Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College,

Once again we have had a very busy two weeks since the last newsletter. There have been lots of opportunities for our students to excel and to also demonstrate the caring and supportive nature of our school. On Thursday 19 May we held our annual cross country event. This had been postponed due to forecasted bad weather on Wednesday and rescheduled for the Thursday. I thank you for your understanding and ability to change plans for you and your child at short notice. We managed to squeeze the event between some isolated showers and from what I understand, the students enjoyed the opportunity to run a cross country in some testing conditions. As always, some of our most outstanding athletes were able to do particularly well and we look forward to hearing their results as they progress to the Thames Valley Cross Country.

That same evening was the showcase of musical talent within the community. With excellent support from the wider community we were able to showcase our outstanding musicians in a number of different bands and performances in front of a full house. My thanks, as always, to Mrs Fleming who leads our Music Department extremely well and is also involved throughout the community. Our Bands were also involved in a competition on Sunday 22 May and won a Bronze Medal - a fantastic achievement.

On Friday 20 May we once again supported ‘Pink Shirt Day’. A national event now, we had excellent response from staff and students in supporting this very good cause. The key message regarding ‘pink shirt day’ is to ensure that we provide a safe environment for our students and identify any bullying behaviour that may impact on students’ wellbeing. Pink Shirt Day began with a group of students in Canada who stood up to some bullies who were picking on a boy who was wearing a pink shirt. They responded by supporting that boy by all wearing pink the following day at school. It was a very powerful message because it came from the young people themselves.

With winter sports in full swing, there have been some outstanding sporting achievements by some of our teams. It is always nice to see our teams doing well but the sheer numbers of students playing sport across the school is quite impressive. As always this could not happen without the support of our staff and parents and the wider community. I would like to thank everyone who is involved in supporting our sporting teams and appreciate that it requires a great deal of time and energy to ensure that our students get to enjoy their sport.

2016 signals the triennial elections for the Board of Trustees and it is an important time for our school. This year’s election date is Friday 3 June and I would like to thank the nine people who have put their names forward for the upcoming election and I am greatly enthused by the candidates who come from a wide cross section of our community. These people have generously put their names forward and I look forward to seeing the results on 9 June.

At this stage I would like to thank the current Board. They have worked extremely hard to ensure that the school is governed in a very positive manner. Morag Dobbs requires special recognition for the time she has spent not only on our Board but also six years previously at Katikati Primary School. Her knowledge of governance has helped shape our Board and her expertise on the Finance Committee has been greatly appreciated. Special thanks also to Tobin Drake who came on during this term due to a vacancy in 2014. His practical skills and building knowledge have certainly helped a great deal with the development of property around the school. Both of these people have made excellent contributions to the Board during their time. All of the Board members are valued and important members of our community. I strongly encourage every person who is eligible to vote to ensure that they do so. It is important that every parent or caregiver has input into the election of parent representation to the Board.

Neil Harray | Principal