Nau mai, haere mai ki te Kura Tuatahi - Akonga Aka Mariko

Kia ora koutou katoa, Kia orāna, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Nĭ hăo 你好, Annyoung haseyo 안녕하세요, Namaste, Assalām alaikum, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo!

In our final pānui of the year, we wish you all a Meri Kirihimete! Thanks to our artistic ākonga for putting forward their designs to put on our Christmas card this year. Check out our last pānui celebrating our tamariki's learning with highlights shared by our eteachers.

It was an historic occasion to farewell Koka Jules who has been with us from nearly the start of our VLN Primary journey. We celebrate her contributions and also seek new kaiako or kaiarahi Māori who can join us and keep her exceptional legacy moving forward. Please share this with people in your network you think would be good in this role.

Thanks to all the schools who have got in early and started the registration process or sent through enquiries. We have set up a timeline of support information to help you get ready to participate in 2023. (Registrations close 13 February, so get this sorted as soon as you start back to school next year.)

We've had many enquiries about funding support. MoE supported Gifted Funding is currently being evaluated and we will know in January whether this will be continuing. The recent U1-3 Funding initiative has been evaluated. We will be sharing this with the MoE to inform their policy work and hopefully we will hear more about this in the new school year. Some schools may want to consider contribute programmes in reciprocity, this grows professional capacity in schools in teaching with digital technologies AND provides opportunities for more learners to participate in VLN opportunities. This has worked successfully for some of our schools and is the mainstay of Secondary VLN. Contact Rachel if you are interested in this approach.

VLN Primary are on the MoE panel to provide additional teaching and tutoring for ākonga who have lost learning due to COVID-19 disruption. Find out more about this MoE funded initiative and get in touch if you need support.

Some of you have already put on your out of office for the summer break and will be kicking back or starting your summer adventures. Some of you, like myself, are still plugging away at those last few jobs for the year. Please take the time to browse our pānui when you have had a break and preparing for the 2023 school year. In the meantime, our team wishes you all a well-deserved summer break, with time to rest and recharge, enjoy whānau time and whatever adventures you are planning. 

Ngā mihi maioha

Rachel, Lucie, Jen, Tewaiehu & Helen

🎉🥂🌞🎄😎