Star Board Term Three Week Nine

Principal's Message

Kia Ora Koutou

My apologies in advance for the length of this message this week. I cover off some sobering topics- that is not meant to be a pun by the way (you will read why soon enough). We are growing the future and some of the compost we have used is doing great work but some of our compost- well need a product with more nutrients.

Graduate Alumni

It is with pleasure that I enclose a list of our former pupils who have graduated from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington between June 2022 and May 2023. I know you join us in acknowledging and celebrating the students’ wonderful success:

• Cara Amy with a BA - Bachelor of Arts
• Hannah Ashwell with a GDTCEC - GDip Teaching (EC)
• Annie Barnard with a BA - Bachelor of Arts
• Lia Carruthers with a BCOMHO - Bachelor of Commerce (Honours First Class)
• Grace Connery with a MEDPSY - Master of Educational Psych(Merit0
• Alice Cresswell with a MPPE - Master of Phil Politics Econ (Distinction)
• Riognach Dempsey with a BA - Bachelor of Arts
• Cassandra Ellwood with a BAHONS - Bachelor of Arts with Honours First Class
• Ruby Fisher with a BA - Bachelor of Arts
• Sophie Fisher with a PGDNS - PGDip in Nursing Science
• Annabelle Fleming with a BA - Bachelor of Arts
• Natalie Hammond with a PHD - Doctor of Philosophy
• Meagan Hughes with a PGDNS - PGDip in Nursing Science
• Amanda Jolly with a MTCHLP - Master of TchLrn (Primary)
• Katie Lutyens with a MIA - Master of Interior Arch
• Emma Mclachlan with a MPPE - Master of Phil, Politics Economics
• Antoinette Myers with a MA - Master of Arts (Distinction)
• Danielle Na with a BCOM - Bachelor of Commerce
• Sophie Ward with a BCOM - Bachelor of Commerce
• Katrina Watkins with a BSC - Bachelor of Science
• Naomi-Rose Watt with a MTCHLP - Master of TchLrn (Primary with Merit)

Tik Tok, Snapchat, Insta sound fun but sometimes they are not.

The Harmful Digital Communications Act came into force in 2015 to "deter, prevent and mitigate harm" caused to people by digital communication.

Its purpose is to provide victims of harmful digital communication with "a quick and efficient means of redress".

What does the Act define as 'Harmful Digital Communication'?

'Digital communication' is defined as any form of "text message, writing, photograph, picture, recording, or other matter that is communicated electronically", which has been "transferred, sent, posted, published, disseminated, or otherwise communicated by means of a digital communication". It is considered harmful when it causes "serious emotional distress".

The court considers 10 communication principles when deciding if a digital communication is harmful. Examples include:

• digital communication should not be threatening, intimidating, or menacing,
• digital communication should not be grossly offensive to a reasonable person in the position of the affected individual,
• digital communication should not be indecent or obscene,
• digital communication should not incite or encourage an individual to [die by] suicide.

The Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Act 2022 (Amendment Act) became law at the start of March 2022.

The amended Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA, ‘the Act’) introduces a new criminal offence, which will be dealt with by Police. The offence is intended to help individuals keep intimate visual recordings from being shared without their consent.

It is now an offence if a person posts an intimate visual recording without the consent of the person that is the subject of the recording or is reckless as to whether the person has given consent. The newly amended Act includes two key new sections- 22A and 22B, have been inserted:

• 22A Posting intimate visual recording without consent
• 22B Court may make civil order during proceedings for offence under section 22A

New section 22A: Posting intimate visual recording without consent

A person commits an offence if they, without reasonable excuse, post a digital communication that is an intimate visual recording knowing that the person who is the subject of the recording has not consented to the posting. (A person must be 16 years or older to be able to provide consent for an intimate visual recording to be shared.)

It is also an offence to post an intimate visual recording if the person is reckless about whether the person featured in the intimate visual recording has consented to the posting.

What is a ‘post’?

In relation to a digital communication, a ‘post’ means to transfer, send, publish, disseminate, or otherwise communicate:

• any information, whether truthful or untruthful, about the victim, or
• an intimate visual recording of an individual.

A post also includes an attempt to do any of the above.

What is an ‘intimate visual recording’?

An ‘intimate visual recording’ means a visual recording (for example, a photograph, videotape, or digital image) that is made in any medium using any device with or without the knowledge or consent of the individual who is the subject of the recording, and that is of an individual who is in a place which, in the circumstances, would reasonably be expected to provide privacy, and

1. the individual is:

• naked or has his or her genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breasts exposed, partially exposed, or clad solely in undergarments; or
• engaged in an intimate sexual activity; or
• engaged in showering, toileting, or other personal bodily activity that involves dressing or undressing; or

2. an individual’s naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breasts which is made—

• from beneath or under an individual’s clothing; or
• through an individual’s outer clothing in circumstances where it is unreasonable to do so; and includes an intimate visual recording that is made and transmitted in real time without retention or storage in — (i) a physical form; or (ii) an electronic form from which the recording is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any device or thing

New section 22B: Court may make civil order during proceedings for offence under section 22A.

