At the start of the term our staff had the good fortune of celebrating the wonderful academic achievements of our students, including our top Level 1 and Level 2 NCEA Achievement results, our highest ever number of NZQA scholarships, our 2022 junior literacy and numeracy results, and the success of our Year 10 students who sat the Cambridge Examinations. These results have put us up there with some of the top academic schools in New Zealand.

However, as the person with overall responsibility of delivering our educational programme, I often ponder, what are the key factors that enable our success?  My view is that our success lies within the quality of our staff.

Our teachers at Cashmere work incredibly hard to provide our students with the best opportunities to learn. They teach because they believe in making a difference in the lives of our students, they understand the inherent capacity for people to learn and to better themselves, and they believe that education is critical in the development of young people.

Unlike many other schools the vast majority of our staff are involved in some form of extra-curricular activity.  They are not paid to do this, but they do this because they understand the importance of these programmes for our students’ wellbeing and the importance of a holistic approach to education.  Our results both inside and outside the classroom reflect the dedication of our staff.

On the 16th March you will be aware that secondary school teachers will be taking strike action to address issues of pay.  Obviously I have a bias.  Of course I wish to see better pay and conditions for our teachers.  However, I genuinely believe this is not about blindly asking for more money, rather this is about seeking pay that is commensurate with the value that they provide our communities.  I have never met a teacher who teaches for money, rather they teach to empower the next generation - our future.

If we seek better outcomes for our students then we need to understand that the key factor in enabling this aspiration is not politicians, government bureaucrats or even school principals. The key factor is quality teachers.

Cambridge Examination Results

Once again our 2022 Year 10 students who sat the Cambridge Examination in both Global Perspectives and English have achieved excellent results.  A big congratulations to Anouk Hector-Taylor who placed 1st in New Zealand for the IGCSE Cambridge English Examination with a raw score of 95%!

Future Problem Solving

Last year a number of our students achieved fantastic results in the Global Future Problem Solving Championships. Congratulations to the following students:

Seamus Mirfin - 1st in New Zealand - Middle Scenario Writing

Ruby Geddes - 1st in New Zealand - Senior Scenario Writing

Ellen Doughty - 1st in New Zealand - Middle on-site Scenario Writing

Skyler Morison - 1st in New Zealand - Individual Senior Global Issues Problem Solving 

Also a big congratulations to all of our students who will be travelling to the United States to compete in the world finals!

Student Council Leadership Camp

On the 11th and 12th of February, our student council spent the weekend at Boyle River Outdoor Education Camp. This was a great opportunity for our Council to come together to learn about aspects of successful leadership, working collaboratively, goal planning, and generating ideas for the rest of the year.

Year 11 and Year 12 Assembly

Over the last two weeks we have celebrated a number of student achievements at our Principal's Assembly.  At our Year 11 Assembly we acknowledged a number of students who are doing great things in the school and in the wider community, including Millie Palmer who won ECan's Sustainable Resource Management Award, The Wrybill Trophy.  We also acknowledged 118 students who achieved Excellence endorsements in 2022 at our Year 12 Assembly.

A special congratulations to Isla Cook and Vincent Aydon who were our COVE Award recipient winners for their outstanding service to the school community.

Coast to Coast

A super effort from Mr Riepen and three of our Year 13 students, Oliver Lloyd-Scott, Georgia Burnby and Sacha Barker, who participated in the Coast to Coast race last weekend.  Mr Riepen came 24th in his division in the 2 day race while the students completed the two-day team event.  They have been training since last year and have been working hard all summer to prepare for the race. Well done!

Cricket Success

A big congratulations to our First XI Cricketers who won all three games on Tuesday to qualify for the Gillette Cup main draw.

Year 9 Parents Evening

Thank you to all the parents and whanau who came to our Year 9 parents evening last night. We really enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you and we hope you found the evening purposeful. 

From the Archives

1968 Form Class 4S2

The Fortnight Ahead