From our Tumuaki / Principal

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa,

As we continue to settle into the new Pōhutukawa building and discover useful information such as where all the light switches are and how to turn the fans off, we have an update on the final handover dates. Completion of the exterior around the new hub will be completed in two parts.

• The exterior of the new building will be fully completed and the fencing taken down around the hub by the end of the upcoming school holiday break. The walkway between our existing Harakeke Hub building and the new Pōhutukawa building will be opened up and usable, and people will be able to move more easily between the two buildings using the covered walkway. This also means all of the fire exits at the back of Pōhutukawa will be usable, and our occupancy numbers will no longer have a limit (we currently have a limit on the number of people in the building, spread across both floors at all times).
• The exterior area at the back of Harakeke Hub will remain fenced off for the first several weeks of Term 4, as the construction crew slowly withdraws from the site, removing the temporary road that was created for construction vehicles as they go, and restoring the landscaping. They will also remove the gravel mound over by the Romaine Road entrance to school, as this was excavated from site when construction first began, to create the temporary driveway. It will now be restored to the area at the back of Harakeke Hub.
• Our amazing building will be formally opened after school on Friday November 10th by Mayor Tory Whanau. We will combine this event with our cultural festival and community gathering - a chance to come along to see our building formally opened, celebrate the amazing diversity in our community and connect together. With a range of cultural food and dances, a bouncy castle, and the ever-popular ice cream truck, it is an event not to be missed - save the date!

We continue to make good use of the school hall now that it has been opened up again for sports and movement use. We had Tū Mātau Ora at school for two days last week, teaching ākonga some taonga tākaro - traditional Māori games. Ākonga learned about the history and use of poi and had lots of fun using poi in ways they have not done before!

I am off to the South Island next week for the national primary principals’ conference, and I'm looking forward to presentations and discussions around topics such as transformational leadership, equity, and trauma informed practice. The primary school principals in our kāhui network of schools will also spend some time together as part of this event, exploring what the conference content means for our own cluster of schools and how we work and collaborate together. I am looking forward to lots of invigorating discussions and a chance to think about the next steps in our school and kāhui journey.

Kia pai te rā whakatā, enjoy your weekend and your time with whānau and friends. 

Ngā mihi, 

Urs Cunningham