Last Saturday two of our cricketers, Benson Ireland and Tannin (Ross) Khurana scored centuries against Kings’ College which is an amazing achievement saying much for their batting ability and powers of concentration. What is particularly pleasing is that when I congratulated them they both felt proud of their achievement but would have felt even better had the team won (the boys fell short by 8 runs in a high scoring game).

Cricket, like many sports helps young people to develop character and I am so proud of these boys as their attitude reflects what we promote at MHJC – individuals are encouraged to strive for excellence but also contribute their time and talent for the benefit of others.

Growing greatness – Kia mana ake!

Yesterday I was told a story of a  young girl who told her grandmother that she enjoyed watering the garden because it meant she had a chance to look at the beautiful flowers.

I reflected on this comment and how it pertains to how we can and should be nurturing our children. I translate this metaphor to giving young people not just our time but quality time which provides them with a feeling that someone genuinely cares for their progress and wellbeing. With this important need satisfied our young can grow and thrive.

As parents and teachers it is a useful reminder of our obligations.

Growing greatness – kia mana ake!

Much has been written about the new government’s proposed changes to education including the proposed abolition of National Standards reporting. The school will however report at the year end to our Year 7 and 8 families. Once we have been clarity for 2018 we will inform the community accordingly.

Growing greatness – kia mana ake

Many thanks to all students, parents/caregivers and staff who responded to the bi-annual survey. Detailed feedback has been discussed with the Board of Trustees and I can share some elements of this with the community.

I was pleased with the general high levels of satisfaction expressed by every group who responded. While there were several areas which we can improve on there is an obviously high level of confidence in what we are doing to achieve the school’s vision which is gratifying to see. We have also closed gaps in some areas which were indicated in the 2015 survey including changes to the DEEP programme which have been positively reported on by students as were the important areas of high quality teaching and staff being approachable. Perhaps as a result of moving to BYOD, the use of digital texts showed the highest improvement from 2015.

While I cannot respond to every comment made in the survey the Senior Leadership team and I will continue to review our practice using your feedback however some quick responses may be pertinent:

I will be investigating ways in which we can enhance our programme for gifted and talented students and am pleased to say that a new appointment to improve communications to the school and wider community has already been made. Some comments about the state of the fields and grounds were already being acted upon and we have negotiated a maintenance contract for the school fields and have appointed a full time caretaker who has started to work on the gardens. As the school reaches its first 10 years of existence next year it will also qualify for 10 Year property funding which may help us to embark on large scale property improvements as well as ensure buildings are safe and promote high quality learning.

Your constructive comments and positive affirmation of our efforts were very much appreciated. I would urge parents and caregivers to maintain the close connection so many enjoy with our teachers and Senior Leaders to ensure that on-going reflection can guide us to continual improvement. Let us pause though for a moment and reflect on the superb progress achieved by a school still relatively young in years. This has been achieved by the strong partnership between home and school – thank you.

Growing greatness – Kia mana ake