School closes for the July holidays this afternoon, after a very lengthy 12 week Term 2. Have a great holiday everyone. We look forward to welcoming you back in Term 3.

I can see that the children, and the staff, are tired and ready for a break. I hope that you will all have the opportunity to reset, rest and have fun. Our school community has worked together to adapt to many changes through Term 2. At the beginning of the term we faced the new challenges of distance learning whilst coming to terms with being isolated from each other and fearful of contact with those who were not in our family bubbles. It was strange to be unable to come onto the school grounds. Since then, we have moved through the alert levels, gradually returning to school and a growing sense of normality. There has been such a lot of change and it is not surprising that our energy levels are lower than usual. 

As you know, our focus has been on wellbeing and setting the scene so that our children can feel settled and ready to learn. Teachers from across the school tell me that the children are quickly making up lost ground as they settle back into their in-class learning. I had a wonderful morning listening to stories written by our Year 4 - 6 students during the past few weeks. I was truly moved by the quality of the work from these young writers, who can be seen in the photo above. The morning was a great celebration of the work that has been going on in the classrooms since the return to school. I would like to thank all the teachers and teacher aides for their dedication to the children's learning - it is such a credit to all of you that these children readily volunteered to read their stories to the whole Osprey team! 

We have been busy this week planning our Term 3 learning and there are many exciting things around the corner as we look forward to our 150th celebrations in November. Our children will be learning about Victorian times and about the early history of the school. As hands-on historians they will have the opportunity to experience Victorian school life during a Victorian Day in August. Please be on the lookout for suitable clothing for your child. On the dress-up day we will be taking lots of photographs, including recreating some of the existing early school photos. 

We are also busy making plans for smartening up the school, ready for our anniversary weekend. Look out for more news about working bees etc in the new term. 

Thank you for your ongoing support. Have a safe and happy holiday. 

Nga Mihi 

Beverley