It was a busy Tuesday evening at the College this week, with both the study skills evening and the Science Fair awards evening. It was great to see so many parents and students taking in some study tips from our teachers and celebrate the success and hard work of your children in completing their Science Fair project. A special thank you to Mrs Young for leading the presentation on study skills and for the Department heads who gave some valuable tips on studying in their subject area. Mr Oclee- Brown and the Science department are to be congratulated on organising the Science Fair awards evening. I look forward with interest how our Huanui students go in the Central Northland Science Fair held later in the year.

The study skills evening reminded us all of the upcoming mid-year exams, which will be the first set of examinations for most of our Year 7 students. End-of-course, written, external examinations are standard in most Cambridge subjects, and therefore at Huanui College. They are not the only form of assessment, but it is important that our students get used to sitting exams. These practice exams put our students in an examination situation and give the student, parent and teacher some valuable feedback on how the student is progressing in that particular subject. This is called formative assessment and achieves the following:

Are we assessing too much? It is always a challenge for schools to get that balance right and Huanui College is no exception. In each class we are teaching the skills and knowledge of that subject and also developing students critical thinking, social skills, creativity and teaching them not be afraid to fail. Students and teachers also need feedback on how learning is progressing. At Year 12 and 13 the exams take on a lot of importance so being used to exams and having developed study skills and exam techniques puts our students in good stead. We will continue to review the amount of assessment we have at Huanui College So my advice is to treat these examinations as a learning experience and take those lessons learned into the next set of exams.

Checkpoint
As part of our review of the amount of assessment our students undertake, we have decided that 2015 was the last year that our Year 9 students would complete the Checkpoint tests in English, Maths and Science. In the early years of the College the Checkpoint exams were external validation that we were on the right track with our teaching and learning. We now have several years of IGCSE and A level examinations and we have developed our internal examinations to a point we are confident they are robust and good indicators for future performance in external exams. The Checkpoint tests were great on assessing recall of facts and skills but was not a great indicator of success at A level especially, where there is real emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving. So this year our Year 9’s will not have Checkpoint at the beginning of Term 4 but will only sit the end of year exams. If you have questions regarding Checkpoint or assessment in general at Huanui College, please do not hesitate to give me call.

Following the recent Strategic Planning Day, (which many from the school community participated in thank you), we have been busy as a Board of Advisors transitioning to becoming a Board of Trustees. This new Board will differ from the previous Board of Advisors, primarily in that the new Board will have fiduciary responsibility – ie Board Trustees will have financial responsibility.

When Huanui College was in its establishment phase the owners, Evan and Anna Hamlet, believed that it was important that the school be financially secure before a Board of Trustees was put in place. Huanui College is now well established and it is timely to move to a self-perpetuating  Board of Trustees who will literally, and in practice, hold the current governance and future planning of the school ‘in trust’.

It is a big responsibility and one that many of the current Board of Advisors are prepared to take on. The Board of Advisor’s membership has been very stable, growing steadily and with only two departures in the nearly 8 years since establishment, namely Murray Lints in the ‘early years’ and recently Vaughan Syers, due to his increased seniority and workload in his law practice.

I indicated at last year’s prize-giving that I would be leaving at the end of this year, the final year for the Foundation Pupils of Huanui College. My departure will now be before prize-giving as my husband and I have bought a new property in Ohope and it is our intention to leave before the end of June. Although I will miss my involvement with Huanui College, and we will both be sad to be leaving Kerikeri and our involvement with many activities here, we are looking forward to a new ‘adventure’.

It is the intention of the new Board to give regular updates of Board activities to the Huanui Community via this newsletter. Watch out for more detail in future editions.

Thank you to parents, staff, students and all other members of the Huanui College Community for your ongoing contribution to what is a tremendous success story. For your interest I have followed this message with the short paper I wrote for the Strategic Planning Day. Sometimes it is easy to forget how much has been accomplished in such a short time. It has been an absolute pleasure to be involved from the beginning of the school’s journey.

I have been privileged to be involved with the school since before it was opened for students. My initial reaction to preparing the Board of Advisor’s overview for this Strategic Review was to concentrate on the items that immediately come to mind and, in normal fashion, this tended to be the negatives.

