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Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

 

This week is “warm fuzzy week” and some of you will laugh at the name. This is the desired reaction of course! The emphasis is on forming positive relationships with people and learning how to avoid conflict with others. Part of this is being able to acknowledge peoples’ differences and demonstrate understanding, tolerance and empathy. We have students from a wide range of backgrounds and a wonderful mix of cultures. Being able to communicate and to ‘get along’ with each other is an important skill to learn.

 

Some of our students will be involved in winter sports tournament week, where our teams compete against other schools from all around the country. Going to tournament is a wonderful experience for students and I wish our teams well for that week. As a result, Monday 30 August will be our annual mid-term break. No students are required to attend school on that day.

 

Our Juniors should be looking at the skills they need to continue to work on for next year, especially in numeracy and literacy. These are the foundation of everything they will do in their school career and are things that can quite easily be encouraged at home. If parents take a close interest in what their child is actually doing at school, they can provide invaluable support. As parents we need to provide reading resources at home and encourage our children to read. It will benefit them in the long run.

 

Over the next few weeks we will start the process of electing a new Student Representative for the Board of Trustees. Lachlan Fowler, our current student representative, has done a superb job over the last year. Lachlan will be speaking at our assemblies this week to give an insight into what it is like to be the student representative and some of the things he has learnt during this time. The student representative is a vital role on the Board and contrary to what some would believe, the student representative is treated as a full board member, as intended under the Tomorrow Schools’ model. This means that as a student, Lachlan has been able to get a real insight into how a school operates and how complex it has become. I encourage parents, particularly at Year 12, to talk to their son/daughter and encourage them to stand for election this year. It is a fantastic, unique position in the school and offers a number of opportunities.  

 

 

 

 

 

Neil Harray

Principal

 

 

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

Congratulations to the successful candidates that have been elected to the Board of Trustees in the recent elections. We had our first Board meeting on Thursday 20 May and have already set a number of objectives for the next few years. During the meeting, we farewelled Mrs Jill Fowler who has been the Board chairperson for the last six years. Jill has been an outstanding advocate for the school and has represented the parent community extremely well.  I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Mrs Sharleen Adams and Mr Manakau who have provided many years of fine service to the board. Mrs Dolores Nathan returns to the board as our M?ori representative. Mr Steven Graveson has been elected the new Board chair and Mrs Mary Dowson has been elected deputy-chairperson. Thank you to all of the candidates that were willing to be nominated for this year’s election.

 

In week 10 of Term 2, Year 11 students will be sitting mid-year examinations. These examinations may be either actual assessments or practise external assessments. They are very important as they will give a clear indication of where students are at and the how they will handle these types of examinations. They should be treated seriously and will be conducted under formal examination conditions. Year 11 students will shortly receive their examination timetable and be reminded of what is expected during the examinations.

 

The mid-year reports are currently being prepared and will issued on Friday 25 June. This is a massive task involving several thousand pieces of paper and lot of work has gone into ensuring that results are accurate and the information is of value to you and your son/daughter. These reports often identify areas of concern but they are also a time to acknowledge those students who are achieving well and making a conscientious effort. I would like to offer my thanks to the staff for these reports and their time at the upcoming parent/teacher interviews on Thursday 1 July.

 

With the large amount of rain that has occurred over the last month I am aware that some families have found it difficult to get their student’s uniform dry. As a result, some non-uniform items of clothing have appeared, especially shoes. Please try to maintain our high standards of uniform. A large number of visitors to the school comment on how tidy our students look and the pride the students have in their uniform. This is another great reflection on our students and the community.

 

Finally, it is great to move around watching our various sports teams competing. Our teams play all over the Bay and we are very grateful for all the support we receive from parents and the community. To have parents coaching, managing or transporting teams is vital to our ability to provide sporting opportunities for our students. So to all of you, a huge thanks.

 

 

 

 

Mr N Harray

Principal

 

 

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

It is with great pleasure that I am able to report to you the confirmed 2009 NCEA results. These results took far longer to be confirmed from NZQA than expected however the information was released during the school holidays on April 8. Some of you would have seen the results published in the Bay of Plenty Times on Tuesday 27 April. In general we are very pleased with the overall results.

 

It is clear that results are a reflection of the excellent teaching staff we have at Katikati College and the sound working relationship our teachers form with students to get the very best from them. You can be very proud of your school and the level of academic achievement. I know that Peter Leggat has expressed how pleased and proud he is of the results and again it is a reflection of his excellent leadership.

As you will see in the table below, the results from last year are similar to previous years and above the national averages.

The results are based on the actual number of student in that year level attempting the corresponding level of NCEA.

