Kia ora koutou

Term 1 has been a test of our resilience with mother nature and other events having an impact on our start to the year. Despite this our leaders and staff have made every effort to minimise the disruption and ensure as smooth a start to the year as possible. My thanks to the community is expressed in this memo and I trust we will experience calmer waters for the rest of the year!

Cyclone Gabrielle and floods

The school site coped extremely well with the extreme weather we experienced earlier this term. Thanks to the property team and their work over the years we had minimal damage, only a small leak which has been fixed. Indeed we were thrilled with two compliments, the first from Jon Sofo the architect who designed the school and who was very complimentary with the condition of the school during a recent visit. And the Ministry of Education has completed an inspection of the site as part of our next property plan. Again, minor work is required to ensure we comply with Health and Safety requirements which will enable us to devote most of the funds to modifying our teaching and administration spaces. This will enhance the educational opportunities and service we can provide our community. 

Teacher national strike

I realise that this has put added pressure on parents and caregivers who needed to provide supervision for their child/ren. Thank you for your support and we trust that the negotiations between the PPTA and Ministry of Education are resolved as soon as possible to avoid further disruption.

Payments

Thank you also to all parents/caregivers who have either paid in full or entered into payment plans for the various activities we need to charge for. Those with long memories will recall that we no longer request a donation which helps to free up some household income during what we know to be tough economic times for many members of our community. Early payment really helps us with our budgets and enables us to carry out the exciting plans we have for our students so your contributions have been appreciated. If you are experiencing any difficulties, please reach out to your child/ren’s Whānau Leaders who will be most understanding – communication is the key.

Donations

While not requested, parents/caregivers may pay a voluntary donation to the school which is tax deductible. So if you are considering a “worthy cause” please consider MHJC!

Contact finance@mhjc.school.nz for further information.

Fund-raiser

Last week our Student Executive Council helped to raise $1200 for the Red Cross and their cyclone relief efforts. Thanks to everyone who supported this important community outreach project.

Traffic congestion – school starts at 8.15 am

If I had a magic wand it would be to ensure all our students arrive at school safely by 8.15 am. Thanks again to the vast majority of our parents and caregivers who are teaching their children good habits by getting to school on time. I understand that there may be an odd occasion which may cause us to be late and we are compassionate if that is the case. Many parents will have seen me on Valderama Drive at or around 8.30 and I am still amazed at how many students arrive in the ten minutes between 8.25 and 8.35 with many parents adding to the problem by breaking traffic rules to drop their children as close to the entrance as possible. When questioned, often the excuse is that traffic was heavy or students did not wake up early enough. This puts pressure on our stopping area near the school and is a source of great stress for teachers and our neighbouring community. 

I repeat our expectation that parents aim to have their children at school by 8.15. If you miss that mark you will still avoid the congestion at 8.25. The congestion can cause an accident and breaking traffic rules is a bad example to our students.

Community Day

Finally a big thanks to all parents and caregivers who are able to support us on Friday 24th March. The whole school will be shifting from a planting to kaitiakitanga or guardianship focus to protect the almost 20000 native trees which surround the bike track and extend our neighbouring forest. This is a major effort and we thank Mr Gardi and his Enviro Council for their efforts.

Tena koutou katoua

Ian Morrison

Principal/Tumuaki

This weekend we remember the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, Tiriti o Waitangi and acknowledge the significance of this important historic event. The famous words of Lieutenant Governor William Hobson, “He iwi tahi tatou – we are one people”, laid the foundations for the building of a new nation and are as important today as in 1840.

The weekend has even greater significance as Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau starts to recover from the incredible weather events this past week. Climatologists predict we need to prepare for more of the destruction and disruption such events will cause and the impact on our infrastructure and even where we live will be profound. All the more reason for everyone to stand together, support each other and do what we can to rebuild homes, roads, bridges and shattered lives. This is what was needed when Aotearoa/New Zealand was born and why the spirit of the Treaty should always be remembered.

Today MHJC renews its commitment to honouring the Treaty. We strive to place Te Reo and Ti kanga Māori at the forefront of our curriculum and activities. We wish all our students to benefit from the richness of the Māori  culture, heritage, knowledge and language and that our Māori students may celebrate and feel proud of being Māori as they grow their greatness.

Kia mana ake!

With Student Led Conferences coming soon it is a good opportunity to explain a significant change in how we have been reporting to parents. 

Three years ago we felt it important to report on the whole child which is why we refer to the new report as a Holistic Report. We want students to be able to articulate their learning journey by referring to their Graduate Profile recorded within the following broad domains:

• academic progress and achievement in all learning areas, as well as literacy and numeracy;
• engagement at school which includes participation in our “Four Cornerstones” or co-curricular activities, attendance, punctuality and homework completion and
• evidence of living our school values of pono/integrity, awhinatanga/compassion and whakamana/empowering through learning.

The thinking behind this change is that it reinforces our school vision and purpose expressed by our motto of “growing greatness/kia mana ake”. We believe that every student has a grain of greatness and it is our mission to help students to find and grow this grain of greatness. This should be represented by our report which is multidimensional and gives students opportunities to show their greatness in many ways rather than a one-dimensional report on achievement. We believe that all our students should feel or experience success in some way through their MHJC journey and the report acknowledges this.

Teachers have been working with students on what we consider to be an innovative approach to reporting. Rather than teachers passing a judgment on students, it is they who “write their own report” and progress through the stages of our Graduate Profile by understanding and showing evidence of our school values. This acknowledges the need for schools to provide learning opportunities for students to learn how to manage themselves effectively, reach out to others and learn how to learn. These are the messages we receive continuously as the critical ingredients for future success and so it makes sense that everything we do at school aligns with the report.

This is an exciting and at times challenging journey but one which we believe will be of immeasurable benefit to our students. Thank you for supporting us and I trust you enjoy hearing how your child/ren give expression to their journey.

Growing greatness/kia mana ake!

Ian Morrison

Principal/Tumuaki