Kia ora

I hope that this message finds you well. It has been a busy few weeks with lots of school activities occurring. It was great to see lots of parents, caregivers and whānau at the Year 7-11 Parent-Student-Hapori Teacher conferences last week. Building educationally powerful partnerships with parents and whānau is critical to support the academic achievement of students and our triangulated conferences pay a crucial part in this. Earlier this week Tūturu, who we have been one of 2 schools in Christchurch working on a pilot programme over the past three years, held a community information hui about drugs and other alcohol. Despite only a handful of community members attending, it was a worthwhile event as the feedback I have had is that all of those who attended took something away with them.

It has certainly been an interesting few weeks from a political perspective. It was news to us that the ground the school is sitting on is apparently unstable, well according to the Minister for Education anyway. I was both shocked and surprised by this response to a question posed during parliamentary question time by Nicola Grigg MP last. At no point has the word "unstable" ever been used in the hundreds of hours meetings we have had with the Ministry of Education. From day one we have continually reminded the Ministry of Education about the high water table in the area and that this may pose some issues. In fact, we have 6-8 times the normal water ingress flow than what you would find on other sites. What this means is that when you dig a hole on our site, rather than 4-6 liters a second of ground water flowing into the hole we have around about 32 liters per second. So one of the issues our builders are currently grappling with is how to manage this. We are currently awaiting resource consent to "dewater" the site to be issued. This is one of the last pieces of the resource consent jigsaw puzzle, as once we have consent for dewatering to occur (which is issued by Ngāi Tahu) all other resource submissions which are currently being processed should be consented for approval.

I rarely comment publicly on things of a political nature. However, on the run up to general elections it often feels like education becomes a political football with the hard work of teachers being looked down upon, denigrated and used for political point scoring. Cellphones are not the biggest issue currently facing teachers in schools, and at our school we have always had rules in place regarding cellphones. Attendance, disengagement and increasingly more serious anti-social behaviour are much bigger issues we are dealing with on a daily basis, along with decreasing availability of centralised support. It sometimes feels that schools are expected to solve a myriad of social problems on their own without being providing the adequate resourcing to do so.

One of the biggest health and well-being issues we are currently facing is the epidemic of vaping. In a previous newsletter we provided statistics to you about how bad the situation is. We are seeing an entire generation becoming nicotine addicts yet health and legislation is not keeping up with dealing with this issue. We have some students who cannot make it through a whole lesson without wanting to get out of class as they need to vape. We are extremely concerned about this, the lack of any support, resourcing or legislation around it currently and the ongoing impact this may have for decades to come. Our cell-phone "no show policy" is, in the main, effective and schools do not need to be dictated to in this area.

New Zealand teenagers are the most over-assessed teenagers in the world. Several years ago we made a conscious decision to remove the stresses of NCEA Level 1, a qualification which you automatically get if you achieve Level 2 or 3. New Zealand is constantly being compared to other countries based on the results of PISA, a culturally unresponsive exam which, when completing the exam, most 15 year old students do not care about and therefore do not do their best work on it. PISA results are then used to make political policy and political leverage, while completely ignoring the huge amount of other educational research from around the world. It can be a frustrating sector to work in at times.

At a whole school assembly earlier this week, I talked about the growing diversity of our kura. I normally start every assembly speech with a whakatauki and the whakatauki I chose for this week was:

Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango, te miro whero.

The literal translation of this whakatauki is:

Through the eye of the needle pass the white thread, the black thread, and the red thread

This is a comparatively modern whakataukī that was quoted by Kingi Potatau, the first Māori King. In the year 1858, a large gathering assembled at Ngaruawahia for the religious ceremony of proclaiming Potatau as King. The rite was performed by Wiremu Tamehana Tarapipi.

Present at the ceremony was the high chief of the Tuwharetoa Tribe, Te Heuheu, who during the course of his oration said: “Potatau, today I anoint you kingi for the Māori people. You and Queen Victoria are today united. Let the religion of Jesus be your mantle to protect you; and may the laws of the land be the mat on which to place your feet forever.”

To this, Potatau replied: “There is but one eye of a needle, through which white, black and red cotton are threaded. Hereafter, hold fast to charity, uphold the laws and be firm in the Faith.”

This whakataukī has implications for both the making of connections and collaboration that may ensue as we work towards supporting a common vision. It can further refer to our differences and that we can all work together for the common good.

Ellesmere College-Te Kāreti o Waihora has probably never had such ethnic diversity as it does now with students identifying 30 different nationalities/ethnic backgrounds. This is from information from Kamar, so there may be more than this but we have students who identify as:

Australian

British

Canadian

Chilean

Chinese

Cook Islands Maori

Dutch

English

Fijian

Filipino

Ghanaian

Indian

Indonesian

Irish

Japanese

Kiribatian

Maori

Nepali

North American Indian

NZ European

Samoan

Scottish

South African

Swiss

Thai

Tongan

Ukrainian

Uruguayan

Vietnamese

Zambian

My apologies if I have missed out on some!

Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango, te miro whero.

Through the eye of the needle pass the white thread, the black thread, and the red thread.

Our world is a magnificent tapestry of cultures, backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. Just as the threads of a tapestry come together to create a breathtaking masterpiece, diversity weaves together the fabric of our society, forming a rich and vibrant mosaic that defines who we are as individuals and as a collective whole.

Diversity is not just a buzzword; it's the very essence of our human existence. Imagine a world where everyone looked the same, thought the same, and had the same experiences. It would be a monotonous, dull, and stagnant place. But diversity breathes life into our communities, providing us with opportunities to learn from one another, to grow, and to challenge our perspectives.

In our high school, we are surrounded by people from various walks of life – different races, ethnicity, religions, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This diversity is an asset, an incredible resource that allows us to broaden our horizons. When we engage with people who have had different life experiences, we gain insights that help us become more empathetic, open-minded, and culturally aware individuals.

We are a multi-cultural country which has bicultural foundations – key difference to Aotearoa/New Zealand – we are unlike any other country in the world

Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi is the foundational document of our country. It is not good enough for us to just "honour" the treaty but but we need to living it and particularly as Tangata Tiriti we need to give effect to it and its principles of rangatiratanga, partnership, participation, active protection, equity, and options – this forms the basis of Te Mātaiaho – the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum.

Staff working on ways to be more culturally responsive and sustaining –

· Localised curriculum

· Authentic learning opportunities

· Allowing students to follow their passions and interests

· Co-designing learning and learning pathways

· Strong positive relationships – caring about students as culturally located individuals

· Graduate profile

· Embracing our differences and celebrating the richness that diversity brings with it

We have an outside kapahaka tutor who is working with our kapahaka ropu while:

· Staff are currently learning the school haka, waiata

· All students know school haka and waiata – this needs to be central to the culture of our school

I want to acknowledge the work that our students, staff and buddy’s and international student ambassadors do to:

· Manaakitanga – look after and care for our international students

· Minimise culture shock

· Include students

· Empathise with international students and students new to the country

Also want to acknowledge the work of our PRISM group, who support the diversity of our students who are often on their own individual self-identity journeys.

Think about how diversity fosters creativity and innovation. When we collaborate with people who approach problems from different angles, we are exposed to a wealth of ideas that we might never have considered on our own. The fusion of varied viewpoints ignites our imaginations and leads to breakthroughs in science, technology, art, and beyond. This is the magic that occurs when we celebrate diversity – it propels us forward and helps us reach new heights.

Moreover, embracing diversity prepares us for the real world. As we step into adulthood, we'll be interacting with a global community where diversity is the norm. Whether we work in multinational corporations, pursue higher education in different countries, or simply engage in everyday conversations with people from around the world, our ability to navigate these interactions with respect and understanding will be invaluable.

However, let's not overlook the challenges that can arise from diversity. Differences can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or conflicts. But here lies the true test of our character. By actively seeking to understand others, by showing compassion and empathy, we can bridge these gaps and build bridges of understanding that connect us all.

We are highly committed to fostering an inclusive environment here at our high school. Worldwide there appears to be a worrying move to conservatism. Let's be the generation that embraces diversity not as a burden, but as a beautiful gift. Let's create a space where every voice is heard, where every story is celebrated, and where every individual feels valued for who they are.

The importance of diversity cannot be overstated. It shapes our world, enriches our lives, and paves the way for a brighter future. But all of us have to be the advocates for diversity, the champions of unity, and the architects of a society that thrives and flourishes based on the strength of its differences.

Ngā mihi

Ronan Bass

Tumuaki/Principal

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