In 2008 NZQA introduced level endorsements that are aimed at acknowledging those students that perform consistently high level of work. This has proven to be a very good refinement of the NCEA and enhances student motivation. As it becomes more familiar to people will be able to recognise the difference between merit and excellence endorsed NCEA certificates. In order to gain a certificate of endorsement students need to gain 50 or more credits at a merit or excellence level.

It is pleasing to see the number of our students gaining merit and excellence endorsements.

 

The number of scholarships improved significantly from 2008. In 2009 12 scholarships were obtained compared to 1 in 2008. Last year saw the introduction of a college wide Scholarship programme. This worked alongside the programmes through the Head’s of Faculty and individual staff. The scholarship and subjects they were awarded in are listed below.

These are great results and the community can be very proud of the level of achievement. We are well on the way in 2010 and continue to focus on student success. 

 

 

 

 

Mr N Harray

Principal

 

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

It is encouraging to see how happy the vast majority of students are to be back at school after the school holidays and Easter break. There was certainly a good “buzz” as the students arrived back at school eager to see their friends and start Term Two.

 

This term, for many students is when a great deal of their academic work is completed. Senior students in particular must pay close attention to their respective subjects and manage their time well. Sometimes it might seem very difficult to manage a large number of assessments, however with careful planning, hard work and constant communication with their teachers; it can be surprising what can be achieved. I encourage all students to keep at it and try their best.

 

It was great to see the start of the winter sports season last Saturday. Four teams had home games at the College and there were large numbers of supporters following these teams. While it was not very successful in terms of outcomes for the teams, it was certainly a great day seeing so many students, participating and enjoying their sport.  

 

I would like to thank those students and families that attended the ANZAC service(s) on Sunday 25 April. I know the community appreciates seeing the school turnout in such large numbers and it is important for the school to continue our presence there.

 

Congratulations to Glen Lambert (Year 12) who represented New Zealand at the Oceania and South Pacific Championships and the Olympic Youth Qualifiers in Samoa during the school holidays. Glen did particularly well winning one silver and two bronze medals. Glen has an important event in Australia coming up soon where he will be defending his Australasian title.

 

This Term is going to be busy and enjoyable for our students. We have a number of guest speakers coming to either speak at assembly or conduct workshops with our students. There is also a great deal of planning for student activities for events such as the School Ball and Stage Challenge which are not too far away. These activities all require staff, students and parents working together, I would like to thank all of those people that are involved in supporting the school in a number of ways.

 

 

 

Mr N Harray

Principal

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

It has been fantastic to see the range of activities that have happened during this term. While this has meant a very busy term for our staff (beyond their normal teaching duties) the opportunities for our students to be involved in these activities is important. Students that get involved in the wider opportunities the school has available enables them to learn aspects about themselves they may not learn in the classroom. It also gets students to meet other students outside their normal peer group and this develops a greater sense of school spirit. Listening to the students, it is great to hear them talk about their experiences whether it be attending a camp, a field trip, being involved in the athletics/swimming sports or representing the school.     

 

I would like to thank those families who have paid their school donation. Although not compulsory, the donation provides funds to help us meet the shortfall between what we want to provide for your children and what funding we get from the Government. We are very aware of the current financial situation but hope you will all support us.

 

As you start to make preparations for Term Two please remember our uniform guidelines. Shoes need to black leather lace up, that are able to be polished. I know that a few students will complain that these shoes are not fashionable however to maintain our uniform standards and considering fairness to all students and families, it is far easier for everyone if we stick to these guidelines. Canvas shoes and Ballerina type shoes are definitely not acceptable. No doubt a few students will try to convince you otherwise.   

 

In the last newsletter I mentioned that Mrs Kindley had made the New Zealand Masters hockey team and a non-travelling reserve. She has recently been promoted to the on-field team and joins Mrs Tran Van as a current New Zealand representative to play against Australia later this year.

 

I have spoke to the students on the importance of making sure they keep up with their school work leading up to the school holidays. The holidays will provide the necessary time if they need to catch up work or prepare for upcoming assessments in term Two. I hope the school holiday also offers the opportunity for you to spend some quality family time together. The reality I understand may be quite different depending on how involved people are in the Kiwifruit industry.

 

 

 

Mr N Harray

Principal

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College

We are all now well into routines and staff and students are focussing on the learning environment in each room. The first month is always a bit of a test with the hot weather and settling back to school, however I would like to congratulate everyone for making the start of 2010 relatively smooth.

