Kia ora koutou!

Welcome back to Term two!

Off to a rapid start with our Anzac assembly and with Kotukutuku heading out to camp this week to finish up the Year 8 camps for 2023. Thanks again to the parents who have supported our camps and to the staff for going the extra mile to make them happen.

Exciting things occurred over the term break with the installation of the playground and the long-awaited start to the playing courts on the school fields. The playground still has some drainage to be completed and needs some soft fall bark before we can move in however, it is looking fantastic and we can't wait to get students in it, on it and around it. I had the pleasure of looking at the markers in the ground for the new sports courts today and was taken aback by the sheer size of the courts to come. They will be such an excellent addition to our school and community with 4 full-size basketball/tennis courts and the option for tennis. The expected finish date for these is still early July and, as of today, are well on track. 

 Next week we will start to finalise the landscaping plan for when all this rebuilding is over. This will put the finishing touches to the project and allow us to use our cultural narrative to select what is planted around the school, including a generous allocation of native trees to enhance the school and replace the trees that have been unavoidably lost in the building process. Through careful planting and selection, we will be able to make our kura truly special and enhanced for generations to come, thinking not of the next 6 months but the next 50 years.

Our relocatable classrooms are delayed in the consenting process so, for now, we will be staying as we are with science and food continuing in the same room as normal. I will update you as soon as I know a more definitive timeframe. Demolition of the old room 1-10 block is completed, with room now for our next block to start construction.

I could not end this newsletter without acknowledging the recent loss to our local community and the world of education with the tragic passing of Isaac Levings and Mike Anderson. Our hearts and thoughts go to their families and to the community and staff of Elmwood and Waimari school at this time. 

Ngā mihi nui

James Griggs, Tumuaki/Principal