At the last Board meeting we discussed community engagement and recognised that we needed to be more proactive in sharing news with our community about what decisions are made at our regular BoT meetings. So, we have set ourselves a goal to share BoT news once a term.

Here's our first report...

A special welcome to Amanda Burns, Amitha Krishnamurthi and Jon Kearins. Our new Board members join Richard Skevington, Scott Williams, Gill Aldworth (staff elected representative) and Andrew Ducat, who as principal, is also a member of the BoT. Debbie Howard, the school's Executive Officer, is the Board's Secretary, which is a non-voting position.

One of the first decisions the newly elected Board made was to elect Richard as Chairperson, a role he has carried out successfully for the past 2 years.

During the August BoT meeting we received positive feedback from staff about the newly implemented emergency procedures. Earlier in the term the Board received feedback from staff that our lockdown procedures required attention. Advice was needed on a whole host of questions, including: 

• should all doors be locked during a lockdown
• should children hide under desks while a lockdown is in progress
•  should curtains remain open or closed

There was a lack of clear information available to the Board to help us to provide clear guidance for staff. As a result, we contracted the services of a company who specialises in working with Schools, ECEs and private business to develop robust, site specific,  Emergency Management Plans (EMPs). As mentioned earlier, the initial feedback from staff regarding the new EMP has been very positive. This is a positive outcome for all involved as it is important to know that staff and children feel confident and know what to do during an emergency such as a lockdown.

On a different subject, the Board approved an application to the Trillian Trust for  a new fitness trail at the July meeting. This week we have received exciting news that our application was successful. We are now in the process of finalising the design and plan to have the work carried out during the Christmas School holidays.

Less exciting, but just as important building news is that we will be replacing the clearlite roofing material above the deck areas between room 18 and 19, as well as the large deck area outside Room 16 and 17.

At our next meeting, at 6.00pm on the 25th of September, we are looking forward to listening to a presentation from Sarah James, our new Kaitaiki led teacher, along with a group of students, on the school's Forest Kaitiaki prgramme.