Read the latest News from Rutherford College

Kia ora te Whanau o Te Kotuku

It was great to see so many of our new to Rutherford Whanau at our community evening on Tuesday. Equally nice to see existing members of the whanau come along and have the chance to enjoy some food, chat, listen and watch some of our wonderful student performers.

Today’s athletics day was a blast of colour and the chance to give our house system its first big event of the year. Some great scenes, some of which will be shared later on via our news bulletins.

Managing our Time

The following message is largely for our senior students but not a bad reminder for us as adults either. 

Either you plan and choose how you run your day or the day will end up running you and you will wonder what you did with the time you were given. 

Time management needs to be taught. We must learn how to prioritise and use our time more wisely. Stephen Covey’s work and his simple 4 quadrant approach are what I often rely on when things can start to feel a bit overwhelming in terms of how much there is to do and maybe not as much time as I would like. The first thing I do is prune, remove what’s not important.

We should spend as much time as possible in the North-Eastern Quadrant.  If it’s important, then make time for it. We encourage people to work hard, work hardest on what’s important, and what’s important is your human capital, it is your greatest resource.

Our lives must also include time to have fun doing stuff that is not important. Be careful of getting trapped there and not allocating the necessary time to what’s important, your human capital.

Everything in life is a 3 step Process

It starts with knowing where our are feet are now, identifying where we want to be in the future, and some idea of what that looks like, the destination. We then work backwards and identify three things that you could do that will help you get there by identifying what it is you can change to help you achieve those goals. A simple one for our young people in many cases is to start using a calendar, so they know with certainty what is due and when it’s due. Just telling them to use a calendar will not be as impactful as teaching them how to use one. 

They may also benefit from writing down their goals and having them displayed in a prominent place.  Constant reminder of the promise they made to themselves. They move from just being a dream, to a dream with a deadline.

Reporting Absences and Picking Up Students During the Day

It is important to let us know if your son or daughter cannot attend school. Please log into the School Portal/SchoolBridge and click on Report an Absence. Follow the prompts. To request an early exit from school to attend an appointment, please follow the same process but choose "Exit Pass" and complete the details. This is important as otherwise you will experience a delay while we try to get students out of class. We rely on sending runners to classes which could take 15 minutes or longer. If you are planning to take your son or daughter out of school for a holiday during term time, please record the absence the same way, but choose "Other" and record the details there. Holidays during term time are recorded as unjustified. You can view the codes here which the Ministry of Education provide.

What's Coming Up?

02 March - Scholars' Assembly - Year 12/13 only
05 March - Year 9 and 10 Information Evening
06 March - Staff Only Day - School Closed
13 March - Fia Fia Night - 6pm Sports Hall
16 March - NZ Blood Drive - School Hall
18-21 March - Polyfest Pasifika/Diversity Stage
23 March - NCEA Parent Evening
30 March to 02 April - Polyfest Maori Stage
03 April - Good Friday - end of Term 1

Ngā mihi 

Gary Moore