Welcome back

Kia ora e te whānau,

It has been wonderful to see the children flowing through the gates with huge smiles on their faces and itching to get back to school. We have enjoyed catching up with them and hearing all about their summer adventures. We’ve had a great start to the year and we’d like to thank you for your support in making this happen - we really do appreciate it.

It is a little strange not having Shane meeting and greeting everyone at the gate in the mornings. He is on sabbatical this term and is connecting with local iwi as part of research he is doing. We look forward to welcoming him back in Term 2.

You will have no doubt noticed the expanse of safety fencing at the entrance to the school grounds and around the top field. We recognise that this isn’t the best welcome to the school and we acknowledge the inconvenience of not having the space available for students to use. However, we are excited about the work that is being done behind those fences and what this will mean for students this year. We are currently looking at when we can get stuck into building our bike track so watch this space.

The building of our new Library is near completion. We are excited to announce that we have recently partnered with Hutt City Libraries to provide a full library hub that will service our students and the wider Maungaraki community. The new library hub will be included in the SMART library service; and will gain access to Hutt City Libraries’ vast online collection, including ebooks, emagazines, audiobooks, online learning, and lots more. Hutt City Libraries will also provide professional librarian services, to help with establishing the new library and community space, as well as developing a comprehensive collection for all ages. Our aim as a school is to be the heart of the community and we can see this taking shape with the Library project and others.

We welcomed new students, whānau and staff with a very successful Mihi Whakatau on the first of school. I would once again like to extend a special welcome to all of our new families, Ellen Walker who is our new teacher in room 16 and Chloe Rahui-Durkin and Tania Tyrer who have returned to the team. It is great to have you all joining us.

Fortnightly school assemblies recommenced today. We are so glad that we can start to reintroduce larger scale events and activities now that Covid restrictions have been lifted. We have our first meet the teacher evening scheduled for Wednesday next week. This is a chance for you to informally meet your child’s teacher and connect with other families. The details follow in this newsletter.

Please feel free to contact me or your child’s teacher if you need to touch base about anything. I can be contacted at darian.schulz@maungaraki.school.nz or contact the office to make an appointment to see me.

Darian Schulz
Acting Principal