Kia ora Papanui Primary whānau

I hope everyone is doing well.

Today at school we celebrated NZ Teachers' day. We are extremely lucky at Papanui Primary to have such a fun, highly skilled, dedicated, kind and caring teaching staff that give everything they have got each day to make sure our tamariki are happy, healthy and flourishing both academically and socially. Thank you for all that you do!

Last week I was lucky enough to go on the year 5&6 camp to Living Springs. It was a fantastic, fun, exhausting and rewarding 3 days for all concerned! I had a really proud moment when a principal from another school who was there came up to me to comment about the great behaviour of our tamariki. Something we talk about at school is doing the right thing even when no one is watching and it was great to get feedback like this. Again a huge thanks to our parent helpers who came on camp with us, Craig Titheridge, Mark Strong, Anton Walcott and Amy Sheppard. With events like these there is always so much planning and problem solving that goes on behind the scenes so thank you again to our two fantastic teachers Debbie Robertson and Maree Hewitt who made sure that camp ran smoothly and that everyone had fun. 

This week our tamariki have been really excited about a couple of events happening both in and outside of school; the first big talking point was touch rugby. It was great to see so many of our kids getting involved and having a go. Thank you to all of the parents who are coaching teams this season as we couldn't do it without you. 

The second really exciting event that tamariki have been talking about is tonight's much anticipated disco! DJ Dale will be mixing up a storm, playing tracks that even parents will know so make sure you bring your dancing shoes! Thank you to Anita Smart and the rest of the Friends of Papanui for all of your organisation to make this event possible.

Just a reminder that all our staff and tamariki need to be wearing hats outside this term to make sure we don't get sunburnt. It is also a good idea to slap on some suncream in the morning before the kids come to school. Come in and see Lisa at the school office if you need a new hat. Prices are $15 for a bucket hat or $18 for a wide brimmed hat.

We had Senior Constable Jeff Martin here with us on Wednesday training up our new road patrollers for 2024. This is such an important job and it is great to see our kids stepping up to take this commitment on.

Finally I hope you all have a great weekend. The nation will come together on Sunday morning to watch an epic rugby match between the All Blacks and the Springboks. Two great foes! It will be a great game and whoever you support, hopefully you are still smiling on Monday morning!

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a great weekend)

Ben Galletly