From the Principal - 16 September 2022

While we are drawing towards the end of Term 3 and looking forward to the holidays, it has been a very busy term, not only around the teaching and learning programmes that continue to take place, but also due to major events such as the triennial Board elections.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the time and effort that the outgoing Board of Trustees members have put into their roles over the last triennium.  The development of the Strategic Plan was a significant piece of work which will act as a powerful driver around our future focused direction for the next 5 years.  I have appreciated the professionalism of all the Trustees and this has certainly allowed the College to continue to navigate through difficult COVID times without major disruption.

I would like to provide a special thanks to Dale Nakhla as Board Chair.  Dale's passion for the College, attention to detail and focus on gaining strong outcomes for students has been very much appreciated by myself and the staff of the College.

Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to the new Board of Trustees

I would very much like to welcome our new Board who will undertake the task of governance over the next 3 years.  Congratulations to Pania Barrett, Dennis Crib, Penny Gaylor, Katera Rikihana-Tukerangi and Sarah Ropata, elected parent representatives.  Congratulations also to Forest Glanville Hall, who joins the Board as Student Trustee and Natasha Simpson who continues as our Staff Representative.

Early Finishes

As you are aware, we have implemented early finishes for the school day in an effort to maintain the wellbeing of staff and provide planning time in acknowledgement of the fact that our teachers are spending much of their release time undertaking internal relief.  We continue to operate with only a small number of relievers available so it is envisaged that these early finishes will continue until the end of Week 3, Term 4.  When Seniors leave for exams we will review this situation as staff traditionally look after all relief from this time internally.  This may allow us to go back to full school days for Years 7-10.  I do apologise if the measures that we have had to undertake to keep the College operational have caused you any inconvenience and I can only hope that, moving forward, these measures will no longer be required. 

Derived Grade Exams

Without sounding like a broken record, I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to encourage your children to work hard and study for these exams.  The grades that students get in these exams are used by NZQA should your child be unable to attend an external exam.  Obviously, based on this, the better the result, the better the outcome for your child.

Prizegiving

The Senior Prizegiving will take place on Thursday 3 November at 7.00pm in the College Hall.  All whānau are warmly invited.  As COVID restrictions have not allowed us to undertake many of our school-wide competitions such as Athletics and Swimming, this means that the number of trophies and citations we would normally award at Sports Prizegiving have markedly diminished in number.  Based on this we have decided to include the sports presentations as part of the Senior and Junior Prizegivings respectively.  Fortunately this does tie in nicely with our guest speaker at the Senior Prizegiving who has been confirmed as Keeley O'Hagan who recently came 6th in the High Jump event at the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Exciting News

I am excited to inform you that our Production, Directed by Jim Moriarty in collaboration with Te Rākau Theatre Company, The Battalion, will be taking place during Week 1 of Term 4.  This exciting Production is based around rangatahi exploring their whakapapa through their links to their grandparents who served in the Māori Battalion.  The performances will run from Wednesday to Saturday at 10.30am and 6.00pm each day.  There is a door fee of $5.00 for children and senior citizens and $10.00 for adults.  There is also a koha box if you wish to contribute further.  We look forward to your support and hope you enjoy the show!

Energise Otaki

My thanks to Energise Ōtaki for their continuing support of the College and the community.  Please see the poster for their latest "Warm Up Ōtaki" campaign under the Community Notices Section of this Newsletter.

In Closing ...

I would like to congratulate all our students who attended the Ōtaki College Ball.  Apart from looking absolutely stunning, the behaviour of students was absolutely fantastic and they should all be strongly commended for the success of the Ball.  Thanks to all the staff and students who organised and supported this event.  Special thanks to Anne Hagan for her ongoing lead in this event.