Tena koutou nga whānau, nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa,

As I write the newsletter it feels a little like groundhog day … Every time I write I am anticipating we will be in the new space but, as you will be able to tell we have not yet made the move. At this stage, we are awaiting the CPU (Certificate of Public Use) so we are able to use the spaces. Saying this, we have had sneak peek in the spaces and we are feeling very excited and looking forward to the move.

I hope everyone had a lovely long break last weekend. We acknowledge the flexibility of families last Friday in enabling the teaching staff to work together for an extended period of time. This allowed teachers to collaborate planning the Sexuality Education programme, part of the New Zealand Curriculum from year 0 - 8. Having the teachers working together means that we have a seamless progression that takes into account the learning objectives of each different year group.

Schools are required to consult with the community about Health Education. A draft statement as to what health education at Diamond Harbour School encompasses is on the agenda for the next Board of Trustees meeting. After the board has finalised the draft statement it will be communicated to parents for your feedback. The sexuality education programme will be taught in the last few weeks of the term and on 19 November, there will be a parent meeting to share information as to what the programme covers. To ensure availability for all parents we are holding two meetings; one at 3:15 pm and one at 6:00 pm.

Last week the School Pool committee had their first meeting. Thank you so much to this small group for volunteering their time to support the use of the pool over the holidays. Our swimming pool is a valuable community resource and we are dedicated to keeping it open. Despite the variable weather we have been having there is some warm weather coming up and we are planning on having the pool open for Show Weekend.

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up which includes many evening events. Tomorrow evening we have three students speaking on ‘notable people from Lyttelton Harbour’ at a Harbour Speech Competition organised by Rotary. Next week we start the week with the Athletics Sports on Monday. Then on Thursday evening the choir is performing at the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival. It is very exciting to have this wonderful event back in the Town Hall.

On Friday evening we have the School Disco which has been organised by a very capable group of Event Managers (also known as Year 8 students) and on Saturday the school has a fundraising stall at the Motukarara Fireworks Evening.

Thank you to everyone who has helped with these events, and I look forward to seeing many of you at them.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks,

Ngā mihi nui,

Jill.