Kia ora e te whānau

A belated welcome back to Term 2.  So much has happened already!  On our first day of term we welcomed Alana McKenzie, our new Associate Principal into our school and team with a pōwhiri held in Rūma Kowhai.  As we didn't have the hall available to accommodate us all, we just had our senior kapa haka rōpu involved in the welcome.  Our children did a wonderful job and we enjoyed meeting the group that had come over from Glen Eden Primary School to accompany Alana.

Alana has been getting to know senior children and lots of staff and we are enjoying working together.  If you have a child in Year 5 or 6 and would like to meet with Alana, please contact her via email alanam@kaurilands.school.nz.

Welcome back to Kimberly Newmarch and Hannah Pragert who are both back from maternity leave to job share our latest new entrant class - Room 11.  We have a delightful bunch of new 5 year olds and their families joining our community - WELCOME!

NEXT - the million dollar question - when is the hall going to be ready???  We really hope the end of August!  We can't wait to have our space back and thanks to all for being so patient about this process, particularly Care4Kidz who have had to camp out in Rūma Kowhai.  As you will also have seen the court works are underway and are likely to take most of the term to be completed.  We are manoeuvring around the fences as best we can to ensure our children have some outdoor spaces to play in.  I'm really proud of our children for being so adaptable to all the changes happening around them.  This will end!   Some day!

Last night we ran out Student Led Conferences with a massive turnout from whānau.  Thank you all for coming along and sharing in your child's learning journey in this way.  As I walked around I could see a lot of very proud children talking through what they had achieved and where they were heading.  I enjoyed seeing some parents being challenged with Maths problem solving by their children as well!  If you would like an individual meeting with your child's teacher, please email them directly to set this up.

Thanks to all those whānau who are helping us with Adventure Afternoons this term - there are a wide range of options on offer to our children thanks to you.  Adventure Afternoons kicked off yesterday and will run every Thursday this term in the middle block for all Year 3-6 children.

Finally, I wanted to thank everyone who has supported the Sponsor a Chair Drive which got underway at the end of Term 2.  We are so close!  We are very grateful for the generosity of so many and can't wait to be sitting on our brand new chairs in our revamped hall!!!

Have a happy weekend.

Arohanui 

Jo

Message from Alana McKenzie

I am so excited and feel very fortunate to be working here at Kaurilands School. The staff, students and whānau have all been so friendly and welcoming and it was great meeting some of the Year 5/6 whānau last night. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone a little better over the next few weeks. I have been working with our amazing student leaders and getting them ready for their peer mediator roles which they will be starting next week. I am also getting very excited about the Year 6 camp.

Alana