Tēnā koutou e te Whānau

Next term, the Halswell School Board of Trustees will begin the process of consulting with our staff, students and community about our Vision for Teaching and Learning and our Strategic Plan. These key documents will set out the aspirational direction the school will take over the next 3-5 years and beyond.

The last time consultation regarding the Vision for Teaching and Learning and our Strategic Plan took place in any depth was several years ago while the new school rebuild was being planned. Since this time, the school buildings have been completed, the roll has grown considerably and we have appointed new staff (including myself as Principal) and a new Board of Trustees. Most importantly, there have also been significant changes in the composition of our community.

With so much transformation occurring, it is important that we once again seek feedback to ensure that we are continuing to meet our students, staff and community’s aspirations and desires for how education should be delivered at Halswell School.

To get the process underway we are excited to announce that we will be offering two thought-provoking parent sessions early in Term 3. These will take place in the Stadium. We are very fortunate to have been able to secure speakers who are highly regarded in their fields to present on different topics relevant to education and personal development. 

To start us off, we are delighted to have Nathan Wallis presenting a parent session about the Developing Brain on Wednesday 12 August at 7.30pm. Many of you will be familiar with Nathan's work on neuroscience and education. He is a highly sought-after speaker so we are very lucky to have him agree to facilitate a workshop specifically for our parent community. A PDF about his presentation is attached to this article. 

Nathan's presentation will be followed one week later by a session from John Quinn and Sarah Anticich from Performance Wellbeing. John and Sarah and have been providing professional development for our staff this year in the area of Positive Education. Their parent session will focus on Wellbeing and will take place at 7pm on Thursday 20 August.  

Having heard Nathan, Sarah and John speak on several occasions, I know that their sessions will be extremely informative and well worth the investment of your time as parents.  

At the completion of the presentation programme, we will be providing a number of forums to help gather feedback from our staff, students and community. More information will follow next term but in the meantime, please diary these dates. We are very excited about the future of Education at Halswell School and hope you will actively engage with us throughout the process. 

Finally, as this will be the last newsletter for Term 2, I would like to finish by thanking our parent community for the support you have continued to show the school during what has been an extraordinary 12 weeks. I wish you and your whānau a safe and relaxing holiday break. 

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal