Kia ora koutou

A special welcome to the following students and their families who have joined the Cotswold Learning Community in the last month:-

• Blake Tangney
• Arlia Hunt
• Aria White
• Emily Gin 

The school year is rapidly drawing to a close. School finishes for all students at 12.30pm on Tuesday 17 December, 2019.

Thank you to our dedicated staff team who have worked incredibly hard this year to ensure our students have been provided with the best possible learning programmes and environment. I value and appreciate the commitment each has made to their role. It is a pleasure and a privilege to lead such an amazing team.

As leaders and teachers we are supported by a quality support staff, admin and property management team. We must not forget their amazing work, making sure we have food, heat, light, security and a clean environment. Thank you for taking the time to talk to everyone which makes all our days seem a little better. Thanks to each and everyone one of you.

Special thanks to Paula Fleming-Connell and Andrew Simpson who provide leadership to the junior and senior schools respectively and along with me, make up the senior leadership team for Cotswold School. I have appreciated your support and professionalism and the commitment you make to the well-being of our staff and students. Thank you to Paula for the extra workload she has taken on during the second half of this year while I filled the role of Tōtaranui Kāhui Ako Lead Principal. You have done an amazing job and your professionalism, commitment and support for staff and children is appreciated by us all.

Thank you also to our Team Leaders who have continued their focus on monitoring student progress, achievement and student welfare within their designated team of teachers. I’d like to thank and acknowledge the work of the team leaders – Cameron Anderson, Jean-Marie Cain, David Guthrie, Nicola Campbell-Fox, Michelle Baskerville and Bex Green.

We have a large Learning Support Team led by an incredibly professional, experienced leader. Special thanks to Megan Poultney for the work she does in leading our Learning Support Team and Learning Support Programmes across the school. You do an amazing job Megan. Thank you for this on behalf of us all.

The end of a school year quite often signals a change in staff. I’d like to thank Phillipa Matthews, Hannah Hughes, Rachel Batchelor, Jairus Robb, Rachel Keenan and Marise McCudden. We have appreciated the contribution you have made to our school and wish each of you all the best for the future.

To our wonderful Parents Association – thank you. You’re an incredible group of parents, committed to supporting our school in so many ways. I’ve appreciated your support and commitment this year and I thank you for taking the time to be involved. Thank you also to all parents who have assisted with or contributed to any of the Parents Association Activities.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the large group of parents who have provided support for our school and teaching staff in a variety of ways – from putting reading books away, creating resources for teachers, assisting on school trips and visits, managing or coaching a sport team and being a parent helper on camp. Your assistance and support is greatly appreciated by us all and we thank all of you for your willingness to help our school. And there is another group of parents who although very busy in their own lives still find time to talk with or email a staff member to say “thank you … you’re doing a great job”. I cannot emphasise the positive impact this has. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

We have had two wonderful ambassadors for our school this year in our two head students William Sandford and Isabella Prince. They have contributed in so many ways through school activities and assemblies. It has been a pleasure to watch you grow and develop in your role. Thank you for the contribution you have made to our school. The challenge for you both now is to take the leadership skills you have developed into your new school setting and develop them further.

We have a large group of Year 6 children who will move on to intermediate school at the end of this year - this group includes 50 families for whom the end of this school year signals the end of their formal association with our school. I’d like to thank you all for the confidence you placed in us by enrolling your children at Cotswold and for the support you have provided in so many ways over the years. I wish you and your family well for their future education journey and remember … you’re welcome at Cotswold at any time.

A special message for our Year 6 students:

Six years of primary education seems to have flown by and now it’s time for you to leave the comfort and security of Cotswold Primary School. At the start of 2020 each of you will move on to a new school and I'm sure some of you are feeling a little nervous about this. Some of you will be leaving behind friends and starting in a school where you know no one at all. In a few weeks, you will be meeting new friends and teachers who will affect your lives for years to come. All of you are leaving the comfort of something you know and moving onto something new and perhaps unknown. But in actual fact you do this every day with your learning. 

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer and you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity that education can provide.

Some of you already have big dreams and a focus for what you may do in the future. No matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. We never stop learning! 

Today you graduate from Cotswold School – a remarkable achievement … but graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference.I believe education is the key to your future. You never ever stop learning. So …

• Aim High
• Have a Plan for the Future - if you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else!
• Set Yourself Goals - goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement
• Ask Questions – Seek Answers
• Be actively involved in your education • Don’t waste any opportunity. 
• Laugh, appreciate your friends and enjoy life – do what you love!
• Never, ever give up! 

I also want you to be aware of something that is every bit as important as academic success and that is your character and reputation. As you know, your character is the type of person you are and your reputation is the opinions that people hold about you - whether they are true or not!

As you move to intermediate school and then on to secondary school, the friends you choose will have a lot of influence on your character and reputation. There is a saying that “Birds of a feather flock together”. So you have to choose your new friends carefully. Do not be tempted to join in when you hear of other people texting or saying negative things about another person just so that you fit in. You should be more concerned about having genuine, caring conversations with your friends, rather than gossiping about them or labeling them.

Always think for yourself and ask yourself:

• Is it true?
• Is it kind?
• Is it necessary?
• Would I say it to their face?

You see, words have power. Words and name calling can be extremely damaging. Never accidentally or deliberately, find yourself involved in verbal or any other kind of bullying. Words can build up a person or break a person. Develop a positive character and reputation and use words that build, not damage others.

If you should find yourself in the company of people who want to tempt you to do things that you are not sure about, always remember these words, “When in doubt, do the right thing”. How do you know if it’s the right thing? The right thing is the thing that will make you proud of yourself and your parents and teachers proud of you even if they can’t see you.

It all starts with Respect for Self. If you do not respect yourself, it will be more difficult for you to respect anyone else.There are certain ideals have the greatest impact on your level of self-respect including:

• Being an Honest Person
• Learning to Listen
• Understanding the Value of Good Manners/Proper Conduct…
• Learning to Accept Personal Responsibility for Your Own Conduct… (What were you actions before, during and after and incident)
• Learning When and How to Apologize…
• Learning to Understand Which of Your Friends are Good Influences and Which Ones are Bad Influences…
• Having Important Goals and Plans for Reaching Them

Respect for Others … you owe everyone a basic level of respect for being a fellow human being, but your level of respect for others will vary from person to person. Just like your self-respect will grow as you master the ideals discussed above, your level of respect for others will vary depending upon your view of them and their own self-respect.

Sometimes you will make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even your parents, teachers and especially Principals! If you do, there are two things to do:

• Be of good character and apologise.
• Secondly, don’t beat yourself up because you made a mistake. Every mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow. We learn from our mistakes.

The future holds many challenges and successes for all of you. Each of you will have your own unique opportunities to grow. I am confident you will rise to every occasion. We wish you well with your future learning journey and look forward to hearing about your achievements.

• Take the challenge of your life.
• Reach out to your goals.
• There is no limit to what you can achieve.

Last Thursday we acknowledged the commitment and incredible contribution that Shelley Liken, Jayne Rushworth and Martin Cudd have made to our school through their time as Parent Representatives on the Board of Trustees. Shelley, Jayne and Martin has steered our school through a difficult but exciting period as we negotiated numerous hurdles working with the Ministry of Education to bring about the vision our community has for this school following the earthquakes. There are so many other roles each has filled while a member of the Board and each of these has been appreciated by us all and your efforts have helped shape where our school will head in the years ahead.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank current Board Members Kiri Terry, Scott Rainey, Casey Delaney, Luke Gainsford, Kirsty Willis and Jo Holdem for their ongoing support and for consistently keeping our children at the heart of all discussions and decision-making. Thank you to Kiri Terry for her commitment to the role of Board Chair and the support she has provided for me as Principal. 

I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities 2020 will provide for our school community. Thanks for another fantastic year Cotswold. I wish everyone a happy and restful Christmas and look forward to working with students and parents returning to Cotswold in 2020.