Kia ora whānau,

Thank you to everyone who supported us at our Mihi Whakatau last Friday. It is a lovely way to formally welcome our new pupils and their families to Hoon Hay Te Kura Kōaka.  Many thanks to Ruth Coapman, Sunia Halaifonua, Cameron Russell, Hamish Drummond and Viv Gribben for assisting with the organisation and to our whānau hui leader Nathan Tau for his leadership. I would also like to acknowledge our fabulous staff who prepare the children so well. I thought the tamariki were just awesome and reflected the Hoon Hay Way by being engaged and respectful.

We have noticed how busy, and potentially dangerous, the Maryhill Avenue entrance is. We would like to start a roster of whānau who can support the children crossing at this time. Can you please fill out the following form. It will involve wearing a vest and standing on the road ensuring children can cross safely. If we get 10 people - it would mean a duty, once a week. Click here and help us out - it would be great to get your support with this.

Today we quietly marked the 10 year anniversary of the Canterbury Earthquake. Very few of our children were even born then, however we thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about respectful behaviour and practice one minute's silence. Many of the staff were here on this very field, caring for children while aware that our own families and children were elsewhere, with hopefully someone caring for them in the same loving way. 10 years feels like both an age ago as well as yesterday!  We observed the minute's silence near the Earthquake Memorial Tree that was planted by OLA and Hoon Hay Te Kura Kōaka. 

Here is a photo of the school near the Earthquake Memorial tree.

Our next full school assembly will be held on Friday, 5 March at 9am on the court outside Kūkupa. We will be organising a slightly different format so that we can chop and change depending on the weather. We will let you know by 8:30 am on the morning of the assembly if it is to be postponed.

See you all at the interviews on Tuesday and Thursday. Check out the Walk or Wheel to school day on Wednesday, 3 March.

Lastly, we are holding our PTA AGM on Tuesday at 7pm - all welcome, and it would be great to have some more support for the wonderful work that they do :)

Ngā mihi  

Lee