The short answer is yes we do!

With one of our major fundraisers for the year only two weeks away, we are facing the struggle of finding enough volunteers to ensure the Easter Fair can run effectively. We have a small army of staff, staff's families and school whānau who have signed up to help make the fair a success.  Our gratitude to these people is huge!

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need to ask for your help with fundraising, and if we did any, it would be for 'shiny extras'.  The reality is that our school (and many others) is simply not funded enough to function without considerable financial contribution from our communities.  

The funding for Māpua School is $50,000 (that is not a typo - $50 thousand) less this year than it was last year! There are a few contributing factors  to this: we had a large group of Year Eight's graduate, meaning our roll numbers are a bit lower, the isolation grant was reviewed and removed for schools in our region and we are one of the schools that lose in the change from the old decile funding system to the new equity index funding system. This is a huge drop when one considers the cost of everything is rising, and the fact that last years' funding was already less than adequate!

One of the ways money raised at the Easter Fair will be used is to supplement the funding we get from Ministry of Education for learning support.  We are lucky to have fantastic learning support staff working across our school.  At the current levels, less than 50% of learning support is financially supported by MOE.  The rest is paid for directly from the school. We want to be able to support and boost the learning of as many students as possible.  To do this costs money that we need your help to raise.

We have several property projects about to burst into action.  Your help enabled us to  be in a great position to put a new pool in.  The redesign and new placement plans are nearly complete and we are on track to have our tamariki swimming next season.  Your support of this project means we can investigate 'extra' options like a cover and heating so that our swimming season can be extended.  Thank you.

Our next exciting project is the building of a new four classroom junior hub. This is a Ministry of Education funded project, but if we want the new junior playground to be amazing and to replace our court area with the best new playing courts possible, we will need to be able to supplement the MOE funding, which will provide the most basic models of these. We need your help with fundraising to be able to do this.

In 2023 we need your support for our planned fundraisers.  These holidays we have the Easter Fair, and FOMS have two more major fundraisers planned for during the year. The colour run last year showed that we have the ability to pull together as a community and raise money. We absolutely need to continue with this high level of support if we want Māpua School to thrive and provide the best possible learning environment for all tamariki.

Thank you for the support that you have already given, and continue to give.  None of us love fundraising, but it is unfortunately a necessary part of life in the New Zealand education system.

Ngā mihi aroha

Sharon Prestidge

Principal