Kia Ora Whanau,
I hope this message finds you well?
and that you are enjoying the beginning of our beautiful Aotearoa Summer!

I have been catching up with teachers all over the country. And I note that our return to level one is allowing students to resume some of the learning activities which are so important to us:

Hooray! Northland learners have had their first post-lockdown Language Day, where they so enjoyed catching up with each other, and with their teachers. The seniors also enjoyed a real learning “step-up” - exploring scientific concepts about Newton’s law, friction, energy source and gravity. They have plans to extend this learning next time they get together.

Congratulations to Nelson teachers! I LOVED joining you and your learners for your first 2020 KIT day, focussed on Conservation. This was held in the magnificent Brook Waimarama Sanctuary. What a special place this is - a perfect location in which students could learn about protecting native animals and making sustainable decisions for our planet. They hiked for over an hour, spotted birds and their nests, and even taste-tested some of our local flora!

I know other successful and fun activities have been organised all over the country in the Outreach School – thank you to all those adults working so hard to ensure our students experience meaningful and rich learning activities.

In the Enrolled School, students have had 2 Whole School HUI. Each provision has introduced themselves to their new nationwide school mates, and they are enjoying getting to know each other. It is anticipated that shared learning opportunities will follow from this, especially now we are getting so good at using digital platforms for learning.

Term four is always incredibly busy. It's great for students to see their year's work coming together, and important for them to start setting their focus into the next academic year. This gives learning a sense of continuity and momentum. Teachers and Parents, your support of our rangitahi in this sort of thinking is important and invaluable!