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WHAKATANE HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
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Issue 2 - 20 February 2026
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PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
E ngā reo, e ngā mana, e ngā rau rangatira mā, ngā matā waka, tēnei te mihi maioha atu mō te tau hou ki ā koutou katoa. Ko te wawata me te tūmanako ka noho ora pai koutou katoa.
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Term 1 has got off to a good start with all of our tauira (students) and kaiako (teachers) settling into their normal timetable schedule. It has been nice walking around the grounds at intervals and lunchtimes and seeing so many of our students looking happy at school.
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Our Year 9 Big Day out has been postponed till Monday 23rd Feb. Students are to come in appropriate mufti for a day at the beach and gather in front of the gym at 8.35am. We encourage our tauira to dress in house colours if they can. House colours are listed below:
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- Matai - Blue
- Tōtara - Red
- Kauri - Yellow
- Rimu - Green
We held our Year 9 BBQ for Year 9 students, their whānau and teachers. This is always an awesome evening and gives us all a chance to be together, to mix and mingle and for Year 9 students to introduce their whānau to their teachers in a relaxed, informal setting.
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Today’s Athletics Day is a major event on the school Term 1 calendar and is an opportunity for our rangatahi (young people) to participate for fun and earn house points, or to compete more seriously for championship honours. A big thank you to the PE Department for all of the work that goes into organising the day. It is always important when we come together in large numbers that we uphold our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Achievement and it’s been great seeing these values in full effect today, as well as seeing our students enjoying themselves.
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Summer Sport has kicked off with Volleyball, Cricket, Rowing and Waka Ama already underway. A number of our students also participated in the recent BOPSS Triathlon which was great to see.
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Our Winter sport sign up last week saw 400+ students registering interest to play sport this year. This is hugely encouraging and we look forward to those sports pre season preparations gaining momentum as the term progresses. Participation in physical activity and sport has so many benefits for young people and we wish everyone the very best for their seasons ahead.
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In the classroom, our teachers have been focusing on establishing consistency around routines and expectations, integrating a high level of care for our students and getting started on the various programmes of learning. The Maths and English departments are implementing the new curriculum at a Junior level this year and are well under way with that mahi. All of our other subject areas have begun engaging with the contents of a “knowledge rich” new curriculum, underpinned by the “science of learning” and preparing for its implementation at a Junior level in 2027.
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Finally, I would ask that if your child is having any issues related to school, to please contact someone here at the kura to let us know. Your child’s Mentor teacher is your first point of contact if anything needs discussing in this regard. If we know what is happening, we can work through it together to find a way forward that supports your child’s schooling experience.
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Stay safe and well whānau and enjoy the weekend.
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Ngā manaakitanga ki a tātau katoa.
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𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟵 𝗕𝗕𝗤
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵ā𝗻𝗮𝘂, 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 & 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀
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We loved having our Year 9 students and their whānau join us for our annual Year 9 BBQ yesterday. It was a great opportunity to come together and for students to introduce their whānau to their teachers, helping everyone put faces to names as we begin building strong connections together.
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Thank you to everyone involved in making this event a success.
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Athletics Results
We held our annual Athletics Day today, which is one of the highlights of the year and a treasured tradition at WHS. The event kicked off with the annual march-in, bringing energy as students proudly cheered their house chants. It was fantastic to see students giving it their all, whether they were aiming to break records or rack up house points. Throughout the day, students demonstrated leadership, determination, participation, success, and achievement.
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We had a number of school records broken today. These will be announced next week.
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A huge congratulations to Kauri house who claimed 1st place!
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Congratulations to this year's Athletics Champions:
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- Junior Girl - Mia Hyndman
- Junior Boy - Flynn Watkins
- Intermediate Girl - Sophia Hall
- Intermediate Boy - Ollie Peat
- Senior Girl - Stepanka Tunova
- Senior Boy - Maseo Adlington
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A huge mihi to the PE department for all their hard mahi in organising the day and to our staff for their support. More images will be available on our social media next week.
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NETBALL
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Huge congratulations to Ariana Dawson for being selected as a trialist for the NZSS Netball Team.
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TRIATHLON
WHS had 17 students take part in the BOPSS Triathlon Championships held at Ōhope on Tuesday.
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In stunning, calm conditions, the Grey team of Zandre Herbst, Julian Cardinal and Lochie Holding finished 1st in the Boys U16 Team Event. The team of Aaron Nillesen, Dallas Schwencke and David Kemp also performed strongly, finishing 3rd.
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The youngest team of Year 9 students — Eben van Zyl, Charlie Robison and Hudson Worrall — achieved an excellent result, finishing 3rd in the U14 Boys Team Event.
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In the U19 Boys Team Event, Chris Martin, Hamish McPherson and Nikkolas Brown secured 3rd place, while Harry Martin, Dylan McKay and Maxwell Hughes finished 4th.
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Special mention goes to Keelan Dawson and Theo Henderson, who competed in the U16 Boys Individual race, with both athletes finishing inside the top 20.
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For many of the boys, this was their first time competing in a triathlon. They handled the pressure and nerves exceptionally well and delivered some excellent performances. Well done to you all.
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TOUCH
2026 Maori Touch Tamariki Tournament
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A number of WHS Students had headed over to Hopuhopu, Ngaruawahia (31st January-1st February) to compete at the Maori Touch Tamariki Tournament, proudly representing Mataatua.
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A massive congratulations to the following students who were selected to play:
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Mataatua U16 Girls- CHAMPIONS
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Wai-o-te-hau White-Curnow
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The commitment, teamwork and heart they showed out on the field was incredible. U16 Girls bringing home the Championship title, what an amazing achievement. They represented Mataatua with pride and mana.
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