Tena tatou katoa e te whanau, warmest greetings to all our families.
I wanted to continue to keep you updated on a few matters. We continue to work hard to settle the school with two breaks instead of one for learners and draft changes to timetabling and school organisation nearing completion. Location of classes for learners will also be reviewed and changed as needed to reduce the amount of travel across school so students can arrive at their class on time for learning.
Thank you for the support that we have received from our community over the past couple of weeks. There have been some challenging and confronting moments over recent times for us all but I am confident that if we fast-forward a few months we will be able to see clear and significant progress across different aspects of school life, but particularly in the prevalence of some of the antisocial behaviours that have been at the forefront. The media spotlight has certainly been on the school and they have not been short of material to use. I appreciate that the image of our school and community has been negatively affected and that this unfortunately, may continue in the short to medium term. I continue to offer opportunities for whanau to discuss matters with the school as they feel necessary and I acknowledge all the parents who have shown genuine care for the school and the changes that must be made.
I have a number of non-negotiables that I will continue to reiterate as we move forward – critically, this school needs to be predominantly focused on quality learning and achievement where excellence is attainable and celebrated, and everyone needs to feel safe and happy. Students must have subject options that match their desire and aspirations and they must be in learning areas of passion. I have met with dozens of learners over the past two weeks. I am amazed that when we peel back matters, what we find at the heart is that each student wants to learn and they want to be successful. The senior students want NCEA and they do want to pass their subjects. Our efforts and attitudes must match those aspirations.
To achieve this we need to set in place a strong culture that draws our young people in rather than making them feel isolated. Coupled with this we will continue to take firm and immediate action when health, safety or wellbeing are put at risk – we have strong processes in place at the College to address concerns and behaviours from formal disciplinary processes, through to pastoral care and counselling or a range of other supports and structures. Poor behaviour will not be tolerated. We will also be linking in with parents and caregivers as the best outcomes are achieved through partnerships between home and family.
Parent/Caregiver Survey
As part of this partnership and as I highlighted in my last update, I would appreciate your thoughts about your aspirations and goals as they relate to your child and their time at the college, your thoughts around safety in the college and any feedback or suggestions you think may be useful for me to hear as I look to review and strengthen key aspects of the college. I would appreciate you filling this out as soon as possible so we can start better understanding the views of our key stakeholders – our families. This is an anonymous survey (no emails will be collected) – you can access it at https://forms.gle/HNJ37JvJ7FiYUQTJA. The opportunity to fill in this survey will be available until 8am Friday June 28th. After this date the analysis will begin and I will share back what you said we should do.
Senior Leadership
As you will know Dr Thilo Govender is on leave at this time and not expected to return until next term. The Board and I are pleased to inform you that Barbara Cavanagh will take on the role of Acting Principal until Dr Govender returns. This appointment will enable Samantha Farook to step back into her role as Deputy Principal and complete the appointment of high-quality teachers and support staff and inducting them into our school alongside her other core duties. We are extremely grateful to Samantha who stepped up into the Acting Principal role out of service and care for the students and the community and has done an amazing job.
Nga mihi nui Samantha.
Barbara Cavanagh has a wealth of experience in education including in the Waikato and as a foundation principal. Barbara will be an asset to the school, having experience creating strong school cultures that meet the needs and aspirations of young people in order to engage them in their learning.
The rest of term 2 and term 3 will be terms of change and embedding. While change can be unsettling, I am reminded that it is also where innovation and strength comes from.
Nga manaakitanga nui, blessings to all
Shane Edwards
Limited Statutory Manager
