Kia ora whanau,
Ma te whiritahi, ka whakatutuki ai nga pumana a tangata. Together weaving the realisation of potential.
Wow, what an amazing school and community we have. My return to our Kura after 23 years has been one of amazement and immense pride in our students and staff. I have spent the first few weeks of my tenure meeting with our staff and students to get an understanding of who we are. What this has highlighted to me is that we have a strong sense of belonging and whanau within our school community.
We have a strong foundation in place to help launch us into the future. Our staff and students are excited about the possibilities and aspirations for our school.
As part of my mahi to build an understanding of who we are, I would like to hear from our whanau about their aspirations and feedback. I have put together a short survey to gather initial feedback from our community about their thoughts. I would like to ask you all to take the time to contribute your thoughts on the following three questions-
- What do you want us to start doing?
- What do you want us to stop doing?
- What would you like us to continue to do?
These short quick questions are an initial phase of our community consultation process. Once I have your voice, I will look to act upon this and provide feedback to you in due course. We will continue to ask for your feedback and input into our kura as you are part of who we are.
The link to the survey is- https://forms.gle/xEiLwVR6X5EZgzvb8
We have high aspirations for our school and the outcomes that we can deliver for our Rangatahi. We want to be the school of choice for our community and we want to continue to help develop outstanding young men and women who are well rounded and have a kete of tools that will serve them well beyond their time with us.
Developing our learning programs to be adaptive and responsive to ever changing needs of our rangatahi is something that we are working hard on. We want our community to be a part of our learning journey, you are all key to the growth and development of our students. What this could look like will be developed over the coming months, and we will be asking for your input into the future direction of our school.
Now to the present- we are fast approaching the end of the year, but before then we still have a few significant events to take place.
NCEA exams begin Monday 16th November, these exams are important for all of our senior students and their learning journeys. There has been a lot of hard mahi put in by staff and students alike to prepare for these exams. COVID has made 2020 a very different year in many ways, but what hasn't changed is the importance of these exams.
We have study hubs set up to support students’ learning up to each exam as well as catch-up opportunities for students that have missed opportunities throughout the year. I encourage all students to take these opportunities to further develop their learning. Our Deans are available to help support and plan the end of the year programs for our senior students. Study timetables have been given out to students so that they can plan ahead. If you need further information on these supported programs please contact the office and they will connect you with the right people.
Please ensure that your child wears our school uniform whenever they come to school. It makes it easier to identify our students and helps us keep track of who is in the school.
Our Senior Prizegiving is on Thursday 12th November at 7pm and it will be a wonderful celebration of achievement and success that our Rangatahi have worked hard to achieve this year, it would be great to see you all there. All award winners need to be at school at 6pm for a roll call and seating arrangements.
I would like to wish our senior students all the best with their upcoming exams and to the seniors who are leaving our Kura; Whaia te iti kahurangi kit te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei.
Nga mihi nui.