This is the final newsletter for 2020! This has been an extraordinary year with a lot to negotiate that we never could have anticipated when the year started and yet there is such a lot to be proud of.

At this stage of the year, it is our opportunity to acknowledge all that has been achieved and to celebrate the successes of 2020 for our school. We do share a lot of this at the end of year assembly and the Board of Trustee Drinks, however, we respect that not everyone can attend these events.

We have had to be inventive with ensuring learning and the varied opportunities continued through 2020. lt has been wonderful seeing all the progress as we prepare all the end of year comments and schoolwide reports. Progress, attitudes and the levels of engagement are so important as a child develops through their primary school years. We hope you enjoy sharing the end of year comments with your children and valuing their successes and their positive attitudes to learning. These will be live on FOSBook by 3.30 tomorrow. Class placements will be shared Friday afternoon on FOSbook.

We are very fortunate to have consistency with our staff for 2021. There are just 3 teachers leaving, Cory Wilson and Ella Sidey and Angela Hagoort.

Ange’s situation has only come about very recently as she has just won a position with the RTLB service which offers her an exciting new direction within teaching. We wish them all the best for the future. Margaret King will be relieving in term 1 and then will take the next new entrant class again and we really appreciate her flexibility. Catherine Gill has been with us for two terms and we have appreciated her contribution to the new entrant team. Next year we welcome 3 new teachers, Pru South, George Foster and Gina Lilly. Our support staff are also all returning next year so this also adds to the stability of our team.

We also are so fortunate with our Board of Trustees. The Board’s support is crucial in their governance role especially as we continue to work through the master planning phase.

From the mid-term election we are delighted to announce the following:

• Emma Bradley - re-elected

• Mandy Robertson

• Pete Brodrick

We are also sad to see Tom Parsons and Lucy Mathewson stepping away from their positions. Tom has been on the board for 3 years and Lucy 18 months. They have both taken on different roles Tom with a property lens and Lucy with public relations. Their time, commitment and dedication for great outcomes for all children has been really appreciated.

The master planning has not made quite the progress we had hoped for but 2020 has not made it easy. It is still wonderful to see the progress with the whare complete, more natives becoming established and the tired deck that was beyond repair being replaced by additional lawn. We are extremely optimistic that we will have plans to share next year.

The PTA may not have raised as much this year but they have certainly remained very focused on community and again there are many who are keen to continue next year. Sadly, we do have Jennie Bell resigning. She has been on the PTA since James started school and for the majority of this time has been the treasurer. Thank you for this tremendous 6 years of involvement and support Jennie.

We try to ensure Teacher Only days are advertised well in advance. With the changes in the Teachers Contract, we can now schedule ‘teacher only days’ through a school year for teachers to be involved with professional development. The board have approved the following days for 2021 so you may want to add them to your calendar. Our school will be closed for instruction on Thursday 1 April, Friday 4 June, Monday 30 August and Monday 15 November.

This last week has been a time for engaging in all the end of year celebrations. The juniors did so well with their Run, Jump, Throw on Tuesday and I am sure they are looking forward to the picnic tomorrow. The year 4 and 5s thoroughly enjoyed their Top Team event yesterday.

For year 6’s it is such a special time with their last few days together. The Barn Dance on Tuesday night was again a very special time with parents and children dancing together. Coming up they have their Jellie Pool day on Friday, followed by their extremely memorable Graduation Assembly on Monday and then the Final Assembly on Tuesday morning and this will see the end of their time at FOS. Again, there are many families where this is their youngest child, and there is always a degree of sadness when families who have had a long association with our school, move on. We certainly wish all our departing year 6 children and their families all the best in the future and keep in touch.

This is a year we will not forget, it has been so wonderful to work with so many wonderful people; staff, parents, children to ensure we could achieve so much. It is the collective energy of us all that has ensured we have had a successful 2020 at our school. So a very sincere thank you for all that you have contributed to the year and now we hope you all have a very relaxing and enjoyable festive season with special holiday times to follow.

We welcome you back to 2021 on Monday 1 February, many plans are already taking shape for a fabulous year ahead.

Kia kaha

Ngā mihi nui Raewyn