Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to the final newsletter for 2021.

Farewells

A little rain didn't prevent us from farewelling our Year 8 tamariki and departing staff on Friday with our school haka.

Our vision at Te Kura o Te Tihi o Kahukura (Heathcote Valley School) is for our Year 8 tamariki to leave feeling proud of who they are, know where they are from and have ambition for where their strengths can take them. 

We are certainly very proud of our Year 8 tamariki. they have shown great kaitiakitanga as leaders of the school. They have organised lunchtime sports activities, entertained us with music and kapa haka, written and shared books, worked hard at their classroom learning, and advocated for our school culture by example. We wish them the very best in their high school adventures and look forward to hearing of their future successes. Karawhuia e hoa ma!

We also farewelled several much-loved staff members:

Oriana Pearce has been supporting individual and group learenrs at HVS for the past three years. She started here with MASH (the afterschool programme) before working as a teacher aide in the senior classrooms. Oriana has been appointed to a position at Ferndale School, and we wish her all the best in this new role.

Sheryl Pearson has been teaching Reading Recovery here for the past four years. Her commitment and dedication to seeing her learners succeed has been greatly appreciated. We will miss Sheryl who is scaling back her work commitments so she can spend time with her mokopuna.

Hannah Thomas started teaching at HVS as a new entrant teacher, before taking time off to start a family and returning to teach in job share capacity. Hannah has also contributed to HVS through her leadership of the Junior Kapa Haka and over the last two years as our PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) Lead Teacher. Hannah has now moved to Darfield, and we all wish her the best of luck for her new adventure there.

Brett Partel has been looking after our kura (school) for almost ten years. As well as keeping the grounds and buildings in good shape, Brett gave his time to help children with their practical learning tasks, coaching them with their swimming, and could always be relied on to bring much-loved banter to brighten up the childrens' day (and staff alike). We wish Brett (and Kimi) all the best for their new adventure on the West Coast.  

Sarah Hickman started her teaching career here at HVS. Twelve years later she is embarking on a new teaching role at Christchurch South Intermediate. Sarah has been a great Year 5 & 6, and recently Year 7 & 8 teacher. She has also inspired a love of music for a countless number of tamariki. Her passion, dedication and leadership of music has seen many tamariki perform in HVS Concert and Training Bands, Rock Bands and Choir, as well as a number of children earn selection for Christchurch Representative Choir and Bands. Recently Sarah has also led the unpacking and sharing of our cultural narrative which has included our Year 7 & 8 publish physical and online pukapuka (books). We all wish Sarah the best of luck with her new teaching adventure.

I know you will join me in thanking all our departing staff for their service to the tamariki here at HVS and wish them all the best for the future.

Meri Kirihimete

2021 has been a year full of successes and continued challenges. We are extremely grateful for your continued support which you show in many different ways. Wishing you and your whānau a relaxing, enjoyable, and safe summer holiday. We look forward to seeing many of you in the new year.

Below is a picture of the Christmas celebration at HVS in 1906!