It has been an eventful start to the term with many activities and events.

Rehearsals are in full swing for The Wizard of Oz which is shaping up to be an outstanding show. I have heard that rehearsals for Toto the live dog are scheduled for this Wednesday! Many thanks to Merrin Diack, Nigel Wall and their team for their hard work in this space.

You may have noticed an article in the Press over the weekend around the growth of Rolleston with some specific details related to the College. I was very fortunate to travel to Australia during week two this term with a couple of the other Senior Leaders to visit some schools that operate as Junior High Schools, Senior Colleges and split campus schools. This has really helped with our planning and logistics as we move towards the new campus with a number of schools operating successfully under this model since the late 1990’s. It was very valuable to visit Junior Secondary Schools and examine what is unique about learning in this environment. The scope to build on what we already do within our Junior Learning program is exciting. It was also very worthwhile to visit a number of Senior Colleges and be immersed in the feel of this model of learning. Of particular interest to our journey was our visit to St Mary Mackillop College which operates as a Junior/Senior Campus model. It has helped us to learn from a school who has been operating under this model for some time. All of the schools we visited provided valuable insights on our journey forward.

This week we have Open Night and are looking forward to showing our community all of the great learning opportunities that Rolleston College has to offer. We are also being visited on Wednesday and Thursday by Learning Environments Australasia - a variety of teachers and educational experts who are looking at our architecture and learning environments.

There is certainly never a dull moment. It was also nice to begin the first 15 Rugby Season with our combined team enjoying a convincing win over St Andrews College!

Nga Mihi

Rachel Skelton