I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our students and whānau for the efforts that they have made both in academic studies and other aspects of College life to again make this a memorable and exciting year of achievements.

Over this time we have noted that many students have made significant gains in their academic progress and, despite the pressures that have been placed on students through the introduction of the CAAs (Common Assessment Activities), it is pleasing to see that this year our Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy results have both met and surpassed the national average.

I am really proud that we have continued to excel in competitions with other schools and I particularly wish to congratulate all the students who have been involved in EPro8 and Evolocity for your outstanding efforts.

Life at secondary school is not just about academic study and, once again, we have seen a number of our sports teams succeeding at a high level in a number of codes.  A huge thanks to coaches, managers and students for your efforts and sportsmanship during the sporting year.

While school has continued to operate throughout the year, it has not always been easy and I wish to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge whānau for both your patience and support during teacher industrial action.  The emails of support have been greatly appreciated and acknowledge the time, effort and energy our teachers devote to the work that they do.

There has been a lot of pressure brought to bear on schools this year, both with the pace of curriculum change that is expected, alongside the other aspects of education reform including the removal of board obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  While I have not set out to use these newsletters to politicise my own views, I have felt that it has been incredibly important to keep all whānau fully aware about what is happening in education and the potential impact that this will have on our students.  I have included below the recent findings of the NZ Principals' Federation research into the proposed "knowledge based curriculum" and the media release that will come with this research.  You can also read here a copy of the combined letter that will be sent to the Minister of Education from all the Principals that make up the O.K. (Ōtaki/Kāpiti) Principals' Group which reaffirms the position we have taken as individual schools. 

In Closing 

Despite all the political noise I just want to pass on my sincere thanks to you all for the support you give to Ōtaki College.  I would like to wish you all a very safe, happy and relaxing Christmas and New Year with whānau and friends.  I look forward to 2026 which is going to be an incredibly exciting year as we continue to make transformational changes in the College to continue to provide a high quality education to all our students.