Nau mai, hoki mai, e rere atu ana te wairua pai ki a tātou

Welcome back to Newlands College for 2025! A very special welcome to the whānau of all our new students who are starting with us this year across all year levels, nau mai, haere mai.

2025 is a special milestone for Newlands College as we reach 55 years in existence! We start the year with strong NCEA results at Level 2 and Level 3. As always, we sit above national norms and it is worth noting that 58% of our Level 2 students achieved at Merit or higher last year. 

Our Peer Support camp is always a highlight and a wonderful way for our Year 9 learners to start school alongside our Year 13 Peer Support Leaders. We were thrilled with the engagement from everyone at camp and I know that this time away from home enables those who attended to feel confident as we head into classes. 

The international student program is a rewarding way to welcome many new students from across the world into our school in recent weeks. This program also relies on our senior students to ‘buddy’ up and I would like to congratulate those of you who are international buddies and have set such a positive tone to our start of year.

Newlands College will continue to focus on our culture of care and wellbeing, which, alongside the high expectations and standards we set for ourselves in relation to behaviour, uniform, and the upholding of our values of Akoranga, Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga and Mātauranga will be reinforced throughout our school. 

The role of whānau and home should never be underestimated in the success of our learners, and we look forward to your continued partnership and support of our expectations, our staff and our students. Thank you for supporting attendance and engagement through setting appropriate sleep expectations and possibly even encouraging your young person to read for 30 minutes a day - this can make a very marked difference to engagement in school. 

Our school is busy and bustling with energy and optimism for what 2025 will bring. We are all about our people and the reason we are ready to work hard to succeed together (Me Whakamātau) is that we have experienced, dedicated, professional and joyful staff who have worked tirelessly to prepare for 2025 and to ensure we are ready to make this year a wonderful one for everyone in our community.

Ngā mihi

Deb King