Hero photograph
 
Photo by Tim Evers

Andrea Knight, Principal

Andrea Knight —

Nau mai, haere mai ki te kura o Heaton. E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā hou e wha.

Welcome to our school Heaton. Our kura is a meeting place for all people.

We look forward to an exciting and relatively straightforward 2021. Special welcome to families/whānau who are new to our school.

It was not the best start for me this year, as I missed the first day of school due to illness. However, the team did a wonderful job of welcoming new families/whānau to the school. Thank you very much to Sarah Cumming, one of our Deputy Principals for welcoming you at the mihi whakatau.

Welcome to our one new teacher Gillian van Voorthuizen, who is a Year 7 teacher in Room 19. We look forward to getting to know Gillian.  She will be an asset to our team. Emma Purchas will be teaching students in Room 11 and Room 17 for one day a week in each class. Thank you to Emma for being so flexible and supporting the students in Room 17 with Jason Naidoo being unwell at the moment.

This year Kelsey Knipshild will be working in a new role in our school as Pastoral Care Coordinator. This is a collaborative role with Breens Intermediate School and is largely funded by each school not the Ministry of Education. Kelsey was a Heaton class teacher last year. This is a new position for both Breens and Heaton Intermediates and is a response to the need for a school based focus on supporting students’ wellbeing. Kelsey will contribute and support each school’s Pastoral Care systems and will work with individuals and groups of students. Students or groups will be referred to her either through Pastoral Care Meetings or by the principals of each school. Parents/whānau consent will be required before Kelsey works with a student. If you feel that your child would benefit from Kelsey’s support please talk to your child’s teacher in the first instance. Kelsey is a highly skilled and experienced teacher who has an exceptional ability to get alongside young people however she is not a trained counsellor. As part of her programme this year she is completing papers towards a Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling Studies at the University of Canterbury.

Thank you to Tim Evers and our Heaton team for ensuring Fun Day was such a successful event. The weather was perfect and the students had a wonderful day. It was great to see so many parents/whānau pop along this year. We encourage you to attend any of our school activities. We love to see you and so do your children.

Finally, a reminder that the Information Evening that was due to be held tonight, has been cancelled. However, we look forward to seeing you all next week at parent/whānau/teacher/student conferences on Monday 22 and Thursday 25 February.

Ngā mihi nui

Andrea Knight, Principal/Tumuaki