We have had two fantastic school-wide events this term. The swimming and athletic sports are a great way of show-casing the wonderful community spirit our school has. The participation rate in both events was very pleasing. The key to the success of these events is the involvement of the students and this was very easily seen given the level of competition between the houses. It was great to see the number of parents/caregivers who came along to support their son/daughter at both of these events. I received a number of very positive comments about the supportive and encouraging atmosphere at the athletic sports.

Throughout the year we have a number of international study tour groups visiting our school. I am grateful to the many local families that open their homes to these visitors and give them an experience of New Zealand life that they will never forget. They bring an international perspective to the school that benefits all students. They are also an important source of funds for us. While we all benefit from the cultural exchange, the money allows us to provide the extra things such as laptops, that our students enjoy and that we could not otherwise afford.

This Sunday, 7 March, is the annual New Zealand Children’s Day. The theme this year is “Praise and Encouragement” and I ask parents to spend a bit of time this week thinking about this theme. This is a non-commercial day with the aim of celebrating how special and important our children are. For more information surrounding this day go to www.childrensday.org.nz

Finally, we want to maintain close links with our families and to make as much information available as possible. We are experiencing a number of technical difficulties with our website this year. We will endeavour to update this as soon as possible.

We are keen to build up our database of parents’ email addresses so we can take advantage of that form of communication. If you want to contact the school, please feel free to do so and I am sure there will be someone able to assist.

Mr N Harray
Principal

Kia Ora Parents and Friends of the College
I hope you received our ‘mail out’ newsletter and took the opportunity to read all the information it contained. We value open communication with our community and are always looking for ways to get our information out to parents and the community.

These past two weeks have seen a wide range of successes for a number of our students and staff. Year 12 student, Anahera Mohi, recently received a Ngaiterangi Iwi award for her dedication to education. She is the youngest ever recipient of this award and this is an acknowledgement of her commitment to education and her wider educational and personal goals. Anahera is a wonderful leader and role model within our school.

Staff members, Mrs Tran Van and Mrs Kindley competed in the New Zealand Masters Hockey tournament. This tournament hosted 56 teams in both mens’ and womens’ divisions. Mrs Tran Van represented Tauranga and this team won their division. The team also included two former students from Katikati College. Mrs Kindley (due to insufficient numbers for Tauranga) represented Canterbury through a transfer system. Mrs Tran Van has been selected to represent New Zealand in a three test series against Australia and Mrs Kindley is at present a non-travelling reserve for the New Zealand team. It is great to see our staff succeed at this level and demonstrate their life-long commitment to sport, something our students should aspire to.

This past weekend has seen three boys make the Under 15 BOP Coastlands Cricket team. Jacob Morton, Brody Gilroy and Braden Brewer have all made the squad and this is a significant achievement. It is very hard to get into these representative sides and demonstrates the depth of cricket talent we have in our district at present.

Catherine Thompson has been selected to attend the Sir Peter Blake Youth Environment Forum in Wellington during the upcoming school holidays. This award is fully funded by the Ministry for the Environment as a way of getting youth interested in the environment. Students from all over the country will be there, keen to get involved in environmental issues. The programme for the forum includes field trips, workshops, and presentations by experts on environmental issues. As part of a group at the forum, Catherine will do a project that focuses on an environmental theme.

It is great to see so much success in our school. This is only a snapshot of the good things that are happening and there are a number of other students that I could have highlighted as you will see in the following pages of the newsletter. It is important to remember that lots of our students are doing well in a number of areas. Your continued support of the school will help us make greater progress in the future. I would like to thank all those people that have helped our students so far this year.

Neil Harray
Principal

Kia ora Parents and Friends of the College,
Welcome to the start of the 2010 academic year at Katikati College. It has been an amazing experience joining the school and being part of the Katikati community. I would like to thank the senior management team, teaching and support staff, students and the community for your welcome. It has certainly made joining a new school at this very busy time of the year much easier.

I am extremely grateful to our past Principal, Mr Peter Leggat, who has spent a great deal of time assisting me to make the transition to Katikati College a smooth process. I would like to thank him publicly for the time he has spent with me in this regard. Mr Leggat has left a wonderful model of how to lead a successful school. I know he is very proud of this school and he has been able to share many of the wonderful things that have been put in place over recent years. I certainly aim to maintain this momentum and continue to strive for further improvements in all areas of school life.

My main message to the students at the beginning of the year is to focus on making “good” choices. If students make good choices in whatever they are involved in, then there is a high chance they will be successful. Making good choices also influences the school environment. Each student has the ability to make a positive or a negative impact in the school. I ask each student to think about the ways they can make this school even better than it already is.

