Newsletter – T3 Week 9 2023
Kia ora tatou ngā whānau,
As I write my message to you all this afternoon, I feel somewhat exhausted when reflecting on the significant web of dimensions that make up schooling. Of course learner at the centre is key and drives all we do to ensure College focus remains fully on learner success as expressed in our Garin College Vision Statement; “Our graduate students will be Christ-centered people of faith who action this through love and wisdom within their community”. When we combine the unique needs of each and every learner we recognise the significant complex web of relationships, learning styles, pastoral care, education and opportunities we deliver with energy, commitment and passion each day. What an exciting and vibrant community, and we do celebrate this! Of course we can not deliver on all this alone, Whānau, parents and caregivers are key in preparing, caring and supporting our Rangatahi, thank you. You will have received the letter I sent out to you all this week relating to student health and the concern with vaping products. I appreciate for families that managing all the complexities of growing teenagers can be challenging. We are in this together, we welcome you contacting us here at Garin should you like to.
Our Garin College Board are presently engaged in the early planning stages for the development of and consultation of our Garin College Strategic Plan 2024 / 2025. Our new strategic plan will be aligned to the new framework for school planning and reporting called Te Whakangārahu Ngātahi I Planning Together for Ākonga Success and be built and informed by the government National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) priority for education that will ensure success and wellbeing for all learners. Early next term more information and opportunities will be extended to Whanau, Parents and Community to shape our uniquely Garin Strategic Plan.
Exam week has been a big week in our school calendar for all involved. I would like to acknowledge all whānau for the support you put behind your students in encouraging their study and application over this exam period. Our teachers are now busy marking these assessments with the aim of supporting learners in understanding their next steps for learning in preparation for their NCEA external exams. We hope this time has been beneficial and a confidence builder to our learners, especially our year 11 learners experiencing their first round of NZQA external examinations. Thank you to Jeremy Marshall and Tracy Stock our Exam Centre Managers, exam supervisors and reader/writers for providing the safe, supportive and organised environment that enabled learners to engage positively in their assessments.
The Annual Garin Sports Awards celebrated last week were a resounding success. We were privileged to have as our celebrity sports guest, former NZ Hockey Black Sticks Women Anita McLaren. Anita joined our Sports Leaders Julia Kersten and Harry Pugh for a couch interview where Anita shared many career highlights, challenges and words of wisdom for Garin sports stars. Congratulations to all our winter sports codes as your seasons have come to a close. There were some great achievements in our final weeks of play and a huge sense of satisfaction that a full season has been achieved. Again thank you to all our coaches and managers, sports coordinator, teachers, parents and community members who have contributed so much to our teams across many sporting codes this season.
Congratulations go out to our Kaka Haka Group for their wonderful performance at the Waimea Kāhui Ako Cultural festival this week. We are excited by the growth in confidence, waiata and performance of Ākonga who continue to build from the inspiration and leadership of Api Filiai in his teaching and coaching Kapa Haka this term.
Congratulations to the 24 students and 3 staff who participated in our Cardboard City Challenge for Caritas 2023. Our 18-hour challenge consisted of dividing into groups for the construction of cardboard shelters, games and activities to align with the “Move it” theme, plain steamed rice for dinner, plain popcorn for supper, sleeping in our own homes, then continuing with the “move it, live simply” pattern in the morning through to an 11 am finish. Thank you to those who sponsored the students – all donations will go to Caritas to support the amazing work they do in New Zealand and the Pacific.
I wish our Year 12 Learners an enjoyable Leadership Journey camp next week as they head out into the great outdoors and take time to reflect on their journey through Garin College over the last four years and prepare as a cohort for their leadership as our Year 13 students in 2024. I look forward to attending each Journey camp and enjoying this time with our year 12 students. I trust their time in the outdoors and their activities and reflections create a positive time for this year group.
Congratulations to our many students and staff preparing to have their head shaved at school next Friday 22 September. Our thoughts and prayers are with each of us during this journey. Our students and staff are showing solidarity for Kiwis living with blood cancer. The money raised for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand will help fund the search for a cure and provide invaluable support for patients and their families.
Enrolments 2024 are now being processed and all families of enrolled students will receive information regarding New Entrant Orientation Day which is coming up on Friday 17 November 2023.
We were pleased to have five outstanding candidates stand in election for the Student Trustee for the Garin Board. Voting is now closed and we await our Election Returning Officer, Justice of the Peace Mr Laurie Gabites to declare the outcome of the election this week. We look forward to announcing our new student representative to the Garin Board next week.
God Bless
Ngā manaakitanga
John Maguire
Take a Moment – Kia kaha te reo Māori – Let’s make the Māori language strong