Kia ora te whanau o te Kotuku

Despite the stop-start beginning to the year we did manage to hold our Barbeque for new to Rutherford students and the very well attended Scholars’ Assembly to acknowledge students who had achieved great results in Scholarship and NCEA examinations.

The House system has been up and running this term with four big events Swimming, Haka contest, Athletics and the Flood Relief Fundraiser.

Just this week we have had the pleasure of watching our Performing Arts students showcase their talents in Dance, Drama and Music and which also included our Samoan Group. Again we were amazed at how many talented young people we have at Rutherford. There have been many sporting triumphs too, with the Wrestling team taking away 9 medals in the Auckland Wrestling Champs and the Senior Mixed Water Polo team coming third in their division among many other individual and team performances to be proud of.

Polyfest swung back into action this year with our African Fusion Group placing third for the Continental Award and the Indian group performing four different types of folk dance. Our Kapa Haka Group were last to perform on Wednesday with another stand out performance. We are very proud of all our students and their achievements.

Congratulations to all our students and a big thank you to our staff who helped make all of these achievements possible.

Progress Reports
Today progress reports will be available on the School Portal. This time you will be able to view how your son or daughter is tracking academically. On the School Portal head over to the “Reports” Section.

Parent/Student/Subject Teacher Evening
On Thursday 4 May from 2pm to 8pm we offer you the opportunity to meet with subject teachers to discuss the progress your son or daughter is making this year. Remember to bring your son or daughter along to make sure it is a meaningful conversation between all three parties. Bookings open today. Please go to the School Portal and click on PSST Term 2 Conferences. You can click on a time to see each of the subject teachers you want to meet with. Bookings will close 9am on 4 May.

Signing into the School Portal
To sign into the School Portal please use your Facebook, Google or Microsoft credentials to get access. If you do not have any of these accounts, please click on request Magic Link and use the code to log in. If you are having trouble signing in, please read these tips to help make things easier. If you cannot get in using any of the above means, it could be that your email address is different to the one you registered with the school. In that event, you will need to update your information on our system by emailing [email protected].

Term 2
A reminder that 24 April is a staff only day and there are no scheduled classes. Term 2 starts on Wednesday 26 April, after Anzac Day.

Reporting Absences and Taking students out of class early
Please remember to record your son or daughter’s absence via the school portal. If you need to have your son or daughter released early for an appointment, you can also do this via the Attendance/Absence tab by choosing Exit Pass in the options. This will make the process much quicker for you and us. If you do not do this, you can expect to have a delay in getting them out of class while we find out their location and get them released from class. If you plan to take your son or daughter out of class during term time for travel or sporting competitions, please use the school portal to record the event your son or daughter will be attending.

School Gates
You may have noticed that the gates have been installed at the front and back entrances of the school. The board has made the decision to install gates to protect the premises and provide another layer of security for staff and students during class time. When the gates become operational, they will operate with a pin code. We are not at this stage yet, and you can rest assured that we will provide advance notice before any automation is activated.

Upcoming Events:

2 & 3 May – Year 9 Temple Trip
4 May Parent/Student/Teacher evening from 2pm to 8pm
15 – 19 May Year 9 STARS Camp
24 May Career Out West Expo (Senior students)
5 June – King’s Birthday

Read all the latest Rutherford News here.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday break. See you in Term 2.

Kia kaha

Judy Farrar