This week we are holding our first assemblies since lockdown in the Events Centre, for our senior year levels.

There have been significant amendments to NCEA because of the Covid situation and it is important students are aware of them. The Ministry of Education has acknowledged that this year is not a typical school year and student learning has been seriously disadvantaged because of the lockdown. The NCEA changes are to ensure that students ability to proceed to the next NCEA level, or to tertiary courses will not be diminished because of this most unusual year they are experiencing.

While the Ministry has made these changes for NCEA the same applies to all year levels, and we need to be aware that this year will not be considered a normal school year for anyone in terms of curriculum and assessments.

As well as transitioning back in from the lockdown we have also experienced significant issues with internet access. Our providers have been subject to denial of service attacks which they are resolving.

On a more positive note, the combined Boards of our Kahui Ako schools are meeting this week, our cluster of schools; Orewa Primary, Orewa North, Wainui, Dairy Flat, Silverdale and Orewa College work together on four key areas: literacy, numeracy, learner support and Te Reo/Tikanga. Strong professional connections have been made in the four years of the programme, As well, these same schools share Asian language teachers so students in our Kahui Ako schools have the opportunity to learn Japanese and/or Chinese from a team of language teachers who teach across all the schools. This gives students a consistent experience across all schools, and also gives the language teachers the opportunity for collaborative professional support in their teaching practice. Such collaborative practice is becoming more and more valued, both within schools and across schools, as it mirrors the sort of practice that is common in tertiary students and in the workplace. Positive collaboration, not silo thinking is what we aim for.