Principal's Panui - 18 October 2024

Kia ora e te whānau o te Kōtuku

 This week has been a week of celebrations where we acknowledged the success of our students. 

• Tuesday October 15th  - Annual Pasifika Prizegiving evening. 
• Wednesday October 16th  – Te Poho o Hinekahukura Awards for all things Te Ao Māori in our school.
• Thursday October 17th  - Annual Arts and Cultural Awards evening.
• This week finishes with the Sports Awards on Friday October 18th. 

Senior Academic Prizegiving is on Wednesday October 30th in the evening starting at 6.30pm. Nearly all Year 11-13 students are officially on study leave from this date with some exceptions if there are course requirements that need to be completed. 

Year 13 students are back on Thursday October 31 the day after prizegiving for the Year 13 Leavers' Lunch.  

I have just finished reading a book about Novak Djokovic. With Rafa Nadal always having been my favourite of the big 3 and Novak always seeming to be on course to win more grand slams than him I was part of the anti-Novak crew. I was reminded that the more you learn about people, their backgrounds and their stories the greater the likelihood is that you understand them better. 

This week I spoke to assemblies about facing up to the truth and how we can be held back, hamstrung or just blinded by opinions or assumptions we formed without enough valid information to make those judgements. Novak for me case in point.

Facing up to the truth

Sometimes the truth is staring us in the face, but we cannot see it.  When our assumptions are challenged, we need to face reality and, if necessary, adapt to the way things really are instead of trying to hide from the truth.  We must change when change is inevitable.

There is a story about a battleship that had been at sea on manoeuvres in foggy weather.  Visibility was very poor and, shortly after dark, the look-out reported a light flashing on the starboard bow.  The light was steady meaning the battleship was on a collision course.

The captain of the battleship sent a signal:  “We are on a collision course.  Change course 20 degrees.”  Back came the signal.  “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.”  The captain sent another signal.  “I’m a captain.  Change course 20 degrees.”  “I’m a seaman second class,” came the reply.  “You had better change course 20 degrees.”  By this time the captain was furious.  He signalled, “Change course now.  I’m a battleship.”  Back came the flashing light.  “I’m a lighthouse.”

The battleship changed course. 

Be a person with a ‘yes’ face, willing and open to the opportunities of change.  We can all begin to make better choices, however small, that will start us down the new road towards what we truly want.  When we begin that change, the positive change is always for the better.

We begin the process of becoming who we truly can be – facing the world and all its challenges with a ‘yes’ face.  Yes, to all the possibilities for our individual and unique life. We don’t have to say yes to everything, but we keep an open mind.

Term 4 Reminders

• Friday 25 October is a staff only day. There will be no scheduled classes for students. Teachers will be working on NCEA changes for 2025.
• Monday 28 October is Labour Day. School closed.
• Wednesday 30 October - Senior Prizegiving 6.30pm in the School Hall. This is the last day for senior students. They begin their study leave.
• Tuesday 05 November - NCEA External Exams commence
• Friday 22 November and Monday 25 November - Junior Exams
• Friday 29 November - NCEA concludes
• Wednesday 11 December 10am - Year 9 Prizegiving
• Wednesday 11 December 12pm - Year 10 Prizegiving - last day for Y9 and 10 students

Phones Away for the Day 

This is a reminder that students are not permitted to use phones during school hours. Before and after school is fine, but during the day, phones must be turned off and in bags. Exceptions are if students need their phone for health reasons or the teacher has allowed phones specifically for an educational task. Read more about the exemptions, rules and consequences here.

School Policy Reviews Term 4

All school policies and procedures are available on SchoolDocs. Sign in to the site using Username: rutherfordcollege; Password: kotuku. These policies are for staff, students and whanau to refer to. Everyone is able to review and make comment on a policy. The board reviews any feedback at their meetings with a view to continuous improvement. This term the following policies are open for review:

• Finance and Asset Management
• Managing Income and Expenditure
• Financial Conflicts of Interest
• School Donations and Student Activity Payments
• Expenditure
• Asset Management and Protection
• Property Planning and Maintenance
• Prevention of Bribery, Corruption, Fraud, and Theft

Kia kaha

Gary Moore