Last year we consulted extensively with our community to find out what our students, whānau, staff and community wanted from the College. The strongest theme in the feedback was that we are a community school, and as such we should reflect and aspire to meet the needs of all of our community. The feedback also showed that our students needed to be well-rounded, have a love of learning and experience academic success. Our new school vision reflects this feedback and is what we aspire to as Katikati College. In this vision learners include teachers, support staff and students, who are connected to their community, be that through service, sport, or culture.

Growing connected learners who make positive contributions to our thriving community

This newsletter shows that many aspects of our College vision are well underway. The opening of our new Innovative Horticulture space, GrowHub, is the culmination of years of work by numerous people across the community. Special mention must go to Mrs Hilary Johnson for her leadership, dedication and future thinking that has seen this project through to fruition. GrowHub will provide a dedicated space for the College and the community to grow students within the Horticultural industry.

The school production of Moana is a way in which we will give students a greater sense of belonging and connectedness with school. There are over 100 students and numerous staff involved in the show. It is going to be an amazing performance. There is more information in the newsletter on how to purchase tickets.

We have been very fortunate to see the return of international students this year. Our international student programme allows our students to not only connect with their community but to access the wider global community. It has been wonderful to see how much joy this has brought our students.Thank you to those families that have taken on or offered to be a host family for our visitors.There is more information in the newsletter regarding international students and how you can get involved.

As we continue with the focus on regular attendance, we were able to recognise a number of students for their Term 1 attendance. Over 400 letters were sent to students who had 90% or more attendance. Fifty two students were recognised for 100% attendance for Term 1. For some of our students who are now attending regularly, it is vital that they start to engage more in their learning. Students who feel connected to their school are more likely to attend regularly. If you are struggling with your child’s attendance, please let us know. There are many different areas that the school and the community, through Katikati Community Centre and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tamawhariua, can assist with.

Thank you to those families that have already paid their school donation. If you have not yet done so, can I strongly urge you to. These funds allow us to provide greater access to education than we can just through the operational funding that we receive from the Ministry of Education. It allows us to provide more resources, more teacher aides and better facilities for our students.

I would like to remind you that if you have a complaint that you would like to raise please follow the College’s complaints policy which can be found on the College website.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support of the College and I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming school events, especially at our school production later this term.