I wish to acknowledge everyone involved in our Polyfest performances last Thursday. Special thanks to Mrs Hunt, Ana, Savannah, Jared, Renee, Ariana, and all the teachers and supporters for working with the 290 students who performed with such pride. It was very emotional watching the performances from afar.

I'm told the respect and whanaungatanga shown by the Y5-8 Performance Group backstage prior to the performance was just a little insight into the powerful and positive impact these caring kaimahi have on our rangatahi & tamariki. 

If you’d like to watch Carisbrook in action in the Thursday morning Polyfest session visit https://livestream.com/accounts/15197514/otagopolyfest2022   

• Years 1-2 & 5-6 Performance @ timestamp 2h:26m
• Years 3-4 Performance @ timestamp 2h:59m
• Years 5-8 Performance Group @ timestamp 3h:50m

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week)

This week was extra special as the14 September marks the 50th anniversary of the Māori Language Week. Special thanks to Ana for sharing multiple teaching resources with our team and a big kapai to Karene for her special greeting in Te Reo to all those who rung in. 

Numicon Maths has had such a tangible influence on our teaching and learning and is now often the favoured subject the students say they are enjoying at school. Check out this resource and use it with your children at home.

Public holiday announced for Queen's NZ memorial service on Monday 26th September.

New Zealand will observe a one-off public holiday on Monday, September 26, to mark our memorial service for the Queen.

It will be called Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement today, saying the State Memorial Service will be held in the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and will be televised and live streamed, on the same day.

"The decision to hold a one-off Public Holiday in the Queen’s honour is also in line with similar holidays in the UK and Australia, and is in keeping with what is an historic event," she said.

The Queen’s funeral will take place on Monday, September 19 at 11 am in the UK (10 pm NZT).

The two key changes impacting education providers are: The removal of the requirement for household contacts to isolate. Instead, they will be asked to test for COVID-19 for five days. Masks are no longer mandatory. Positive cases remain legally required to isolate for seven days. Anyone who is symptomatic, including household contacts, should stay at home and get tested for COVID-19.

Mask wearing is no longer required. Although Students and staff are welcome to wear masks if they wish. Masks are available from the school office for all staff and students.

All the other recommended public health measures will stay in place as we know they reduce the spread of infectious illnesses including COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene, encouraging everyone to cough or sneeze into elbows, and, most importantly, staying home and getting tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms.

We also want visitors to sign in at the office and for all visitors on site to stay out of the blocks to ensure maximum protection.

Mr James and I had three days of intense keynote speakers. Of the multiple sessions we attended these three resonated with me.

Prof. Russell Bishop is an Emeritus Professor for Māori Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Over the last two decades, his research has focused on enhancing outcomes for Maori and other marginalized learners. One of his core areas of focus has been on supporting teachers to develop culturally responsive, trusting, and family-like relationships with all learners. His powerful message was 'How to solve the Literacy Crisis in two years'.  He shared the process and we both strongly saw the reality of this.

Dr Farah Palmer went on to complete a Ph.D. in Sport Sociology and reach the highest echelons in rugby – playing for a decade in the black jersey (1997-2006) and captaining the Black Ferns to 3 World Cup victories.

What she talked about: Farah used rugby analogies and a wahine Māori perspective to challenge dominant narratives related to Māori, women and girls, sport, and leadership. She demonstrated how kindness to ourselves, and others are important in the process of lifelong learning and encouraged us to ‘take that space’ if opportunities arise, accepting failure is part of learning, and when in leadership roles, we should ‘pass it back’ (give others opportunities) and ‘kick it forward’ (be visionary).

Scott Robertson is  Head Coach of the Crusaders. He was entertaining but still had a powerful message, 'Leadership! There’s a story to be told!'

He shared what a leader needs to do to take a team to the top and keep it there. He said that leadership styles differ and shared what his leadership looks like. Scott Robertson says his leadership is about the stories! It was a unique opportunity to gain insight into his leadership style as one of New Zealand’s most influential coaches.

Bruce and I were grateful for this opportunity and most importantly we look forward to implementing and embedding some of what we learned.

Hei konei rā

Katrina Munro

Principal