Nau mai, hoki mai, e te whānau ki Te Kāreti o te Oneroa o Kahu – Welcome back to Long Bay College for 2023! And a very special welcome to the whānau of all of our new students who are starting with us this year across all year levels, nau mai, haere mai.
In Year 9 alone, we have another healthy intake with over 370 students choosing to begin their high school journey with us and we look forward to all that they will bring to our School across our 5 arms of Academia, Arts, Culture, Service, and Sport.
They join a School that is buoyed by another year of outstanding success in its academic results. When you combine all three levels of NCEA, our students have outperformed much of the country again, with combined results 23% better than national averages and 16% superior to that of decile 10 averages across New Zealand. Of this our akonga (students), kaiako (teachers), support staff, Board of Trustees and the wider community can be rightly proud.
We are excited to get stuck into 2023 and welcome your support in ensuring that our learners are ready to achieve their own levels of personal excellence for global success. We will be focusing on high standards and expectations of our students in terms of their effort in all arms of the school, their behaviours, and their uniform. When we work harmoniously, as a school, students, and whānau, we have a settled environment that enables us to throw our energies and focus on maximizing our students’ educational outcomes.
After two or three years of the world being in a state of unrest and after the recent extreme weather events, we are now working in a more settled environment. One area to suffer, and understandably in many ways, has been the attendance of our students. Pre-Covid we sat proudly above national averages at about 92% attendance across the year, but this has dropped markedly. I cannot stress enough the importance of being at school and actively engaging in the teaching and learning process. The correlation between success and positive attendance rates is extremely significant and conversely that with lack of success and low levels of attendance. As whānau, I ask for your support in ensuring that, when possible, your children are with us for every single moment.
Again, welcome back to your school, and here’s to a magnificent 2023.
Ngā mihi nui
CJ Healey
Principal