If someone has committed an offence of posting a non-consented digital communication, the Court may also make a civil order:

• to take down or disable material.
• that the defendant cease, or refrain from the conduct concerned.
• that the defendant does not encourage, any other persons to engage in similar communications towards the affected individual.
• that a correction be published
• that a right of reply be given to the affected individual
• that an apology be published

I have recently made complaint to Tik Tok citing this Act because students, despite expert advice (John Parsons) have used Tik Tok to poke “fun” at students and staff.

I ask that you have these discussions with your young ones about how they use different social media platforms before they push Send or Post.

Underage and Permission requested to drink at a party?

Now I will admit that the world has changed since my children were teenagers (now 33 and 31), but I am confident that the legal age that you can purchase alcohol with acceptable ID is still 18 years.

However, there is no age at which it is illegal to drink alcohol in New Zealand. It comes down to common sense as a human, as a parent when you are asked for your permission by your minor to drink whether you grant that permission or not.

What did you do Kiri Gill about drinking when your kids were young? Up until they were 18 and legally able to buy, I said No. Did they sneak drinks when away from home? Possibly- but they knew how we felt about it as parents and respected we had a stance.

Why that stance? We knew we were the leading influence in our children’s decision to drink or not to drink alcohol, so we laid down the law and did not ‘make good intentions the enemy of good parenting’. WE also knew that there is enough out there to destroy their developing brain cells so why would we say yes!

There are some rules, and I am sure you know that it is illegal to supply alcohol to someone under the age of 18 years unless:

• the person supplying the alcohol is the parent or legal guardian and the alcohol is supplied in a responsible manner, or
• the person supplying alcohol has the express consent of the young person’s parent or legal guardian and the alcohol is supplied in a responsible manner.

You could be fined up to $2,000 if you do not follow the law. I am not paid to teach anyone how to parent but that magical word “No” is so incredibly useful don’t you think? Your children might thank you (well not out loud) for using it.

Period Products

From next week the courtesy of making periods product freely available in our school restrooms will be removed. We will still have these products available for students but going forward they will need to be accessed by visiting the school office.

Why has this decision been made? We have discovered that an individual or individuals (at this point unknown) have demonstrated that their knowledge about these products use, and disposal is lacking.

As a school we are not laughing. They are told how to dispose of these products, and we are certain that this also forms discussions at home. When the school does grocery drives for those in need in our community, we ask for the donation of period products because they are considered ‘luxury’ items. In some households period poverty is a real issue and young women absent themselves from school whilst they are menstruating because the grocery bill cannot stretch to the provision of pads and the like for what we here take for granted every month. So, to hear that some of our flock are abusing this free provision is appalling.

The reality is one or two besmirch our good name and that is not fair. We all need to do our bit and call out those who do not demonstrate good behaviour. There are consequences for choices, and this is one of them.

Okay, misery journey over.

Have a great and safe weekend.

Kiri

Around School

Boarding Note

There has been a big focus on afterschool activities for boarders especially with the beautiful weather we have been having lately. This photo was taken on Wednesday out on the bottom fields while the boarders played an English version of Rounders. Many thanks once again to our very capable tutors Eleanor and Flora for gathering up and motivating our young people. Not an easy task at times!

With House Music scheduled for the last night of the term, our traditional Boarders End of Term dinner was pushed forward to this week. At these boarding events we acknowledge our Year 13 and Year 11 Leadership teams, Tidy Dorm winners, and award our Boarding Values certificates. With this week being Te Wiki o te reo Māori, the boarders also enjoyed a quick quiz to test their knowledge before dinner. Many thanks to Jorja Southon for her beautiful karakia, and to Don and the catering team for the lovely meal.

Below are the Term 3 Boarding Value Award winners left to right

With a busy end of term ahead, a reminder that all boarders should have most of their room cleaned and packed by Wednesday night. The boarding houses are available to do PPTB sign outs up until 5pm on Thursday afternoon and then after the completion of House Music. On Friday, boarders can sign out from 3pm, and the boarding houses will close at 5.30pm.

Jo

Evening Out

A lovely evening out for our international students Ceres, Feier, Sabrina and Jasmine.

Netball Wairarapa Awards

A big congratulations go to the following who have been named as finalists in the Netball Wairarapa Awards -

• Maia Svenson – junior umpire of the year
• Deb Julian – senior coach of the year
• Amy Williams – senior coach of the year
• Snr A Netball team – senior team of the year

Year 9 Trip

Our Year 9 had an amazing trip to the Capital on Tuesday. They got to visit Government House, Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral. A huge amount of knowledge gained, and a great group to take away.