A great start to Term 1!

Dear parents & caregivers,

Welcome to Term One! It has been great to see a hive of activity around the school with new students settling in and returning students getting back into positive classroom routines. We are looking forward to celebrating our new waka (house) system with Waka Day on Friday 17 February. It will be a day full of fun waka activities, utilising Nayland Pool and our outdoor spaces. There will be prizes for the best costumes, so encourage your child to start thinking about dressing up in their waka colours.

Learning is in full swing and our teachers have been working hard preparing for the NZ curriculum refresh alongside NCEA changes. Considering the challenges of 2022, I was delighted with our NCEA results, which show Nayland College students continuing to achieve above National averages at all levels. Our Level 2 results were outstanding and at Level 1, over half of our students gained the qualification with endorsement! 

A few years ago, the Nayland College Board were able to secure additional funding for a full renovation of Block 3, one of our two-storey, 12 classroom teaching blocks, built in the 1960's. As part of this funding, we also secured a budget to fully renovate a space on the ground floor for our ‘Whānau’ class, Pūaha Te Tai, who had outgrown their previous home with the class roll increasing from around 15 to 80 over the last few years. 

Early Tuesday morning an official ceremony was held to open the newly renovated Block 3 and our new cultural space which has been named 'Te Puna Manako,' meaning 'The Spring of Hope.' The dawn blessing was led by Ngāti Koata and attended by staff, students, contractors, the Ministry of Education and local iwi representatives. 

Attached below are some photos of the newly renovated spaces.

I would like to thank the following people for their incredible support and expertise:

• John Hall (Business Manager) for the massive work behind the scenes coordinating with MOE, contractors and the Project Manager
• Rob Edmonds, Project Manager
  
• Anthony Cotton-Rees, Site Manager
  
• John Davidson, Architect 
• Fitzgerald Construction
  
• James Hardy and Glen Holland from the Ministry of Education

I look forward to another exceptional year at Nayland College.

Ngā mihi nui

Daniel Wilson
Principal