Principal's Piece
It is often said about being part of a community, that you get out what you put in. We are fortunate to live in the Methven community which is supportive of our people, - ō matou tangata - and passionate about our place, - ō matou whenua - and the opportunities that both provide.
Our Growth Profile, which was born from consulting with the community back in 2020, highlights the desire they had for our students to become active members of the community - whether that is the school community, or wider community, as the skills to do that will transfer to any community in the world, once students leave our gates.
For a small community, the services, amenities, businesses, and opportunities we have on our doorstep are numerous - not many communities of this size boast: hot pools, ice skating, skiing, hot air ballooning, river pursuits, tramping, mountain biking, numerous sport clubs … etc! This is no accident. This is down to people investing in our community, with their time and money to ensure it is a desirable place for the people within it to be.
The rebrand of our Wednesday afternoon programme to MHC Active, offers opportunities for students to not only be active in a physical sense, but also in terms of the community. Outside of our physical options, students can participate in-based service clubs or a promotions team. Our production, an option in Term 2, is a great example of a community working together to support each other - it wouldn’t have been the success it was without support of the local theatrical society, lighting and sound personnel, among a long list of others, not to mention the team of talented performers.
Along with wanting a sense of belonging for our students to the wider community, we also seek to develop their sense of belonging to culture. It has been awesome to see the recognition beyond our community of the work the Cultural Committee has been doing to celebrate Tongan Language Week, hosting activities and creating videos shared online. What an endorsement for our student leaders, Naita Tuamoheloa and Soni Ahotaeiloa in particular, to have their video shared online by prominent people/groups in the Pasifika community, including the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.
This term has also seen a number of short-stay international groups visiting the college, developing our students’ awareness of the global community, and building whanaungatanga with students from other countries and cultures.
A secret I personally keep a little too well is that our school is also an award centre for the Duke of Edinburgh Award - an internationally recognised award first started by Prince Phillip, whose vision was to have young people engaged purposefully, and active in their communities.
It is hard for me to imagine a student in our kura who is not doing one of the following things that counts towards the award: learning a skill (musical instrument, umpiring/referring, driving, a craft, cooking..), volunteering their time in some capacity (library or cafe assistant, student leadership position, coaching a team, helping a neighbour..), participating in a physical pursuit (sports team, individual sport, improving personal fitness..), which are three of the four categories towards the award. The fourth is adventurous journey - overnight expeditions by foot, bike, kayak.
As someone who earned all three award levels - Bronze, Silver, and Gold - during high school, I can personally attest to how it develops all aspects of our Growth Profile & values. The memories of the adventurous journeys I undertook in particular remain the highlights of my high school career.
If your child is someone you could see participating in the award, and being active in our community, see the other newsletter item with further information.
Mā te kimi ka kite
Seek and discover.
Jess McConnell
Deputy Principal