What an absolute pleasure it has been to have our students back on campus. Even under the red traffic light restrictions the joy of seeing young people reconnect with old friends and make new ones that may very well last a lifetime is something we all feel very privileged to be a part of here at Rangi Ruru.

During our teacher only time in late January, we launched our school theme for 2022, Be the Change, which is one of our four school pillars. To launch this we undertook a team building exercise which involved constructing 13 new bikes for children at a lower decile school; bringing a positive change to the start of their 2022. We were lucky to have welcomed Amy McGuire, Deputy Principal at Spreydon School, to attend and accept the bikes on behalf of their students.

On the topic of change, we have had a number of new staff start with us this year, and I would like to welcome the following staff: Emily Burrows (Kitchen Assistant), Gail Cheer (Housekeeper), Owen Flattery (Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship), Estelle Gomard (French Language Assistant), Kate Guildford (Science and Biology Teacher), Julia Hipkins (Pastoral Supervisor), Trisha Hopcroft (Sports Administrator & Development Manager), Sandra Lakin (Pastoral Supervisor Nightshift), Katrina Mangous (Maths Teacher), Katie Potter (PE & Health Teacher), Alexandra Priest (English Teacher), Robin Rees (Head of Food and Nutrition), Rebecca Thompson (Pastoral Supervisor Nightshift), Caitlin van der Meer (Residential Assistant), Lucy Winsloe (PE & Health Teacher) and Teryl Yogeeswaran (Spanish Teacher). I would also like to make special mention of Amy Martin-Bowen, who has joined the Senior Management Team as Assistant Principal – Strategy, Operations and Co-curricular. Amy brings a wealth of experience, most recently as Deputy Principal of Linwood College, to her position and we are very excited to have her back at Rangi Ruru (Amy was a student here not so long ago!).

In this edition of Intouch, I have written a separate article (click here to read) on the potential scenarios we may see under Phase 1 of the red traffic light setting. It is important to prepare as best we can as a community for the widespread transmission of Omicron, and I hope this information is helpful in this regard.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all those students who have now received 2021 NCEA and Scholarship results. We received some of the highest numbers of Merit and Excellence endorsements in our history, and to say I am proud would not be doing justice to just how extraordinary this is in such a year. Particularly as the requirements for endorsements were unaffected by any COVID considerations. Well done team Rangi!

Ngā mihi nui,

Dr Sandra Hastie