November 11, 2016 seems a lifetime ago, arriving at school at 6 am to assess the damage, not knowing what we would find!

Luckily we didn't suffer from too much damage and our school was able to open again relatively quickly.  There have been some ongoing issues to deal with - notably the swimming pool change sheds. These had to be removed and are in the process of being rebuilt.  It has, unfortunately been a frustratingly slow process, which is out of our hands. The MOE  joined our North Canterbury schools into a cluster for property work to be managed by Logic Group. This hasn't worked as competently as it should, and we will be taking the ministry to task on this . We will not start any more property development in our 5 year plan until current projects are completed to our satisfaction - this includes the Boiler upgrade.

Also over the last two years, the school has undergone reviews and Audits of almost every system, from curriculum to admin, including Board level policies.  School Docs has been updated to the Area Schools version, and is accessible to everyone through the school web site.  Please feel free to check it out, and comment on policies that are up for review each term.

Thank you to everyone who completed the schools recent survey.  We have read every one, and appreciate the mostly positive comments. As always there are areas for improvement, which are taken seriously.

At our board meetings, student achievement is always the focus of our discussions, and we are continually challenging our principal on all aspects of student learning.  Our focus at the last meeting was Learning Support (Success for All).  We were given a presentation by Glenys Hanley on the 12 programmes/areas of learning support,  currently in use at Cheviot Area School.  Some of these are long term Ministry funded, but there are  a number of exciting new initiatives and programmes which teachers and support staff are being trained in to deliver across our school.  These are going to make a huge difference for our students.

It is time to start thinking about the tri-annual Board of Trustees Elections, which will be held in July 2019.  Ensuring we have a great mix of people on our board will add to the depth of skill, knowledge and experience that is required to make good decisions for our school.  Please consider putting your name forward when the time comes.  In the meantime, don't hesitate to speak to current board members about the role and commitment required.

Cheviot Area School Board of Trustees

Deborah Fitzgibbon        dfitzgibbon@cheviot.school.nz                          Dean Eades                         deades@cheviot.school.nz                                    Pip Sidey                               psidey@cheviot.school.nz                                      Eileen Wolland                  ewolland@cheviot.school.nz                                Lynda Dickson                   ldickson@cheviot.school.nz                                  Amy Hewett  (Teacher rep)         ahewett@cheviot.school.nz        Katelyn Ellis (student rep)                                                                                          Blair Sheat (Principal)

 I would like to acknowledge the work our caretaker Cam Dixon has put into our school over the last year.  He has undertaken a huge amount of overdue maintenance to our buildings and grounds and doing a wonderful job.  The back field is looking fantastic. A big thank you to the following people/businesses who have given their time, expertise and or sponsorship for this project:

Amy Duckworth  (Soil Matters),                                                                 Simon Thorn  (Frame Grain and Seed)                                                       Dan Thiele    (Cheviot Lime Ltd)                                                                  PGW                                                                                                                             Jody Horrell  (Horrell Contracting)

I hope you all enjoy the last few weeks of the school year, and look forward to seeing you all at the Prizegiving.

Nga mihi

Lynda Dickson                                                                                                                   Chairperson