From the tumuaki | principal 2023 Term 4 Week 1

Kia ora koutou

Our student leaders ran their last assembly before settling into serious exam mode and passing on for future leaders. They covered a whole range of student successes that we can be proud of. They’ve done really well in this role, taking time to meet and plan together and conquering the nerves of public speaking in front of peers. I also know that these skills will help them throughout life, at least as much as the qualifications they gain.

Term 4 is always crunch time for seniors and an interesting time for juniors (years 7-10): external exam pressure is high, especially for students aiming to go to university, and they need our support and direction; for those who have achieved their basic NCEA qualification already, through other assessments, they need our guidance to stay on track with learning and to target exams meaningfully; our junior students need to stay focused with their learning. We talk a lot - too much - about qualifications when school is really an opportunity to develop a whole raft of other capabilities for life.

I’ve been open about problems with behaviours which we - like every school - face. In my experience, almost every one I deal with has a link to stuff kids see/do online and mostly at home. That’s why we’re investing in a highly rated expert speaker for our parent/whānau community and I would like to see someone from every family attend: filmmaker and author Rob Cope will give a talk on the topic of keeping our kids safe online.

Register here- Our Kids Online

Our Board met this week and deeply analysed the feedback from our recent survey and phone calls. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed. There’ll be a separate article from our Board Chair but key points going forward for us are to continue to improve our positive behaviour systems with greater consistency between teachers, and more recognition of those students doing the right thing, then developing more teacher capacity around diverse student needs and individualised learning.

Our head of Science, Stu Gerritsen, will extend his leave throughout next year as he takes important time at home. We wish Stu and his family the very best with this. Whaea Kay Mair will not renew her fixed term role with us next year as she, too, focuses on family and also goes with our best wishes.

I have been awarded a sabbatical next year which I’ll take in term 3 - I’ll study the phenomenon of disengagement in education and ways that schools can better engage with today’s teenagers.

Starting next year, we have managed to appoint an engineer to our Technology department - Katrina Hartley is new to teaching but brings a wealth of skills and experience. Megan Evans will take a year to travel and we’ve managed to find a really experienced teacher, Mrs Anne Kininmonth, to cover for her. Joining us for a combination of Outdoor Ed and Tawera Rural College will be Ms Claudia Petrie who has experience with a highly rated outdoor pursuit company and fencing contractor.

Best wishes to our Young Enterprise Scheme students who’ve made it to regional finals and especially Molly Macpherson who’s been asked to do a keynote speech on the night.

Ngā mihi maioha (warm wishes)

Andy England

Key dates:

See https://darfield.school.nz/calendar/

Monday 23 Oct - Labour Day
Wednesday 1 Nov - Senior Prizegiving
Friday 3 Nov - Seniors last day, Tabloids/Gumboot Friday
Monday 6 Nov - NCEA Exams begin
Thursday 16 Nov - Staff Only Day
Tuesday 12 Dec - Last day for students 2023