Year 8 camps are finished and most of the Year 7 activity days completed and so we will move into a more settled and regular timetable.

Thank you very much for your support of our camps and activity days.  It may be the warmest summer on recent record but due to rain some camps and activity  days have had to be rescheduled. We are doing our best to ensure no class misses out and really do appreciate your support.  Some Room 4 parents have traveled to camp twice, thank you.  For those of you that have been involved we look forward to you joining the staff for thank you drinks and nibbles on Wednesday 28 March at 7:00pm in the staffroom.  An invitation will be sent home with your child.

On Wednesday 21st March the staff are required to attend a union meeting.  To enable this to happen we ask that you make arrangements for your child to leave school at 12:45pm, but if this is not possible we will organise supervision in the hall but please complete the form in this newsletter so we have numbers and can account for students.  The union has called this meeting and staff have a responsibility to attend but we do understand this is difficult for some families.

The refurbishment of our middle block of classrooms and the library is on schedule and will be completed by the beginning of Term 2.  We look forward to this as moving around the school is difficult and it has created some disturbances.  However the new rooms are looking great.  When finished we will invite you in to have a look around and look forward to your comments as they will be useful when we have the other blocks refurbished.   

I have recently had a question around the wearing of sun hats. The school does not have a policy of compulsory hats but we do encourage students to wear a hat when they are outdoors.  They may wear any form of hat or cap as long as it has no monogram and is of a neutral colour.  We also have sunscreen available at the student desk in the office and will have a bottle in all classrooms.   We believe at this age students need to start making sensible choices for themselves but appreciate they do not always understand the long term consequences of exposure to our sun.  Please encourage your child to make sensible choices. 

The year has had a great start.  The Year 7 students are settling well and we appreciate the on going support we receive from our community.  A young persons education is most successful when the school and home work together so please keep involved.

If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact the classroom teacher or the staff in the office.

Regards

Ngā Mihi

Sharon Keen

Principal