Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

Mā te kimi ka kite, Mā te kite ka mōhio, Mā te mōhio ka mārama 

Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened. 

As we look back on the first Term for 2022, this whakataukī reminds us that learning is a journey of continual discovery. The changing environment of COVID-19 in our communities is keeping us on one of the biggest learning journeys of our lives!

It’s a journey of discovery, learning, adapting, and growing that we are all doing together.

In times of disruption, having something to ground us can be helpful. Often it’s the reassurance of belonging to something – or someone – which can gives us the courage to be flexible and adaptable in challenging times.

This was demonstrated beautifully by one of our Tu Kokiri students, Rahui Lee, earlier in the term. We had an unexpected need for someone to step into a leadership role at a whakanoa ceremony – an important tikanga Māori ritual to remove tapu for a colleague returning from bereavement leave.

As you can imagine, this was a very sensitive and difficult situation. Two things impressed me about what happened. Firstly, Rahui didn’t hesitate to step up and meet the need for his Ko Taku Reo whānau. Secondly, his words were very gracious, delivered with deep consideration and respect for our colleague and the occasion.

His leadership in that moment was an inspiration and I’m so grateful he belongs to our school.

Covid Update

Recent changes to the COVID-19 Protection Framework mean that since Tuesday 5 April vaccine mandates no longer apply in schools and Vaccine Passes are no longer required for anyone to be on site. This means all workers in early learning services, schools and kura will no longer be required to be vaccinated to work with children or students, or to work on site where children and young people might be present.

We appreciate that the removal of vaccine mandates may be concerning for some families. The Government’s decision is based on the assessment that mandates are no longer appropriate for the current stage of our Omicron response. Nationally high rates of vaccination, along with other basic hygiene practices, have been very effective in protecting our communities from the more extreme consequences of COVID-19.

And – hot off the press – we are all now at the Orange traffic light setting, just in time for the school holidays. This brings further adjustments, most of which will provide welcome relief for our ākonga, as face masks are no longer required when inside school and are optional. Visitors are encouraged to wear face masks on site but this is also no longer mandatory.

Thank you

I’m so proud of the way our students have coped with another term of change and variation. They’ve been an inspiration for our staff and we celebrate and thank them for keeping us all going!

Thank you also to all our staff for their continued efforts to support our learners. And thank you to you, our wider school whānau, for supporting your child in their journey of belonging to our school, wherever they are on their learning journey.

We’re already looking forward to welcoming everyone back in Term 2 and deepening our sense of belonging together.

Ngā mihi whakawhetai,

James Le Marquand
Executive Principal