KORERO FROM MIRANDA

Kia ora Rototuna e te Whānau,

新年快乐 - Xīnniánkuàilè - Happy New Year!

Welcome back to 2025 as we start Week 3 of a new school year. 

A big welcome to all of our new families and welcome back to our returning families! 

It has been great to connect with you already at whānau conferences to discuss your young person's goals and to get their learning programme in place. Timetables are settling and teaching and learning programmes have begun. To start the year strong we are reminding our young people to:

• Make a good impression by showing they belong to our school. They can do this by wearing their uniform correctly.

• Be ready for learning. In part, this involves avoiding distractions by putting their phones away for the day. 

• Make good choices. These choices can impact their own and other’s success in learning, and every minute matters.

There are more details related to these messages for your information in this newsletter. 

The vision we share for each other at Rototuna Senior High School is to empower each other to be connected, collaborative, community-minded learners who are inspired to soar. 

To soar in the world today it is vitally important that we develop critical, creative and caring thinking skills together. These ways of thinking are grown when learning experiences deepen the way we understand content and concepts. In turn, these more accurate and complex ways of understanding can be transferred beyond the classroom, connecting to our lives and informing the decisions we make. For example, how we react to new situations. 

Professor Bill Lucas explains that deeper learning “invites students to see the relevance of education to their lives, interests, and aspirations, fostering a sense of purpose and meaning. Just as a healthy five-a-day diet nourishes the body, deeper learning helps nourish students’ minds.” 

We are looking forward to working with you and your young person to develop their thinking through deep learning experiences. On this topic, a big congratulations to Theo Maynard-Hassett who gained Scholarship in Music and to his teacher Lee Clark. This is an outstanding result that recognises not only Theo’s musical talent, but also a huge amount of hard work and dedication. 

Please read on for other upcoming events and other useful information. Until next time, stay safe and best wishes to our families celebrating the Lunar New Year.

Ngā manaakitanga  

Miranda