As alumni and friends of Nayland College we value your connection and contribution to our college. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have an idea about how you could assist our school or students.

Dear alumni and friends of Nayland College,

The events of 2020 and impact of Covid-19 continue to cause disruption across almost every country. Whilst schooling systems across the world are still having to function online, we are incredibly fortunate to be able to operate a school that is starting to feel more like 'normal'. Students are involved in sport again, we had a fabulous senior production of 'Shudder', an amazing 'Showcase Concert' at the Theatre Royal and 'Puaha Te Tai', our kapahaka group are busy rehearsing for the regional competition next week.

PTA Fundraising Drive

This year they have set themselves a challenge to raise at least $20,000 to assist the school in retaining the services of our school nurse trial partnership with Whanake Youth. This is a fabulous cause and the timing could not be better as Nayland College, like most secondary schools across New Zealand, look to trim budgets across the board as a result of the loss of income from International Students. You can read more about their fundraising drive here.

Education Review Office Report

In the weeks prior to lockdown Nayland College had an Education Review Office team on site for an evaluative review of the school. I always welcome these reviews as they offer an opportunity for us to step back and critically reflect on our progress and identify future challenges. The findings of the report have now been published and I am pleased to say that it is a report the Nayland College community should be immensely proud of. The key strengths of the school have been identified as the following:

• a culture of student-centred decision making, so that students are valued and can succeed as individuals
• an innovative curriculum that authentically engages students in their learning and is responsive to their place and culture
• educationally powerful relationships between teachers, students, whānau and community that generate partnerships to improve equity and excellence for all learners
• leadership that sets clear and coherent conditions for the school’s community to enact the school’s values and achieve its vision for learners.

Next steps for the school for sustained improvement are to extend aspects of internal evaluation to ensure ongoing improvement in Year 9 and 10 data analysis and reporting. The Education Review Office also encourage Nayland College to continue the work we are doing to improve achievement outcomes for our Māori students.

The full report can be found here.

Enrolment Zone

As many of you will be aware, the Board of Trustees have been informed by the Ministry of Education Network team that Nayland College must implement an enrolment zone prior to the 2022 academic year. This zone will not impact students enrolling for 2021. There is obviously some significant concern from the community regarding the proposed zone, however, at this stage there is very little the school can other other than to follow the direction of the Ministry. With current enrolment trends we are likely to be over current capacity in 2021. The Ministry have made it clear that they are unlikely to build roll growth classrooms at this school, however, they have agreed to work with the board to address shortages for 2021. More information on the proposed zone can be found in this newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui

Daniel Wilson
Principal