Tēnā koutou e te whānau

Welcome back to the new term! I hope you had a safe and relaxing break and managed to enjoy some quality family time over the Matariki long weekend. I would particularly like to welcome all of the new students and whānau who have started with us this week. This includes thirteen international students who will be with us for the next four weeks or so. We will formally welcome all of our new students at a mihi whakatau on Friday morning.

A reminder that mid-year student reports were published this morning. If you haven't already done so, please log in to your Hero account to access your child(ren)'s report. The reports will inform part of the discussion at next week's Learning Conferences taking place on Wednesday 26th (2-6pm) and Thursday 27th (3.15-8pm) July. I know that the teachers are looking forward to discussing your child(ren)'s progress with you next week.

A reminder that normal classes cease at 1.30 pm on Wednesday. If you are unable to collect your child at this earlier time please complete this form indicating that you would like them to be supervised though until 3 pm. Registrations for supervision close at 3 pm on Monday 24 July. 

As this is my first newsletter since returning from sabbatical, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Tracey Mora and Cathie Zelas for the fabulous job they did as acting Co-principals last term along with Anita Head in her role as acting Associate Principal. It was also a real privilege to return in time to see the Years 5-8 Production and the Years 0-4 Wearable Arts shows. Seeing that the Arts are alive and well at Te Kura O Te Tauawa Halswell School was fantastic. 

Part of my sabbatical involved investigating how school-wide positive education programmes can improve the engagement and wellbeing of all learners. This is particularly topical at the moment, with some very concerning statistics emerging in publications such as the 2022 State of Child Health in Aotearoa New Zealand (Cure Kids published, May 2023) report. The Ministry of Education also recently released their Mental Health Guidelines for Years 1-13 that outlines expectations for schools around helping our students to develop the skills and strategies needed to thrive. 

I will be working with the Board, staff and community over the coming months to begin to implement some of the reccomendations from the Ministry's guidelines. Watch this space!

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal