Principal's Message - T3/Wk1

Kia ora

I hope that this message finds you safe, warm, dry and well in this terrible weather! Welcome to our new-look online magazine which we hope to get out to you on a regular basis.

It was fantastic yesterday to be able to welcome students back to school after the end-of-term holidays. It is hard to believe that we are into the second half of the school year, and that for our senior students there are only 12 weeks of lessons left! Some important dates that you need to be aware of for this term are:

Thurs 4th Aug - Senior Student-Parent-Subject Teacher Meetings (Normal school day)

Wed 17th Aug - Year 6 Exploration Day - early finish

Mon 22nd Aug - PPTA/Ministry NCEA Accord Day - School Closed

Mon 5th Sept - Senior Practice Exams Start

During this term, pressure starts to mount on Year 12 and 13 students around academic achievement with a strong focus on obtaining credits and preparations for external exams. Students need to plan out their time, keep up-to-date with schoolwork and ensure that they are aware of submission dates for assignments. Senior students need to ensure that they are looking after their own personal well-being and focus on each aspect of Te Whare Mauri Ora (see graphic below). Above all else, it is of utmost importance that senior students are attending school everyday and attend all of their lessons. 

You will be aware from recent media reports that there are on-going staffing issues across the country within the education sector. This will not be news to you as I have written and spoken about this on multiple occasions in the past. As a school, we are in the very fortunate position to be fully-staffed at present. In the past, schools have traditionally advertised in September-October for staff for the following year . We have already advertised for next year's positions with the adverts closing yesterday. This is an indication of how difficult it now is to get teaching staff, with schools having to advertise earlier and earlier each year. There are now shortages of teachers in all subject areas and this may impact on our ability to be able to offer some subjects in the future. However, we are always trying to think of creative ways in order to be able to offer our students the broadest curriculum as possible. We are a small rural school and we go out of our way to ensure that if we cannot offer a subject on-campus that students can potentially access it online through NetNZ, Te Kura, or through the dual enrolment programmes at Ara.

Currently enrolments for 2023 are open, with applications closing on Friday of this week for both in-zone and out-of-zone enrolments. There is a common misconception that high numbers of students who live in our school zone travel to city schools or to schools outside our zone. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we have looked at the enrolment data, close to 90% of students who live in the Ellesmere College-Te Kāreti o Waihora school zone attend the College. This is one of the highest rates of in-zone enrolments in Canterbury and shows the continued high level of trust that our community has in the staff and school. It is important that enrolment applications are submitted by close of business on Friday, as we will be using this information to determine how many classes we will need in the junior school, particularly in Year 7, which in turn determines how many staff we may need to employ. The second part of the enrolment process is a parent and student interview with a member of the Senior Leadership Team between 22nd August and 16th September. Applications which are received after the deadline may not be processed until the end of this year/beginning of next year meaning that the student may not be able to start the school year with their cohort. 

We received over 1000 responses through the multiple community consultations we carried out on changes to our school uniform regulations. This was a massive response from our school community which we were very pleased with! Thank you to those of you who took the time to provide feedback. 86% of respondents answered "Yes" to the question about Ellesmere College-Te Kāreti o Waihora remaining a uniform school. As the vast majority of the school community wanted the College to remain a uniform school, there is an onus on parents/caregivers to ensure that their son/daughter is wearing the school uniform correctly when they leave home in the morning. Please support the College staff by making sure that your child is attired correctly and wears the school uniform correctly.

There is a lot happening this term with lots of activities for students to get involved in. Some of the daily notices are available to the public through our app and portal. Notices from today include: equestrian event meeting, Knitting Club, ski trip, Student Council, Sports Committee, science badges and a number of sports practices. The daily notices could be a good conversation starter with your son/daughter about how their school day has been and how they are getting involved with the wider life of the College. Research shows that there is a correlation between positive school experiences/academic achievement and participating in school-based extra-curricular activities. So please encourage your son/daughter to get involved!

Ngā mihi

Ronan Bass

Principal/Tumuaki