We have reached the end of Week 4 and there are many things happening.  The College is currently surrounded with scaffolding as a number of roofing and water tightness projects are underway.  This is never an easy situation to be working in or around, however our staff and students have been extremely accommodating and I wish to pass on my personal thanks to them.

We have some exciting build-up taking place for our Kapa Haka group, who are performing at the regional Kapa Haka fesitval on 16 June, scheduled at 5.20pm.  I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of Kahura Cameron over a number of years to build and reignite Kapa Haka in the College, alongside Katera Rikihana-Tukerangi, Te Tahi Takao, Keremihana Heke and our wonderful past student, Oriwa Jury.  It is very exciting to see a College group back engaging at the regionals after a long period of absence and I wish them all the best in their endeavours.

Huge congratulations to Keita Broughton-Alp for her participation in the Ngā Manu Kōrero Pei Te Hurinui Jones – Senior Māori speech competition on Wednesday 21 May.  Keita did an outstanding speech and, while she did not place in the top 3, she came extremely close with marks of 94, 95 and 96.  We are extremely proud of Keita, who is the first student to represent the College in the Pei Te Hurinui Jones section of Ngā Manu Kōrero in a number of years. 

We have had students attending Outward Bound short courses and have 4 more students scheduled to attend in Week 1 of Term 3.  My sincere thanks to Outward Bound for their ongoing support of the College through their scholarship programme.  The opportunity to participate in their programmes has been described by students as lifechanging and continues to uphold the rich history that Outward Bound has in helping support and shape the lives of young New Zealanders.

Moving towards July we will be again hosting 2 Otaki Scholars, which is always a highlight of the College year.  This tradition continues to build on the strong relationship we have with Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen.  This year we have a shorter timeframe in which to host the Scholars, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kāpiti Island Nature Tours, who are again sponsoring an overnight experience on Kāpiti Island, which is always seen as a major highlight by our visiting Scholars.

The following week we will be hosting the Rt Honorable Angus Robertson, who is the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.  He has expressed a strong desire to connect with us while on a short visit to New Zealand and this is again a great opportunity to grow our connection with Scotland at this level.  Mr Robertson will be commencing his time in Ōtaki at a pōwhiri at Raukawa Marae, followed by a tour of the town and then back to the College to spend some time with staff and students.

It seems timely, given these upcoming visits, to read a little about Maddie Simpson’s experiences as an Everiss Scholar.

In closing I want to thank all our whānau for their ongoing support, particularly around attendance.  We have recently seen positive shifts in attendance rates and, as I have mentioned before, this is a huge factor in supporting students to do well academically.