College Prizegiving a celebration for all

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 7, Issue 361, 13 November 1990, Page 9

College Prizegiving a celebration for all

College Principal Harry Cast's Senior prizegiving speech • Prize giving is a celebration for all of us - it is a celebration for *11 that is good iri education. Everyone gains an award today - either as an individual for personal excellence or as part of a successful team or as part of a winning whanau. Last year it was Tomorrow's schools - I spoke about that at the last prizegiving; I will not mention tomorrow's Schools again - it is Today's Schools. It is too early to judge Today's Schools - let's give it another year to work through the massive paperwork and look at the changes we have had to make. The changes are for the benefit of the students - but so far much of the time has gone into creating administrative structures. Hopefully the real benefit will start to filter through and we can put the ideals of Today's Schools into greater practice. A concern I have is that perhaps people have expected to see dramatic changes quickly - in reality educators have to be conservative and ensure that any changes will be for the benefit of the students. Changes need

to be looked at carefully, evaluated and then instituted. I would like to thank the Board of Trustees for their comment and the time they have spent working for the College. We have a vacancy on the Board for a parent representative and we are hoping to fill that vacancy by appointment in the near future, but until that is filled we have not got a full complement. At the primary school level there appears to be more parent interest in being involved in the Trustee role than in the secondary area. Perhaps there are two reasons for the reluctance to be involved, the first being the active discouragement secondary students give their parents not wanting them involved in school, the second reason perhaps is parents having the feeling that Colleges are too complicated and should be left to those with business experience.

I refute this strongly - to be involved in a Board of Trustees you need to have an interest in education, concern in your son/daughters future, and time to attend two or three meetings a month. Board of Trustees are not administrators, they are the policy setters; this is where parent empowering comes in - the Board sets the policies which the school follows under the administrations direction. Mrs B Meyer let in April after many years on the Board as a Board member and then as Chairperson and I would like to acknowledge the considerable role she played in the changeover to a Board of trustees. We are losing three BOT members after the December meeting; Natalee Taylor our Student Representative is resigning after almost two years, Mr R Van Lent our Army representative is being transferred after a two year term and Mr J Law-

erenson the staff rep is retiring after seven years of involvement. It has been a learning experience for Natalee being on the Board and it has also been a learning experience for the Board. Natalee has been able to contribute effectively to Board decisions and I congratulate her on her involvement. Mr r Van Lent has brought the experience of teaching combined with the administrative experience of his military background. His incisive and reasoned viewpoint that will be missed. Mr J Lawerenson has served the Board for at least seven years and has considerable experience in Board matters. His expertise will certainly be missed at the Board meetings, but of course we will still have it in the school, and will be able to call upon it. All three retiring members have contributed time, energy and expertise for the good of the school and I

would like to record my thanks for their involvement and commitment. The school is in good heart; the physical condition of the working environment, the cultural, social and acadenjic aspects are all well catered for. I think we must be one of the busiest schools in the country, every week there are extra events, eg, 1990 saw the production of a school cassette tape featuring our cultural group; this was a new venture for us and involved the community and school. My thanks go to the staff, both the teaching and support staff - their commitment to the school far exceeds expectations. Every staff member here goes the extra mile; and I appreciate the effort they make on the school's behalf. Staff changes during the year saw Mr Dunn leave for a position in industry - (one of 1370 who left secondary teaching in NZ over the last year) and Mr and

Mrs Brebner who left in August after a combined twenty five years of service at Ruapehu. The Brebners contribution to the College and the community was substantial and far Teaching. They are certainly missed. With Mr Brebner leaving the Assistant Principal's position was gained by Mrs George - and as a result of her promotion there will be three internal promotions gazetted in the near future.

We are a community school - we endeavour to reflect the wishes of our local community. we also encourage community involvement - this year we, in conjunction with Rotary, hosted a successful careers day. Over the Labour weekend the Sing Aoteoroa festival was held here and hundreds of visitors from all over NZ took part in activities centred at the College. These Turn page 12

Prizegiving is celebration for all

From page 9 activities bring the community into the school - something we actively encourage. As a Principal and as a staff we wonder why we lose some students to Boarding schools. I think seriously some parents dismiss Ruapehu College without

seriously considering it as an option - we are seen as a small rural school with little to offer. Others perhaps consider the historical difficulties that affected Ruapehu College many years ago, but many make the decision on secondary education

with out seriously considering Ruapehu College as a choice. Here we offer the option range, the social and the cultural opportunities of schools much larger than ourselves - with the added advantage of parents being able to have close contact with the school and their son or daughter without them losing the contact of their son or daughter in the important teenage formative years. Perhaps one of the reasons is misinformation in the community, in the time

I have been at Ruapehu College I have heard incredible stories - which are quite unfounded. How about? - None of our English teachers are qualified." In reality all four teachers teaching English have either degrees or degrees with honours, or the comment that many senior classes are on correspondence. - the 1990 situation is that five students have one subject on correspondence. I would urge those parents in the community to come into the College to investigate for themselves

what we have to offer their children. All enquiries are welcomed and their important decisions can be made based on fact not on fiction. To those leaving school I hope you have taken the opportunities available to you at Ruapehu, we have endeavoured to provide a rounded education that equips you for life "out there" it is not an easy world to survive in, but you leave here with our best wishes. To those going to University or other tertiary institutions, our success rate has been

particularly pleasing and I hope that the honest effort you have put into your school work is applied to the next educational institution you attend. In three years time I want to be able to read your name out of the list of graduates - and perhaps in four of five years on the list of honours graduates. To the parents and visitors to the College who have supported us over the last year, thank you, your support does make a difference. H Cast Principal.