It is important that students get into a routine as quickly as possible. Make sure that time is allowed for preparing for school each day (this includes making sure that all the required equipment for each class is ready), time for homework and revision, sporting commitments and time for family activities. As you will have found out, Term One is a very busy term and there are lots of activities.

Senior students will soon be involved in NCEA assessments. This may come as a shock for some students however these initial assessments are important and must be treated seriously. It is always disappointing to see a small number of students miss out on NCEA and/or various merit and excellence endorsements because they missed an assessment early in the year.

Finally our provisional results for NCEA 2009 are very pleasing. The biggest highlight is the 12 Scholarships the school gained. Congratulations to our former students who attained scholarships. At Level One, 75.5% of students attained their NCEA, at Level Two, 76.2% and at Level Three, 70.5%. These results are similar to previous years and maintain our high level of achievement at NCEA. Once these results have been confirmed I will publish a more detailed overview of our senior students’ achievement.

Mr N Harray

Principal

Dear Parents and Friends of the College
The finality of my decision to resign from my position here at Katikati College is certainly hitting home and it is a very strange feeling to be saying goodbye to something that has dominated my life for the past 10 years. While I am going to miss many things about Katikati College, I am comfortable with my decision and know that the College is in good hands and will continue it’s tradition for excellence.

What I will miss the most are the people associated with Katikati College - especially the staff and students. The administration and compliance demands of my role are incredibly time consuming and take me away from being as consistently involved with our students as I would like to be. Throughout my time, I have made a priority of getting out of my office and into classrooms and being visible around the grounds. Not only does this allow me to interact with the students, but it gives them them a chance to come up and speak with me. It also allows me to get a feel for the general mood of the school and I love being out and about.

When I look at the progress we have made in the 10 years I have been Principal, I feel enormously proud of all we have achieved. While the physical changes ie the buildings are most obvious, I also believe we have come a long way in the environment we provide for our students to learn in. Our staff and students enjoy a positive learning focussed relationship where students generally want to learn and the staff have a real commitment to helping their students achieve success; both for now and in their future. As I look around our school, I am reminded of the quote
“students are born with a powerful desire to learn. Everything we do as parents and teachers must ensure this powerful desire is kept alive - If there is one thing that should be continually assessed, it should be this desire.”

This is the challenge that keeps us all in education and the belief that we can make a meaningful difference for our students. As I watch our students progress through the school I draw great satisfaction from seeing them make the most of the advantage they have through going to our school. They are young people we all should be proud of and our future is in pretty good hands with them. We need to keep telling them that and help them accept the responsibility for their success - something I have unashamedly done a lot throughout the last few years.

Finally, I would like to say a huge thanks to everyone and also pass on my best wishes to Neil Harray as he embarks on his Principal-ship journey. To all of you, my challenge is to continue to make us proud of you and of Katikati College.

Peter Leggat
Principal

Dear Parents and Friends of the College
It was with a real tinge of sadness that I farewelled our senior students last week as they head off on their exam leave. For me it was a chance to thank them for all that they have contributed to Katikati College and for their support of the school. I have said it many times but say again, we can be proud of our students and they offer so much potential for our society and country for the years ahead. One of the real strengths of Katikati College is the positive learning focussed relationships that develop between the staff and students and we all benefit from this constructive environment. I have watched our senior students progress through the years and have enjoyed being part of their education. My challenge to them is to make the most of the advantage they have from attending Katikati College as it has set them up for the years ahead. For our juniors, their challenge is to maintain the tradition of success that Katikati College has built up over many years and that is passed down from generation to generation.

As I watch our senior leaders around the school it is also good to see junior students starting to show their leadership potential and to see them making a positive contribution to their school. I encourage all students to develop leadership skills as they will continue to serve them well in the years ahead. There are many opportunities available and students need to stand proud and be leaders, not worrying about negative comments from those around. Often those comments are from people who are not prepared to take the risk of being a leader and yet they too have the potential.

Recently a lot of our former students have come back to visit having completed their year at university. What is great to hear is how well prepared they felt they were by attending Katikati College. They also come back to see their old school and their teachers which is a positive for all of us. It is good for our present students to see them as they provide role models for exactly what every student at Katikati College can aspire to and that their pathway to tertiary started right from Year 7.

It is important our Year 7 - 10 students keep working right up to their prize givings and to realise that all work they successfully complete this year, will help them toward continued success in 2010.

Finally, it gave me great pleasure to announce at Senior Prize Giving the student leaders for 2010. Congratulations to Dean Ramage and Sammy Roberts who will be our Head Boy and Girl. Congratulations also to Scott Nicol and Connie Dowson who will be our Deputy Head students.

Peter Leggat
Principal

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