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

Welcome to our last newsletter of Term 2. It is hard to believe we are nearly halfway through the year! At the end of this term we say goodbye to a staff member who has served the school incredibly well over the last 8 years. Many of our students have benefited greatly from Lisa Hurry’s range of talents and her wisdom. We are sad to see her go but understand it is the right time for Lisa to explore other options.

We also farewell Chris Baldwin from the Board. We have been very fortunate to benefit from Chris’s expertise over the past years, especially as we have gone through the master planning and design of our redeveloped learning spaces. We wish Chris well for the future.

I hope everybody has been enjoying the sunny days. I know we have been at school. Children have been making the most of their time outside. Te Kōhanga has been able to develop their engineering skills during Play Based Learning sessions by constructing a range of buildings, bridges and habitats. The middle and senior classes have been busy with sports. Thank you to Davinia Hitchings and Dave Heath who have assisted us in preparing our students for the Winter Tournament early in Term 3 - it is wonderful we are able to benefit from your expertise. Congratulations to Will Leech who represented Diamond Harbour School at the Canterbury Cross Country competition on Wednesday. Getting to this high level is an achievement to be proud of.

Zoe B has done a wonderful job of leading the Diamond Harbour School World Vision 40 Hour Famine fundraising. To wrap this up we will be having a Bake Sale after assembly tomorrow. Then, to allow Te Kōhanga students to participate, they will have a movie afternoon straight after this. There are still a few people who need to return booklets and when these are all in we will be able to announce how much we have raised.

Next week we look forward to seeing our parent community at the Matariki evening on Thursday, 5 July. Children always look forward to having the opportunity to share with the wider community. The classrooms will be open so you can view some of the learning that has been happening during the term, there is kai, our kapa haka group will have a wonderful performance for you, and there is a range of activities you are able to participate in.

Thinking ahead to next term there are a couple of things to put in the diary! The first day back, at 6:00 pm before the July Board Meeting, we will be sharing information as to how Digital Technologies are used to Support Student Learning. This will include information about how we currently use technology, Google Apps for Education, the new Digital Technologies Curriculum and Diamond Harbour School BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies and procedures. This meeting will be held in Te Kete Aronui and there will be opportunities for you to ask questions.

The following week, 30 July - 1 August we have our 3-way Learning Conferences. Thank you to those of you who have already booked a time to catch up with your child’s teacher. If you haven’t yet booked a time please see the associated article in this newsletter.

Enjoy the rest of the term and I wish you all lovely winter holidays, with hopefully the beautiful sunny days continuing.

Ngā mihi nui

Jill