The torrential rain last week gave us all another challenge to work through and our thoughts are certainly with those more severely affected and the schools who have faced some closed days and compromised teaching as they have dealt with the flooding and extensive damage.

Our site does cause us some concern when the rain is as heavy and prolonged as what we experienced. Last Monday, we really appreciated the support from families to collect children earlier if it was possible, as moving around school was not easy.

I can reassure you that we do try and maintain the drains and had these cleared just a few weeks earlier with drain layers. There are also issues with the drains from the street that we are in discussions with the Christchurch City Council to improve and we also hope that some of the worst areas will be resolved when we work through our repair and rebuild programme.

After dealing with the weather complexities on Monday, it was lovely to have the following day with Principal Lynch and Deputy Principal Sylvie. Issy Lynch and Sylvie Wotherspoon were delightful company for the day and all of the children enjoyed having them visit classrooms. Georgia Lynch will take on this role next week. Special thanks to the Lynch family for their generous bid for ‘principal for a day’ at the PTA quiz.

The heritage classrooms that are labelled Music and Gates are owned by the Board of Trustees. This means they are extra spaces beyond what the MOE provides. In the next few weeks, we will start an upgrade of these rooms, both internally and externally so they will be fenced off while these upgrades occur. We are fortunate that we have plenty of spaces so there will be no interruptions to learning. This is a very strategic step by the Board of Trustees so that these rooms will be quality spaces for learning when we finally start the rebuilding process.

Over the last 2 weeks, we have held 2 parent evenings focused on supporting you all with the many complexities of parenting. Last week with a behavioural specialist and last night with Netsafe and ensuring children are cyber safe. We really valued the turnout to both evenings. If you missed either of these and would like additional information you are welcome to ask teachers or email the office and we will put you in touch with staff who can assist.

As you are all aware, schools are required to deliver teaching and learning to the expectations and guidelines of the ‘NZ Curriculum’. The Health component is the one specific area of the NZC that requires the Board of Trustees to consult with the community every 2 years. This consultation will be via a survey that will be shared with you. We encourage you to engage with this and I can reassure you that it will only take a few minutes. There are not many changes, however, there is a revised document that has been mandated ‘Relationships and Sexuality Education’ that we are now required to incorporate in our health curriculum.

Relationships and Sexuality Education This link will take you to this document as we respect that this can be a sensitive aspect of education. After completing the survey if you have any concerns you are also welcome to contact me if you require further information. 

This will be sent to you via a separate Hero email with links to the survey and PDF of the draft document.

The weekend ahead is looking fine, a welcome change, so make the most of it.

Ngā mihi nui

Raewyn