As we come to the end of another busy and successful term, I would like to thank you all for your continued mahi and support. Intermediate Schools play a very vital role in the education of our young people, while being an important bridge between primary and secondary school they also provide a unique environment where students can thrive. At GEIS we are committed to providing our tamariki with the best possible education and opportunities we can offer as a school.

We have had some fantastic sporting results, with our teams competing at a high level in a variety of sports. We have also had many students participate in extra curricular activities, such as music, drama, dance and the arts where they have excelled. These include, Kids Sing at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, our Dance Team who placed 3rd in the regionals and are competing at the Nationals over the holidays, New Zealand AIMS Games in Tauranga and Netball Prize Giving.

Last week we celebrated Te Wiki o te Reo Māori/Māori Language Week. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is an annual celebration for all New Zealanders to show their support for the Māori language, an official language of this country and Māori culture.

Thank you to all those who were able to attend our recent student led conferences. We had 760 families and whānau connect with us at school. I trust you had an opportunity with your child for them to share their learning with you which lead to a discussion about their learning so far this year and progress towards their learning goals. You should also have had time to browse work, discuss learning, and touch base with their teacher. Thank you again for attending and being part of your tamariki's learning. Your presence and involvement mean a lot to our learners and teachers alike. Through this strong partnership between home and school, we can truly help your tamariki reach their full potential.

Our enrolments for 2025 are strong with GEIS having a roll just over 1000 students and unfortunately we could not offer everyone a place here at GEIS. This also tells us that GEIS is the Intermediate school of choice in West Auckland.

During Matariki, the mini-schools took on a project to design and create their mini-school Korowai (above photo). Each student designed a feather which will now have pride of place on their mini-school Korowai. This will be a treasure for GEIS!

Thanks so much to the Kaiako (teachers) who worked tirelessly to put these together. They look amazing and were presented back to the school/kura during assembly.

We want our school and our community to be a safe place for all children. Our tamariki are growing up in rapidly changing times, and the risks, frequency and severity of online harm are increasing. We need to tackle this as a community.

As such, we have organised Filmmaker, Author and Speaker Rob Cope, Producer of the documentary "Our Kids Online" to come and give what promises to be a humorous and eye-opening evening talk to our parent community. Please see the article about online cyber safety in this newsletter and reserve a place for yourself. Don't miss out on this one!

Here is the link to the article

https://hail.to/glen-eden-intermediate/article/CegB2ao

Thank you so much to Titirangi Baptist Church for sponsoring this event.

Finally I am incredibly proud of everything that our tamariki have accomplished this term. They are a talented and hardworking group of young people, and I am excited to see what they can achieve next term and in the future.

I wish you all a happy and relaxing holiday break, and I look forward to seeing our students back at school on the 14th of October for our last term of the year.

Nga mihi nui

Jacob Prisk
Acting Principal