Kia ora tatau, 

Two sleeps until the annual Quiz night - I hope you all have your costumes ready and have brushed up on your general knowledge! Thanks in advance to the PTA for organising this event. It is a great evening and is a wonderful fundraiser for our school.

Auckland Schools Staffing Crisis

No doubt you have heard in the media that there is currently a staffing crisis in Auckland schools. This morning I attended an Auckland Primary Principal's Association breakfast meeting. They shared the results of a staffing survey conducted in the first week of this term. Survey results outlined that in the first week of this term almost 50% of responding schools had 5 or more unfilled teaching vacancies.  Specialist programmes like reading recovery are having to be put on hold, Principals and DPs are teaching classes and in some cases, classes are being doubled up. There are approximately 1500 teachers per year leaving the profession, and currently only 600 teachers per year being trained. The long term implications are concerning. For now I am very grateful that our wonderful little school is a desirable place to work and that we have continued to attract high quality teachers for our children.

Farewell to our international students

This Friday we will farewell our short term international students from China and Korea. It is always lovely having the opportunity to interact with these students and learn about life in other parts of the world. We look forward to having some of them visit again next year.

I look forward to seeing you all on Friday evening.

Naku noa

Melinda