June 2022

Kia ora koutou e te Maungaraki whānau,

We hope you all enjoyed celebrating Matariki with your family and friends this past weekend. We should all bevery proud to be part of such a pivotal point in New Zealand history. It was also great the weather was on ourside for the Matariki celebrations given the wet and wild weather we have had lately.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

We are nearing the end of another busy and engaging term at Maungaraki School. There has been a particular focus on well-being, and also looking out for one another around school. One way of doing this is through ourHeart days. The staff and students recently enjoyed two of these days – Spirit and Matariki. These Heart days are a great way to develop and strengthen tuakana-teina relationships through lots of fun activities in vertical house groups across the kura.

Our Fern Syndicate has been providing some tasty hot lunches and hot chocolates across the school. These have been a great success, particularly as the temperature outside has dropped. The Reo-athon has been going really well and we are excited to see the final word count and fundraising total soon. Finally, to end the term, the children have two weeks of swimming at Huia Pool.

We are aware that our community is still coping with a lot of illness, and, unfortunately, this may be the theme for the rest of winter. Please make sure you keep your children home from school if they are unwell. The Board is very conscious of the difficulties that sickness in our community makes to the running of the school. We really appreciate all the ongoing commitment from our staff to our children and their learning. To help support our staff and reduce pressure on them, we have directed more of the school budget towards covering staffing costs. The school has also employed three more teachers who will start in term 3. These new staff will help ease the difficulties of finding relieving teachers, and also run additional groups across the school.We would also like to make special mention of our support staff. These members of are staff are often unseen by many but are vital in helping our school run smoothly. We really appreciate all the work they do around the school and with the children.

On a sad note, the Board was very upset to learn of the passing of our school cleaner, Wilz, earlier this month.He was well-known to many around the school and will be greatly missed.

PROPERTY UPDATE

As you will have seen, the builders’ prefabs are onsite out near the hall. The library construction is going to take place in a fully-fenced area in front of the school. This fenced area is due to be installed before the holidays, with removal of asbestos in the old dental clinic happening soon after.The entranceway part of the project has been signed off at Council and is in the final stages of planning. The school, through the Ministry of Education, has also engaged a designer to further develop the plan.The Board has approved the 10 year property plan for our school. This includes some electrical upgrades,plumbing improvements, boiler removal, modernisation of blocks A and B, covering of the new decking, and toilet improvements. Many of these projects will happen in the next five years, with some waiting until the new buildings are finished.

BOARD ELECTIONS

Board elections are coming up in early September. Elections are every three years with five parent representatives elected. Being on the Board is a great way to be more involved in our school and its governance.We are keen to have a broad range of people with different backgrounds and experience on the Board. We value diversity and want the Board to be representative of the community we live in.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Board, please get in touch with any of the members, or talk to Shane. Our next meeting is at 6pm, on Wednesday 3 August, in the Staffroom. Please come along, we would like to see you there.

HOME & SCHOOL COMMITTEE

The Home & School Committee plays an important role in our school by organising events and activities that bring students and families together with the school, and also helps raise money for our school. The money raised by the Home & School Committee goes towards a variety of things, including school camps, art resources for classrooms, larger projects around the school, supplies for the Build’n’Play shed and the Waihanga Centre, and the school leavers’ dinner. As covid restrictions relax, it is becoming easier to host events for our children and their families. We have a movie night coming up and plans for a disco next term. If you are interested in being on the Home & School Committee please contact the office.

Noho ora mai
Julie, Shane, Megan, Paul, Lizzie, Kim, Kaylee and Wayne