Tēnā koutou e te whānau

We have certainly been treated to a range of weather extremes in the last few days best illustrated by a high of 22-degrees on the last official day of Winter immediately followed by a 'high' of 9-degrees on the first day of Spring! We hope that the change in season will be greeted with some good news at the end of the week when the Prime Minister is due to update the nation about any changes to the current Alert Levels. Our fingers and toes will be crossed for a return to Alert Level 1 on Monday. 

If that is the case, we will be continuing with our rescheduled community consultation parent evenings as follows:

• Tuesday 8 September 7.30-9.00pm: The Developing Brain (Nathan Wallis) 
• Monday 14 September 7.00-8.30pm: Positive Education (Dr Sarah Anticich and John Quinn)

If you are attending, please retain the ticket you were issued with for the original dates, as these are still valid for the postponed sessions. If you have lost your tickets or can no longer attend either session, please let Heather Burnby know in the Office. If you did not request tickets for the original dates but would now like to attend, please let Heather know and we will be happy to issue new tickets.

IMPORTANT: Nathan Wallis' presentation on Tuesday night will only go ahead if we are back to Alert Level 1 due to restrictions in the size of gatherings. If Alert Level 2 is extended beyond Sunday 6 September, it is highly likely that the parent evenings will not go ahead at all this year. We will keep you posted as the situation develops. 

We need your help: As I'm sure you will be aware, the area around the school experiences significant traffic congestion issues particularly around drop-off and pick-up times. This can cause frustrations for parents and the wider community. There are many factors that contribute to these problems including population growth in Halswell, limited entry and exit points and an increasing school roll. Some of these factors are beyond the school's control but there are a number of things our parent community can do to help ease the traffic congestion particularly around our drop-off and pick-up zone. 

First and foremost, we would really like to encourage parents, caregivers and children to walk or wheel to school if possible. This not only reduces the amount of traffic congestion around the school during peak times, but it also provides a number of health benefits and helps create a strong sense of community. 

Another option, especially for older children, is to have a designated meeting point slightly away from school. Many children meet their parents on Halswell Road, O'Halloran Drive, Muir Ave etc it is then a straight run home avoiding the drop off altogether. Our Years 5-8 children are more than capable of walking to a nearby meeting point to be collected by parents.

If the Drop-off & Pick-up Zone has to be used, it operates most effectively if all drivers approach it like a taxi rank. We would appreciate all parents following these simple user guidelines:

• If you arrive first, please don't park straight outside of the office but move as far forward as you can
• Drivers should always remain in their vehicles
• If a car leaves in front of you, please move forward to keep the flow going
• When exiting the car park please turn left (we have installed a sign to help remind drivers about this)
• We encourage drivers to use a range of streets for their onward journeys.

After spending a lot of time monitoring the Drop-off & Pick-up Zone, it is very apparent that when everyone follows these simple guidelines, the area flows very well and on most days, the bulk of the traffic is gone before 3.10pm.

Thank you for your on-going support. 

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal