Kia ora te whanau o te kotuku

Every Day Matters- Attendance

Going to school is critical to our children’s future. As part of Rutherford College’s ongoing focus to improve attendance we have instigated regular communicating with all whanau. Each Monday you will receive an email which gives your child’s attendance percentage. You will also receive a period by period summary.  The Ministry of Education view any attendance of 90% and above as regular attendance. Anything below 90% could potentially impact on your child’s education. The purpose of this email is only to keep you informed of your child’s attendance. Please be aware that in some cases there may be a delay from when the school receives communication from you with regard to absences and entering this on our system. If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance, please contact their tutor teacher or Dean.

Reporting an absence. All absences including family events, holidays or sports leave should be recorded on the School Portal. Record all absences not related to appointments or medical events in the “other” section. Please put the reason for the absence to ensure it is coded correctly. Absence recording allows for recording absences 90 days in advance. If you are having trouble logging into the school portal, please read these helpful hints or watch the videos provided.

Careers Out West Expo

As part of our careers education programme, we are pleased to invite your whanau to the Careers Out West expo to be held on Wednesday 24th May at The Trusts Arena.

Careers Out West has been organised by eight local secondary schools to provide career exploration and planning support for young people within our community. There will be close to 100 exhibitors at Careers Out West which will include tertiary and other training organisations such as universities, polytechnics and private training providers. There will also be several businesses who will have employment opportunities and school-leaver programmes available for students. Additionally, a range of community organisations will attend.

We warmly welcome our wider school community including all students and whanau to attend the evening session. This will take place from 4pm until 7.30pm at The Trusts Arena. There will be a range of food trucks at the event to provide catering options.

Attending Careers Out West provides an excellent chance to explore options together with your young person as they plan for and embark on their career journey.

We look forward to seeing you at Careers Out West from 4pm on Wednesday 24th May at The Trusts Arena.

PPTA Action

Thank you for your continued support and we navigate the disruptions caused by industrial action.

The schedule for rostering home is:

Tuesday 16 May – Year 9 (Students who are scheduled to attend STARS Camp still go. Classes who attend camp are: 9AR, 9BM, 9BN, 9CT, 9HY. Classes who are rostered home that day are: 9BW, 9EL, 9MK, 9MN, 9SC, 9VA).
Wednesday 17 May – Year 10 rostered home
Thursday 25 May – Year 11 rostered home
Tuesday 30 May – Year 13 rostered home
Thursday 01 June – Year 12 rostered home

Please remember that if you want your son or daughter to attend on any of the days they are rostered home you can register their name here. Students will be supervised if they attend, there will be no structured lessons.

STARS Camp

Our hearts go out to the parents and extended whanau of the young lad who lost his life while on a school trip this week. We know the staff and students at Whangarei Boys High School will be finding it difficult to come to terms with such a tragic event. We also know how the community can rally around and support each other in times like this.

We would like to take this opportunity to reassure parents of our Year 9 students that the STARS Camp is run by professional outdoor educationalists who have extensive knowledge in running activities for teenagers. They will take no risks and follow robust policies for identifying and responding to potential risks. The school has used these providers for a number of years and trust in their expertise and safety protocols. Next week’s weather is looking changeable with some wet weather expected. They will be taking this into consideration when planning outdoor activities to ensure that any risks to students is minimised or eliminated.

We have been in contact with YMCA Camp Adair today who have reassured us that any issues on the day would automatically trigger a change in activity if it was deemed to be outside acceptable margins. We have also been reassured that their margins are more conservative than required by ministry certifiers. We hope this provides you with a bit more certainty that your son or daughter is going to be well looked after while at camp.

Devices at School

This is a reminder that students are required to bring their digital devices to school everyday. With devices they can access resources online and via google classrooms. If you genuinely cannot purchase a device for your son or daughter, please have a conversation with the Dean. The school has options in place to assist in these cases.

Upcoming events:

15 – 19 STARS Camp
19 May – Pink Shirt day – students wear mufti and something pink in support of anti-bullying.
24 May – Careers Out West Expo (see above)
05 June – King’s Birthday
06 – 08 – International Week, International evening event on 08 June
19 – 23 June – LUV Music
27 – 28 June – Drama Show
29 June – School Ball and last day of school

Read all the latest Rutherford news here.

Kia kaha

Judy Farrar