Kaipara korero – From the Kaipara College Principal’s Desk: The year gone by

As I reflect on last year, I am grateful for many things. The year began with disruption in the form of cyclones, flooding, and industrial action, and it was wonderful to be able to leave these behind us in the second half of the year and return to school as usual after three years of constant uncertainty driven by closures caused by covid, extreme weather and industrial action.

I am truly grateful for all of our community’s support, patience and understanding as we navigated the various challenges of the last few years and again in 2023. For 2024 I look forward to good weather and a teaching staff that feel valued by our government and society, freeing us up to focus all our energy on exceptional teaching and learning.

I am grateful to all of our amazing staff who put in long hours to plan innovative lessons and organise amazing events across the year. There are too many to list in full, but here is a sample from across the faculties – Mathex competitions and science fairs, community plantings, Matariki celebrations, Ag Day stands, sporting events with Kaahui Ako schools, PE camps, art exhibitions, prize givings, leadership programmes, school production, Band Factory, Angel Fund, Community Action Projects, FSE picnic and more. I appreciate all the extra effort, and the late night and weekend work that goes into making these possible.

A particular highlight was our first Year 9 camp in many years! This was an exceptional opportunity for our young people to engage in learning outside the classroom, including teamwork, collaboration, surfing, rifle shooting and archery as well as enjoying the wonderful outdoors at Mangawhai.

We are looking ahead to 2024 being an exciting year full of learning and opportunities. We will continue with our journey of weaving Te WAKA o Kaipara values into every aspect of life at Kaipara College and continue to work hard to navigate our success towards our strategic goals as set by our school Board.

We look forward to welcoming all our students back to school for the 2024 school year.