The end of a busy year with plenty of challenges and successes throughout 2024.

As we head towards the end of the year we get to reflect on what has been a busy year, the challenges we have gone through and the successes we have had along the way.

We started the year with our highest student roll in around 15 years. This created a new energy in the school with a number of students new to Te Aroha from other parts of the country. It did take a while to settle down but we ended up with a very settled second half of the year.

As a result, our traditional sports days had more participants involved with swimming, athletics and cross-country days with some outstanding results and a number of records broken. Our sports teams enjoyed having more players in their squads and this made for some amazing successes throughout the year.

The Little Shop of Horrors was a really fun school production, and again, we enjoyed having lots of students involved in all aspects of the show. To add to this we had our first cultural evening which was a real hit and the house Haka and Waiata competition helped build our school culture. It was nice to see our Arts students showcasing their work at the recent Arts under the Mountain community day.

We have tried hard to build a stronger culture of learning in our students focused on developing the skills and knowledge to not only do well in the assessments and examinations, but also as they leave school and head into their chosen career.

I look forward to seeing our NCEA results being released in late January. We know that our students have performed better in almost all areas compared to this time in 2023. While there is some national debate about Level 1 NCEA we will continue with this qualification with a very clear focus on how best to set our students up to be as successful as possible.

We had two very tragic events this year with the passing of Charley Wahanui in August and only this last week, Te Koha Roach-Rukuwai. Two fine young men with everything to look forward to, taken too early in their young lives. They will remain in hearts for many years to come. We are also aware that for some of our students lost a parent this year as well which has been a difficult time for them as well.

Overall I would say we have a pretty good year. Is there more to do next year? You bet, absolutely. We will continue to improve all that we do and value the feedback that we receive. We have a solid plan for the next five years and can't wait to get stuck in and make a difference.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Christmas break and summer holiday and look forward to seeing you all again in 2025.