As we come closer to the end of the school year we reflect on our success. This time of year brings many formal events that celebrate student success. Recently we held our Sports Prizegiving in which we acknowledged and celebrated the successes of our many talented and exceptional young sports people at Kaipara College. What impresses me most in all the sport I have seen this year, is not only the talent shown by our students but their ability and willingness to work as a team in our team sports, the support they show for each other, with many examples of tuakana teina where older students coach and support our younger ones, fabulous sportspersonship and the way they proudly represent the school and themselves. The Prizegiving also an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the huge contribution to successful sport at Kaipara College from the staff, parents and the community as a whole.
Over the next little while we will also be celebrating the success of our Music, Art and Drama students at the MAD Awards, our Celebrating Excellence assemblies and our Senior Prize Givings. We also celebrate our leavers with a week of student-led activities for our leavers to enjoy, our Year 13 Academic Prize Giving and our Whakamana Awards evening. Although these events acknowledge and celebrate success annually, these successes are built on smaller but nonetheless significant successes. At Kaipara College we learn that success is the result of many smaller steps, each with its own success. We learn that success requires clear vision and goals, hard work and perseverance, continuous learning, adaptability and learning from failure, resilience, passion and purpose, emotional intelligence and leadership, innovation and creativity, and patience and persistence. These are qualities we nurture at Kaipara College through Te WAKA o Kaipara.
Recently we have been working as a school to develop a graduate profile by asking “What is a successful graduate from Kaipara College like? What skills, knowledge, dispositions, attributes and values do we want students at Kaipara College to develop while here?” so that we are achieving our purpose as a school: “ Our purpose is to teach our rangatahi so they all reach their potential and are able to take their place as curious, connected, confident and contributing citizens in their community, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the world”
The many successes of Kaipara College in 2023, both individual and collective, are show-cased in our fabulous new look yearbook “Te Raa”. If you would like a copy of Te Raa 2023 so that you can find out about the successes we have celebrated at Kaipara College, please order a copy. The cost is $25.00. Copies can be ordered from the student center by calling 09 420 8640 ext. 926 or emailing info@kaipara.school.nz.