Principal's Panui - 26 June 2025
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Celebrating a Vibrant and Successful Term 2 at Rutherford College
As Term 2 comes to a close, we reflect with pride on the many highlights, achievements, and shared experiences that have brought energy and growth to our school community. From cultural celebrations to academic successes, the past ten weeks have been a true showcase of what makes our kura a special place to learn, lead, and belong.
Year 9 Mindfulness Trip – Building Inner Strength
Early in the term, our Year 9 students embarked on a mindfulness trip that focused on self-awareness, wellbeing, and personal growth. This special day allowed students to step away from the usual school routine and explore strategies for managing stress, building emotional resilience, and forming stronger connections with themselves and their peers.
Studio Show & LUV Music Show – A Creative Showcase
The performing arts came alive with two major events that celebrated our students’ creativity and talent. The Studio Show highlighted the amazing work being developed in dance, and storytelling with professionalism and passion. The LUV Music Show followed soon after, delivering a high-energy, heart-felt evening of original compositions and crowd-favourite performances. Both nights were a testament to the dedication of our students and their teachers.
International Cultural Evening & Week – Diversity on Full Display
One of the standout events of the term was our International Cultural Evening, held as part of International Week. This celebration brought our multicultural school whānau together through food, performance, language, and shared stories. Students proudly represented their heritage, and the evening reminded us of the strength we draw from our diversity. A big thank you to everyone who participated and supported this vibrant event.
Samoan Language Week – Culture, Ceremony, and Community
We also celebrated Samoan Language Week with depth and dignity, marking a new chapter in our cultural calendar with the inaugural 'ava ceremony. This traditional and sacred Samoan custom brought staff, students, and community together in a meaningful way, demonstrating respect and unity. Throughout the week, students engaged in language activities, cultural workshops, and performances that strengthened cultural pride and understanding across the school.
Matariki
The Matariki celebration was a beautiful reminder of the importance of connection, gratitude, and cultural identity. It left everyone feeling uplifted and inspired to carry its values forward throughout the year.
Academic Success – Pleasing results in the CAA Reading Results
We are thrilled to report excellent results in the CAA reading assessments, reflecting the focused effort of our students and the support of their teachers. These outcomes are a strong indicator of the progress being made in literacy and the wider impact of our classroom practice.
Professional Learning – Lifting Practice, Raising Outcomes
Behind the scenes, our staff have been deeply engaged in a targeted professional learning programme this term. This work is central to our school’s commitment to continuous improvement. Through regular collaboration and professional reflection, our teachers are growing their practice in ways that directly benefit student learning. We are proud of the staff’s willingness to engage, learn, and lead, and we are already seeing the positive impact in classrooms across the school.
A key component of Professional Learning has been work on the Rutherford Effective Teaching Framework.
Our Rutherford Model of Effective Teaching is based on a body of research in cognitive science that explains how learning occurs. These are the key points to understand are:
Deep understanding and the ability to think critically is underpinned by a strong basis in foundational knowledge and skills. You cannot think if you have nothing to think with.
Memory is the residue of thought - if you are not thinking about something you will not remember it.
Learning is a change in long term memory - if you don’t remember something you have not learnt it.
The skill of teaching is helping students move new knowledge from the short term working memory to long term memory, and enabling them to do so in a way that they can effectively retrieve it when they need it.
Kirschner, Sweller and Clark, 2006, Willingham, D. T. (2009)
At Rutherford we are focussed on delivering a knowledge rich curriculum where teachers implement the principles of explicit instruction. We value knowledge in our curriculum because knowledge and being knowledgeable, enables us to think.
Our Effective teaching framework is divided into three areas:
Learning Focused Classrooms
Our teachers work hard to establish learning focussed classrooms using consistent lesson routines. Our aim is to be welcoming and inclusive so that students feel safe and know we want to see them succeed. We expect students to engage with the learning and try their best. Learning new concepts and skills can be hard but we know that avoiding thinking about what is being learnt is never effective.
Planning for Explicit Instruction
Our teachers plan units of work starting with the end in mind. They know that students will need to demonstrate their understanding in assessments and curriculum planning is designed to ensure students are ready. Teachers deliberately plan literacy learning no matter what subject they teach. At Rutherford the vocabulary of the subject is explicitly taught because knowing the words of our subjects is the foundation to deep understanding.
The Pedagogy of Explicit Instruction
Our teachers implement a cycle of explicit clear instruction, checking for understanding and giving feedback to students once they have engaged in independent practice. It is a highly interactive cyclic approach to teaching that ensures students are not left to flounder and we are quick to pick up on and address misunderstanding. It requires students to be on their toes. We don’t ask for volunteers to answer questions because we want everyone to be thinking hard about what their response might be. When students are struggling it is a clear message to our teacher that an alternative explanation or strategy is necessary, for we believe all students can learn no matter what their starting point.
Over the holidays I suggest all our senior students take time to refresh and relax because in Term 3 the focus will swing toward preparing for assessments and derived grade exams.
Term 2 has been a term of colour, connection, and commitment. We thank our students, staff, and families for their energy and support. As we look ahead to Term 3, we carry with us the momentum of a community that continues to grow stronger, together.
Ngā mihi nui,
Gary Moore
