Principal comment

We are excited about the year ahead and have lots of plans in place to make Te Aroha College a school where students enjoy their learning, make great friends and find success, whatever form that takes.

I would like to thank the community for the support you have already shown the school this year. It is most likely we will start with around 400 students. Some of our long-serving staff members think that this is probably the largest roll for about 20 years. There are lots of positive changes from this time last year. The overall tone of the school has improved. Classes are more settled and there is a calm feeling during breaks. Our staff are confident in their roles and there is clarity in our direction. They are active in contributing to school direction and review. However our latest NCEA results for 2023 were very disappointing. Please read the NCEA/Learning culture section of this newsletter for further information.

One of our themes for 2024 is this will be the year of aspiration and expectation. We want to raise the aspirations of all of our students, beyond what they think they are capable of and start thinking beyond the first few years of leaving school. Likewise, our expectations regarding appropriate behaviour, acceptable language, uniform, attendance, learning and their progress will be much higher than in the past. There will be far more communication and meeting with parents to make sure that the school is working in partnership with our whānau and families.

Phones in school. As you will be aware, the coalition government has put in place a policy to remove student cell phones in secondary schools. This is a major shift for our students and we are working our way through the process. We must comply with the Ministry of Education’s regulations. Further discussion and information can be found in the Phones in School section.