Kia ora te whanau o te kotuku

From Monday March 28th, with just under three weeks to go in Term 1, we will be returning to the full school timetable. For the remainder of the term, school will start every day at 8:40 through until 3:10. The heat is easing and students will be permitted to move between classes with masks down as it is the open air. Those students who wish to keep their masks on are free to do so as they transition from one class to the next.  We will require that as they approach their class they reattach their mask. That 2 or 3-minute window of masks under chins will be beneficial to get some fresh air. 

We have been greatly appreciative for the support from our community for the decision taken to stay open every day and shorten the days. This has allowed students who were not needing to isolate to stay in routine, minimise mask fatigue for both staff and students and to staff the school when Omicron was impacting our staffing levels.

I know there is still support to stay on the shorter day process and I will at times make the choices that I believe are best for our community regardless of what the majority are expected to do. i.e the short days.  I also now feel that we can manage the transition back to ‘normal hours’ and that in just under three weeks’ staff and students will get a break.

Congratulations to both our groups who performed out at the ASB Velodrome this week. It was Polyfest this week but not as we know it or want it to be. I am very proud of the work that went into such polished performances from both our African Dance Group and our Te Kotuku Kapa Haka Roopu. Both groups looked stunning. It has not been an easy time for groups to practice. They have displayed passion, focus and grit and were conscientious with their 50% as part of a group working toward a collective goal. By doing this they have already worked out a number of traits that are common to highly productive people. It’s not talent or luck, it’s all about hard work, focus on the priority at hand, and perseverance in the face of challenge and adversity. Our rangatahi, as they get the chance to do in any group where people share a common purpose and passion will have built relationships based on shared experiences and memories. That’s gold! They will have flown in a ‘V’ formation, protected the nest and been willing to bleed for the bird.

A quick mention of what the consequences are for a small percentage who are not flying in the V formation or living our values or tikanga with their words, deeds and actions. Those who believe they can continue to Vape at school have been warned that these situations will be handled differently. Talking to students and asking for them to do better has not worked. So anybody from here on in that gets caught with a vape or vaping will be stood down. They have been asked to do something different and now because the educational approach has not worked, for that small percentage who are making things more difficult for nearly all of our other students who are doing the right thing, I/we will do something different.

 HOW TO CATCH A MONKEY?

How do you catch a monkey? Find a coconut and make a hole in the shell, a hole that is just big enough for the monkey to squeeze its paw through.

Tie the coconut to something, put a slice of fruit inside and wait. When a monkey comes past it will smell the fruit and put its hand inside to get it. Believe it or not, the monkey is now trapped because it won’t let go of the fruit by opening its paw and it’s only by opening its paw that the monkey can get its paw out and run away.

All the cleverness, all the talent, all the skill in the world is of no use if we cannot open our paw to save our life. Just like the monkey, we can be trapped by sticking to what we think we know and refusing to change.

In the monkey’s case, that is a closed paw. For us, the equivalent is a closed mind – holding fast to a fixed position even when the evidence is telling us something different.

What makes us close our minds? Sometimes we have beliefs that hold us back. We believe we are not clever enough or good-looking enough or deserving enough to succeed. Even when we see other people with similar talents to our own, our belief keeps holding us back. If we believe that they are lucky and we are not, then we can never make progress.

Sometimes it is not our beliefs but our actions that keep us trapped. We know we learn best, for instance, when we learn in manageable chunks over a period of time but we keep on leaving things until the last minute and trying to cram too big a load of information into our brains. Or we hope things will turn out all right even without doing the work that we need to do to succeed. We keep hoping the luck other people seem to have will rub off on us.

Sometimes we close our minds because of fear. We see others having a go and doing well. But our fears stop us from following them. Perhaps we are scared of looking silly, or of failing. Even irrational fears can take hold of us and stop us doing as well as we could.

The monkey is trapped because it stubbornly holds on to the piece of fruit even when letting go would let it escape. What do we need to let go of to allow us to reach your potential? Our beliefs? Our habits? Our fears?

 

Kia Kaha

Gary Moore

Principal