Kia ora e te whānau, welcome to the last school week of the year. It has come around so fast. I do hope that you have something exciting planned for the holiday break.

As we head into the last week I would like to thank all of our parents, whānau and communty members for your support throughout the year. It is a privilege to be the principal here and to know that we have the backing of our community. In 2024 we look forward to finding even more ways to increase the connectivity with our community. Thank you!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Ngā mihi nui.

Darryn Ward

Final day details

We finish on Thursday between 12 and 12:15. The first bus will leave here at 12:15. 

Our final assembly of the year starts at 11:30. This is the last time we will come together as a school for this year and the final time our Year 8 students will be with us. Once we have finished we are going to try something new to farewell our Year 8 students.

Our Year 6 and 7 students will leave the hall first to prepare for their haka for our Year 8 group. As soon as they have left we will be asking the rest of the students to leave the hall and to form a guard of honour that goes from the back gate to the Kōrau gate. Once this is formed our Year 8 students will leave the hall and move through the guard of honour where the whole school will applaud them for their service to our school.

At the completion of the guard of honour the Year 8 students will make their way to the bell area. Our juniors (Y0-03) are going to move to the amphitheatre so they can watch the bell ringing. Our Year 4 and 5 students will move to the area under the Sade sails so they can see the bell ringing. 

Once everyone is in place the bell ringing will begin. We welcome our Year 8 parents to come to the front to take photos. We would ask that the amphitheatre and shade sail areas are kept free for our students. 

At the completion of the bell ringing our children are free to go. We envisage that we will be done just after midday. 

Pool roster

I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of those families who have offered to be on the pool roster. Your support is certainly appreciated and will make areal difference throughout the season. Nick O Connell and I will put the roster together and then contact all the families to run a brief training session.  

Staffing for 2024

I am delighted to be able to share the staffing for 2024. You will see we have 3 new staff which we are excited about.  We have a new teacher in Whekī Rua, 1 in Kōrau Rua and a new Learning assistant

The full list of staffing is:

• Kiwakiwa Rua (NE) - Ms Tavener / Mrs Walsh 
• Kiokio Tahi (Y1) - Ms Adair
• Kātote Tahi (Y2/3)  - Mr Mckenzie
• Kātote Rua (Y2) - Mrs Eglesfield
• Kātote Toru ( Y2/3) - Miss Pearce
• Whekī Tahi (Y4/5) - Miss Millar
• Whekī Rua (Y4/5 )  - Mrs Ward
• Ponga Tahi (Y5/6) - Mrs Hamilton / Miss Lake
• Ponga Rua (Y6) - Mrs Leopold
• Kōrau Tahi (Y7/8)  -Mrs Bunton
• Kōrau Rua (Y7/8) - Mr McNaughton
• CRT and Mrs Leopold's release - Miss Thomson
• CRT and Ms Adair's release - Mrs Stalker
• CRT and Mr McKenzie and Mrs Eglesfield release - Mrs van den Berg
• PE and Mrs Bunton's release -Annabel
• Structured Literacy support - Mrs Raika
• Learning assistants (Janet, Jenny B, Corina, Lou, Susan, Anna, Leanne)
• Office - Sandi
• Cleaner -Wendy
• Caretaker - Simon
• ICT - Beth
• Deputy Principal - Mr Spencer
• Principal - Mr Ward

We are excited to have this amazing group of staff with us.

Election results

Please see the official BoT election results at the bottom

Sports' shirts, singlets, and jackets

Can we please have all and any Fernside School sports’ uniform items returned to School
please. Just drop it off at the office or Ponga office, thanks Annabel

Past Fernside School student success

Community Dental Service

Nomads United Holiday Programme 

Important dates for your diary

Monday 11th December - Junior Prize giving 1:45 in the school hall

Tuesday 12th December -Senior Prize giving 6pm at RHS hall

Wednesday 13th December  -Fun day

Wednesday 13th December  - Year 8 trip

Thursday 14th December  - Last day of term 12- 12:15 finish

Wednesday 31st January - 1st day of Term 1 2024

Previous Notices

Celebrating success in assembly

Thank you for the photos that keep rolling in. Please remember that at our fortnightly assemblies continue to be a way of celebrating and sharing the many different activities that our students are involved in throughout the term. If your child has success in any event, or has had a great time in an event and you have some photos that you would like to share, please send these to me at principal@fernside.school.nz

Term dates for 2024

These can be found on our Website. Please do have a look so that you know of when we start and when the holiday breaks are.