Information from the Principal

Kia ora koutou

I hope everyone has had a good couple of weeks and that you are all safe and well after the heavy rain earlier this week. The weather certainly tested us, with a number of cancelled trips and some power outages on site. However, we were pleased to remain open, and it has been great to see the sun return.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone Whānau Connect this week, partly due to ongoing communication issues. We have since learned that changes to education sector Microsoft licences have caused email disruptions across a number of schools. We are hopeful this will be resolved as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will endeavour to share all important communication via social media as well as email. I look forward to meeting many of you on Thursday as we connect with whānau in Years 7–11.

A reminder that Athletics Sports is on Tuesday. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to demonstrate our school values and represent their houses for the first time this year. It is always a fantastic day of celebration, and if you are able to come along and support, it would be great to see you there.

Finally, a huge thank you to the staff, volunteers, and parents who are coaching, managing, and transporting our students as summer sport gets underway. Without your support, many of our students would not be able to participate in sport across Christchurch. Best of luck as well to our volleyball teams representing the school this weekend at Parakiore in the Mainland Championships.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, and have a great weekend.

Sam Ainsworth

Principal

Tumuaki / Principal

Upcoming Events

Monday 23 February

• Board Meeting 6.15pm

Tuesday 24 February

• Athletics (full school) Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub for details click here.

Wednesday 25 February

• Level 2 Sport & Recreation – Paddle Boarding (Mr Sharr and Mrs Taylor / MSR, STY) all day Cass Bay

• Year 10 OED Deep Water/Diving Course (Mrs Manson / LMA) 12.30pm -2.30pm

Thursday 26 February

• Whānau Connect Years 7-11 (details below or click here)

  Whānau and all rangatahi are welcome to attend these events

Monday 2 March

• Futsal – Canterbury Championships 2026 (Mr Jarvie and Mr Gibson / JJR, JGB) Monday and Tuesday

• Level 2 Geography Aoraki Mount Cook Trip (Monday-Wednesday)

Tuesday 3 March

• Year 7 and 8 PCT Bluelight Comp

Wednesday 4 March

• GRIP Student Leadership Conference Year 8 & Year 10 Whānau Leaders

• Year 11 PE 1.2 Kotahitanga – Team Building Days (Mrs Manson / LMAs dlass) The Groynes

• Level 2 Sport and Recreation – Paddle Boarding (Mr Sharr and Mrs Taylor / MSR, STY), Cass Bay

Thursday 5 March

• Year 10 Assembly (Hall) 9.00am

• Whānau House Event – Quiz in Hall 11.15am

Friday 6 March

• SISS Rowing

• Year 11 Assembly (Hall) 9.00am

• Whānau House Event – Quiz Hall 11.15am

General Information

SchoolBridge App

SchoolBridge is our main way to allow parents/caregivers to report absences, view students’ attendance, financial information check notices and a whole lot more!

We encourage all whānau and students to download and use this free app. Click here for more info on how to do this.

Whānau Connect Evening Years 7-11

Please make a note of the upcoming event for the families of our Year 7 to Year 11 students. These are information evenings where we will share important information specific to the year level of your child. You will then have a chance to meet your child’s Whānau Group Kaiako (teacher) who will be a key point of contact for you this year. No bookings are needed.

We look forward to welcoming you into school. 

Thursday 26 February

Year 7 & 8

5:00 pm – 6:15 pm (School Hall) this is a re-scheduled date

Year 9

6:00 pm – 7:15 pm (School Hall) this is a re-scheduled date

Year 10

5:00 pm – 6:15 pm (School Library)

Year 11

6:00 pm -7:15 pm (School Library)

Re-Set Room

To support students to be on time, attend regularly, overcome barriers and create good attendance habits, we have set up ‘Re-set rooms’ this year. 

One space is for Year 9 and 10 students, and another space is for senior students, and these are held at second break time every day. Students who are late (Ls on their attendance) to classes, or who have unexplained absences (?) or truancy (T) during the day, are expected to attend, with a reminder slip sent to them Period 4. 

While in the Re-Set Room, students have a conversation with a member of the Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Team, and reflect on their lateness and/or absences, and together they work on a plan to improve their punctuality and/or attendance. Whānau will be contacted if students are continually late, truant, absent with no reasons given, or if there is no improvement in their students’ attendance.

Reporting

The first round of fortnightly reports for Years 7-11 students have been be emailed. If you do not have them in your inbox you could check SchoolBridge. These provide you with a quick snapshot of your student’s attitude and effort over the last two weeks in their classes, using a 1-4 scale (see the report itself for more detail). Please contact your child’s subject teachers or Whānau Group Kaiako (teacher) if you would like to discuss how your child is engaging in their learning.

Student Attendance

The Government has set a target for 80% of students to attend school regularly, increasing to over 90% by 2030. To support this goal, the Stepped Attendance Response Plan (STAR) has been introduced to ensure no child is left behind. Our focus is on having ākonga in class — in the right place, at the right time, and ready to learn.

In line with Ministry of Education guidelines, Hillmorton High School has the following expectations:

• Notify us: If your child is absent, please inform the school as early as possible using the absences option on SchoolBridge, or by phone, email, or message.

• Explain the reason: Please provide a reason for your child’s absence.

• Justified absences: We recognise that there are genuine reasons for absence and will work in partnership with families to support students.

Each week, parents and caregivers will receive an automated email outlining their child’s attendance statistics. This notification will also highlight attendance patterns in line with the Ministry’s stepped attendance response system, allowing staff, parents, and key support people to monitor attendance, work together, and ensure student attendance is tracked and positive outcomes are achieved. How to report absences here.

Below is a flowchart we will be using to follow up attendance:

Student Lockers

Lockers are available to hire for $15.00 for the year. Students will need to provide their own padlock and bring it to the Payments Office along with the payment. There are a limited number of lockers which can be found in D, E and B blocks. All lockers must be emptied at the end of the year and locks removed.

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If parents have any concerns regarding their child please direct these to the your child’s manutaki /dean, contact details below: