Principal's Panui - 27 February 2026

Kia ora te whanau ō te Kōtuku

Assessments for students

We are now halfway through Term 1 and students will be feeling the workload of managing multiple subjects. For Year 9 students, the transition to high school is significant. Moving between classes each day can be tiring, especially if they are trying to carry every single book they own in their bag. Lockers are still available to help with this. If your child prefers not to use a locker, encourage them to keep their timetable somewhere visible, such as on the fridge, so they can pack only what they need each morning. Developing this organisational habit early is an important life skill.

What Year 9 students have not yet experienced is the load of the high school assessment that comes in the latter part of every school term. In my experience many new year 9 students don’t understand that these assessments are different to the diagnostic assessments they are familiar with such as PATs or e-asstle. Diagnostic tests measure a student’s current skill level but do not require them to produce extended work. While these results are useful, they do not determine school grades.

College assessments are different. Success depends on completing the assessment task carefully and showing what has been learned during the unit. A student may have strong diagnostic scores, but excellent grades come from effort, preparation, and attention to task requirements.

If you are looking for ways to support your child with assessment, ask them to show you the information they have received about upcoming assessments, such as task sheets or marking schedules. Encouraging students to use this information to guide their work can make a significant difference to their achievement. 

Rutherford College puts a significant amount of staffing resources into leadership roles in academic progress tracking and intervention. This year we have two new pastoral positions as part of our restructured pastoral team. Mr Blair White is our Junior Academic Learning and Progress Dean. His role is to track year 9 and 10 students progress to ensure students are achieving to their capabilities. Mr Kevin Gilmore is our Senior Academic Tracking Dean. He monitors students from Year 11-13 as they move through NCEA. 

We also have an extension coordinator Dr Evie Mansfield, who coordinates extension opportunities across subject areas for academically able students. For those of you with a child who has learning differences or difficulties we have a highly experienced Special Needs Coordinator (SENCO) Mrs Saffron Conde. 

Each house also has one Dean who leads House achievement and works with the four people above.

Senior Academic Dean, Mr Kevin Gilmore
Junior Academic Dean, Mr Blair White
LEAP Extension Coordinator, Dr Evie Mansfield
Special Needs Coordinator (SENCO) Mrs Saffron Conde

Information Evening for Year 9 and 10 Parents - 5 March 6.30pm

For more information on achieving success at school we have a Year 9 and 10 Achieving Success at School Information evening coming up on March 5 at 6.30pm. We will be covering information about assessment, accessing help, the national literacy and numeracy tests. Venue: Information Commons

NCEA Information Evening March 23 6.30pm

Parents and Caregivers are warmly invited to the NCEA Information Evening held in the Information Commons at 6.30pm on March 23. This event is suitable for families with students from Year 10 upwards who are new to NCEA. There will be a brief overview of NCEA with a focus on Level 1 (Year 11) and the new literacy and numeracy requirements (Year 10). You will have the opportunity to ask questions. 

Please fill in this form to let us know if you are coming or if you have any questions or topics you would like us to cover. NCEA Information Evening Form

Please be seated by 6.30 pm.

Reminder about requirements for Specialist Classrooms

A reminder that closed-toe shoes are required for all Technology and Science practical lessons. This is a health and safety requirement to ensure students are protected when working with equipment, tools, and materials. Please help your young person come prepared for learning each day by wearing or bringing appropriate footwear, as students without closed-toe shoes may not be able to participate in practical activities and we don’t want anyone to miss out on valuable hands-on learning. Thank you for your support.

Flying in the V Formation

At Rutherford we talk about protecting the nest and flying in a V formation as part of our symbolism. What protecting the nest means is that students live by our school values through their words, deeds and actions. Protecting the nest can also mean more specifically that if we haven’t got anything good to say or post we don t do, say, or post anything. 

We can be honest, but we are not cruel or spiteful. We do not hide behind a screen or keyboard. At Rutherford we learn to think and respond rather than react based on our emotions. Emotions are temporary they will pass, that’s why they are not called e-standing stills.

This week I shared with all year levels at assemblies what 1325 staff and students have heard before and should be reminded of. For the 475 staff and students new to the Kotuku flock they need to have clarity about how we aspire to do things around here.  

THE SENSE OF A GOOSE 

When you see geese flying along in ‘V’ formation, you might consider what science has discovered about why they fly that way.  As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following.  By flying in ‘V’ formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. 

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are travelling on the thrust of one another. 

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.  If we had as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are headed the same way we are. 

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies to point. 

It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south.  Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front and to keep up their speed.  What messages do we send are they words of encouragement or have we allowed our personal standards to slip? 

Finally, and this is important – when a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese fallout with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection.  They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group. 

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. 

The more that individuals take responsibility for their words, deeds and actions (behaviours) and strive for personal excellence including how we look to support those around us the stronger we can all become. 

ERO Research Centre
ERO’s research centre wants to hear from parents and whānau about their children’s use of AI, as part of a national project. Here is the link to a 5-min survey: Parent survey_AI in schools.

What's Coming Up?

02 March - Scholars Assembly 1pm
02 March - West Auckland Athletics-Trust Stadium
06 March - Staff Only Day - School Closed
13 March - Fia Fia Night - Sports Hall (Down past the swimming pool)- 6pm
16 March - NZ Blood Drive - School Hall
18-21 March - Polyfest Pasifika Diversity Stage

Ngā mihi
Gary Moore