Kia ora koutou and warm greetings from Mana House, formally Kākāriki House.

Welcome back, everyone.

It has been great to see all our ākonga back at kura over the past five weeks, rejuvenated after plenty of summer fun and quality time with loved ones. First and foremost, I want to thank you for supporting our rangatahi to be here at kura, the new Te Aratai uniform looks fantastic on our learners and the conversations around academic and personal goals have been inspiring. Thank you also for informing the school if you are keeping your child home, for whatever reason, so we can keep accurate attendance records and swiftly help any student who needs help attending classes regularly. Please be aware that students are able to access work online if they need an extended period of leave, just be sure to contact their kaiako and kaiārahi and inform them of the time away. Regular attendance and keeping up with the learning is fundamental to success in senior subjects.

And a big welcome to all our new Year 11 students, those new to NCEA and working hard to get off to a good start. The jump from being a junior to a senior student can be daunting for some and good self-management is a big part of ensuring success. As well as kaiārahi from Ako classes, ākonga can also check in with me at any time for guidance and support with the transition to our senior school. We always encourage students to ask for help when needed, and their teachers and deans are always happy to offer support. I know many positive conversations are being had at home and school. It was especially great to see whānau getting actively involved in students learning at our Whānau Connect event last Thursday. Always good to catch up over a BBQ.

Even though we are only 5 weeks into our school year, there has been a number of achievements within the house that I would like to celebrate. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the 2023 Head Students Stella Durham and Thomas Rhoads, both from Mana House. I believe this pair will be excellent role models and hopefully help us win the house competition, for a third year in a row! We have yet to name our House Leaders for the year, I'll be sure to mention them in our next newsletter. 

Secondly, I want to acknowledge the Mana House students who gained their NCEA qualification last year, either with Achieved or possibly Merit or Excellence endorsements. I know how hard everyone worked during an inconsistent and unpredictable 2022 to gain their NCEA qualification, and you all should feel extremely proud of what you have achieved. And lastly, well done to the ākonga celebrated for high attendance in our first Senior School Assembly. It was nice to see these students rewarded with some great Te Aratai branded merchandise.

Mana House is very fortunate to have some amazing kaiārahi working with our learners, helping guide them through their Te Aratai College journey. We have had a number of new teaching staff join our kura, and Maysie Scott has joined our Mana whānau. Our kaiārahi are our students' biggest supporters in school and will often be their first port of call for guidance and awhi. I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge them and the hard work they have done and continue to do, supporting, protecting, and further educating our ākonga. If you would like, at any point, to contact your child's kaiārahi, I have included our awesome team's emails below:

Richard Jolly (KakJly): jly@linwoodcollege.school.nz

James Lowe (KakLow): low@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Manu Paringatai (KakPi): pi@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Brent Patterson(KakPn): pn@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Ben Russell (KakRus): rus@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Maysie Scott (KakMsc): msc@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Mā te tuakana te teina e tōtika, mā te teina te tuakana e tōtika.

Ngā mihi nui,

Nick Colville

Snr Mana Dean

col@linwoodcollege.school.nz