2018 - a year in review

E nga tangata whenua o tenei kura o te Poho Rakahua tena koutou
E nga manuhiri nau mai, haere mai, haere mai

He mahi kai hoaka
He mahi kai takata

Anything that’s worthwhile requires effort. This whakatauaki comes from Hastings Tipa of Ngai Tahi and is made up of two parts. Hoaka is Hoanga in the southern dialect which means sandstone and Takata is Tangata in the southern dialect which we all know to mean people. Mahi is work.

Just as work consumes sandstone so to it consumes people. This stems from the practice of shining pounamu by rubbing it on sandstone to make it shine, showing its beauty. Working hard gets great results, and through hard work, we too will shine.

We have had yet another event-filled year full of new experiences of which provides the platform for new learning. This year we were favourably reviewed by the Education Review Office, we hosted scientists from NASA during Mars week's Synergies in Space and sent students to Europe and China. Towards the of the end of the year, receiving the news of a $10 million redevelopment of most of our school certainly took the cake.

In 2018 we farewelled Mr Marcus Cooper (Deputy Principal), Miss Cloe Anngow (Head of Performing Arts), Miss Kathy Anderson (Art teacher) and Mrs Noeline Goodgame following 29 years at Oxford Area School. On behalf of us all, we are truly grateful for all of these contributions to our school and wish you all the very best for your future endeavours.

It is the time of the year to express gratitude. My gratitude goes to the diverse groups and the different people who make up our community and the help we receive from them; the PTA - wow this group of dedicated parents gift so much of their time to our school and we are forever grateful. Volunteers, Parents, whanau, friends and supporters - we appreciate each and every one of you. I appreciate the trustees on the board for their time, effort, support and ideas - again the Board invest so much time into this school on behalf of our community. The Board help us stay grounded, yet challenge us to embrace the future, to always take the community with us on our journey of excellence. To our amazing senior leadership team: they are committed, hard-working people whose top priority is always the interests of students. The rest of the staff is fully aware that they are valued and their loyalty and hard work are never questioned, thank you.

Finally, I wish you all a safe and restful holiday and we look forward to seeing you next year.

No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa.