FROM THE BOARD

Kia ora, hi all

I hope everyone enjoyed the A&P Show last weekend! I was pretty much immediately abandoned by my entire family; but it meant I got to spend quality time at the Mount Aspiring College stand, which looked sharp. I was struck as always by the commitment and cheer of our students and staff who volunteered their time to fly the college colours.

The March board meeting is next week, Tuesday 19 March at 6pm. You can read the meeting agenda on the college website, but here are some of the big-ticket items up for discussion:

1. At the start of the meeting there will be a short presentation from the college’s EOTC Health & Safety coordinators.

2. Formal board approval of 2024 Budget (this has already gone through the Finance Committee meeting of 7 Dec 23)

3. Nicola will present stage 1 of the Wellbeing Strategy, which stock-takes all the options currently available to support wellbeing at the school. I am continually amazed by the range of services and programmes to support student wellbeing, and am pleased to share this with the community.

4. The Board’s remit is to support wellbeing across the whole school community. As part of this, the Board will consider running a parent survey.

5. School bus safety – Remits for NZSTA (NZ School Boards Association Inc, the national umbrella organisation for school boards) Annual General Meeting

The NZSTA is holding its AGM in June, and school boards have been invited to submit remits. There is little guidance on what a remit actually is, but essentially it’s a request that the NZSTA lobby the government to look into matters that affect schools.

We are proposing two remits related to school bus safety:

· that the NZSTA advocates to NZ Government to make seatbelts on school buses mandatory

· that the NZSTA advocates to NZ Government for sufficient seats on school buses for passengers.

These concerns are more pressing in rural communities and are not new: in our hood, both Wānaka Primary School and Hāwea Flat School (amongst others) have publicly raised the issue several times over the last few years. This is just another way to ask; to add more voices to the questions; and hopefully keep school bus safety on the radar of decision-makers.

If you would like to attend the meeting you are most welcome, and if you come five minutes early we’ll even provide a cup of tea - or educational coffee if you’re feeling brave. Please see the School Board page for more info.

Last but not least: the Board Student Representative Zoe Laws is hitting the ground running with a student survey which closes next week. The feedback will enable her to advocate for her fellow students. If you’re a student please consider supporting her efforts on your behalf!

Niamh Shaw
Presiding Member, Parent

Visit our website to read more about the School Board.