Dear Parents and Caregivers, As we come to the close of the first term of 2018, I must apologise that this is the first newsletter of the year. We endeavour to publish two newsletters a term, however this term has been more busy than usual and I have only just come up for air!

At the start of the year we opened our new buildings and I would like to openly thank our team of project managers (OCTA), builders (Southbase) and Ministry of Education property manager, Melissa Jarvis, for not only completing the project on budget, but also on time. We had a fantastic open day for our community where we had over 500 people from the public come into the school and walk around our first completed block. This was then followed by our official opening of both blocks where both the Mayor, David Ayers, and our local Minister of Parliament, Matt Doocey, spoke. It was a lovely low-key opening and we unveiled the names of the two blocks as Karetū (orange) and Tāwera (purple). These are named after two local mountains and come from our cultural narrative, gifted to us by Ngai Tuahuriri.

The transition into the new buildings has been interesting. Our staff and students faced not only a new environment, but also a new timetable. To date, the feedback from the students indicates that they enjoy the later start at 9am, but are yet to settle into the two 30 minute breaks, especially the timing and when they should have lunch. Having a single period after the second break has also been positive. We will formally survey the community (staff, students and parents) at the end of Term Two and again at the end of the year to see if we need to make any modifications. It would be fair to say that we have yet to get our timetable where we want it. The focus at the start of the year was to shift into the buildings and to place classes and teachers. Now that we have had almost a term in the buildings, we are reviewing the timetable to make sure that teachers have an opportunity to collaborate, and if they are co-locating, then to make sure that the classes they share are the most appropriate.

I know that many high schools are implementing programmes that offer cross-curricula delivery, such as a combination of Science, Mathematics and Technology; however our focus is more aligned with encouraging teachers in the same curriculum or subject area to work together, for example Year 12 English. Where this is not possible then we should endeavour to have at least two teachers in the same faculty co-locating together. Once we have managed this, then we may explore possible alternative, such as project-based learning, but this will be some time away and will involve consultation with our community.

What has been fantastic is the ownership of the buildings by our students. They have treated all spaces with a great deal of respect, which is particularly evident in the communal kitchen. This was one area that I had concerns over with respect to how we were going to manage it. We are currently into our ninth week of term and the kitchen is spotless. Our Year 13s have led by example and the rest of the school has followed suit. I may have to get them to have a word to my own children about how to leave a bench tidy!

Attached are a few photos of students at work in the new buildings.

NCEA Results

Our results from last year have now been confirmed and there are some definite highlights, as well as some areas to continue to work on.

· In 2017 the Board of Trustees set an annual target on increasing pass rates for Level One, including the school literacy and numeracy results as these are the doorways to achievement in NCEA.

Level One Numeracy: 91% - National Average: 89%

Level One Literacy: 92% - National Average: 91%

Level One Pass Rate: 91% - National Average: 85%

This is a fantastic result, which saw our percentages increase between 7-10% from the previous year.

· Both Level Two and Three pass rates improved and we believe that a key reason for this was our new NCEA tracking programme. We still would like to see these percentages improve some more and our target for 2018 is to be above the National Average.

Level Two Pass Rate: 86% -  National Average 89%

Level Three Pass Rate: 80% - National Average 83%

These pass rates include our Young Parents’ Centre results and many of the YPC students are on a longer learning plan. This has the effect of reducing our pass rates at all levels.

Board of Trustees

I would like to officially welcome three new Board of Trustees members. Our two new parent representatives: Jody Hunter and Sarah-Jane Paki and our new student representative: Ella Metcalfe. We also farewelled Russell Keetley at our first Board meeting of the year. Russell was our Board Chairperson for an astounding twelve years. Phil Kerrigan was voted into this position. Our Board is a large Board and is made up of:

Phil Kerrigan - Board Chair

Bruce Kearney - Principal

Susan West - Co Deputy Chair

Emma McCracken - Co Deputy Chair

Jasmine Kirk - Parent Representative

Sharon Russell - Parent Representative

John Russell - Seconded Representative (Maori)

Sarah-Jane Paki - Parent Representative

Jody Hunter - Parent Representative

Vicki Young - Staff Representative

Ella Metcalfe - Student Representative

Finally, it is my last two weeks of school before I go on my sabbatical. Principals receive a sabbatical for every five years of Principalship. I have now completed six and a half years at Kaiapoi High School, and I chose not to use my sabbatical last year as we were at the close of our school rebuild. The sabbatical is for one term and is a combination of refreshment leave and a particular project. I will be travelling to the United States of America to attend Harvard University’s educational leadership department. Previous to this, I will be visiting schools in New York and Chicago. During my absence Elizabeth McMeeken will be taking up the role of Principal and Ruth Robertson will be once again be stepping into the position of Assistant Principal.

Ma Te Aroha Ka Tutaki

Through care and concern we can achieve anything

Bruce Kearney, Principal