Tēna koutou,

A very warm welcome to 2019 from the Rangiora High Board of Trustees. I'd like to say a huge congratulations to the team behind the revamped school newsletters - they are looking really sharp. It is always a pleasure to read about the myriad achievements Rangiora High students succeed in. We hope you've had a wonderful holiday break, and your new year is humming along.

As mentioned in previous newsletters, this year is Board of Trustees' election year. Every three years, state and state integrated school communities elect their parent and staff trustees to help govern their schools. Right now boards around the country are preparing to hold their 2019 triennial school board of trustee elections.

Some boards opt into the staggered (mid-term) election cycle. This means that these schools hold triennial elections for some of their parent trustees and mid-term elections for the remaining parent trustees. The mid-terms are held 18 months after the triennial elections (rather than every 3 years) enabling half the current trustees to remain serving for a further 18 months, while half choose to stand down or stand for re-election. The benefit of staggered elections is preserving Board knowledge and stability, action momentum, efficiency of inducting new trustees and generally ensuring continuity.

As its meeting on 20 February 2019 the Board of Trustees resolved to adopt a staggered election-cycle which means that the remaining three parent representatives elected on a three year term.

The Rangiora High School Board of Trustees elections will be held on the suggested common election date Friday 7 June 2019. If you are interested in standing for the Board of Trustees, there is further information available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jg6xYSBg4ztTUBCz81qkWnmOzFo8STm4/viewusp=sharing>. 

NZSTA (NZ School Trustees Association) is running Kōrari workshops for aspiring trustees. 

When: Thursday April 4th 6 - 8 p.m at Rangiora High School

Rangiora High has kindly offered to host the North Canterbury Kōrari workshop. We encourage everyone who is interested in the role of the board to come along and hear what being on a board entails, what sort of work we do, how much time commitment is involved etc. While certain skills are helpful on a board, one of the most important attributes is a genuine commitment to achieving our vision statement "to create inclusive, equitable and relevant learning opportunities for students with clear pathways that meet the aspirations of our community and which empower every student towards life-long learning".  If you are interested in finding out more about the role of a board of trustees member please enrol here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wwhdmfo1DcVl3_xLxeGaP5_XIBDsajY7/view?usp=sharing.

ERO visited last year and we recently received notice of their confirmed review. This report is testament to all the hard work being done throughout the school. Congratulations and sincere thanks to everyone who has worked to ensure RHS satisfied ERO's areas of review and development: • student learning and achievement • curriculum and contexts for learning • sustainable performance. We now return to the 'normal' three - five year cycle of review.

Please find the link here:
http://www.rangiorahigh.school.nz/assets/Rangiora-High-School-312-Confirmed-ERO-Report-31-January-2019_30810_1.pdf

You have probably heard about the Tomorrow's Schools Taskforce, which could lead to the biggest shake up in education since Tomorrow's Schools was introduced in 1989.

"The Taskforce’s proposals cover a wide range of policy and structural changes to the compulsory schooling system. The proposals will, if adopted, create significant shifts again for our education system."

https://conversation.education.govt.nz/conversations/tomorrows-schools-review/ is a link to the review, to its background, to the opportunity to 'have your say' etc. And if reading the 148 page document is a bit of a stretch in your busy life, there is a handy 20 page summary document which nicely sums up the key points. This is important, so I encourage you to have a look, and to have your say.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to get the start of this school year humming. From students who have welcomed the newbies with a smile, to every member of staff who goes above and beyond for the benefit of our students. We thank you.

Ngā mihi nui

Ian Fong
Board of Trustees Chair