I’m the presiding member (aka the chair) of Māpua School’s Board of Trustees. I was appointed to this role last term and am happy to be working with a great team alongside our amazing principal Sharon to help make our kura a fantastic place for our tamariki.

 The purpose of this article is to:

• introduce our Board members 

• give you a flavour of priorities for this school year

• give a few shout-outs

 Board members

Our Board members are:

• Me (Rolf Lamberg) - rlamberg@mapua.school.nz 

• Amber Bonny - abonny@mapua.school.nz 

• Breon Gravatt - bgravatt@mapua.school.nz 

• Niek Ritzen - nritzen@mapua.school.nz 

• Virginia Fay - vfay@mapua.school.nz 

• Liz King - lking@mapua.school.nz 

• Fiona Bibby-Smith (as staff rep)

There will be Board elections later this year with 3 spots up for grabs, so I’d encourage you to consider standing.  It’s a fantastic way to get involved and learn what it takes to run a school. Please contact me or any other Board member if you’d like to discuss what it’s like to be on the Board.

Priorities for this school year

The school’s key priorities this year include:

• New curricula rollout: Rolling out one new curriculum is a major undertaking, so rolling out two is huge. Thanks to our very professional and dedicated staff, this is proceeding incredibly well. 

• Property: The design phase is underway to get some much-needed classroom refurbishment done in the junior block. This has been a long time coming!

• Attendance: There is a nationwide push to increase school attendance numbers.  To borrow words from Sharon: “Being on time every day and attending school consistently is critical for your child’s academic success, social development, and emotional well-being.”

Shout-outs

I want to take this opportunity for a massive shout-out to those involved with the Māpua Easter Fair: Belinda Ellis, Pip Lovell and team - take a bow!  It was an enormous undertaking and your dedication went above and beyond.  The huge amount of work you put in – over many months - is massively appreciated by everyone associated with the school and we can’t thank you enough.  Legends!

Shout-out to Rachel Stanton, the former presiding member of the Board, who stood down last term.  Thanks for all your hard work!

Sharon and team – you guys rock.  We’re fortunate to have such a great team of teachers and support staff at Māpua school and I often hear parents and kids comment on how awesome you all are.

Finally, thanks to you - our school whānau. We’re lucky to have an engaged parent community – please continue to be actively involved as it really contributes to a positive school experience for our tamariki.

Please feel free to contact me or any other Board member if there are any issues you’d like to discuss.   

Ngā mihi nui,

Rolf Lamberg