Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Greetings to you all.

I extend my warmest congratulations to each of the young men who have completed the Sacramental Programme this week, with 23 boys being Baptised and 62 Confirmed. May God's blessings be with each of these young men as they continue to grow in their faith and share his love with others. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to witnessing the positive impact they will have on our community and world as a young person of faith.

It’s Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week, with this year's theme being Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori – making the language stronger. Supporting our ongoing mahi in this area, this week across the college there will be various language challenges, learnings, and games as we celebrate Māori Language Week. I encourage everyone in our community to get involved where they can. Many online resources are available to help you celebrate the week, some of which are below.

· 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know

· A Māori word a day

· Make bilingual signs for your office

· Order your coffee in te reo

· Explore the Māori Language website.

· Listen to a special Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori playlist

Many thanks to those who supported our students during winter tournament week. I congratulated each of the young men who participated in our recent assembly for the manner in which they represented our college. I have received nothing but positive feedback from coaches, parents, and principals from other schools about how well our students represented our school both on and off the field. A special recognition to our First XI Hockey team for their outstanding achievement of second place in the Rankin Cup, and best wishes to our Senior A Basketball team who have qualified for the national finals during the holidays.

In recent years, we have redesigned our junior pathways to provide students with what we hope is access to exceptional real-world learning. As part of our Year 9 ‘Spies Like Us’ English course, students have been delving into US Intelligence Services, CIA, Homeland Security and the like as part of learning about 9/11. Seeing this come to life this week with Director General Andrew Hampton and Agent Baden from the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service onsite and working with the class was a real highlight.

Ngā mihi nui

J McDowall

Tumuaki I Rector