Principal’s Welcome

Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Kura Tuarua o Māwhera.Welcome to Greymouth High School.

I’m very proud of the culture we’ve created at this school, which visitors and new colleagues tell me about – that we’re welcoming and caring to all and energetically doing our best to give each of our diverse students the opportunities to succeed in their own way. We’re not perfect, and we have a lot to keep learning, but we’re open about challenges and we tackle them with a “can-do” attitude. I love serving the full range of people we have here.

Our vision is to be The Heart of Learning in our Thriving Community. As the biggest school on the West Coast, with over 80% of this district’s rangatahi learning with us, we recognise that it is our responsibility to engage every student in learning for life. In this way, by giving each one a positive experience of learning, we should play a key role in our whole community thriving.

Our values guide how we work well together by giving us priorities:

Akoranga, learning, is obvious but it’s not about teachers just telling kids stuff (like in the old days)…we want a learning community in which relationships allow for both the student and the teacher (all of us in fact) to be learners and teachers

Respect for ourselves, for each other, for our guests and for our environment is essential for any community’s success. I have a deep belief about respect, that every person is entitled to be treated with respect regardless of their role in life or any other aspect of their person (for example gender, ethnicity, abilities). I acknowledge the role of mana whenua Ngati Waewae in setting the tikanga for our area.

Community is key for us – we represent our community and we influence our community. We work for strong and positive relationships throughout our school community, with associated rights and responsibilities, to give a positive sense of belonging and maximise opportunities for everyone.

Hauora, wellbeing, can be hard to look after but we need to be OK in ourselves before we can learn and we need to look after ourselves before we can look after others. We use the Te Whare Tapa Whā model of hauora throughout the school – this is in its infancy but we’re getting better at incorporating hauora into daily life for the benefit of everyone.

If you’re a prospective student, parent or staff member, or someone in our community with ideas about how we could work together, please feel free to call in.

Noho ora mai

Andy England
Principal