Senior Prizegiving Address
Ka mua, ka muri:
Looking back in order to move forward
Principal Cindy Sullivan
When I look at student achievement at Kaipara College what impresses me the most is the breadth of success. Academic results are outstanding across the school. Around 60% of last years Yr13 gained Level 3 with merit or excellence, while level 1 round 50% and over 78% of our level 2 students gained success in NCEA.
Not only that, Kaipara College is a school which achieves above its weight in sporting, cultural endeavours, arts, music and performing arts. The most notable successes are celebrated at our Senior Prizegiving, and you will already have read about others through the year on our social media platforms and in our panui.
To all who have achieved and to all who gave it their best this year, congratulations.
It is only with the support of our parents, caregivers and community that we are able to offer these myriad of opportunities to our students. I would like to thank all those who have given generously of their time to coach, manage, transport, encourage, sometimes cajole and always support our students in this fine array of endeavours.
A noted Cognitive Scientist, psychologist and educationalist Guy Claxton tells us “Learning is the need to develop the ability to face difficulty, complexity and uncertainty, calmly, confidently and capably.’ And this learning does not just take place at school, it takes place throughout our lives. In other words, we teach , but the deeper prize is preparing our students for a life well lived. That is our deeper purpose. We teach young people before we teach subjects, we teach them to be human before we teach them skills and knowledge. We teach them to have educated hearts as well as minds. History and indeed today presents us with examples of well -educated tyrants and cruel leaders with no conscience or compassion. The world our students are stepping into is very different to the world we stepped into on leaving school or the one you as parents experienced. It is critical that we provide an education which prepares students for their future, which enables them to embrace diversity and play a role in meeting and solving the problems they will face as global citizens. This will require multiple talents, thinking and aptitudes. Producing excellent NCEA results is not sufficient in itself as an end goal, important though it is. We deliver so much more.
It has been long and difficult years for all of us and we are still unsure at times of what the future holds. None of us would ever have imagined the global scenario we have found ourselves in with recent memories of a country locked down, borders closed, and mask wearing normalised. I want to thank you as parents, caregivers and our community for your support this year and over the past three years, and thank you to our students for your ongoing optimism and hard work in these unusual times.
To our Board – it has been a challenging year again. Thank you for supporting the education we are developing here at Kaipara College and being an open and visionary Board. You provide sound and strong governance to our school. In particular, Rochelle,
thank you for your support as Board Chair to me in my role as Principal and your generous offering of time and support to the school.
To all our staff, all of you have risen to the challenge of another year of catch -up, of learning lost, and going the extra distance I know this took many hours of work over and above and I know you did it because you care about our students – I know your care for them is embedded in deep relationship and supporting them to be the best they can be. Your reward is that you touch their futures in ways we cannot measure in the present and may never know. To our senior leadership team, thank you for your professionalism, hard work, loyalty and vision. Your calm approach, focused leadership, unity as a team and courage guided the school through the most challenging of times and continue to do so. To our parents and caregivers, thank you for working in partnership with us to mold and create these fine young people we see here today. Parenting is not an easy ride but certainly a worthwhile one. Our children bring us our greatest joy, our greatest challenge and also our greatest learning.
To our head students: Billie, Riley, Abby, Kaia and Binley, thank you for sharing you with us. I have so enjoyed working with you this year and will miss you immensely, but you are more than ready and prepared to fly solo now. And to our student leaders. Leading has required different thinking and they have done a wonderful job in focusing on communicating a positive culture and supporting the rest of the school through this time. A huge thank you to you – for your videos and fun projects, your perseverance and resilience. You have made a real difference for our students.
Looking forward, the future of Kaipara College is very bright and we are well placed for a prosperous and learningful future. Our brilliant new build begins early 2023 with a state of the art Innovation centre, combining facilities for art and technology.
We will see renewed vigour and opportunities in education outside the classroom, beginning with our Y9 camp in March 2023 and the development of a music and performing arts academy. I am very excited for what the future holds for Kaipara College, the great young people still to arrive who will develop into exceptional young people, like the ones we share this evening with To our students my hope is that you will continue to make the most of the opportunities that Kaipara College has offered and that with the support from your family, friends and the school, you will equip yourselves well, to face the challenges that lie ahead next year and beyond.I am confident in saying that you have are provided with the very best opportunities at Kaipara College.
Senior Prizegivings are a celebration of our student’s achievement and success, the recognition of targets set and goals achieved, but above all it is the celebration of the hope we invest in you, the next generation of young people , who will leave Kaipara College in the not too distant future to make their way in an increasingly complex and challenging world. We are all very proud of the wonderful progress you continue to make.
Whaia te iti kahurangi.
Ekea to tapuhipuhi.
Pursue excellence.
Follow your dreams.
Reach your potential.
Be all that you can be.
