The School Board held its first meeting for the year in February. We discussed our focus on community engagement for this year, some success measures for our kids for 2025, and the community survey on teaching Years 7 and 8.

We also appointed a new Presiding Member (chair of the board) and deputy, and we thoroughly scrutinised the camp safety plans to provide assurance the kids will stay safe while having a great time.

Year three of our strategy: a focus on engaging with the community

We’re now in the third year of our school’s strategic plan, and this year has a particular focus on community engagement. We want to ensure every family feels informed and involved in their child’s learning—at whatever level suits them.

Please look out for various opportunities to meet with teachers, learn more about your child’s learning, and get ideas for supporting your child’s learning at home.

The teaching team is working to implement the new curriculum in literacy and maths, and there will be plenty of opportunities to learn more about this over the year.

Measuring success

Every year, the board sets key performance measures for the school to deliver on the strategy. This year, they include

• For writing – between 80 and 88% of students are within or beyond expectations

• For maths – 92% of students are within or beyond expectations

• For Māori students – all our Māori students are on par with the main cohort, and have clear paths for progression.

• For attendance – 80% of students attend school 90% or more of the time, which is a Government target.

Teaching Years 7 and 8 – your views

Thanks to everyone who shared their views about learning options for Years 7 and 8. We received 247 survey responses from 258 families. There was overwhelming support for Island Bay School to consider providing teaching for the intermediate years.

Survey results

If Years 7 and 8 were an option at Island Bay School:

• 74.1% of people would strongly prefer Island Bay School to their current intermediate option, and 11.7% slightly prefer

• For families with current year 6 student, 63.3% would strongly prefer Island Bay School.

• For families with a Year 5 child, 71.4 % strongly prefer Island Bay School.

• Factors that appeal about Island Bay School to teach Years 7 and 8 included continuity of education and friendships, proximity to home, and the school philosophy and quality of education.

• For those with hesitations, these included concerns about transition into high school, curriculum and learning opportunities, and social and developmental aspects.

Based on the strong support from the community, the Board agreed to continue to explore the option for whether we could add Years 7 and 8 teaching to the school.

It is a significant process to apply for a change like this, and considerations include financial and property impacts, role projections and impacts on other schools, and other considerations. The decision would sit with Ministry of Education.

Board housekeeping

Devon Heaphy stepped down from his role as Presiding Member on the board this week, having been a board member for six years, and Presiding Member for four. We’re grateful to Devon for his clear-headed leadership, strategic mind, and commitment to the school and community. He’s also a really good sort, and we’re pleased he’ll stay with us on the Board until he resigns at the September elections.

The Board has appointed Emily Watt as the new Presiding Member, and Sally Page as the Deputy Presiding Member.

The next Board elections will be held in September 2025. It would be great to see parents and caregivers with governance and leadership experience put themselves forward to serve on the Board. The Board works best with a rich mix of skills and representation from our community. More information on this to come.

We’ll continue to share updates throughout the year. Please do get in touch with us if you have any thoughts or questions.

Email us at bot@islandbay.schoolt bot@islandbay.school