Kia ora koutou

Welcome to Term 4!! This term is filled with assessments for students’ end of year reports, EOTC Camps and activities and the completion of our new buildings on our site. During the Christmas holidays 8 classrooms will be demolished. You will have noticed the significant ground work being undertaken by Southbase. Matt and I, a Board member and Jamie, our Caretaker were able to view inside the classrooms during the week and we are really pleased with the progress towards our teachers and students relocating at the end of this term. The rooms are spacious and well appointed with the ability to open up for 2 classes to work together and at other times as single cell teaching and learning spaces. We prefer the idea of sliding doors between classes to provide flexibility. Today, all classes completed a furniture audit to assess the furniture that would remain and furniture that we would offer to our community once new furniture has been purchased. Our intention is to have consistency throughout our classrooms’ decor. Exciting times ahead for us all as this development has been a long time in the planning stages and now we are looking forward to the end result.

Next week Moana Thorn and I are attending the Māori Achievement Collaborative (MAC) conference in Auckland. QPS is the only school in the Wakatipu that is a MAC school. For the past 2 years I have been working with a Māori facilitator to teach our students, staff and community about te ao Maori and how we can better address cultural capability. I am also presenting a workshop on co-governance explaining our context at QPS and the role of our Board members in meeting Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Matt Leach will be principal all week at QPS so please contact him if required. Our dual principalship is working well and I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of leading the Wakatipu schools in our Kahui Ako. Matt is also enjoying the opportunity to lead our school 2 days per week. We are both well supported by the staff and our Board of Trustees.

Thank you for responding to our survey regarding 2024. We will be starting school on 5 February and ending 20 December. Next Friday 20 October is a Teacher Only Day where all teachers will work on site. Students cannot attend school. We have attached this day to a long weekend hoping this is easier for you to manage.

Within our newsletter today you will read about superstar QPS students who have achieved highly in various competitions. There are also some amazing artists who show their artwork. We are very proud of them all!! Ka pai to mahi!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. It seems to have come around quickly, too quickly for us to think about Christmas being just around the corner. About 10 weeks time….

Fi Cavanagh

Principal