We have had two very successful camps in the last two weeks for our senior classes. The organisation for these is immense but it is worth it to see children really being challenged with their capabilities of courage and resilience as they tried new experiences and also dealt with some variable weather conditions. Sincere thanks to all the parents and whānau who assisted. Absolutely amazing community support.

The PTA Halloween Disco was such a success last Friday, a sell-out and their organisation was fantastic. When children attend after-hour events we still have to be very careful about the health and safety of all children so we really appreciate parents who are patient and follow the process.

What is coming up:

Year 4 to 6 students keen on athletics trialled for the competitive competition on Tuesday and the west zone athletics are the following Tuesday.

Tonight we have our senior choir performing at the Lions Christchurch Music Festival at the Town Hall. This is always a spectacular event and a very special experience for all of those in the choir. Natasha Littler and Alex Heaslip have been wonderful in supporting the choir. We have 5 beautiful singers in the special choir this year Kendyl Rinsma, Amelia Marfell, Alice Garginer, Scarlett Summerfield and Ailsa Lu. We also have Bruce Gao performing percussion in the Special Orchestra. We wish them all a special evening.

Friday is back-to-back with various events:

9.30 Morning tea for new parents and whānau at our school

10.30 am  A full school assembly led by the whānau group and then a morning tea for these parents and whānau.

11.30 am Run, Jump, Throw for years 3 and 4

1.00 pm   Run, Jump, Throw for years 5 and 6

We hope you may be able to join us for some of the day.

Board Elections: 

Just a reminder to get your voting papers in. You have until 15 November to vote, then we wait for postal votes, votes are counted 21st of November, and new board members then take up their roles from 22 November.

Staffing 2024:

We have confirmed our staffing for next year and while there are a few changes we are fortunate to have a stable staff and all positions filled. The teacher shortage is an issue for many schools.

Our support staff team is also very stable, with no changes. We really value all that they contribute in their various roles as well.

The teachers leaving are George Foster, Hannah White and Alex Heaslip. They all have plans for the future. George has a permanent position and plans to travel and will return in 2025. We have valued their contribution to their teaching teams this year.

The staffing and structure of the school will be as follows for next year and the rooms are for term 1 at this stage as we hope to be moving into the new junior block in term 2 and then there will be changes needed.

There are a couple of staffing variations for permanent teachers:

Cain Cunningham has won a very exciting promotion working as one of the Across School Leaders for our Kāhui Ako. There are 6 of these contracts across the 12 schools. So effectively for 2 days per week, Cain will be leading and working across a range of these schools. This has some huge benefits for us as he will still be able to drive a lot of initiatives at school and also share his expertise widely. These contracts are for 2 years.

Sue Gordon has been given a year's leave from her permanent full-time position after years of dedicated service and will be job-sharing with Judy Harford instead of Karen for 2024.

Classroom placements: 

We will begin to start class placements over the next few weeks. While parents cannot pick teachers, if there is any information that you think we need to be aware of around class placement can you please email me. Class placements will be announced on Wednesday 13 December with end-of-year reports.

Rebuild: 

We are tracking well and it is exciting to see the progress.

There are now just 6 weeks left in the term so we are nearly halfway and there is still a lot more to do. The end of the school year is a busy time for us all.

Have a good weekend.

Ngā mihi nui Raewyn