Tēnā koutou, Talofa lava, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bula vinaka, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Kumusta, Namaste. Greetings to everyone at Te Aratai College and our wider Te Aratai community.

We acknowledge and honour mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, kaitiaki of the whenua on which we stand as Te Aratai College.

As I regularly say, because it is eternal, the whenua remains constant but the pathway to sea - Ara, Tai - varies for us all, both for each individual and over the decades.

One of the really pleasing things about this newsletter is that it highlights the varied activities that our students - your children - are involved in. Schools in Aotearoa now attempt to be open places where students can achieve personalised success as themselves, not having to conform to the one way of doing things as dictated by the school like in the days of “short back and sides.”

Learner success for all is at the centre of our school’s moral compass, our kaupapa. It underpins everything that we do. Through our conversations with you, we know that our community sees learner success as more than only formal academic achievement. We view education as the well-being of the whole person, individuals able to learn as themselves. Mauri Ora - Flourishing well-being underpins learning. Our community knows how all developmentally positive experiences – classroom, sport, community involvement, leadership, culture – enrich our learners’ understanding of who they are and broaden their outlook. It prepares our young people for the world of 2024 and beyond, the world that they will be going out to.

In this final newsletter of the year, I mihi to our Board who deeply understand the moral imperative of education and who are most certainly putting in those hard yards that come with the governance of any kura, but particularly a kura that is growing faster than had been forecasted. I am excited about the appointment of Ms Maria Lemalie as our new tumuaki-principal.

To our senior award winners, I do hope that you have that quiet satisfaction of achievement – a job well done, success with integrity – and knowing that with every positive deed on your poutama you are honouring your whānau-family-aiga – those who are here and those who have gone before. Truly you are diamond; truly you are pounamu.

To our leaving staff, and those who left during the year, we are deeply grateful for all that you have done for our students. We thank you for your service. Our very best wishes for 2024 and beyond.

To all our leaving students, go well in your next steps. To our Yr 13 leavers, as was said at the Hui Whakapūmau, you are ready to leave as we all outgrow school – that is the point of it – and now you move into the big wide world which is ready for you and you are ready for it. Go well. Farewell. Haere rā.

To us all, whatever 2024 brings for each one of us, ngā mihi nui and best wishes for the festive season and summer ahead. I leave this school so enriched at everything that I have been able to learn from you all over the years on my own pathway to the sea at Linwood HS-Linwood College-Te Aratai College. Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu.

Richard Edmundson
Leaving Tumuaki-Principal