Kia ora, talofa lava, greetings everyone!

There is no doubt about it, when partnerships between home and school are strong and positive, we can achieve so much together.  This is really important for us, so much so, that our Board of Trustees have established a Strategic Goal to strengthen the partnerships between students, staff, whanau and wider community.  A few recent and future events have been planned to engage our parents and wider community in the life of our school.  

Last night, we hosted a Parent Seminar presented by Dr Dean Sutherland and Anna Mowat who spoke about big emotions and the realities of parenting.  This was really well attended with approximately 40 parents there who left buzzing after an informative and practical seminar.  Thank you very much to all of those parents who made it along last night, it was a pleasure to host you all.

We are aiming to have a speaker every term to present to parents about various topics.  I'm excited to announce that next term, we have Dr Lucy Hone booked in to talk about resilience and well-being.  Please mark Wednesday 8th August at 7:00pm in your diaries for this event. 

Coming up over the next two weeks (before Term 2 ends), there will be more opportunities for us to engage with you.  On Wednesday next week (27 June) at 7:00pm, the Discover Team are hosting an 'Open Night' for parents to learn more about how their programmes run.  

Then in Week 10, as a whole school, we invite you in for a 'Celebration of Learning' on Wednesday 4th July whereby Teams and HB's will be sharing their deep learning in an informal hour from 2:00pm - 3:00pm and again between 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

Mid-year Progress Reports are being issued today, so please check your emails as Teachers will be sending these out electronically.  Please take the time to read these reports and discuss them with your child.  Teachers have spent countless hours collating assessment results, carrying out observations and conversations with each child, and, of course,  writing these reports and I want to acknowledge them for their extra time and efforts with this.

Finally, don't forget to drop by the Five to Nine cafe to say hi to Jeannie and her team of parent and student volunteers who will make you a delicious hot drink to start your day.  There are a number of parent groups who meet regularly in the cafe during the week and many more opportunities to come together.   More information is written in a separate article in this week's newsletter.

Enjoy the rest of your week and have a great weekend.

Naku iti nei, na

Rob Rush

Principal/Tumuaki