Kia ora koutou

Teaching staff participated in two professional development opportunities this week. The first was a session on Restorative Practice, facilitated by Rich Matla from Waikato University. 

Restorative Practice is a discipline framework that is proven to be highly effective in managing behaviour. The focus is on building relationships, taking responsibility when wrong has been done and restoring relationships impacted by poor behaviour. The aim is to develop students' abilities to problem solve, be respectful and collaborative, and to take responsibility for their actions. A restorative approach sees teachers and adults using a range of strategies to de-escalate situations that can lead to conflict, and support students to manage their behaviour in positive ways. The workshop modelled many of these strategies and was an opportunity to practice these approaches. 

The second professional learning opportunity occurred on Wednesday when we held our Ministry mandated Teacher Only Day focused on the implementation of the revised curriculum. Secondary schools throughout New Zealand are currently working on the implementation of a wide range of curriculum updates and initiatives including the Review of Achievement Standards, curriculum refresh, local histories curriculum, digital technologies curriculum and the inclusion of mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). The day began with a keynote address by Heidi Renata, a self describedwahinepreneurand founder, managing director and CEO of Innov8HQ.

Heidi's inspirational presentations told of her remarkable journey to date which has included her growing awareness and appreciation of mātauranga Māori. Digital technology has played an important role in the work Heidi has done and in how she gets her work done. At the essence of her success however has been her exploration of "Ko Wai Ahau? - Who am I?" She reinforced the importance of knowing who we are, where we come from, and how we are connected to the world. This has been borne out not only in her growth and success but in the achievements of rangatahi she has worked with through the Mana Rangatahi programme she has been involved with. Heidi's address wove together the many threads on which schools are being required to focus in a logical and holistic way. 

The next part of the day saw us looking at Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This is an approach to curriculum delivery that requires teachers to plan learning opportunities that remove barriers, promote engagement and learning, and results in students presenting their learning in ways that best reflect their knowledge. 

The remainder of the day was spent with teachers working in their departments on evaluating current programmes against the UDL framework and on preparing for the NCEA pilots occurring in 2022. 

Last week we celebrated the success of our senior students at a formal Prize Giving Ceremony in the hall. Under Alert Level Two conditions, regretfully, we were unable to celebrate with the parent community but the event was as festive and as moving as ever. We are delighted to announce Co-Duxes this year. They are Sol Kwon and Jess Tyrrell. Our Proxime Accessit is Hermione Hai. Our Best All Round Student for 2021 is Isabella Henderson. Congratulations on these tremendous achievements. We also announced our Prefects for 2022 (see list attached). Each 2021 prefect announced their successor with a gift of a notebook that will come in very handy for all the work they will pursue next year. Our full prize giving list will be published after we have celebrated our junior prize giving in the final week of term.

Senior students have been at school over the the past week, sitting NCEA examinations and attending tutorials. So far students have been managing well. Please do not hesitate to contact the school however, if you have any concerns.

Next week sees our Year 10's off on camps. I would like to acknowledge the huge amount of time and effort that teachers put into planning and running these camps and making these opportunities available. Thank you for supporting these and encouraging your child to attend.

While Year 10 is on camp, Year 9 will be taking part in an activity week that has been planned by the students themselves and funded through the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Association. We are really grateful for the work of all involved, particularly Ms Hokianga and her team of student organisers, who are making it possible for all the students in Year 9 to participate in activities such as Ten Pin Bowling and Laser Force. 

Ngā mihi

Linda Miller
Principal