It has been a busy, vibrant, eventful, emotional and successful term... and it's symbolic of what the rest of the year is going to be like!

If this term is symbolic of what the rest of the year will be, then it is certainly promising to continue to be a very busy, eventful and exciting year. This is exactly as it should be and as always it is great to see so many of our students making the most of every opportunity both inside and outside the classroom.

This term has also held some powerful and emotional moments, but I was personally inspired by the speech that our Head Girl, Sammie Maxwell, gave at a recent assembly and, with her permission, I would like to share her words in this reflection:

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow students and teachers, it is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today and address you about the vicious attack that took place last Friday, 15th March, in Christchurch. I trust you are aware of the numerous lives lost, the thousands of mourning families, a terrorised city and the heartbroken nation that this event left in its wake. So I do not wish to remind you of the pain this caused, but instead offer hope and suggest ways in which we can help. On that Friday, New Zealand was struck with a wave of such helplessness and I know as I felt it myself. I was astounded and shocked and confused and devastated that such an act of violence could happen in my own beautiful country and that I felt as though I could do nothing to help! But there is so much that we can do to be a positive influence for change in our community.

So here’s what we can do:

#1) At 7pm tonight at the Islamic Centre there will be a vigil held to show our condolences towards those who lost their lives. I would love to see as many people as possible attending.

#2) Supporting the bake sale tomorrow where the funds will proceed towards helping Christchurch in this dark time.

#3) Donating and bringing a gold coin next Thursday to wear mufti to once again raise funds to support Christchurch.

#4) Spread love! After the numerous interviews that have been shown on TV since the attack, there is one that sticks out in my mind. It is one where a girl stands on national TV, crying because her friend is dead. She, however, stands proud and in front of the nation says “Everyone thinks we're going to be the bad generation, but really we're going to be the one to fix everything".  I think that this is incredibly beautiful. What generation organised a march on Friday to be the voice for earth when it has none? This generation! What generation organised one of the first vigils for the Islamic community in Christchurch? This generation! We are strong and powerful as a generation. We don’t stand for bullying and pollution or abuse of any kind. We stand for kindness and caring and forgiveness and acceptance. So please, spread love, stay united and support each other during this time of grieving. Thank you.

I would like to acknowledge the proactive, enthusiastic and dedicated job that our Head Students, the Senior Executive and the recently formed Student Council are doing. I see these students in action, from leading assemblies, arranging events, meeting with the Board of Trustees, engaging with their peers and grappling with the range of opportunities and challenges our school has. Every time I see this I am assured that the future is in good hands. I am also reminded why our school has a good heart. In this regard, another marker this term has been how a large group of our students have proactively and determinedly expressed their growing concern about climate change and the impact on the environment of our current choices and the uncertain legacy that this is leaving for the next generation. So many of the facts that have emerged through this action have highlighted just how challenging the situation really is. While the school wasn’t ‘officially’ involved in this event, it was very powerful to see the wave of blue of our students involved in this rally. In both of these recent markers I have been deeply impressed, humbled and proud of how our students have shown such powerful, thoughtful and caring leadership around social justice and environmental issues.

Of course, powerful learning opportunities continue to be at the core of everything that we do and it has been pleasing to see most students committed to their learning this term. We continue to work on an inclusive curriculum and positive learning opportunities for all students and I acknowledge the staff for their continued hard work and dedication to this, especially in such a busy term with so many events happening.

Our finalised NCEA results for 2018 have been confirmed and there are many areas to celebrate, as well as some signposts for areas that we need to work on. However, overall it has been tremendous to see our students continue to do so well in their formal qualifications. In particular it was so exciting to acknowledge the big group of students who had their certificates endorsed with Excellence and Merit, and scholarship results of our Year 13 students. In the meantime our provisional results show that there are many areas to celebrate, as well as other areas that we will keep focusing on going forward.

It is important to remember that the ‘overall pass rate’ as a percentage is only a very broad indicator of achievement, and it is far more helpful to reflect on individual results that celebrate our students’ areas of strength, and support areas where they will continue developing. One of the strengths of NCEA is that students can personalise the combination of standards that they are doing, and so each student will have a unique way of reaching their qualification and their individual timetable.

We continue to have a strong focus on attendance this year with a baseline of at least 85% school wide. We appreciate your support in ensuring that your students are at school on time and it is very pleasing to see that many of our students maintain a very high attendance percentage. Research clearly shows that there is a direct link between attendance and achievement and our own data reflects this. Many students that show a drop in attendance as the year progresses have a corresponding drop in their grades. There is also no doubt that establishing good patterns of attendance now creates momentum for the future, not only at school but for further study and in the workforce.

It has been very exciting seeing our sporting teams start their seasons so well, many already securing strong results in preseason games. It’s promising to be a very successful sporting season. However I am mindful of how fortunate we are as a school to have such great support from our community. Thank you sincerely to all our staff and people in the community who give so much time and care investing in our students so that they have these opportunities.

I would like to acknowledge the huge effort that the PTA have recently invested in running another very successful Golf Ambrose Competition as a school fundraiser. In particular Vanessa Carmichael, Jo Frew and Sue Goldsmith have worked tirelessly in the background to make this all happen. There were also a large group of Gold Sponsors which we are very grateful for as well as to the Taupo Golf Club for giving us the use of the course for half of what it normally would cost. While this hasn’t been officially discussed yet, it is exciting to hear the rumours that money raised from this event may be used to help purchase a new school van. Either way, the funds that this event brings in make a huge difference to support teaching and learning in our school.

We are looking forward to a strong finish to the term and I am extremely grateful to the Tauhara College community who contribute so positively to the tone of the school and all the opportunities that are made available to our students. Our staff, the Board, the PTA, and so many parents who give so generously of their support, time, energy and commitment.