Tēnā koutou e te Whānau

Thank you to all of the parents, staff and students who took part in last week's Learning Conferences. This was a great opportunity for teachers, parents and students to spend some quality time discussing progress and achievement. If you were unable to make a conference booking and would still like to meet with your child(ren)'s T group teacher, you are always welcome to contact them directly to arrange a time. Maintaining a strong relationship between home and school is a crucial factor in ensuring success for our students and we will continue to look for ways of fostering this. 

In property-related news, you may have noticed a new storage shed that was installed next to Kahu in the recent holidays. This space will be used as a "playpod" for our Years 0-4 children and will house a range of creative play and loose parts equipment for these children to enjoy. 

The playpod was completed in conjunction with the planting of a range of native trees, shrubs and grasses running the length of the northern boundary fence. These new plantings have definitely enhanced this area and we look forward to them establishing themselves over the coming months.  

We are also making progress with our new BBQ area. This project has mostly been funded thanks to our wonderful PTA. It will form a focal point for weekly sausage sizzles and community events. We expect that the area will be finished before the end of the month.

Our next exciting project will be the development of a new natural play area for Ōrongomai. As part of this term's focus on Health & Physical Education, our Years 3&4 students have been exploring different types of playgrounds that encourage movement and the development of motor skills. Their ideas will be shared with a playground designer who will help finalise the concept. We hope to have this completed in the next set of holidays. Watch this space!

Finally, I want to acknowledge all of the planning and preparation our PTA has put into next month's Quiz Night. We are delighted that it was sold out so quickly. Thank you to all of the families who have already returned your raffle tickets to the Office. The last day to have these back to school is Thursday 26 August (the day before the Teacher Only Day).  It is important that we get all of the tickets back, sold or unsold please, as we will continue to sell them on the night. If everyone gets behind the raffle it will be a great fundraiser for our school. We really appreciate your support. 

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal