Whole-school events such as Superbowl, Cultural Day, and Book Day have allowed students to engage in areas they are passionate about, creating memorable and meaningful experiences. Alongside these, we have offered alternative opportunities such as our MITEY Week, supporting our mental health programme, and our Year 8 students heading to Goat Island for a snorkelling experience as part of the William Pike Challenge.

To conclude the term, we celebrated excellence through our Excellence Awards, recognising those tauira who are excelling in their areas. Our Kapa Kahui was another highlight, with our kapa haka performing to an exceptionally high standard alongside local schools. Personally, I was incredibly impressed by our choir’s performance at the Year 8 end-of-term assembly—what they achieved after just three practices was outstanding, and I look forward to seeing their continued growth throughout the year.

Inside the classroom, our staff have been working diligently to identify and use data to monitor the progress of our tauira and evaluate the impact of our teaching. With key areas of focus on numeracy, literacy, inquiry, and our specialist programme, it has been rewarding to hear the professional conversations taking place and to see the commitment of our staff to both support and challenge learners to achieve their best.

There is currently a lot of discussion in the media about education and the pace of change. I want to assure you that as a school, we are well-positioned and proactive in ensuring our tauira receive the best possible learning experiences.

At the end of each term, we conduct a pulse point survey to understand how we are tracking across a range of areas. From 548 responses, the data highlights several strengths:

• Friendships are the foundation – Our highest result (80.1%) shows that students value the positive and healthy friendships they have at school. Nearly 300 tauira rated their friendships as “very strong.”
• A strong sense of belonging – 72.7% of students feel they belong at our kura, a key indicator of wellbeing and success.
• Growth mindset in action – 71.4% of students recognise that being challenged supports their learning.

One area for growth is helping students better articulate the meaning of our school values (61.9%). Our values—Manaakitanga, Rangatiratanga, Māramatanga, and Whanaungatanga—are central to who we are, and we will continue to strengthen student understanding through assemblies and daily practice.

This term, we have focused on the āhua of Māramatanga—our learning journey—particularly the idea of having a growth mindset and persevering when learning is challenging. While there is still work to do in supporting tauira with strategies to navigate challenges, it is pleasing to see continued improvement in this space. I have personally enjoyed working with a number of classes on this concept.

It has also been encouraging to see the strengthening relationships between our kura and whānau. Whether through student-led conferences, the He Waka Eke Noa journal, or communication via Hero, your engagement plays a vital role in supporting the success of our young people.

Looking ahead to Term 2, we have some exciting opportunities early on, including the Year 8 camp and Year 7 EOTC days in the first two weeks. These experiences are incredibly valuable in building capability, confidence, and connection.

Thank you for your ongoing support this term. Enjoy a well-deserved break, take time to connect with whānau and friends, and we look forward to another exciting and productive Term 2.

Ngā mihi nui,

Jason Pocock

Principal ANI