Kia ora koutou

Well, we are progressing through the term almost on a day to day basis. This term has brought a lot more staff sickness unfortunately. The number of students developing Covid has greatly decreased however there are other viruses around which are doing the rounds with students and staff. Again, please keep your child at home if they have any sign of being unwell. I say the same to staff. Fortunately the weather has been pretty good and most days we can all get outside and get lots of fresh air.

The rebuild is progressing well. The old Adventure Playground has been removed to make way for the 9 classroom block. The gate system near the garage is generally working well. If you do have to drive into the school please drive out to the gate and it will either be open or there will be someone there to open it for you. Please do not drive out the entrance. There have been a couple of near misses already. Whānau should only be driving into the school to collect a sick child.

Inter-intermediate winter sport starts tomorrow. Thank you very much to Tim Evers, staff, whānau and ex students who are involved in coaching and/or managing teams. As with each year, Heaton has more teams involved in this competition than any other intermediate school and we are not the biggest school. There are also excellent options for students who are remaining at school from the traditional sports to yoga. You will be aware that each class also has PE at least twice a week on top of sport on Tuesday afternoons. Year 7 students also do PE/sport as a specialist subject as well.

We had a very positive and enthusiastic inaugural meeting of our Friends of the School group. There were 11 of us there. We talked about raising funds for the school especially as we need more playground equipment. The group are also interested in providing learning opportunities for parents. The next meeting is Wednesday June 8 at 7.00 pm in the office area. It is a great opportunity to meet other parents, hear about developments in the school, ask questions and bring your great ideas. We look forward to an even bigger group at the June meeting.

We are very proud that students really engaged with the Support the Ukraine Day and the Pink Shirt Day. It is important that our students are thinking beyond their own needs and demonstrating empathy and support for others in much less fortunate circumstances.

Soon there will be information about enrolment for 2023 and our Open Day which is early next term. Please see our website in a few weeks’ time for more information.

Ngā mihi

Andrea Knight, Tumuaki