Dear Parents and Caregivers, As I write this newsletter I am sitting in my Year 11 study class.

I have the great pleasure of looking after 50 or so students during their supervised study. These students are sitting in silence working on their laptops, reading texts or, for some, actually writing on a piece of paper. This year we made a number of changes to our school structure that created the opportunity for greater access to study time. In Year 11 we have supervised study once a week and is mostly supervised by the senior leadership team. Some of these classes have an additional focus of achieving merit or excellence grades, and some of the classes have a focus on gaining extra credits for those students who may be at risk of not achieving. So far it has been very successful. In Year 12 we introduced having a sixth subject as a study line of four periods. The implementation of this was a little chaotic, with the initial idea of having the study supervised, then realizing that this was not going to be an effective use of their time and subsequently staffing this time. It has taken some time to build the culture of this study line, and we are now seeing the routine become normal. We will survey parents of these students and students in Year 11 to see if we continue with this initiative, or simply return to six subjects in 2020.

Our Board has finalized our strategic plan for the next two years. This has taken some time, as we made a major shift away from the typical strategic plan to a much more focused and streamlined one. Rather than have eight to ten strategic goals, the Board has decided to focus on two key areas this year, and to keep the rest of the school in business as usual. This will allow us to focus on those two key initiatives, and also allow staff to take time to breathe after having so many major changes over the last three years. Goal one is focused on teaching and learning by making sure that have the capability and capacity to offer our students the full opportunity to achieve their academic goals. The second goal is a well-being goal that is driven by engagement and attendance. We strongly believe, and the data supports this, that students that are attending, engaged, and are connected to the school beyond simply the classroom, achieve at a higher standard and feel better about themselves through their achievement and participation. I am more than happy to hear your thoughts on these goals of the school.

From the Board perspective, I am sure you will all be aware that we are about to go through a round of elections. Our school has two elections across three years. We do this so that there is always a core group of experienced Board members and that we are never in a situation where we have an entirely new Board. This round, we are advertising three spaces, including our Board Chair. Phil Kerrigan, our current Chair, is running for re-election. The papers will be coming out soon for those who wish to be nominated for our Board. Being on a high school board is quite different from that of a primary school board. The focus is much more on governance, rather than management. This is mainly due to the fact that high schools have a large management team that covers most of the daily and weekly duties of the school, such as a large senior leadership team, executive officer, marketing manager, etc. The time requirement is one meeting per month over ten months from 7-10pm, and the odd extra meeting now and then. People that we would like to see on our Board are parents that truly believe in our school and simply desire to see it become the best it can be. If this is you, please think about putting your name forward!

Here are some property updates that you may be interested in:

· All the doors in the two new buildings will be replaced with more industrial sized ones. It appears that they underestimated the impact of 900 students opening and closing them all day long.

· An airconditioning system will be installed this year into both the new buildings. They are hot in summer and, although it has taken some time and energy to negotiate, the Ministry has finally agreed that this is not acceptable.

· The new gymnasium in tracking well. Whilst there has been a number of delays, at our last meeting we made it very clear that this building needed to be open and ready to use by the start of term three…fingers crossed…

Finally, I wish to take the time to recognize how awesome our staff and students are. This has been an exceptionally turbulent term. Honestly, we thought we had left those times behind after the earthquakes, but that does not seem to be the case. Even though we did not have to go into lockdown after the recent event that was so damaging to our city and its people, we were all affected in some way. I want to thank the students for the way they have dealt with and processed this event. Our motto of mā te aroha ka tutuki (with care and concern we can achieve anything) really shone on our school. It culminated in our recent mufti day, where we made a record-breaking appeal to gather more than $1700 for those affected by the event. Being a teacher is always difficult during these times. We too are very affected by what happened, including having a fellow teacher lose her father in the attack. It never ceases to amaze me how our teachers, though hurting deeply, can put on their face of encouragement and support, and continue to not only teach our students, but to also keep a close eye on their personal well-being. We did this during the earthquakes, we did this during the aftermath of the attack, and we will continue to do this, because at the end of the day we chose this profession because we care. Teachers matter, and we can't underestimate how important they are in our children’s lives, through all their schooling. It is not my place to say if they need a pay rise, or by how much, but I would like to ask that we show these fantastic people some care, if not support, when they go through the potential industrial action as they negotiate their new contract with the government. As a parent, it is during these very difficult times that I have come to realise how much I rely on my son and daughter's teachers to not only educate them, but also to care for them.

I don’t normally do this, but on a personal note, there has been a number of people in the community mentioning that I was applying for a position at Cashmere High School. I would just like to openly say that this incorrect. I am still loving being the principal of this fantastic school, in this lovely community, and whilst my time is limited, I do not feel the pull to move on just yet.

Mā te aroha ka tutuki

Bruce Kearney, Principal