Kia ora whanau. I returned to a very cold Christchurch on 10 August having become very used to warm summer days in the USA. The International Conference on Thinking I attended in Providence was very stimulating and caused me to do considerable reflection about what we need to do to develop deep thinking and learning with our students.

As usual, the Heaton team led by Sarah Cumming, kept on doing the fantastic work and being the wonderful people they always are while I was away.

You will probably be aware that there will be a joint NZEI and PPTA meeting on 7 September at 1.30 pm. The majority of our teachers will be attending so we would appreciate students going home at 12.30 pm on this day. Supervision will be provided at school if this is not possible. Please notify your child’s teacher if this is the case. The joint meeting is being held because teachers are very concerned about the proposed changes to education funding which appears to be very similar to bulk funding that occurred several years ago and then was abandoned. These changes could lead to, for example, larger class sizes. Cabinet will make the final decisions about funding in October so action is urgently needed.

The Hagley intermediate schools winter sports season has come to an end with many fantastic results. Thank you very much to Tim Evers, our teachers and parents who worked very hard managing and coaching the students. A lot of people gave up their time to ensure over 300 of our students had this wonderful experience.

Our students and staff embraced the International Food Festival which was held on 11 August. Students and parents prepared delicious food from several countries. The photos speak for themselves! Thank you very much to Stephanie Hubbard, our students, parents and other staff for all their hard work and organisation which made this such a success.

Last night we had a very interesting and informative hui with some of our Māori whanua. Some fantastic suggestions were made about how our school can continue to improve the success of our Māori students, as Māori students. Thank you very much to the whanau who attended and to Chrissy Kereama and Sarah Cumming for all their organisation.

Nga mihi

Andrea Knight
Principal