags for the duration of the school day. As mentioned previously, this requires support from our community as well. We ask that you do not try to phone your child’s cellphone during the school day – should you need to contact your child, please go through reception. We will shortly be releasing the full procedures that our Deans have developed, and these will be implemented during this term. They will involve initial warnings, contact home, through to confiscation of the phone for the day if necessary.