Tena koutou katoa
We held our final board meeting for the term in Week 9. The last few weeks of term have been particularly busy with sports matches and exchanges, flag assembly, report evenings, open days and the house haka competitions. A group of staff, students and representatives of Muaupoko headed off to Auckland on June 27th to celebrate the success of the Rangatahi Ora programme. Though we didn’t win our category we were one of only eleven schools (out of 2539 schools in the country) who made it to the finals, so that alone is an impressive feat! We also celebrated the opening of our five new science labs last week, these had been on the drawing board for many years and it was fantastic to see them come to fruition. Thanks to all those who had a hand in their design and build especially Colspec Construction and Proarch Architects. Mr Denis Hutchings our Campus Manager has put many long hours into overseeing and supporting the contractors and it is his significant contribution and that of the Board Property Committee (comprising our tumuaki Mr Congdon, Mr Garry Good, Mr David Tate, Mrs Leanne Philips, and Mr Hutchings) which has seen the labs through to completion. As I write this our science teachers are busy moving in and these 21st century teaching spaces will be up and running for Term Three.
The Board has now made conversations with staff a regular part of its agenda. This month Mrs Susie Prentice (acting Head of Science and Lead Teacher in the Horticulture Academy) came and gave us a report on the Horticulture Academy. As usual we received and discussed Mr Congdon’s report which keeps us up to date with how we are going with respect to our annual academic and wider charter goals. The Board’s role is to ask critical questions – how, what, why and when questions to ensure we are making progress in relation to these goals across the academic year. We are also embarking on our charter review consultation. You may have met some of us asking questions about what we do well and what we can do to improve things at Horowhenua College at the parent interview and Year 8 Open nights. We intend to make this survey available online too. Thank you to all who have participated so far, including our students who have also received a version of the survey!!
In this newsletter, we continue our series of ‘getting to know’ our trustees. This month I thought you would like to hear from Mr David Tate, the teacher representative on the Board. In addition to being on the property sub-committee, David has a vital role in bringing a teacher perspective to all our decisions on the board, and he always encourages us to think about the impacts of our decisions for both academic and support staff in the school. Thank you David, for all that you do!
Kia ora
My name is David Tate and I am the Staff Representative currently in my second term of service on the Board of Trustees. I am a Social Scientist and this year teach History, Studies of Society and junior Social Studies. My other roles in the college are Relief Co-ordinator and Specialist Classroom Teacher.
It has been an honour and privilege to serve in this position and to work with a board that has real heart and integrity. Its focus on providing the best possible support to all staff in the college to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students is exemplary. One key aspect of my role as Staff Representative is to ensure that a staff perspective is raised and discussed on issues where relevant. I have learnt much about the Governance versus Management relationship and the sometimes convoluted processes involved when working with the Ministry of Education. As a member of the Property sub-committee which has invested a huge amount of time and energy into various projects on behalf of the college it has been extremely satisfying to see some key projects completed such as the re-roofing of S Block and the opening of the new Science Labs. The ongoing work of this sub-committee is helping to shape the future learning environment that we will all benefit from.
For me, working in an effective team environment which is extremely well led is a privilege. The commitment, skill set, and insight that the current board possesses is ‘very rich’ and invaluable as we continue to progressively refine our focus and deal with the exciting new challenges that are in front of us.
nāku noa
David Tate
I look forward to being in contact again next term and wish all our staff and students a relaxing and enjoyable school holiday.
Nga mihi
Juliana Mansvelt (BOT Chair)