Welcome back Mahira students to Term 1.

Kia ora koutou.

Welcome back to all students and whānau and all new students who have joined Mahira house this year. We think of all our whānau who are up north and who may be impacted by the Cyclone. We hope your whānau are safe and everyone is making a start on the huge clean up ahead.

We have had a change of house name as you may have noticed. Karaka, our previous name, was a placeholder until we got to our new site where we have our new buildings, new name and now our new house names.

Mahira - Inquisitive, Curious - like Sir Ernest Rutherford.

Our Uara that fits with Mahira is Rangatiratanga - To have respect and mana - owning your actions - displaying leadership.

This year we have 5 Ako classes with kaiārahi supporting students in Mahira. Please reach out to your students' kaiārahi with any questions regarding attendance, learning concerns or well-being and then we can figure out a plan to best support students with their schooling journey.

KarMBL - Melanie Blomfield - mbl@linwoodcollege.school.nz

KarCAL - Angela Johnson - jn@linwoodcollege.school.nz

KarVIJ - Sai Vijayakumar - vij@linwoodcollege.school.nz

KarNIJ - Francine Nijdan - nij@linwoodcollege.school.nz

KarSIL - Olivia Silvester - sil@linwoodcollege.school.nz

NCEA - new for some, same for others

Talking to students, many are setting goals for the year already and despite some being nervous about NCEA the mahi is being done and progress is being made. Students will be expected to start some of their first assessments in the coming weeks, this is a chance for students to show what learning they have done and what progress they have made.

Attendance, of course, is key. We know the biggest indicator of success for our students in NCEA is being present in class. It is great to see most students doing the right thing and being great leaders for our junior students.

We enjoyed rewarding students for high attendance with some Te Aratai branded merchandise at our first assembly. Well done to Sophia Brindson-Barclay and Agam Singh who were the students from our house with great attendance.

As always, please get in touch with me about anything, you can contact me by using the following details:

ech@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Phone: 0220273537

Erin Chamberlin

Snr Mahira Dean