Kia ora koutou. Talofa. Kia Orana. Malo e lelei. Bula. Fakaalofa atu. Namaste. Kumusta. Haere mai ki Te Kura Huruhuru Ao o Horomaka. Warm greetings to the Hornby High School community.

There is an old saying that some claim was an ancient Chinese insult that says “May you live in interesting times.” Now, I’m not sure if it really was an ancient Chinese insult, but the saying has ‘hung around’, and is still often used to suggest some form of insult. However I do think we live in interesting times, no insult intended, times when I think more is at stake than ever before.

In education in Aoteoroa New Zealand we have for too long lived with the ‘tail of underachievement’. The bulk of students in that ‘statistical tail’ are non European, and come from whānau with lower incomes. Many (amongst them those I’d label as the privileged few) have sat back and accepted this. It is morally wrong, it condemns far too many to poverty, and economically deprives us all of much greater wealth because we lose the benefit of so much talent.

The answer lies in part with our education system, but that in itself is a problem. The current education system might be said to maintain this current state of affairs. If we want a different result we have to do things differently. My Hornby High School blog follows our school journey as we try to adapt and improve things for all of our learners. I hope you will join me as I tell our story as it unfolds. There are many exciting things that we are considering, changes in curriculum and pastoral systems, all based on evidence of what works best. Our latest Manaiakalani research data on achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics, in Years 7 to 10 shows that as a single kura, and as a cluster, we are accelerating student achievement in all three areas, although most spectacularly in writing. Our ‘Learn Create Share’ approach to causing learning works, our use of Chromebooks works. Be assured that after your own time, one of the best investments you can make in your child is to provide a Chromebook. Also please remember that we have several mechanisms available to support that financial investment. Please ask if you need help.

These are indeed interesting, and exciting, times.

Term 2 has been so busy, and Term 3 will be just as busy. We will be shifting into the second (and final) stage of our new build, and that shift will signal further development of some of the curriculum and pastoral changes that we are considering. We will have to make some arrangements for students to work from home over a couple of days as we shift the school, and we will get details of those days to you all as soon as we finalise plans. Much of this is brought about by the need to meet contractor deadlines; it’s a tricky business.

The demands of the shift have meant that we have had to compress student reporting to something less than ideal, and to shift Learning Conferences into term 3. The senior formal has also been shifted into this term (as many of you will already know). It is just possible that new ways of doing things may come from these ‘temporary’ arrangements.

In the meantime, junior students are enjoying much that has changed in their curriculum, and their learning looks exciting. Student engagement in sport, and in the creative arts, looks healthy. This is a great time to be at Hornby High School.

Please make sure you follow us on Facebook for the latest and most up to date news https://www.facebook.com/hornbyhighschool/ , and on our website www.hornby.school.nz . You can also follow my thinking on education at Hornby High School, and more generally, on my blog at https://whakataukihewakaekenoa.blogspot.co.nz/

Nga mihi nui

Robin Sutton

Tumuaki