Tēnā koutou e te Whānau

We had a fantastic turn out of parents and staff at Nathan Wallis' The Developing Brain presentation last Wednesday night. I have had the privilege of listening to Nathan speak on several occasions and each time I take something new away with me both from an educator's and parent's perspective. 

One point that resonated with me this time was the important relationship that exists between the developing brain and play-based learning. Play-based learning is a wonderful vehicle for helping our children develop the key dispositions needed to enable them to become thriving learners. The neurological research Nathan shared backed up what many of us have observed first-hand through many years of working with children. The key dispositions of persistence, resilience and adaptability in particular play a critical role in setting our children up for success. I'm pleased to say that play-based learning continues to be an integral component in the teaching and learning programmes at Halswell School and our students benefit greatly from this. 

The Developing Brain session was part of the community consultation process the Board is currently undertaking. A big part of this is the community survey that was shared with all parents via last week's newsletter and subsequent School App reminders. Thank you to the parents who have already completed this survey. To date, we have received around 100 responses but we would really like to double this at least. 

The feedback gathered from this survey will be used to help set the direction of your child's education for their remaining time at Halswell School, and as such, I would strongly encourage all parents to have your say. To complete the survey please click here. The survey is anonymous and we anticipate that it will only take 10-15 minutes to complete.

Finally, I want to thank our fabulous PTA for organising tomorrow night's disco. I'm sure it's going to be a fun-filled occasion and look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron
Principal