Kia atawhai Āwhinatia ētahi atu

Be kind and check in on others 

This Newsletter brings us to the end of Term One and I would sincerely like to thank our whānau for the care and understanding they have shown after our year commenced with the devastating loss of Matua Jarrad Porima.  It has taken some time to get back on track, but with lots of care, concern and hard work, our staff and students appear to be in a much better place now.

Moving forward, I am excited to be able to share with you a flier which outlines some of the key initiatives that we are working on in 2026, with a particular focus on developing effective teaching and learning strategies in Years 7-10.

As you will be aware there has been a very strong push to lift attendance rates in schools across New Zealand.  I would encourage you to work hard at making sure your child/children are present as often as possible because attendance is a key factor in students' academic success.  We also require students to have chromebooks as a critical piece of equipment in our teaching and learning.  Please be aware that a notice will be emailed out shortly to whānau who have not been able to supply their child with a chromebook.  If there are any problems, please let me know.

While I am in full support of the government's initiatives around attendance, I would also like to let you know that, like many Principals across the country, we are pushing back very hard against the current educational reforms in both Curriculum and NCEA.  This push back is based heavily on the pace of change and the lack of real consultation with the education sector.  This is strongly supported by the PPTA, NZEI and the Principals' Federation.

In Closing

I hope our students have a wonderful break and we look forward to moving into Term Two 2026 refreshed and ready for success.

Partnering for Your Child’s Success

At Ōtaki College, we want to ensure every student has the best opportunity to succeed. To support this, we have developed an Attendance Plan that aligns with current government expectations: that all students reach a 90% attendance rate (attending 9 out of 10 days).

We are so proud of the fantastic attendance records many of our students hold! However, we know life happens. We know it’s easy to overlook a missed Friday here or a Monday there, but missing just one day a week adds up to 8 weeks of lost learning by the end of the year. That’s a massive gap for any student to bridge.

We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the attendance table LINK. To keep communication clear and proactive, we will send email updates to caregivers if a student’s attendance falls into the Yellow, Orange, or Red zones. Our goal is to work alongside you to provide support before attendance becomes a barrier to learning.

Our team is committed to working with you to ensure your child is in class and ready to learn. If you're finding it difficult to get your child to school, please don't hesitate to contact us. Let’s work together to keep them on track.

He waka eke noa