Tēnā koutou katoa
Term 4 is always such a busy term in the life of the school. It has been wonderful these last couple of weeks to attend the first of our celebrations of student achievement through the Sports and Cultural awards. We will soon be having our Gateway graduation, Service Academy Prize giving, and our junior and senior academic prize givings. I so enjoy being a part of these events- it is great to acknowledge all the successful young men and women who exemplify the NUA way across multiple facets of school life.
At our last Board of Trustees meeting we farewelled our outgoing student representative Toni Baker. Toni has made a significant contribution during her time as a student trustee these last two years, and we will miss her! We so appreciate all that she has given, not only to the board, but to school life in general and wish her every success in her future as she leaves Horowhenua College at the end of 2017. We also had opportunity to welcome our new trustee Brooke Antonsen. Thank you Brooke for putting your name forward for election – we hope your time on the board will be an enjoyable and productive learning experience!! This week our parents and caregivers will be receiving forms regarding the nomination and election of two trustees. After consulting the School Trustees Association and recognising the continuity required for our Board work plan, the board has decided to move back to the standard tri-annual election cycle, hence the appointments for this election will be for an 18 month term. The trustee positions to be filled are those currently held by Mr Garry Good and Ms Nikki Simpson-Tukapua. Garry and Nikki have done an outstanding job on the Board, Garry bringing huge experience in governance and with a background in education (having been a school principal himself) and Nikki with expertise in youth justice and now involved in care and protection of young people through Oranga Tamariki. You will find more about them on the voting forms when they are sent to you. Please do vote in these elections, it is your chance to have a say in who you would like to represent you for these next 18 months.
During our last meeting we examined our NCEA credit performance relative to previous years at this time. We were also encouraged to see the mentoring programmes which have been implemented for students at risk of not achieving. As a board we monitor academic progress against the achievement targets set out in the annual plan and look towards continuous improvements in learning and teaching. One of the key foci for next year is likely to be in the area of Information and Communication Technologies. At the meeting Mr Jason White and Mr Luke Stevens presented the ICT plan for the Boards consideration. The Board will use this information to make strategic decisions as it ratifies the budget for 2017. Mr White also presented a review of the PE faculty. In addition to acknowledging the hard work that has been done by staff, these faculty reviews help the board to think about where and how it should prioritise school resources to best facilitate teaching and learning.
Thank you to all our whanau for supporting our young people through the last few weeks of term. We realise this can be a stressful and tiring time, but we wish you and all our students every success as they complete course work and sit final exams.
Ngā mihi
Juliana Mansvelt (BOT Chair)