Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College,

Thank you to those parents and students who attended the recent Anzac Dawn Service and Community Service that was held on Anzac Day. It was nice to see so many students attending in school uniform or their formal sports uniform for our 1st teams. Many community members expressed how nice it was to see our students attend in a formal way and show strong support for the Anzac philosophy. As with tradition, our Head Students laid a wreath at the Dawn Service.

Many of you will have heard in our school newsletter and in the Bay Sun News of the outstanding success of our Sheilah Winn group. As a result of that exposure we have had a number of offers of financial support to help assist our group attend the National Competition in approximately four weeks’ time. I would like to pass on my thanks for this support.  It is fantastic to see the community supporting the Arts within Katikati College. We hope that you are able to attend their fundraiser on Thursday 26 May which will showcase the very many talents of our senior drama students – further details under the Arts section of this newsletter.

As we start term two I have reminded students in our first assembly of the need to focus on their academic studies. Terms two and three are the critical terms in the year, as the vast majority of their schoolwork occurs during this time. It is really important, especially our seniors, that they have a plan of how they will attack the term and what their priorities are. Our staff are very approachable and are willing to discuss with students any concerns about their workloads and how best to address the academic needs of each subject. It would be good if you could discuss with your students what is happening within their subjects and classrooms to get a gauge of the type of work they are undertaking.

I would like to thank the community once again for their understanding around our ability to hold a staff only day at the start of this term. It is an important time for our staff to have schoolwide professional learning and this complements all that we are trying to achieve on your students’ behalf. Lots of our discussions are on ways to improve teaching and learning within the school and we are always looking to develop that sense of continuous improvement.

Thank you to all of those parents/caregivers who have provided information regarding the introduction of students bringing devices to support their learning. This information will be analysed and used to help develop a strategy so that we can provide further opportunities for the effective use of ICT while still providing a balanced approach to students' learning.

Neil Harray | Principal