Tēnā koutou katoa

This week at our school assembly I have spoken to students of the positive and negative effects of pride. As I enter into my sixth week at Katikati College I reflect on my observations of both types of pride at the school.

The positive kind of pride that is associated with honour and self belief. This is where students feel good about their success and the achievement of others, whether large or small. Students demonstrate dignity, self respect and humility, doing the right thing and being honoured to be associated with an action, team or place. This is the pride that is felt when a sports team wins or an assessment is achieved.

In contrast, there is a negative kind of pride that is associated with arrogance, hostility and aggression. Where students refuse to ask for help, to admit when they are wrong or to open their minds to new ideas. This is a destructive kind of pride. Coupled with the effects of peer pressure and refusal to do the right thing, it can be detrimental to a student by limiting their opportunities to be successful and achieve at school, especially when those students are trying to navigate their way through adolescence.

As parents/ caregivers/ whānau I encourage you to demonstrate positive pride to your children, tamariki and mokopuna. Let them know it is OK to ask for help, to admit when you are wrong and to say sorry. Encourage them to have high expectations of themselves and those around them and praise them for their achievements. This will help to develop and instil the positive characteristics of pride within them so they act with honour and humility.

At Katikati College our staff will continue to encourage students to have high expectations of themselves and each other; wear their uniform with pride, get to school and class on time and bring the right equipment so that they are ready to make the most of every learning opportunity. Any signs of negative pride should be left at the school gate.

Student Engagement and Success

I experienced my first Katikati College Maths week last week and was fortunate to observe students from Year 9 and 10 participating in a massive maths quiz on the Wednesday. It was lovely to observe the high levels of engagement and enthusiasm they showed and I would like to thank David Jenkin and the Maths department for this opportunity.

On Tuesday August 22, the school hosted the Science Road Show which was enjoyed by many of our students and community members and on Friday August 25, Year 12 Sports Science Students participated in the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge with Tanner Hayes gaining 2nd place in the 6km event and Roelien Du Plessis gaining 3rd place.

School Uniform

As we continue to encourage students to wear their Katikati College uniform with pride I would like to make all parents/ caregivers/ whānau aware that we can support students to achieve this by providing uniform items that they may require. Please see your child’s Dean or our Deputy Principal Vanessa Moodie vmoodie@katikaticollege.school.nz if support is needed.

If you have any old school uniform items that you wish to donate, these would be gratefully recieved at our school office.

School Website

This week our new website has gone live and can be viewed at http://www.kkc.school.nz/ We still have work to do on it and over the next few months it will continue to evolve into a valuable hub of information for the school community. I wish to acknowledge and thank Alistair Simpson and John Whitfield for all the work they have done to provide us with such a great virtual platform.

The new website will be kept up-to-date with student news and information so we have decided to trial moving towards a monthly newsletter. The school newsletter will be sent out on the last Wednesday of each month, this means the next newsletter will be available on Wednesday September 27, 2017.

There is opportunity for businesses to advertise on our website. If you are interested in this opportunity please contact me for more details principal@katikaticollege.school.nz

Future Pathways Interviews

I would like to thank all parents/ caregivers/ whānau, students and staff who participated in the Future Pathways Interview day. The day has been positively received by all and we ask for your feedback A special thanks to our Deputy Principal, Ian Nicholson and his team who worked tirelessly to oversee the logistics of the day. If you would like to provide feedback please go to the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/QKxY4mZ82Mv47pZk2

Year 7 and 8 Social

This is scheduled for Thursday, September 7, from 6.00pm - 8.00pm. We welcome parents, caregivers and whānau to join us in the staffroom during this time for refreshments and to meet the new Principal. Please RSVP to Angela Macdonald at amacdonald@katikaticollege.school.nz by Wednesday September 6, if you intend to attend.

Meet with the Principal

A reminder that in the last newsletter I offered parents, whānau and members of the community an opportunity to come in and meet with me. I have allocated time in my schedule between September 4 and September 18 for appointments and I look forward to hearing all your ideas and opinions. Please contact my Personal Assistant, Angela Macdonald amacdonald@katikaticollege.school.nz to schedule a time to meet.

Good luck to all our students and sports teams competing in Winter Tournament from September 4 and our Year 7 and 8 students who are off to AIMS games September 11. Also best wishes to our Year 11, 12 and 13 students who have Senior Exams beginning September 13 to 19. Ask for help if you need it, be prepared with all the correct equipment, do your best and be proud of your achievements.

Ngā mihi nui

Carolyn Pentecost | Principal