Read the latest news from Rutherford College

Kia ora e te whānau o te Kōtuku 

The following is the message I have shared with our rangatahi this week at assemblies. 

Make the most of the time left in class to ask questions of your teachers and prepare fully for your high stakes end of year external exams. This includes completing requirements to get certificate endorsements, individual course endorsements.  

Kua tawhiti kē to haerenga mai, kia kore e haere tonu. 

He nui rawa ō mahi, kia kore e mahi tonu. 

You have come too far, to not go further, you have done too much to not do more. 

Manawanui or perseverance is the key and the determination to maximise the quality of what you achieve this year.  

We have a lot of celebrations to enjoy in the coming weeks ahead of senior Academic Prizegiving on Thursday November 2nd. Tuesday October 24 - Annual Pasifika Prizegiving evening.  Wednesday October 25 - Annual Arts and Cultural Awards evening. Thursday October 26 - Te Poho o Hinekahukura Awards for all things Te Ao Māori in our school. That week finishes with the annual Sports Dinner on Friday October 27. 

As mentioned, Senior Prizegiving is on Thursday November 2nd in the evening followed up the following day by our Year 13 Leavers Lunch.  

In closing - You have come too far, to go not go further, you have done too much to not do more. 

As we head toward the end of the academic year it should be a challenge. My advice is don’t stop but increase the amount of time you spend investing in your human capital and the range of future choices you have available to you. 

You only get to make choices if you have achieved in the first place. The achievement might be achieved but is based on a work ethic developed and the habits and routines learned. Nothing worth having is attained without the required effort and progress. 

If the thoughts of the weeks ahead trigger some unpleasant physical responses remember;  

There’s a whole host of other things that happen in your brain and body when your stress response is triggered and your nervous system kicks into fight or flight mode, and they all happen quickly, within the blink of an eye. Most noticeably, everything speeds up - your heart, your breathing, and your thoughts. This state is all about action and urgency, to “fix” the situation, and quickly.  

“Fix” in inverted commas because, rather than fix anything, you are more likely to make things worse. In this state of hyper-alertness, the prefrontal cortex area of your brain, which is responsible for rationalization, shuts down. It’s very hard, if not impossible, to intentionally use any effective top-down mental strategy such as gratitude - you’re too alert, too activated, and too agitated.  

 You need to slow down and calm down.  And you need a real-time tool to help you do this. When you can’t control your mind, you need to do something purely mechanical within your body. This is what is known as bottom-up control. Using your body to get to your mind.  

You can’t take conscious control of your heart. The only way in is through your breath. It’s a very well-established medical fact that there is a direct relationship between how you breathe and your heart rate. When you inhale, you send a neural signal to your heart to speed up. When you exhale, you signal your heart to slow down.  

Longer exhales will slow down your heart rate and in turn bring your nervous system back to a more balanced place, from hyper-alert towards calm. Your prefrontal cortex will switch back on, and you’ll regain access to your rational brain.  

 Box Breathing is my preferred approach. 4-4-4-4 

Acknowledgement Nadine Hickman 10-minute rules 

Bus Timetable changes

As from Monday Nov 13th the 013 service to and from Glendene will change.

The morning run will remain as it is currently.

The afternoon from Rutherford will have two buses.

One will remain 013 the other renamed 014.

The 013 will continue to serve the current routes.

The 014 will use the current route until View Rd and then will divert at View Rd to end at Holy Cross Church.

All these services will run nonstop between Rutherford College and Royal View Rd along Te Atatu Rd.

National Foundation or the Deaf and Hard of Hearing screening

In the last week of Term Three Rutherford College Year 9 students had the opportunity to have their hearing screened as part of the nationwide screening program which we have partnered with for several years.

179 students were tested and any with abnormal hearing results will be informed and being referred for further hearing assessments. In addition to these students, 18% of those tested reported experiencing ringing in their ears, otherwise known as Tinnitus.

In many cases, Tinnitus leads to hearing loss and hearing health issues in the future. This can be experienced by those who returned normal results.

43% were identified as listening to personal devices, such as smartphones at higher volumes than recommended and for long periods of time.

The Make Listening Safe Education initiative is an important part of the Hearing Screening programme, aiming to educate students and parents on safe listening practices and there are resources available on https://www.nfd.org.nz/school-programmes.

Term 4 Events Changes in the School Day

Term 4 is a very busy time of the year and the school has a lot of different events occurring in the first few weeks. Some include early finishes and a staff only day. Please note the following

20 October – school closes early at 1.30pm (prior to Labour Weekend)
24 November – Staff Only day – there will be no scheduled classes for students that day

Upcoming Events:

24 October – Pasifika Awards Evening 

25 October – Arts/Cultural Awards Evening

26 October – Te Ao Māori Awards Evening 

27 October – Sports Awards Evening

02 November – Senior Prizegiving – School Hall 6pm start time (approximately). Last day for Year 11/12 and 13 students before exams start.

06 November – NCEA Exams commence

04 – 05 December – Wider Living Events for Y9/10 students and School Production

07-08 December – Junior Prizegiving

08 December – last day of the school year.

Kia Kaha
Gary Moore