Return to School Update
The beginning of 2023 has presented a new set of challenges and again the start of our school year has been disrupted.
First and foremost, our thoughts are with members of our community who may have suffered significant loss of property in the flooding over the past week. Our main hope is that family/whānau are safe.
As mentioned through our social media channels yesterday, we have shifted the start of our school year in response to the Secretary of Education’s Direction for schools to close.
We were notified by the Secretary of Education at 1pm today that this direction had been amended. Schools were now able to open earlier if they were in a position to do so if they chose to do so. It also acknowledged that many schools would have already communicated changes to their start of year dates. Given that we had already amended our start dates and being aware that many members of our community are dealing with clean-up of flood damage or transport issues, we advise that we are retaining our previously communicated start dates.
Our decision making has been focused on ensuring that all of our students, both new and returning, have the best possible start to the year. For our students new to Massey in Year 9, ensuring that they have the opportunity to be formally welcomed to our whānau, and familiarise themselves with their new school is of utmost importance.
Likewise, our staff require the opportunity to gather as a collective to set the tone for the year ahead.
As such, our confirmed first week dates are as follows:
| Monday 6th February | Waitangi Day (School closed) |
| Tuesday 7th February | Teacher Only Day, pōwhiri for staff new to Massey High School |
| Wednesday 8th February | Year 10,11,13 Admin and course confirmation (8.30 – 11.40) |
| Thursday 9th February | Year 9 Pōwhiri and Orientation Day (8.30 to 3pm) |
| Year 12 Admin and course confirmation (8.30 to 10.40). | |
| Friday 10th February | Year 9 and 10 only - Induction and Orientation Day (8.30 to 3pm). |
| Monday 13th February | All Year Levels, normal timetabled classes. |
We remind parents/caregivers of new Year 9 students that they are welcome to attend the Year 9 pōwhiri.
Full details of the above can be found in our whānau handbook at the following link:
Whānau Handbook - Start Information
For caregivers of students in Years 10 to 13, we would request that you remind them to log into Microsoft Teams – this presents the primary channel of communication from their Ākina Leaders. Teams is being used as a means to rectify minor timetable issues and for communicating with students who may have fallen short of a qualification by a handful of credits.
Logon details for student access have been emailed out to caregivers.
Our website and social media channels will be updated regularly to reflect any developments.
We look forward to seeing our students next week. In the interim, stay safe.
Ngā mihi nui
Alastair Fairley, Principal