My goodness what an exciting and busy year we have had! The Board has been extremely proud of our students throughout this year. To you, we say, well done! Many of you will have had to learn differently this year and will have developed new skills around online learning. Turi TV provided some excellent resources and it was fabulous to see the feedback from mainstream schools and teachers about the valuable resource that was made available to everyone during the lockdown and beyond. There have been challenges for you this year but we are hopeful that you have also seen just how important it is that we look after one another, making sure everyone feels safe and included.

We would also like to acknowledge the work being done by all staff through what has been a huge period of change and uncertainty. COVID 19, of course, being a large factor as well as the merger of the two schools for the Deaf into one new school. Throughout it all, they have kept the focus on their students and continued to deliver high-quality support and teaching. It is exciting to see new projects on the horizon and I want to pass my thanks to the whole team for their on-going commitment to building a world-class deaf education system here in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Recently we said goodbye to our two student members of the board, Rahui Lee and Luka Bevin. We wish them every success in the future and thank them most sincerely for their contribution to the Board this year.

In their places, we now have two new student members Lukas Gill and Louis Tomlinson. Here is a photo of us all at a recent board meeting in Auckland. We are looking forward to 2021!

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Aroha nui,

Denise Powell

Board Chair