Kia ora e te whānau
Term One has almost come to an end and the start of this year has been very busy as expected. What continues to stand out is how lucky we are as a school community to have the students that we do. The way that our young people conduct themselves, the atmosphere around the College and the approach the majority take to learning is to be commended. Well done to all our students and our staff for making this happen.
I want to congratulate those students who received Academic Blues for their achievements in NCEA last year. The assembly to honour their achievement was a fitting way to pay tribute to their hard work and dedication. I also want to acknowledge those students who may not have received an Academic Blue but applied themselves well and achieved to their ability. As I mentioned at the opening powhiri, our job is to be the best version of ourselves, to strive to do the best that we can be, and then we can all be proud of our achievement.
I would like to encourage all our students to make the most of their learning time and the opportunities presented to them. We have 122 days of school left for our seniors before they go on exam leave and this will certainly go quickly. Year 11 students have the CAA for Literacy and Numeracy, which are also key milestones that need to be focused on this year. For our Year 7 – 10 students, the learning you are undertaking at the moment and the habits you are forming will set you up for future study.
Research consistently points out that school attendance is one of the biggest factors in academic outcomes. Every day of attendance does matter and so I can only encourage all students to make the effort to turn up each day, apply yourself to the tasks set, engage with the learning and spend the time completing revision. After all, academic success provides all graduates with great opprtunities post-school.
As we journey further into Lent, this season continues to provide us with an opportunity to reflect on our relationship with God, others and the created environment around us. I recently attended the funeral of a close family friend who was a very wise and colourful Irish priest. He often said to me over the years “Remember before you criticize them, have you first prayed for them?” Not an easy thing to put into practice at times, but certainly a very Christian approach to addressing challenges. It might be a good challenge for all of us as we journey through the remainder of Lent.
Charity fulfils the Law