Read the latest news from Rutherford College

Kia ora te whanau ō te Kōtuku 

First a few acknowledgements. My thanks to all the teaching and support staff for your collective efforts and the manner with which you make a daily difference for our students. I certainly appreciate your care and commitment to our school and the people within it.

A final, thank you to our 2025 Head students, Samara and Tanner. They were a great team where their respective strengths complemented each other. We wish them every success in the future and thank them for their wonderful service to our school. For them it’s closing time on a great chapter in their lives and time to hand on the head student korowai to Sasha Hickman and Aayan Ghoshal to begin the next chapter.

The following are some of the highlights from our Year 9 and 10 Academic prizegiving.

The Award for most Promising Year 9 Boy went to Jackson Lee and the Award for most Promising Year 9 Girl went to Evie Colegate

Based on a grade point average of 90%+ in their assessments with a greater weighting on the end of year exams in English, Math’s, Science and Social Studies, the following students all received academic blue badges for their outstanding results.

Mateus Hooper, Caitlyn Uy, Samuel Taylor, Hazel Yates, James Wicks, Lyann Ota, Anna Bell, Evie Colegate, Aisha Tahir, Alfie Colegate, Emma D'Anvers, Scarlett Ibbotson, Yehya Al Hakeem, Chloe Perry, Mila Erakovich, Clayton Li, Natalie Galbraith, Oliver Gray, Jackson Lee, Delilah Smale, Annabelle Scott-Bohm and Evan Ready.

With a 100% GPA across core subjects, the Top Year 9 Scholar was Evan Ready.

 The Award for the Most Promising Year 10 Boy went to Adam Yuan and The Most Promising Year 10 Girl was awarded to Stella Anderson.

The following Year 10 students earned Academic Blue Awards based on their grade point average of 90%+:

Indy Kuka, Rosa Curtis, Samantha Bonkovich, Olive Sinkovich, Kiwa Creevey, Edward Liew, Tom Bui, Stella Anderson, Lomani Kershaw, Joel Osborne, Matteo Andres, Suleman Hamdani, Harry Donald, Bolton Shen, Adam Yuan.

With a 100% GPA the Junior Dux award went to Adam Yuan

What continues to make me most proud is the collective willingness of the Kotuku flock to fly in the V formation. What this means is that on a daily basis people commit their head, heart and soul to something bigger than just themselves as individuals. 

What that creates is unity. This Kotahitanga is the strength of our school and our wider community. At Rutherford we understand that the best report card is the one you give yourself. It’s about your own integrity or pono.

This means that you never compare yourself to the best others can be, always be the best you can be.

Tohea strive for personal excellence.

As we head into Xmas, we should also remind ourselves that nothing carries more potential for change in society than individual acts of human kindness.   

Acknowledgment to Mr Solomone

I would like to acknowledge Mr Solomone who is retiring/ taking time out while he thinks about the next steps. Number 1, he is a good man. He is calm, thoughtful and kind and always puts the needs of young people as the priority. He is a great educator and although he has only been part of the flock for two years his influence has been significant. The current SLT group have seen how he operates and learned from that, and I have greatly appreciated having someone with 11 years of experience as a Principal fully understanding what goes on as a sounding board. 

Robert Solomone a man of few words but the ones that he utters, are often steeped in wisdom and kindness. 

Robert and I had crossed paths at different times during our careers, but it is only since he has been here that I have got to fully know the quality of the man and the human being that he is. It has been a great thing for our school that at this key moment in time that he chose to come and work in our community and be part of the Rutherford Flock.

As a team we are constantly reminded of the wisdom that Robert possesses. He is a deep thinker, a kind person who looks for the good in people and also has a great sense of humour. Can’t do this job without it. He always operates with an externally calm demeanour. This is what the staff and students have seen, a good man with a good heart and a good educator as result of those innate qualities.

Bula Vinaka matua, there are not many like you. 

Have an enjoyable and safe Xmas and holiday break.

Ka kite ano

Gary Moore