Tena koutou nga whanau, nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. We have had another fabulous couple of weeks at Diamond Harbour School. 

Last Thursday it was wonderful to see our Kapa Haka group try on their new uniforms. Thank you so much to the group of parents who have put in countless hours of work, creating these uniforms. Thank you also to whaea Seraya and whaea Bep who have begun a junior Kapa Haka with the tamariki in Te Kōhanga.

What a wonderful event the Diamond Harbour School cross country was. Not all students find running the Cross Country easy but we stress the importance giving your absolute best to everything you do. This was evident in the grit and determination on students’ faces as they came along the last straight. A special congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to Tracey Janes for all her organisation, our parents who stood in the mud marshalling the event and Nirdosh and Go Bus who provided driving services and the use of the bus, free of charge.

Diamond Harbour School values have been evident in a number of ways during the past couple of weeks. Kaitiakitanga has been evident with litter free lunches and tree planting; Hauora and Whanaungatanga were present in bucket loads at the Cross Country; Manaakitanga is evident as we watch our young people interact, caring for and helping each other and Māramatanga is evident both in and out of the classroom as children continue to challenge themselves with their learning.

Having a core set of values helps our young people make decisions that have a positive impact on all areas of their lives - from personal health, to relationships with peers to the impact they have on the wider world. It is important to us that students are able to use their values both in and out of school. Please don’t hesitate to ask Kaye if you would like a hard copy of our school values so you can continue to embed them in your tamariki’s life outside school. There are a number of resources being developed by community and non-governmental organisations to assist you in the challenging job of parenting young people in the complex and changing world that we live in. Some you might find interesting include: The Parenting Place, Be The Change and All Right?

I am very excited and looking forward to my first Diamond Harbour School book week. These weeks are always a highlight in the school year. We would love to see you all at some time during the week. There is the Scholastic Book Fair on all week in Te Kete Aronui and on Wednesday we have the Book Character Parade in the morning and at 6:30pm Stories and Hot Chocolate (in your PJs).

This is the last newsletter for Term 2 so we wish you all fabulous holidays and we hope you stay warm, safe, get to spend time with your loved ones and have some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Ngā mihi nui,

Jill