This will be the last newsletter of the year as the 2016 academic year comes to a close.

2016 has been another successful year for the College with our students achieving academic, sporting and extra curricular success. Those successes will be recognised at our sports and merit prize giving on 7^th December and School prize giving on 8^th December. I would love to see lots of parents at both these events.

At this time of year there are plenty of EOTC events with our Year 9 students over in Rarotonga and Mr Towey onto his fourth Duke of Edinburgh tramp. These activities don’t just happen and Mr Towey and Mrs Rudolph especially, have done an enormous amount of preparation work to make these amazing opportunities for our students happen. If you see them please make sure you thank them. Last Thursday Mr Lewis organised a trip to Snow Planet and the students that did not go to snow planet walked from the Whangarei Falls down to the Aquatic centre.  Thanks to Mr Lewis for organising these events.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, 2017 will see the introduction of positive education to Years 7 – 9 and staff are excited about the introduction of this new initiative. There will also be a slight change to the bell times next year with every day starting with a 10 minute form time and finishing with a 5 minute form time. For Form time only, there will be combined Year 8 & 9, Year 9 & 10 and Year 10 & 11 form classes. Year 7 form classes will be remaining as 2016. These combined form classes will bring the Year levels together and enable us to have smaller form classes which will assist our form teachers in giving pastoral support for the students in their form class. The split form time means students know that each day has the same beginning and the 5 minutes at the end of the day will give form teachers a chance to deliver phones and give final home work instructions. Please note that this change is for form class only and each level will continue to have horizontal core classes for all their subjects.

The Family and Friends  had a very enjoyable social occasion at the Split Bar in Whangarei last week. It was well attended and nice to chat to the many parents that attended. If you want to be involved in the school, I strongly recommend joining the Family and Friends group. They are a great bunch and they have some great events planned for 2017. Please contact the school to find out about the first meeting date of 2017.

Staff Farewells
This year we sadly farewell two members of staff: Mrs Jessica Megerney (English) and Mr Ric Drake (Science).We thank them for their dedicated service to Huanui College and wish them all the best for the future.

In finishing, I would like to thank everybody in the Huanui College Community for their support of the College over the past year and wish everybody a relaxing holiday period and a pleasant Christmas with family and friends.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Family & Friends parent evening last week, what a great evening and it was wonderful to see so many people come along. The Family and Friends is a welcoming group of parents who organise events and activities that celebrate our school community and we have a lot of fun doing it. Our main goal is not fundraising but to form a close association with our teachers, students & parents and provide a safe and welcoming forum for parents.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support this year; we have had a great turnout at our meetings which are now held bi-monthly. We are keen to welcome new members at any time so feel free to come along to a meeting or contact me if you would like any further information. It’s a small commitment for a very satisfying result.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Family & Friends committee for their commitment and dedication to the group during 2016, I am very grateful to you all.  

On behalf of the Family & Friends I would like to wish you all a safe & happy holiday season and encourage you to come along and join us in 2017.

Warmest regards.

Fiona Greig
Chairperson
Huanui Family & Friends Association
Ph: 021 676 810