PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Tena koe,

We hope this message finds you well. As we look ahead to the 2025 school year, we are excited to introduce our wonderful team of class teachers and our syndicate structure. This year is one of growth and change for many staff at Maungaraki School and some of our School Programmes.

We farewell Talitha Le Roux at the end of the year, who has been teaching in Room 1 while Whaea Kayleigh has been on maternity leave. Talitha has done an outstanding job, and is a much loved member of staff and the community. We are hopeful that we see more of Talitha in 2025.

We have some congratulations to share. These are tinged with sadness for our school, however are neat opportunities for Jo, Jenna, Caeleen and Valerie who have played important roles at Maungaraki School over the past years, making a huge difference to so many learners and families. We will get a chance to say a proper farewell to them all in a few weeks. 

Caeleen Warder has accepted a role at Gracefield School for 2025 and will be taking on a leadership role at her new school. This is an awesome opportunity for her and a big loss for Maungaraki. 

Valerie Archer has accepted a role at Eastern Hutt School. Valerie is moving to teach in the Year 5 & 6 team and is looking forward to this new challenge. Again, this is an awesome opportunity for Valerie and a big loss for Maungaraki. 

Both Valerie and Caeleen at Maungaraki for the last six years. They both trained as trainee teachers here, so essentially have called Maungaraki home for the duration of their teaching careers to date. These two new opportunities are great for them to further develop the skills they have been growing here. I am sure you join me in wishing them well on the next step of their journey.

Congratulations to Jo Fox who has secured a role at Gracefield School for 2025. This role incorporates some of Jo's passion and strength areas as she will be leading STEM at Gracefield. This is a super opportunity for Jo and great for Gracefield School, and a big loss for Maungaraki. Her skills in the STEM area and our Ponga team will be missed here on the hill.

Congratulations to Jenna Reddy who has secured a role at Capital Football next year. Jenna has been teaching our role growth class during the last term of the year. Jenna has accepted a role in Girls Football Development for Capital Football once she returns from her next overseas adventure next year. This is a great gain for Capital Football, and a big loss for Maungaraki. 

I am sure you will join me in wishing Talitha, Caeeleen, Valerie, Jo and Jenna all the best on their next adventures. The work they have invested in our school can not be understated. They have each worked incredibly hard across the school, making their own individual mark in a range of areas - from STEM to LITERACY to SPORTS and so much more. As the year closes we will take time to acknowledge these efforts and thank them for their amazing contributions.

We have Ben Young taking up a position leading our new Waihanga Programme in 2025. He will be leading our technology/arts team which will encompass all levels of the school and take on the challenge of developing our new Year 7 & 8 technology programme. Ben has an amazing skill set in this area and we can not wait to see what the next step for this team is. We are pleased to share that Hayley Saxton will be leading the Ponga team in 2025. Hayley is excited about this new challenge and joins our leadership team, congratulations. 

Syndicate Structure for 2025:

Our School Structure - Kākano, Tipu, Koru, and Ponga - will remain intact for the 2025 school year. This structure allows us to maintain the sense of community and growth throughout the school. Our staff members are dedicated to providing the best educational experience for your children. They are passionate about fostering a love for learning, our HEART values and helping our students achieve their full potential. We will provide a round up of our other crucial team members in our next newsletter as we break down further staffing across the school.

We do have a number of new staff members joining our team next year, and are pleased to have a fully staffed school with a range of incredible skills. 
Our new appointments include the following: 

Rebecca Barkla joins us from Eastern Hutt School. Rebecca has been teaching for the last 9 years, mainly in the junior area of the school. She has a passion for technology and is looking for a challenge at a new level to grow these skills, hence her move to the Ponga Team.

Harika Akbaba will join the Kākano Team. Harikia is a first year teacher, however she comes with a wealth of experience working with young people. Harika's passion is Dance, and she has spent the last 6 years working at dance schools including Footsteps Dance company.

Lisa Thompson, who has been a student teacher in Room 14 for the last 7 weeks joins the Tipu team. Lisa has a passion for teaching young people and brings a unique skillset of being fluent in sign language.

Ashleigh Edwards will join the Koru team. Ashleigh is a teacher at Island Bay School, she has 5 years teaching experience and is making a move to be closer to home as she lives locally. Ashleigh has passions in Mathematics and Inquiry based learning which will be an asset to the school.

Amber Donaldson will join the Kākano team. Amber is an experienced junior teacher who currently teaches at Oxford Crescent School. Amber has huge passion in young children's development, particularly using the outdoors as a tool for this. 

I am sure you will join me in welcoming our new staff to our school.

2025 Class Placements

We are in the process of considering class placements for 2025. Staff look at a wide range of factors to make classroom lists that best suit the learning and social needs of all children. If you do have something additional that you would like to be taken into consideration before we finalise placements, please contact me before Friday 22 November by emailing: principal@maungaraki.school.nz, or alternatively give the office a call on 5697205 and they can make a time for us to have a chat.

To assist our future planning it helps to know who will be joining us in 2025. If you have a new entrant due to start or know of someone in the community who will be starting in 2025 please ask them to go to our website www.maungaraki.school.nz to enrol.

If you have any questions or require further information, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for your ongoing support. We can't wait to welcome your child back to Maungaraki School in 2025!