FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

The College's Board met on Tuesday night of this week and we considered the valuable feedback to our recent community consultation of the College's Strategic Plan. Thank you to those who responded to the survey, or attended the consultation evening, and be assured that your feedback has been analysed and carefully considered by the Board. We have input from the staff to consider but it's unlikely, based on the feedback, that we'll be making any major changes to our current Strategic Plan.

We also discussed the feedback on the delivery of the Health curriculum and we have agreed that some changes should be made to improve communication with parents and caregivers about this important area of the curriculum.

Nicola Jacobsen presented a comprehensive report which reported on the significant progress made this year in achieving the goals and targets in our annual plan. As is usual, Nicola reported on achievement data and predicted NCEA results; attendance (where the College achieved an attendance rate of 84.5% for term three); the curriculum refresh and associated professional learning; stand downs and suspensions; staffing; events and meetings; and property.

We received useful reports on the work of the Guidance and Counselling Team; the hostel (which has had an excellent year); and the Kitenga extension programme. 

We were pleased to learn that the College will be fully staffed for next year, and we look forward to welcoming Sally Hart as a new Deputy Principal. Sally comes to us from Hobsonville Point Secondary School in Auckland with strong academic qualifications and a proven record of academic leadership. 

We congratulate the MAC Foundation on the launch of their new website - see https://macfoundation.org.nz/about/  We greatly appreciate the support of the Foundation and the Parents and Friends of MAC.

The Finance Committee reported a satisfactory position as year's end approaches and noted an increase in our working capital. A surplus school property in Warren Street has been sold and the funds from the sale will come to the College for use on property projects. A budget for 2024 is being developed and will be adopted at our next meeting.

We considered a paper prepared by Ruth Heath, a Board member, on the wellbeing of staff and students. As we are committed to a safe learning environment for students, and a rewarding work environment for staff, we discussed areas where further improvements might be made. 

The Board will meet for the last time this year on 5 December, and I thank Board members again for the time and expertise that they devote to the governance of the College.

It was wonderful to see so many parents and whānau at the Senior Awards Ceremony and I look forward to seeing many of you at the junior ceremonies that will be held next month.

Ian Hall

Board Chair