New teacher at home in Tokoroa
The chance to teach in Tokoroa was an opportunity Renee Hutchinson wasn’t going to let pass her by.
Forest View High School’slatest addition has been overwhelmed by the warm reception and she’s only been there two months.
Hutchinson came from Aquinas College, a decile 9 Catholic School in Tauranga, and said the transition has been a ‘‘fantastic move’’.
‘‘I love it. The greatest thing to me is the quality of the young people at this school.
‘‘I have never worked in such an inclusive and welcoming environment.’’
The new Head of English takes over the reigns from Chris Rice who retired after 33-years.
Hutchinson has wasted no time in setting several goals in her new role.
One includes working towards becoming a principal.
Other goals include working with members of her department to change the conversation around ‘‘just achieving’’.
‘‘It’s around making English something that’s exciting, something that’s relevant, something that has a purpose wider than the books of your classroom.’’
She said students have a diverse range of abilities so her team will be looking at strategies to help students raise their grades.
‘‘When you start to become interested in the world you’re living in, you can make those connections with the text and that’s when you find that relevance.
‘‘To elevate them out of the weeds of what’s the point and there’s no job in this.
‘‘This is about our thinking; this is about our connection with the world that we live in.’’
She said a push to get more students to enter national competitions in short film, speech and writing was also on the agenda.
‘‘This year is about that observation of how does that programme work and then redeveloping that to start next year.
‘‘That’s going to open up scholarships for a whole group of students.
‘‘With these students we have the raw materials and with our teaching staff we have got the raw materials we need to shake it up and put it altogether.’’