Dear KingsWay Community

Recently a friend commented that we "should not waste a virus". At first, I thought it was a little inappropriate and insensitive. However, there is an element of truth to his statement. Since we have exited from the lockdown, topics of conversations have shifted from fear and despair to resolution. I know that everyone I speak to does not want to return to doing things as they did in the past. Instead, they express hope of living more simply, continuing the family walks and generally eating fewer takeaways.

At KingsWay, we are committed to fostering a culture of innovation and evaluation. Several of our ideas and practices were challenged during the lockdown. Do we need to do meetings the way we are currently doing them? Could the timetable for senior students be a little more flexible to allow more online learning combined with face to face learning? How can we continue to lever off the excellent parent input that was evident during home learning? I am sure that you have compiled your own lists. My challenge to you is to avoid the rush of life crowding out this new learning. The school leadership always welcome constructive feedback and ideas. I have included summaries of recent community feedback in this bulletin. Thank you to those parents who contributed to the survey. You don’t have to wait for a survey. Please liaise with your child’s respective teacher, Dean, Head of School or escalate your concern to me if you feel it is not appropriately addressed.

I also find that I am more grateful after the lockdown. I am thankful for a return to church life. I am thankful for the start of school sport. I am thankful for leading in a supportive community. It is easy to start grumbling during the winter months. My encouragement is to “put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”. New Zealand is in a blessed position, and I continue to pray for wisdom for our leaders as we navigate this COVID-19 epidemic.

I want to use this opportunity to thank our KingsWay community for all the emails of encouragement and support that the school’s leadership received during this time. Our love and respect for this community grew exponentially during this time.

Kind regards,

Graeme Budler
Executive Principal