It is hard to believe that, just like that, it is the end of Term 1 and a quarter of the year gone! Crazy!

I was preparing for my Hauora class I have today and wanted to take them out for a walk and to a cafe to debrief on Term 1. When I was thinking about what I would want to ask them I came up with – What are you most proud of? What is one thing you are still working on for Term 2? and lastly, what is one routine you will keep through the holidays to support your wellbeing? When I was thinking about these I thought it might be worth reflecting on my own term at the same time! Here is my reflection:

I am most proud of the work my staff do everyday to be the best teachers and support staff for our students. We make this particularly challenging for ourselves with the number of new students we bring into our kura at the beginning of every year. That can be upwards of 200 new enrolments across Year 12 and 13. This is part of our identity and such a big part of our school. My staff have to get to know students quickly as people and as learners and I am so proud of the work they do to do this quickly and effectively. I am so lucky to work with staff that understand our identity as a school, believe in it and come from a place of high expectations and care.

Just to add another, I am proud of our strategic plan for the next two years. We have reduced it right back and the key thread across all three of our goals is to improve attendance rates, as it has such a strong corelation to student achievement. Key things you will see this year are teacher professional development in culturally responsive practices, gathering voice from ākonga, use data to better inform learning programmes, track and closely monitor achievement and support early interventions and review our current timetable. All good stuff!

I will keep working on my growth and learning in te reo Māori in Term 2. I enrolled in te Ahu o Te Reo Māori, a course for teachers, at the beginning of this year and have now completed a term. When I first thought about spending three hours on a Thursday evening learning Te Reo I thought it would be an absolute mission. It has been the opposite! I go with two of my Deputy Principals and, honestly, I think that is one of the best parts. We also try and get together to do our homework and are lucky enough to have some time with Regan Stokes during the week to support our learning. Yes, I do realise how lucky I am! There is so much good that comes out of being a learner again. The discomfort, the need for consistent revision and the feelings that go with not knowing stuff. We had our first assessment last week and it had been a while since I had been that nervous. It came out well in the end, but standing up and speaking reo in front of teaching colleagues is terrifying. Anyway, all went well due to three days of practice over Easter!!!! The best parts of learning something new for me are the feelings of achievement, spending time out of school with Jenni and Hayden and gaining confidence.

The routine I will keep in the holidays is to keep up a daily walk in a nice environment. We are very lucky with school being located over the road from Hagley Park and I get out and across the park regularly. It is so nice! I’ll keep that up but with a bit more variety in locations over the holidays.

Ok, those are the answers to my own questions! I am looking forward to hearing from my students today and supporting them with their wellbeing.

Thank you to the parents that attended our hui-a-whānau and/or our Fono held towards the end of Term 1. It is a great way to hear from our Māori and Pasifika families and to provide space for connection.

Also, a big thank you from me on behalf of the Board for the amount of emails I received regarding our cellphone policy. There was overwhelming support for focusing our attention on classrooms being cellphone-free. We will finalise the policy at the start of Term 2 and that will be emailed out to you.

For those that get a school holiday, enjoy! Have a nice break.

Nāku noa, nā

Rowan