Principal's Panui - 17 October 2025

Kia ora te Whānau o te Kōtuku 

This week has been a special week of acknowledgment and celebrations. This article will focus on our first ever Hall of Distinction assembly held on Monday morning.

The Rutherford College Hall of distinction has the purpose of recognizing former students who have achieved outstanding success and made significant contributions to their field of endeavour or community. It’s our way of acknowledging the achievements of our alumni and inspiring current students with what is possible. It was a very proud and symbolic event for our school to have five inspirational Rutherford inductees attend the ceremony. 

The 5 inductees were our nation’s Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Cindy Kiro, Professor Alan Barber, Dame Yvonne Willering, Pio Terei, and Oscar Kightley.

All five of the inductees have been previous Rutherford Day speakers and have excelled in their chosen fields. What unites them is they were all once part of the kotuku flock and walked the same whenua as we all do.

What also unites them is that they possess a special and unique wairua that is underpinned by their care for people and wanting to be change agents to make the world a better place. They achieve this daily with their words, deeds and actions.

They all received a bespoke sterling silver Kotuku pin and their names added to the Hall of Distinction Honours Board in our new Administration building.

Awards Ceremonies

Our Pasifika Prizegiving on Tuesday was a fantastic community celebration of students who have strived for and achieved personal excellence.  I would like to acknowledge and thank Mr. Talamaivao and the team, for their organization and hard work behind the scenes. As always it was a pleasure to be part of this special evening. The recipient of the top Pasifika Award for 2025 was Isabella Triggs.

On Thursday evening at Cultural Awards we had a beautiful night of arts and culture, with performances from our talented students with the following students picking up the top awards for the night.

Dux Artium  - Ruby Mitchell (For Design & Dance)

Top Performers 

Junior Male Performer - Harry Donald
Junior Female Performer - Grace Kelly                                                
Senior Male Performer - Israel Hall
Senior Female Performer -  Casey Robson

Overall Outstanding Co-Curricular Award

Natalia Noone-Jones
Praveena M S
Isaac Lee Sang 

Service Awards

Service to Music - Finn Boyack & Max RobbMarkham
Service to Drama - Shana Diallo
Service  to Dance  -  Beth Taye                                                                      
Service to Visual Arts -  Jimmy Egginton  &   Natalia Noone-Jones       

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Ms Perumal, the Cultural Committee, and everyone involved for their hard work in making this evening such a success. It truly is a collective effort—not only in bringing the awards evening together, but also through the dedication and mahi shown throughout the year by staff who lead and support our many cultural teams and activities.

I am looking forward to this evening’s Sports Awards which will be a celebration of the outstanding talent, dedication, and success demonstrated by our athletes throughout the year. 

As our seniors get closer to study leave, there will be 7 days of school left when they return on Monday. Please continue to take up the challenge of fulfilling your goal of striving for personal excellence.

Lean into the resistance of the challenges that remain, and grow stronger, as a result. We are often so close to a breakthrough or the goal we have been chasing and give in, when it just needed just one more good effort. 

We don’t let go of our dreams and goals we might just need to adapt our approach or dust ourselves down for one final push.

Please remember that students who achieve 20 plus credits in their externals at Level 3 are 80% more likely to succeed at university than those who don’t get 20 plus. We cannot become practiced and good at externals if we leave it all until Year 13. Like anything we need to become good at, it takes time, effort and practice.  Learning how to prepare for and then manage the time pressure needs energy invested in years 11 and 12. Time spent in Year 11 and 12 builds a base of knowledge and confidence for Year 13.

Strike Action - 23 October

NZPPTA (New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association) has confirmed that a full day strike will take place on Thursday October 23rd. This means there will be no scheduled classes for students on that day.  We understand this is disruptive and inconvenient for parents. Students should make use of Google Classroom and the Rutherford College Study Site to complete work and prepare for external exams. 

What's Coming Up?

30 October - Senior Prizegiving 6.30pm School Hall and last day for Y11-13 students.
31 October - Y13 Leavers' Lunch
04 November - NCEA Exams commence
21 & 24 November - Junior Exams
05 & 08 December - Wider Living Days
10 December - Junior Prizegiving and last day for students

Gary Moore