Kia ora te whanau o te kotuku
Tournament week.
Thanks to all students, staff and community volunteers who were away at tournament week in week 7. Our students had the opportunity to get around the country with teams in Tauranga , Rotorua, Hamilton and Whangarei. These tournaments create lifelong friendships and memories that will remain intact for years to come.
I was away coaching my junior boys football team in Tauranga but was still able to get across and watch our Girls football in Rotorua on the Tuesday afternoon and then travel to Hamilton on Thursday afternoon to see our netball girls play then and again on Friday morning.
I was impressed with all of our teams’ attitudes, team spirit and the standard of play they produced in highly competitive environments. The weather was great, you are away with great like-minded people doing one of the things you love, that’s got to be good for the head, heart and soul.
Love tennis
It is Love Tennis for the Opening of the tennis season this Sunday September 10 at tennis clubs around the country. Te Atatu Tennis Club invited me to be a guest player taking on anyone who wants to embarrass me from 12-1.30. Somehow, I agreed. I think my first opponent is former student and assistant club coach Oliver Gracewood at 12pm. I believe that each person I play we complete a 10-point tie-breaker. Hopefully the club can get a good turnout and some new members. I just hope that I manage to get some shots in play.
Derived Grade Exams
Derived grade exams for Year 11-13 start on Wednesday next week. Derived grades are important. Any Illness or non-attendance at the end of year exams and these are the results that will need to be supplied to NZQA. I also believe that using these exams as proper prep to receive relevant feedback from assessments carried out under similar rigour to the externals is money in the bank.
This is the time of the year to face the challenge of finishing the academic year strongly. I encourage you to trust your future self that if you do the necessary work you will improve on your current level of performance and attainment. Now is the time to show grit, perseverance and resilience. Please do not give up on the journey when it gets challenging.
Why is grit or stickability important? Because you’re investing in your human capital; your greatest asset. I know that I’m winning by being better today than I was yesterday, so I will stick at this, through thick and thin. In life we learn that at various junctures along the way we have had to put some serious skin in the game and had to battle into headwinds. Nothing worth having ever comes easy.
The goal is that you are investing in your human capital. The goal with a deadline is that I will do what I need to do to make this year a successful one in terms of striving for personal academic excellence. To do this I will turn off notifications on my phone so that I can stay focused when distraction or challenges present themselves. I will complete all internals remaining to the best of my ability, by the deadlines to minimise any pressure I feel. I will prepare for my derived grade exams as well as I can. To achieve this, I won’t let those incessant peeps and beeps distract me from what’s important now. (W.I.N) the next 2 minutes on TIK TOC are not W.I.N.
Derived Grade Examinations
Students in Years 11 - 13 will be starting exams on 13 September. The 2023 Exam Timetable can be viewed here. Students only need to attend when they have an exam. The exception to this is on Tuesday 12 September when Year 11 will be taking part in the MCAT exam for 1 hour and will then go to the rest of their classes for the day. Session times are 8.40 - 11.50am and 12.35 to 3.45pm.
Policy Reviews
In Term 3 the school is reviewing the following policies. To find out more about SchoolDocs please read this brief outline.
Inclusive Education
Maori Educational Success
Learning Support
Learning Support coordination
Gifted Learners
Anyone can review and make comment on these policies. Please follow the steps below. The review is open until 22 September.
- Visit the website https://rutherfordcollege.schooldocs.co.nz/
- Enter the username (rutherfordcollege) and password (kotuku).
- Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
- Read the policy.
- Click the Start your review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
- Select the reviewer type.
- Enter your name (optional).
- Follow the prompts to show that you've read the topic and enter your feedback if you'd like to comment.
- Agree to the privacy statement and click “Submit review”.
Have your say. Take our quick survey
It's that time of year when we'd like to hear what you think? Do you think mobile phones should be banned at school? Some government officials do and some schools overseas have already taken this step. We'd like to hear what you have to say about that and other things. Please take our short survey here.
Upcoming events:
13 September - NCEA Derived Grade Exams start
24 October - Pasifika Awards
25 October - Cultural Awards
26 October - Te Ao Māori Awards
27 October - Sports Awards
02 November - Senior Prizegiving
Kia Kaha
Gary Moore
