Tena Koutou katoa

I would like to thank the community for the support of our recent teacher only day.  This professional development day focused our staff to look at ways in which we can continue to improve our support and delivery of our special character, particularly our whanau spirit and family character.  Our College values are extremely important to the delivery of our Catholic education at the College and it is always wonderful to see the way in which staff are prepared to be challenged in their thinking towards delivering a Catholic education for  our students.  The outcomes of the professional development will enable staff to better relate to students and the community of the College in order to continue to deliver the Gospel based education that we are so proud of.

As part of their day staff also focus on developing their understanding of how we can work to maximise the achievement of all students, with a particular focus on how we can meet our obligation to ensure that we maximise success for the Maori community of the College.  The College is part of a national professional development programme, He Kakano, which focuses on developing schools to improve teaching practice and professional relationships between staff and students, along with school and community relationships towards achieving better outcomes for all students. The He Kakano  professional development  has already contributed to some positive developments in our celebration of our identity and Maori culture.  We look forward to the continued development that this work brings to the outcomes for students and whanau of the College

Another success has been our whanau and Pacifika parents meetings that were held last week.  I thoroughly enjoyed both meetings and the discussion that we had together as interest groups of a wider community.  I am pleased to say that these hui will become a regular feature of the College calendar.  The purpose of these meetings is still evolving but will be an important part of the College programme and will provide ongoing korero with community groups providing a forum where parents and students are working together on an equal basis with the College in order to achieve the most positive outcomes for the young people of our community.

I would like to thank senior students for their focus during examination week.   For many students there will be feedback in relation to where their achievement is at this time.  Students should reflect on this feedback in a positive manner and put in place strategies to ensure that they succeed to

their full potential in external examinations and any remaining internal assessment for the year.  With just over 6 weeks of school left between now and the beginning of examinations students must ensure that they are focused on academic success.

Finally We have a number of family within our community that have experienced recent loss of loved ones or are dealing serious illness of family members.  I would ask that we keep families expressing grief and coping with illness in our thoughts and prayers at this time.

God Bless

Jarlath Kelly