Kia ora koutou katoa. Two of our Year 4 students, Stella Todd and Lily Drury, came to see me during the week with art work they had produced. They were so proud of this, rightly so, and their delight in producing an artwork that I told them I would love to frame and hang, was obvious. It reminded me of the emotional connections art can bring, and how important The Arts are in our curriculum.

Our Kahui Ako have invited Dr Judith Locke to New Zealand to speak with our teachers. As part of this, later this term she will be speaking to parents on how you can help your child to be confident and capable at school. She is a clinical psychologist and author of the book, The Bonsai Child, and will be at Westlake Boys High School on Thursday 3 June at 6pm. Please see the poster further in this newsletter with information on how to book tickets. She looks to be an engaging speaker.

This year we have a few student action groups that have been formed, and one of these, the Māori Action group, visited Milford Kindergarten this morning. While this group is led by Eugenie Middleton, the students come up with the ideas and actions they would like to take. Today they led waiata, spoke their mihi, and engaged with the kindergarten children. We are so proud of them and how they are leading Māori language and tikanga. Thank you Libby Cho, Hallston Springgay, Rebecca Young, Cameron Gordon and Aly Elkholy.

Many of our sports are now underway, and it is great to see so many children enjoying team sport. One sport I particularly love is netball, and with the netball season beginning last week, I was able to watch a Year 5 team on Wednesday (photo below). It is such a relief, after last year, to have these games being able to be played. Let’s hope we get the full season in this year!

I also had some excited scientists from Year 3 (photo below) who came to show me their science experiments using magnets. They could tell me so much about magnetism and its properties, and the links to their Unit of Inquiry. Well done Lexi Wilson, Hunter Longley, Mina Russell, Jerry Zhang and Chloe Lim!

Next week is National Science Week and NZ Bullying-Free Week. During the week we will have a focus on science -related learning (where applicable) and on talking about what bullying is and isn’t. We want to empower our students to stand up if they are feeling bullied, or is they see someone else being bullied. We have a zero-tolerance to any form of bullying, and although it does happen from time to time, it is usually sorted fairly quickly. If you ever have concerns, please do talk to the classroom teacher in the first instance.

Our first whole-school assembly for the term is on today at 2.15pm in the hall. This is led by the Year 3 team, and all parents and whanau are warmly invited.

Ngā manaakitanga

Sue Cattell

Principal