As I reflect on our return to school for Term 2, I’m reminded of our core value of Manaakitanga. Following a very challenging Term 1, I was taken by the sense of optimism and energy that filled our kura this week. The way new staff to our school were welcomed and the excitement from both students and staff at being together again represented manaakitanga in every way. This bodes well for what we hope will be an engaging and productive Term 2.

I would like to thank the community for your patience and understanding as we continue our transition back to a full school timetable. Staffing has been a real challenge for us due to unprecedented numbers of staff off school and while this is showing signs of settling down it will continue to be an issue for us throughout this term. The board of trustees and I have a responsibility to look after students and staff and I think we’ve done the best we could have possibly done under the circumstances. With this in mind, week 2 will see a continuation of the personalised learning plan where we operate classes periods 1-3 with period 4 offering opportunities to get involved in fun activities. Study spaces will continue to be available and have been well used this week. All going well, we will resume a full timetable from week 3.

As mentioned we have welcomed new staff into our Kura this week. By way of introduction, we have welcomed Anthea Martin (Head of Hauora), Marnus van Rensburg (Social Sciences), Aggie Seumanutafa (Pacific Support), and Carley Pointon (TWA Teacher Aide). We look forward to the great contributions they will make at Mana.

As we move back to some sort of normal we will begin to add events to our calendar. This term will be a busy one with Parent/Teacher interviews (Week 5), Open Evening (Week 8), Beard Trophy (first game week 4) along with a number of student-led themed weeks beginning with Rotumam and sign language week next week. We also look forward to the beginning of the winter sports season with lots of students representing Mana around the region. No restrictions apply for spectators now that we are at alert level Orange so please get along and support our teams. However, for any indoor events please continue to wear a mask.

Ngā mihi nui,

Greg Sharland

Acting Principal