Kia ora te whanau o te kotuku

What does learning how to protect the nest and bleed for the bird mean? It is a metaphor for learning how to be the best version of yourself in our Rutherford context. At Rutherford we understand that striving for personal excellence is about our own journey and challenging ourselves to be better today than we were yesterday.

Part of protecting the nest and bleeding for the bird is that you have learned the value of the following.

• The value of little acts of human kindness (The kindness vest) and understand that if kindness is what you sow, kindness is what you will receive. He aroha whakato, he aroha ka puta mai. 
• The value of flying in a ‘V’ formation.  We work together for the good of all.
• That the journey should include a wide range of experiences and things that you have got involved in either voluntarily or through what Rutherford has as must or should do’s. Exposure to a wide range of activities allows you to be more capable to handle the challenges of life after school.

You all start as wee kotukus that sit in the back seat of the car and need lots of advice and guidance and someone always watching over you. Over time you become more independent, more resilient, and responsible with the capacity for making good decisions. By the time you depart you are probably driving the car yourself and have choices over your destination.

• You will/should have picked up as many pebbles (opportunities) as possible and turned some of them into diamonds. Some were just a moment in time, some you will have invested into more deeply. Our hope is that you will have invested wisely in your biggest asset, your human capital and learned that excellence is not a single act but a series of habits that you have developed. These habits of mind create the foundation for happiness and success. They take time to develop, you need to broaden the range of experiences that have challenged you to create depth and breadth.
• Knowing who has packed your parachute and that thank you is a good word to use and is even better when it becomes a verb. 
•  You will have learned we are what we repeatedly do; Excellence is not an act but a habit”. You must give your 50% and have understood that the learning is done by the person who is doing the mahi. Learning is done where we don’t know something yet but have a growth mind-set that if I work at it, I will get there. 

Term 3 Lesson times

This term we have been trialling starting a bit later in the morning and shortening lunchtimes by 10 minutes mostly to ensure students are not out too long in the wet cold weather at lunchtime. It has been successful and the decision has been made to continue this into term 3. To confirm, start time is 8.50am for lesson one and the end of the day is 3.10pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday times remain unchanged.

End of Term 2

Just another reminder that term 2 finishes on Thursday 7 July at 1.30pm. No school on Friday. Thursday evening the School Ball will be held at Ellerslie Convention Centre.

Keep up to date with all the Rutherford News here.

Upcoming Assessments:

Monday 4 July – 11HED, 11MUS, 11PAL, 11PED, 12MUS
Tuesday 5 July – 11HED, 11MAC, 11MUS, 11PAL, 11PED – Performing Art Show 7.30pm
Wednesday 6 July – 11HED, 11MAC, 11MUS, 11PAL, 11PED
Thursday 7 July –  1HED, 12MAC, 11MUS, 11PAL, 13MDS

Kia Kaha
Gary Moore