Sabaidee

It has been a slightly surreal week. Watching the unfolding events brings back memories for us all and for some brings back strong emotions. As a staff we have been aware that this is also unsettling for the students and we have been working hard to monitor, support and uplift our students. I want to thank all the staff for their commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of the students and their families was their top priority.

It is not often the first sight that greets you when you arrive at work is someone walking around in their pajamas. However, the end result of the Tsunami warning was that St Andrews Hill was one of the first points of safety for people getting to safety. Once the sirens were activated, our local Response and Resilience group (made up of school and wider community members) moved to open the school and make it a safe place for people to rest/sleep. We had up to 120 people inside with as many outside in cars (many with pets). This group supported, made drinks, provided information as it came to hand, held babies and generally showed the Mt Pleasant spirit until the cordons were lifted and they were able to return home. This group of community-minded people were joined by many others who went out of their way to support and care for these people. I want to share a snippet of an email I got from a parent which sums up what is truly important “... It is things like this that make us really proud of the school and the people in it. I don't think we can ever underestimate the difference actions like this will make in the long run.” We also want to thank the families who have contributed goods to be sent north. We are holding a mufti day on Tuesday to raise funds for a school and will be looking at other options once we ascertain the needs moving forward.

We know there was some confusion around schools being open or closed due to comments made over the media. To be clear, the decision to open or close is up to each individual Board of Trustees. We have excellent systems in place to ensure we make well-thought out decisions and that we communicate these in a timely and clear manner. We hope you were able to access the right information from the variety of strategies we use. There are many ways to keep up-to-date. There is an article later in this newsletter that explains how you can access these. This is especially important if you are new to the school.

As you will be aware, we have been preparing for 2017. We have some changes to staffing based around staff who left mid-year (Kellie Robinson & Rasjad Addison) and we also have a Deputy Principal position as well. We have great pleasure in announcing that Ms Meagan Kelly has been appointed DP and will join Jane Scotland as part of the senior leadership team at Mt Pleasant. Meagan has been at Mt Pleasant for four years and we are thrilled to have her staying at MPS. We also appointed Louise Wilson and Suzie Vesper to Team Leader Positions, Kellen Gillstrom, Maria Arneil, Jolanda Forde, Lisa Chubb and Jude Campion (who job-share) to classroom positions. In addition to this, we employed Mrs. Sarah Stanley who is coming from Lyttelton School. Sarah plays four plus instruments… sings… dances and is a fantastic teacher. Everything we need for a teacher at MPS. The only staff member leaving is Mrs. Sue Ashworth who has been at MPS for three years. She is eyeing retirement keenly and has many plans for 2017. But we can say a bigger farewell closer to her departure.

Finally, we are making progress in getting the pool open to the public (not that you will be interested after today’s weather). The committee is in organisation mode and the pool is full and is awaiting final bacteria testing to be completed (these are due back on the 22nd November). Keep an eye out for an email regarding key sales next week.

La khãwn

Chris Nord