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Kia ora te whanau ō te Kōtuku

Some advice for the break for our senior students.

The end of term 3 is always something that we look forward to. Spring has nearly sprung; daylight savings is on the horizon and the longer days and nights are just around the corner. Students look forward to a 2-week break from school. For our Year 9 and 10, enjoy it.

For our Year 11-13, I also say to you enjoy it. However, it needs to be treated more as a break in routine not a complete break from the demands of your academic pursuits. At the start of term 4 there are only 10 official school days until study leave. My advice to our NCEA students is to maintain some routine. This is so that when they return at the start of next term, they don’t have to start from having been getting up at 10am or later, and expecting to be able to hit the ground running.

I advised that they complete as much of what they can do in the holidays by allocating time each day to advancing their final portfolios or projects. I strongly recommend that they use our study website to embed the must know information and content for examinations and do some further practice papers. They can do this by taking on the advice they got from their teachers for the recent derived grade exams and putting it into practice while it remains front of mind. The goal is to not get to the last weekend or Sunday night of the holidays having done little or nothing. This will often lead to an unnecessary knot in your guts because you put things off. Could-a, would-a, should-a, and then didn’t, is not the approach for this break from school for those in Year 11-13.

Many if not most students will be finished with exams by the middle of November and can look at those extra three weeks before the juniors finish school as the payback for not completely downing tools and putting their feet up in this break.

Goals look like this. I will make sure that I have learned the content knowledge for Standard X by the Thursday October 3rd. By Thursday October 10th I will have completed two past papers to improve my exam technique for standard X. This process can be repeated across multiple learning areas where there are externals to be sat.

I will keep to a routine wake up time which is a good habit to be in. I will get up at 8am every morning and will do one set of press ups to max, one times wall sit to max and one plank to max as part of my goal to be fitter and stronger. I will repeat this three times a day. I will then complete learning of the content for standard X. Put it all on a to do list for today and experience the positive endorphin fix of ticking it off as you go. As Master Yoda says. “Do, or do not, there is no try”.

Anima sana in corpore sano. (ASICS), a healthy soul in a healthy body. Our mind and body need to work together for us to strive for personal excellence.

Highlights from the term include:

• Open Evening to showcase the school for our prospective students and their families
• 415 parents attending our Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
• KBB Music Event
• Book Week
• Rutherford Day - another wonderful celebration showcasing our students at their best, an interesting guest speaker, Karen O'Leary, who entertained our invited guests
• Winter Tournament Week with six teams away representing the school at various national sport tournaments across the North Island.
• Our Performing Arts Dance and Drama shows
• Cook Island, Tongan and Māori language weeks
• The introduction of the Knowledge-a-thon for junior students
• The development of the Student Study Site - with over 5000 hits since its inception
• D Block upgrade completed along with new toilets for students

Administration Building 

After 10 years of planning and many a setback or delay to the project, I am thrilled to see real work starting on the site for our new Administration Block. The build is expected to take approximately a year. After completion work will start on the current administration block with the interior being upgraded to house the Deans, Counsellors, Attendance and Health services. Exciting times for the school and we know that having the right resources to cater for our students health and wellbeing is paramount for their success at school.  You will notice that there is reduced accessibility to the school site during the new build and we do ask that you not drive into the school unless it is essential.

Enrolments for Year 9 in 2025

Enrolments are steadily trickling in. If you have not yet enrolled your son or daughter for 2025 we strongly urge you to do so as soon as possible in term 4. You will need to complete the enrolment form and make an appointment for an enrolment interview. Keep an eye on the enrolment page for interview times and days. Out of Zone enrolments have already closed. If you are out of zone please contact the school to inquire if there is a place available.

Junior Progress Reports

Progress Reports are now available for students in years 9 and 10. Log into SchoolBridge and click on Reports.

School Policies and Procedures
To view the school's policies and procedures please log in to SchoolDocs (Username: rutherfordcollege, Password: kotuku). You can view any of the policies through that platform. You can also complete a review of any of the policies that are being reviewed for that term. Term 3 we reviewed:

• Concerns and Complaints
• Media
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Protected Disclosure
• Staff Conduct
• Staff Leave
  
  

Term Four 2024 - starts 14 October

Term Four has some major events scheduled.

15 October - Pasifika Awards
16 October - Te Ao Māori Awards Evening
17 October - Cultural Awards Evening
18 October - Sports Awards
25 October - Staff Only Day - no school for students
28 October - Labour Day
30 October - Senior Prizegiving - 6pm. Last day for senior students before they go on study leave.
05 November - NCEA External Exams start
08 November - Senior Reports Issued
05-06 December - Wider Living Days
11 December - Junior Prizegiving and last day for Year 9 and 10
12 December - Staff Only Day

Stay safe and enjoy the break from normal routine.

Gary Moore