Tēnā koutou e te Whānau

Last Thursday we were delighted to be able to open the "Forest" area in our playground. Those families who have been at Halswell for several years will know that the old Forest was a very popular feature of the original school. When the new school was designed, there was a very strong desire to retain a forest area for the children to explore, albeit in a different location. Over several years and with the help of donations from whānau and community members, a dedicated area was developed. After several years of growth, the foliage was established enough to open it up for our children. 

During the informal opening ceremony, I took the opportunity to speak to our students about what it means to be a kaitiaki (guardian). We talked about respecting the trees, bushes, birds and insects in the Forest. It would be great if you can also reinforce these messages with your children at home so that we will all be able to enjoy the Forest for many years to come. A big thank you goes to our wonderful caretakers Phil Edwards and Caty Boberg who have worked really hard to get the Forest ready to open. 

As we rapidly approach the end of the school year, our teachers are busy completing assessments and writing end of year reports. These reports will be shared with families via Hero on Friday 10 December. 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will start the process of putting together T group lists for 2022. This is a significant piece of work considering the number of children and T groups we need to organise. If you have any exceptional requests you would like us to consider when placing your child(ren), please see the T group Placement 2022 article in this newsletter for more details. Please note that this opportunity will close at 3pm on Friday 19 November.

Our Leadership Team is also in the process of finalising our staff structure for next year. As is typical for a school of this size, there will be a number of changes to personnel. The full staff structure will be shared with you before the end of the school year. In the meantime, I can confirm that the overall composition of the Learning Teams will be as follows:

• Ahuriri (Years 0&1) 2 x T groups with a third T group starting in Term 2
• Huritini (Years 1&2) 6 x T groups
• Ōrongomai (Years 3&4) 7 x T groups split across Kāhu, Kererū and Tōtora
• Ōtāwhito (Years 5&6) 6 x T groups
• Ōtūmatua (Years 7&8) 5 x T groups

Finally, we had our last Board of Trustees meeting for the year on Tuesday night. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all for the hard work that has been put in behind the scenes from Board members Rob Dixon, Ged Robinson, Natasha Buckby, Shaun Perrin, Michelle Bishop, Giarne Harrison and staff rep Anita Head. It is a real privilege to work alongside this dedicated group of volunteers who I know have our children's best interests at the heart of all decisions they make. They have been a huge support for our staff during what at times has been a very challenging year. I know that this has been greatly appreciated by our whole team. I'm sure you will join me in thanking them for their mahi throughout 2021. 

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal