Principal’s Welcome

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

I am very proud to be a part of a school whose culture is welcoming and caring to all where all staff are 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 always have to keep learning, but we are open to challenges and we tackle them with a “can do” attitude. I will continue to develop this culture and work hard with our staff to do so.

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

Learning is at the heart of what we do at Greymouth High School. It is about us working together and learning from each other. We want to have a learning community where we are all learners and we are all teachers. All of us find some things easier than other things and it is about trying your best in and out of class. We all need to challenge ourselves to do a little bit better each time! Our teachers have high aspirations for every learner and we want every learner to have high aspirations for themselves.

Respect for ourselves, for each other, for our guests and for our environment is essential for any community’s success

I expect that everyone should treat each other with respect and kindness regardless of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, neuro diversity or abilities. We are all different and these differences should be respected. We want Greymouth High School to be a safe and inclusive culture where diversity is valued. I also acknowledge the role of mana whenua Ngāti Waewae in setting the tikanga for our area and I thank them for supporting myself, our senior leadership team, staff and students.

Community is key for us – we represent our community and we influence our community

At Greymouth High School we work for strong and positive relationships throughout the community, with associated rights and responsibilities, to give a positive sense of belonging and maximise opportunities for everyone. Here I consider the Kai Tahu whakatuikī ‘Mō tātou, a, mō ka uri a muri ake nei’ – `For us, and our children after us’; we are all working together for today and our future.

Hauora, wellbeing

Wellbeing is key to a great life and great school. I am at heart a health teacher and I really believe this! You need to look after yourself in all the four areas of wellbeing – physical, mental, social and spiritual. We also need to look after our other students and staff as well. If you have any issues or concerns, they will probably link back to your wellbeing in some way. We use the Te Whare Tapa Whā model of hauora throughout the school and we are getting better at incorporating hauora into daily life for the benefit of everyone.

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

Whāia te iti kahurangi – strive for success.

Noho ora mai
Sam Mortimer
Principal