Kia ora te whanau o te Kotuku,

At Rutherford, we strive for personal excellence. That requires both teachers and students to be doing their 50%. If you want to make progress you walk on two legs. If the teacher’s efforts are the right leg and your effort is the left leg and you work side by side, you start to make forward progress. If one of the legs is not doing its 50% of the work, then progress is severely impacted.

Think about a shared lunch situation where two people are going to contribute. If one person doesn’t bring anything; it’s not really a shared lunch.

We can’t go through life just taking what is given. If much is received, then much should be given back. When people put effort into you then at Rutherford we strive for personal excellence by taking responsibility for our 50% of the work. We respect the opportunity and the time that is being given to us and then if we make a genuine effort by doing our bit, then we have integrity.

Learning this simple fact of life is what winning really is. It’s about being better today than you were yesterday each and every day. We can point the finger at others but the person you have the ability to affect change for most effectively is yourself. When we do this we often notice a positive change in other people’s reactions to us.

It might surprise people to know that success for me has not been measured in scholarships, championships, or by the numbers of wins and losses. Happiness and success are measured in the strength of family; the strength of friendships; the creation of close teams where everyone is valued; where everyone does their 50%, in setting high standards and striving for personal excellence each and every day. It is about staying true to my values, my principles – even when the ball didn’t always bounce my way or I am put under pressure from others to compromise those principles and values.

I have seen a high number of students doing their 50% and keeping things moving forward. We can only start from where our feet are now and then take little steps in the right direction from there.

What we have learned this week.
On Monday, we had 18 teaching staff away either with COVID or needing to isolate, 25 on Tuesday, 28 Wednesday, 18 Thursday, and 20 today.

Student attendance onsite on Monday was 62%, Tuesday 60%, Wednesday 58% Thursday 60%, and Friday 55%.

With so many staff away as we predicted we are still able to cover all classes by using staff who are on-site, utilising the non-contact periods to cover their colleagues. So far the early finish appears to be working well. A number of students who are self-isolating but are well are taking advantage of what opportunities their individual teachers are able to provide through distance learning. Different teachers and where the curriculum delivery is up to in each subject will determine how individual teachers can engage with digital platforms.

Although there is no official teacher contact time expected during period 5 it is expected that students will recognise that the learning day is not over at 1:30pm. They should use the time at home, with masks off, to complete the work set. Teaching requires a learner but learning does not require a teacher. The 50% expected from students who appreciate being able to get home and take their masks off is to continue to engage with learning and completion of assessments. For seniors, take advantage of this situation and try to get ahead of the game with your current assessment workload.

Nga mihi nui
Gary Moore

Swimming Sports Champions 2022

Junior Girls
1st Amy Thomson
2nd Emma Tate
3rd Alexandra Poor 

Junior Boys
1st Dylan Chapman
2nd Lukas Turner
3rd Dylan Marais 

Intermediate Girls
1st Emma Chapman
2nd Jessie Skinner
3rd Nina Lyons 

Intermediate Boys
1st Tre Whitmore
2nd Tanner Costin
3rd Felix Rasmussen 

Senior Girls
1st Marissa Ogilvie 

Senior Boys
1st Theo RobbMarkham