News from the East Taieri Home and School Committee

Kia ora koutou

The school year is zooming by and we have already passed the half-way mark so I thought an update on the East Taieri Home and School activities to date would be useful. I am very proud to lead such a dedicated and hardworking group of parents on our committee. Most of the work we do is done quietly in the background so I would like to take the time to thank our committee members.

Kirsten Beeby, Janna Begley, Jennifer Eckhold (Treasurer), Derelle Ferguson (Vice-president), Natasha Harvey (Secretary), Jennifer Horgan (Principal), Tracey McGee, Renee Mitchell, Kelli Najafi, Eterei Stonelake, Denise Tasker.

They continually give of their time and energy for the benefit of our school and, between us, we manage to achieve a lot. This is, of course, all done with the help and support of the Friends of the Committee and our wider school community – so thank you to you all as well.

2017 began with our annual Taieri Plains DOathlon which was another great community event and also a good fundraiser for our school. The profits from this allowed us to again subsidise the school’s swimming buses by $3000. We also had the annual Family Picnic Tea in Term 1 which gives new families and old the opportunity to get together for a fun-filled no cost event. Other events this year have included the Grandparents Day Barbeque (ably co-ordinated by Tracey McGee) and fundraisers have included the wonderful Mothers Day and Fathers Day Mugs (thanks to Natasha Harvey) and the Entertainment Books (thanks to Renee Mitchell). Our second-hand school uniform shop continues to be a well-used and much-needed community resource (thanks to Denise Tasker).

We have the Calendar Art fundraiser coming up later this year (thanks again to Natasha Harvey). This is a great opportunity to get organised for Christmas presents! Our main focus now, however, is of course on the Bi-annual Country Fair which will take place on Sunday 26th November. Thank you in advance for all the help and support that you will no doubt give to make this event another great success. Janna Begley and her sub-committee of committed helpers have been busy since the beginning of the year preparing for this. We also have the annual school disco coming up on Friday 18th August – make sure you have this marked in your calendar!

The fundraising that has taken place this year has enabled us to purchase the following resources for our school.

February

$3000.00 IT Devices

$229.89 Sports Gear

$1000.00 Junior Syndicate

$1000.00 Middle Syndicate

$1000.00 Senior Syndicate

$1000.00 Library

May

$3000.00 School Swimming Bus

$410.61 Maths Equipment

$919.39 Drums

$45.00 Road Patrol Gloves

$275.50 Maths Equipment

$2904.89 Instructional Readers

$602.46 Non Fiction Library

$257.06 Student council -scooter/skate ramps

July

$429.51 Student council – sandpit toys

$197.62 non fiction library books

$481.83 non fiction library books

$2100.00 PE Shed revamp

$679.45 non fiction library books

August

$678.00 non fiction library books

These are wish-list items totalling over $20,000 that the school would not have been able to be purchase from its general budget so once again I would like to thank you all for supporting our various activities.

We have already committed additional funds to other activities and resources for the remainder of the year. However, if you have ideas or suggestions about what you would like to see purchased for our school or ideas for fundraising, please do get in touch with us. We are also always keen to welcome new members to our Home and School Committee and to our Friends of the Committee.

Warm wishes from us all on the committee

Katy Falcous

(East Taieri Home and School Committee President)