Tēnā koutou katoa,

“Every 6 months, she’s better than what she was in the preceding 6 months”

This quote came from Gordon Walker, the long-time coach of Lisa Carrington, in reference to her phenomenal success at the recent Paris Olympics.

Carrington’s approach reflects a growth mindset of continuous improvement, something that we as a school aim to embody. We encourage our students to adopt a growth mindset when it comes to their learning both in the classroom and in their extra-curricular pursuits; “With more practice, this will get easier” (growth) versus “I give up” (fixed mindset). As leaders of learning, our teachers also aim to adopt a growth mindset every day when working with their students.  

As we come to the business end of our school year, I encourage everyone to think about the quote at the top of this article. With a growth mindset we should all be able to say that “Every term, I am better than what I was in the preceding term”. Here’s to continuous improvement, no matter how small (and yes, the occasional backward step is ok too, we are all human after all!).

I continue to be impressed with so many of our students who are taking responsibility for themselves this year and showing up each day giving their best effort, and I am so full of appreciation for the ongoing dedication and commitment of our staff.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the recent passing of Ross Stevenson, the Deputy Rector at our brother school, Timaru Boys High School. Our thoughts have been with Ross’ family and the community of TBHS at this time.  

I wish for everyone a successful second half of Term 3. I hope you enjoy reading this August edition of our newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui,

Deb Hales