I then began to read the minutes of the Board of Advisors starting with 2010 and immediately changed my focus. What incredible successes there have been, right from the first Open Day which resulted in 55 additional enrolments.

Huanui College was set up to be recognised nationally as a school of excellence, with a focus on academic achievement. One of the stated goals was that no child need leave Northland in order to achieve academic success. Obviously Northland is a big place, and not every child lives close enough to attend Huanui College, but for those who can – the result has been a big tick. As with any competitive independent school anywhere in the world, the first reaction of the other schools is to knock, then to realise that to retain students and staff they need to up their own performance. A big tick for altruism by Huanui and a big plus for the local children who do not attend Huanui College.

The minutes reflect that very quickly it was determined that while academic achievement is vital, the all-round development of the child is equally as vital. The school newsletters and magazines report tremendous success in sporting and cultural activities along with amazing results in science fairs etc.

The sporting academy, the purchase and gift, of rowing boats, interaction with the local marae, every student participating in community activities are some of the activities that reflect the Founders’ mantra that those who receive shall also give in return. A significant proportion of students are on some form of scholarship – another tick for the original philosophy.

Very shortly after establishment a Student Council was inaugurated as were the much valued School Houses. Friends and Family became active, Open Evenings were well-supported, tutorial classes were being held for students requiring additional support, and the completion of buildings, buildings and more buildings are reported on in the minutes.

Huanui College has been a thriving establishment with positive ERO reports, wide-ranging policy writing and reviews, parents’ surveys, regular teacher parent contact, the introduction of some single sex classes, rewarding prize giving ceremonies, development of the school magazine, appointment of Prefects, excellent Head Girls and Boys who have been such a credit to themselves, their school and their families, EOTC and other co and extra-curricular activities, and staff regularly rising to meet the various challenges.
Of course there have been setbacks; the requirement to change the foundation Principal and the Board Chair, the students who have left for a variety of reasons, excellent staff who have had other opportunities or whose partners could not obtain work in their field here, and the ongoing challenges such as attracting professional families to live in Whangarei, the settling in of the Cambridge curriculum, the awareness of the additional work required for AS and A levels, compared with NCEA, providing suitable learning alternatives and options, and ensuring students choose the best options for them.

The roll growth has plateaued to some extent, global economics and demographics have had an impact. There are decided advantages of having the owner working so closely in the school with the principal although this has occasionally led to some public confusion about their respective roles.

Could the first seven years of Huanui College be considered a success story? Undoubtedly. There have already been many good news stories to tell from only two years of alumni. The manner in which Huanui College students conduct themselves academically, socially and in sporting endeavours is constantly applauded. The new Board of Trustees’ task is to take that success and grow Huanui College to become the truly great educational facility that was the Founders’ intention, utilising the skills, drive and ambition of every Board and Staff member, every student and every family associated with Huanui.

In the school holidays, from the 25th-30th April, Abby  and I had the opportunity to go to the Massey University Business Boot Camp. 70 students from around NZ signed up to this boot camp which was held at the Massey University Albany Campus. 

The Massey Business Boot Camp consisted of a mixture of lectures throughout the day as well as visiting businesses around Auckland. These lectures gave informative life skills and also taught us the ability to sell ourselves to employers. We were able to make contact with people that we may desire to use in the near future in our upcoming endeavours. The highlight of the week was visiting different businesses in the Auckland region and seeing how these businesses run. The most challenging part was the lack of sleep and having to function for many hours of the day. We were up by 6:30am and didn’t go to bed until 11pm each night, for 5 days.

The boot camp gave great insight into how businesses function and the varying range of values that each business upholds. It gave practical experience to the functioning of businesses, and we were able to apply what we learnt in class to the real business world. By being situated at the Massey University Albany Campus for the week, we were able to get a good insight into the functioning of the university as well as seeing what is available to the students and the amazing facilities that the campus has. We would highly recommend this boot camp to anyone who has the opportunity, especially since it is highly sought after, and the 70 places were sold out within 24hrs.

On Monday 16 May as part of our Social Studies People-on-the-Move unit looking at migration, the Year 7s went to the Matakohe Kauri Museum. We had a good look at what life was like for the Dalmatian migrants who came to Northland for Kauri gum and timber in the early 1900s. It was an amazing trip and a big thank you to all the parents who helped transport and supervision – we couldn’t do it without you!