Rototuna High Schools are at the heart of our community, dedicated to serving the best interests of around 2,400 young people across our campus. We ensure that our students leave school ready to navigate the world with dignity, purpose, and a wide range of opportunities. At Rototuna, we empower our learners to be connected, collaborative, and community-minded individuals, inspired to achieve their full potential.
KŌRERO FROM KAREN
Kia ora Rototuna e te whānau,
We know every whānau wants the very best for their young person, and we share that aspiration. Our aim is for each student to thrive, not only academically, but personally as well.
Last night we welcomed whānau, to our Supporting Student Success evening focused on NCEA, how it works and how we can partner together to support our young people. A strong theme throughout the evening was that success is built on partnership. When home and school share understanding and communicate openly, our students are best placed to flourish. (If you were not able to attend our ‘Supporting Student Success’ evening last night, here is a link to a PDF of the information from the evening and here is a handout explaining NCEA on one page.)
At Rototuna Senior High School our three curriculum strands, Whānau (Advisory), Wānanga Ako (Specialist Subjects) and Puna Wānanga, work together to bring this vision to life. We design rich learning experiences that ignite curiosity and stretch students’ thinking; critically, creatively and with care. We know that learning is most powerful when it is connected, to the real world, across learning areas and to our wider community.
Importantly, NCEA assessment sits behind this learning, it does not drive it. When students are genuinely engaged in meaningful, connected learning experiences they are better prepared to demonstrate deep understanding in their assessments. Engagement fuels confidence and confidence supports high achievement. This connection between rich learning and strong outcomes continues to be reflected in the outstanding success of our students. We are incredibly proud to celebrate three exceptional Senior High students who achieved NCEA Scholarship in Visual Arts in 2025: Cathy Young (Painting), Jenna McDougal (Painting), and Helena Ho (Sculpture). Helena achieved this remarkable honour as a Year 12 student and now serves as one of our Manukura.
NCEA Scholarship is the highest academic award at secondary school level in Aotearoa, recognising performance well beyond Level 3 expectations. With only around 3% of students nationally gaining Scholarship in a subject, this is an exceptional accomplishment.
This success reflects dedication, creative courage and many hours refining both craft and concept. We also acknowledge the outstanding support of our Visual Arts department, particularly kaiako Judy Chiang and Franda Zondagh, whose expertise, guidance and belief in their students continue to empower our young people to soar.
Ngā mihi,
Karen Stimson
Acting Principal
