July 2022
Tēnā koutou katoa
I am always amazed at how quickly a term passes. Mr Congdon has been on sabbatical these last ten weeks and Whaea Sharon Moerkerk and the SLT have done a tremendous job of managing the college in his absense. The Board are very grateful! Many of the staff in the school have also stepped up to fill various gaps, this is also so appreciated. Staff and student absences due to Covid and the flu this term have meant extra work and teaching to enable students to catch up with missed work and assessments. Despite this, it has been great to see our young people involved in an extensive range of cultural, service and sporting events. A hightlight for me was attending Pasifika Fusion at the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North – Lototaha achieved a second place for their cultural item this year, and can feel so proud of their amazing performance on stage. I know many, many hours practice went into this, all supported by teachers and whanau.
It was also a wonderful experience to be able to celebrate our first Matariki holiday with a special hautapu ceremony for staff led by Matua Chris and Matua Dylan. It was a cold start, and the Matariki stars were just visible in the dawn light, but it was good to take a some time together to remember those who had passed in the last year, to be grateful for all we have, and to reflect on our aspirations for the coming year.
This term the board continued its review of policies, focussing on health and safety and finance policies. We are almost at the end of our Education Review Cycle so will receive a report in due course which identifies how the College is doing with respect to its own review processes and identifying next steps for improvement. A significant piece of work this term has been a review of school reporting to parents and research conducted on student voice. The board are always keen to learn what more we can do to develop in all areas of our four ‘pillars’ (academic, cultural, sport and service) and these kinds of reviews are critical to improve learning and teaching and the experience for all our students.
We will soon welcome more prospective students as we will be hosting them and their parents/caregivers at our open night in week 1 of Term 3. It is always great to showcase the kinds of activities and the awesome young people you will read about in this newsletter. We also look forward to welcoming a new Deputy Principal, Mr Gilbert Hokianga with a powhiri on our first day back.
With all the winter illnesses about I do hope you stay warm and well over the school holidays. We look forward to another term of growing successful young people!
Ngā mihi nui
Juliana Mansvelt