Principal's Panui - 02 May 2025
Kia ora te whanau ō te Kōtuku
Welcome back and I look forward to a successful term 2. Term 2 is only 9 weeks compared to the usual 10. Within those 9 weeks there are a further 3 days when school is not open for instruction 2 of which are for King's Birthday and Matariki Celebrations. Term 2 being shorter needs to be factored into students planning and organization. This is particularly important for our senior students, where the assessment demands will remain much the same as they do in a normal ten-week term.
For those new to the Kotuku flock, I regularly start term 2 with the following story. The basic principle is to reflect on how we can be better today than we were yesterday by looking at what we always do and our mental models about how we approach the challenges that we face.
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 deserved 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 a load of information too big 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.
The monkey is trapped because it stubbornly holds on to the piece of fruit even when letting go would let it escape.
Winter Sport
The winter code will be getting underway early in term 2 and I thought it timely to remind us of the values we all hold to be important within College Sport competitions. Every student, coach, manager, and supporter has a responsibility to uphold the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship in any College Sport competition. Schools are responsible for providing a safe environment for College Sport matches and events in which all individuals are treated with respect.
As a student I will: -
Enjoy playing sport, have fun and partake in healthy competition
Respect all officials, teammates, coaches, supporters and opponents
Play by the rules of my sport at all times
Wear the appropriate attire for my sport
Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat
Represent my school with the utmost pride, dignity, honesty and loyalty
As a coach/manager I will:
Enjoy being involved in sport - Respect all officials, colleagues, coaches, players, supporters and opponents
Place the safety and welfare of my players/athletes before anything else
Be a positive role model at all times for my players/athletes
As a supporter I will:
Respect all officials, players, coaches, supporters and opponents
Not enter the field of play, unless requested to do so by an official
Observe all fixtures without questioning the decisions of coaches and officials
Take time to thank the coach and all volunteers who are giving others a chance to participate in a positive activity
Display a positive attitude at every game and be a role model for others
Doing something different
Being better today than you were yesterday.
How do we improve? We try something different. This takes courage and bravery because we are moving from our circle of comfort into unfamiliar territory.
Look after yourself. Going back to the How to Catch a Monkey. Sometimes we need to learn what we need to stop doing before we can replace it with something different. Take the time to reflect and evaluate what works and doesn’t work.
We are all in charge of what we allow our mind to say yes to, sign off from social media etc. for a couple of hours, even post that you are taking time out and spending the time not doing the tasks but planning how you are going to find the time to get all the required tasks done.
How do you start?
1) Make a list of what needs to be done.
2) Allocate them into categories 1, 2 and 3, highest to lowest urgency.
3) Use a calendar including date and time to focus your attention where it needs to be.
Parent/Student/Subject Teacher Conferences - Thursday 8 May from 2pm to 8pm
You are invited to book time with the subject teachers of your son or daughter. Conferences run from 2pm to 8pm on Thursday 8 May. To book a conference you will need to log in to SchoolBridge/School Portal and click on Term 2 PSST conferences. Please note, you will not be able to book a time with the tutor teacher unless they also teach your son or daughter. If you need to talk with the tutor teacher, please email them to discuss options. You can also book a time with the Dean if necessary. If you have any problems, please see if your son or daughter can make a booking for you. They also have access to PSST Conferences on their homepage. The school will have a coffee cart onsite from 1.30pm to 5.00pm. It is a good opportunity to meet with the teacher of each subject your son or daughter is taking to get an update on their progress or perhaps get some tips to help them if they are needing some guidance. Don't forget to take your son or daughter to the conferences with you.
Gary Moore
