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Tēnā koutou e te whānau whānui o Rangitoto.
One of the benchmarks of a great education is the range of opportunities a school provides for its students to find a passion and a pathway both within, and beyond the classroom.
In the weeks since our first edition of Vista for 2023, we have been delighted with the significant increase in student commitment to extra-curricular activities. From major school events, like the school production of Shrek the Musical, to the establishment of new clubs such as EVolocity and the new Crocheting Club, our students have a wide array of opportunities available. A fantastic example of this has been our largest-ever number of students fundraising in the Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event.
We would like to say a big thank you to all the staff, coaches, managers, and volunteers who provide such a rich range of options for our Rangitoto students.
Now that we have access to other schools’ statistical data from 2022, it is clear that our students continue to achieve at the very highest levels when compared to similar schools. I am pleased that the media are beginning to shine a spotlight on the declining educational outcomes in New Zealand. At Rangitoto, we firmly believe that the knowledge-rich curriculum that we have been working on for the past three years gives our students a significant advantage. We support the calls for more clearly defined curriculum outcomes at every level of schooling and believe that structured literacy is one important way that these outcomes can be improved for all students regardless of their school. Equally, the need for parents to be accurately informed of their child’s academic progress throughout schooling via benchmarked testing is key if we are to form effective partnerships with families when putting in additional support programmes if required. Hopefully, New Zealand decision-makers will look to evidence from overseas and apply programmes to our context, rather than suggesting that international standards are not relevant to our students.
Patrick Gale, Principal
