Kia ora koutou

It’s a privilege to step into the Principal’s role while Ms Tara Kanji is on her sabbatical leave. As I take on this role, Mrs. Donella Wright steps into our Year 10 Deputy Principal leadership role and joins us in the senior leader team. The Tauranga Girls’ College colleague team wishes Tara all the best during her time away and looks forward to the new learning she will share with us on her return.

Branding and logo update

In Term 4 of last year, we began a review of our logo and its design. Mount Maunganui based Woods Agency was enlisted to undertake this mahi. They have been responsible for several school's logo reviews including Ōtūmoetai College.

To date, Woods Agency has been unpacking feedback from students, staff, and our Iwi partners. Themes of ‘discovery’, ‘strong wahine’, ‘being inclusive’, ‘impactful’, ‘aspirational', and ‘groundbreaking’ have become obvious. Discussions about these themes have been facilitated by Woods Agency. These themes not only fall nicely into our existing strategic intentions, but they also expand upon them outlining what the TGC community wants to represent and be able to tell as our story.

Based on these themes and discussions, Woods Agency presented three concept images. These were ideas of how themes and words could be presented in images. The design thinking process continues with refinement. We hope to share the outcome of the review and thank those staff and students who gave feedback and to Iwi who have provided an exciting cultural narrative.

A walk inside J Block

Members of the Board had the opportunity to walk inside J Block last week. The earthquake strengthening and reinforcing is quite formidable. The space is exciting and currently, fixtures, furniture, and equipment (FFE) are being planned and finalised. Over $300k worth of FFE will be purchased to shape the learning that will happen in J Block. J Block, (which will soon have a more appropriate name) will shift from being a 22 classroom block to having 26 classrooms. We hope to have this learning and teaching space back to use by the end of this year.

Out of Zone Enrolment Policy

As our school roll continues to grow, we have had to implement an out of zone enrolment policy. Presently, we cannot take students out of zone. In Year 9 and 10 our class numbers are large and option choices are full. This is a good problem to have and we will continue to review numbers and keep our website updated to reflect any change that may occur to this.

School TV on our Website

School TV is a resource we share with you via our Tauranga Girls’ College website. There are resources covering several topical issues for teenagers and their whānau including cyberbullying, managing screen time, wellbeing, inclusion, and much more. Please take a look at this resource by clicking on the School TV icon in the top right-hand corner of our TGC webpage.

Common Assessment Activity (CAA’s) - Literacy and Numeracy

Congratulations to all our students who sat the CAA’s last week. We hope that with the collective approach shown by all curriculum areas, not only in Maths and English, that students have felt confident when sitting these assessment tasks. Results will be out later in the year. Literacy and Numeracy is a co-requisite requirement of NCEA.

Changes to our PHO Nurse

We farewelled Janet, our PHO nurse last week and welcomed our two temp PHO nurses. Welcome to Woody and Paula. PHO nurses are located in our Health Centre.

Attendance - an important reminder for you and your young person or daughter

Our Term 1 attendance data showed a marked improvement from the same time last year. We know how important attendance is. Regular attendance is when students attend 90% of the time. In order to participate in Sports, Arts, and Culture activities students must attend kura 85% of the time. Unfortunately, last week the low attendance rate of two students meant they were unable to play sport with their teams. Please contact the school if your young person is going to be away. All MoE justifiable reasons are recorded with a ‘J’. Any absence that is not deemed justifiable by the MoE is recorded as ‘E’ for explained.

Teacher Only Day 31 May

This is a government-directed NCEA Accord Day and does not impact on the number of days our school is open for instruction this year. Teachers will be engaging in professional learning on this day.

Winter illness and staff shortages

As Winter hits and so too does the illness that comes with it, our staffing becomes more strained. This can sometimes make it difficult to cover classes with relievers. When our staffing is under pressure due to absence, we endeavour always to staff our Year 9-11 classes in the first instance. We acknowledge that the maturity and skill of our seniors in Years 12 and 13 means they can be trusted to work independently via Google Classrooms and with check-in support from teachers in neighbouring classrooms. We appreciate your understanding and support during this time.

Kylie Valentine

Tumuaki/Principal