A special welcome to our new students and to those returning – thank you for trusting us with the education of your children and we look forward to enjoying a collaborative learning journey.

I thought I would highlight some key events and areas we will focus on this year:

In term 1 we will celebrate our 10th birthday by opening the school to our community, past and present, on Saturday morning 6 April. Please diarise this date as we organise fun events, food and entertainment which will celebrate our amazing journey.

In term 2 our new Board of Trustees will be elected. We hope as in the past to have a number of parents putting themselves forward for this important duty particularly in the year in which elements of the Tomorrow’s Schools model are being reviewed, including the role and power of boards coming under the microscope. More on this topic can be found on the following web site: https://conversation.education.govt.nz/conversations/tomorrows-schools-review/

In term 3 we will host for the first time a group of Chinese students from Xian Ling Middle School in Nanjing, following our visit there last year and we will visit them again later in the term.

Our first 10 Year Property Plan will start this year. The conditional assessment of our grounds and buildings is almost complete which estimates how much we will need to spend to ensure the site is safe and in working order and this will inform the amount we have left to enhance teaching and learning at MHJC.

In terms of teaching and learning we will make a school wide focus of our conservation and guardianship/kaitiakitanga responsibilities of Tāne forest which neighbours our property and we will develop our holistic reporting system which will reflect student achievement, progress, engagement and our values.

We will also make a special focus of creativity as one of the central themes of future skills and 21st century learning as explained in our new Charter.

Finally we will continue with the many other exciting opportunities and programmes including mindfulness to ensure all students’ wellbeing and learning is promoted.

Growing greatness/Kia mana ake!