This week we introduce the Te Reo Maori translation of our vision statement “Growing Greatness”.

“Kia mana ake” means to continue to seek ways to improve the internal power we all possess.

As a community we seek ways of promoting cultural diversity and in particular acknowledging our obligations to the Treaty of Waitangi. The newly created Maori and Pasifika committee led by Rebecca McGrath is making significant progress by strengthening ties with families and building on the success of the celebration evening held in term 4 for the last two years.

It was a pleasure to see our Year 9 and 10 girls’ netball team aspiring to perform at the highest level in the Saturday morning competition. After successful grading games they were placed in the second section of their league which means they are in the top 6-12 schools in Auckland. On Saturday they lost narrowly to Auckland Girls’ Grammar in a very exciting game.

They showed admirable resilience by never giving up and I am proud of how they lived our vision – Kia mana ake!

It is useful to remind ourselves of the many ways we promote personalised learning. This may be helpful for parents who can do so much to assist students at home when supplementing the work of our teachers at school. Research shows that one of the biggest influences on student achievement is student reflection on their learning.

How do we support personalised learning?

1. Student led conferences – these are held twice a year and are intended to bridge the gap between home and school. Students share their aspirations, reflections and progress with their “school and home coaches”. This is the culmination of a number of other initiatives which help our students to take responsibility for their learning journey.
2. Digital resources are used extensively and I urge parents to encourage their use at home. Students should never have the excuse they have no homework as Maths Buddy and Reading Plus provide them with opportunities to strengthen weaknesses or extend themselves further within the curriculum. At school every student has one session a week when they either work on these digital resources or other assessments under the guidance of an experienced teacher (Whanau Based Learning for Year 7 and 8 or Personalised Learning for Year 9 and 10). This is in addition to the session they spend with their learning advisor.
3. The DEEP programme provides every student with a chance to discover, extend themselves, cover essential work and explore new opportunities. They design their own timetable from an array of over 100 choices which helps them to deepen their learning.

These strategies have helped our students successfully transition to senior college and developed independent learners.

It was a great pleasure to see students and staff acknowledging this important week in our calendar. We have been fortunate to have hosted a satellite class of the  KDEC (Kelston Deaf Education Centre). The class demonstrates our commitment to inclusion and celebrating diversity. Students from the class demonstrated sign language at lunch times and many of our students enjoyed this and other demonstrations during the week. Teachers were also challenged in daily competitions during our staff briefing.

Our students have benefitted greatly from having the satellite class at MHJC. They have learnt an appreciation for students who have risen above their hearing disability to succeed and enjoy their learning. The KDEC students have also inspired various projects and initiatives including the IPENZ award winning project winners who designed an emergency alarm signal for deaf students who could not hear the sound at the school.

The acceptance of the class has helped deaf students to feel part of our community and for normal hearing students to gain an appreciation and consideration for others.

This affirms our vision of growing GREATNESS

G for Good citizens.