Principal’s Notes – April 2026

Welcome back to Term 2…and a busy term it is! The number one priority and focus for students this term must be in relation to the Common Assessment Activities (CAAs) or Lit/Nums – the Literacy and Numeracy assessments that are a key goal in attaining a National Certificate (NCEA). Without them (the CAAs) you can’t get it (the NCEA)!! We are running the first of two assessment opportunities for the CAAs in Week 5 of this term with the Reading CAA on Monday 18th May; the Writing CAA on Tuesday 19th May and the Numeracy CAA on Wednesday 20th May. These are rigorously run formal assessment opportunities that mirror those run by NZQA for external examinations at the end of the year.

Needless to say it is important that students and parents focus on good attendance to facilitate optimum results in these CAAs. Remember both our goal at Springs/Waiōrea and the MOE focus is 90% attendance, which in simple terms equates to missing only 1 day per fortnight. The 90% attendance goal needs to be the focus of every student and every family/whānau enrolled here. Establishing good habits around attendance is crucial and parents and whānau will be aware of the extensive follow-up work we are doing to ensure good attendance.

Hand in hand with this may I mention the importance of arriving to school on time. Late arrival still challenges us even though lessons start here “later than any other school on the planet”. Lessons start at 9.00am and student should aim to arrive at 8.50am and be in class ready to start at 8.55. For Waiōrea students, the first warning bell rings at 8.47am for ākonga to be at karakia by 8.50am.

Ngā mihi,

Ivan Davis
Principal