Dear North West College Community,
Thank you for your continued support of North West College.
We’re working hard to improve attendance, but we are not yet meeting the Charter School Agency’s expectations. We know there has been a lot of illness in the community this season and understand how difficult this has been for families. We would like to see a significant improvement in attendance in Term 4.
Sherida Penman Walters
Thank you for coming along to the term conferences. Attending these is a requirement in our enrolment contracts because they are the best way for parents to get up-to-date assessment information and talk with teachers about strategies to support continued improvement.
We’ve just completed another Charter School Audit and are pleased that recent testing shows ongoing improvement in Reading, Writing and Maths across the school. We congratulate our excellent teachers for their expertise and the support they give our students.
We’ve received many enrolment applications and have decided to increase our Year 7 classes to three, with 60 students in total. In 2027, Year 7 and 8 students will be based at the current Universal Drive building, while Years 9, 10 and 11 will be in the new building on the corner of Universal Drive. We will move into the new building in early December 2026.
We’re also looking into transport options. It is likely that we will contract a company to run the Waimauku, Kumeu and Riverhead bus service. Our current bus and vans may then be used to serve other areas of the North West. We’ll keep you informed as this develops.
We’re making very good progress with the introduction of the Cambridge International Education curriculum. Students are getting used to the expectations, and teachers are appreciating the professional development and support available through CIE. Our first formal Year 10 examinations will take place this term to help students become familiar with the examination setting and expectations.
We’re in the process of setting up the North West College Education Charitable Trust for the benefit of our students and staff. The trust will allow us to accept donations, sponsorships and other support to help provide some of the extras we would like to see at the College, including music and sound equipment, portable staging, artificial playing surfaces and outdoor play equipment.
Kind regards,
Sherida Penman Walters
Co-Founder and Advisory Board Chair
Ken Pemberton
Co-Founder and Business Manager
Ken Pemberton
