Kia ora whanau- well, winter has arrived today. A good dusting of snow on the Remarkables is a prelude to what will hopefully come. 

Today was ‘Dress Your Own Way Day’, to support the champion Literacy Quiz team of  Gabby Alger, Robbie Hale, Penny Smith and Jasmin Obermoser, Robbie Hale who are travelling to Wellington to compete in the national finals on 23rd May. It was a very good turnout, and plenty of gold coins were received. 

We have enjoyed hosting John Parsons in school this week, working with classes from Yr 3-8. John is an internationally acclaimed expert on cyber safety and keeping our kids safe online. He shared with students the importance of keeping their personal information private and not clicking on links.  I enjoyed my conversations with John and reflected on his comments about sleep. It’s important to think about how much sleep our kids are actually getting, device time needs to be scaled back to ensure that at night time kids have enough time off the device to let their brain settle before being sleeping. We thank Rotary for the work they do in funding John to be able to work in schools. If you have a student in Year 3-8, please ask them about what they have learnt from John this week.  He had some very popular ‘dad’ jokes too! 

Social media has been abuzz with discussion about the school bus network. We have been in conversations with our local ministry lead, who shared the response below. 

You are aware of a recent Facebook post that stated that the Ministry’s school bus services in the Queenstown area are being terminated in July 2025. 

This is incorrect. 

The Ministry’s review into its school bus services in the Queenstown area is ongoing and no final outcome has yet been reached.  

Tracey Tupai-Rewai from our School Transport team will be in touch with schools once she has finished evaluating the student data to set up a meeting to discuss the review and any proposed changes. At that time, schools will be able to provide formal feedback on any proposed changes.   

It is important to note that while an implementation timeframe will not be known until the review is complete and any required changes have been identified, the Ministry generally gives at least one term’s notice of changes to our school bus services.  

I appreciate your assistance in reassuring your community that our review is not yet complete. Once the review is complete we will supply schools with detailed information of any changes to share with your community.

When we are given more information from the MOE, we will share this with our school community. 

Next week, 13 teams will represent the school at the Wakatipu Rippa tournament. There has been a lot of training happening at lunchtimes and during PE sessions with Mrs Murg. We wish all our students the best of luck. Thank you to the number of parents who are supporting the teams on the day. Check out the action if you are around the Event Centre on Tuesday. 

The implementation of our new structured maths program has been going well. Next week, staff are excited to receive training in ‘Maths no problem’ from one of their top trainers. Teachers will have the opportunity to watch experts teach maths and then discuss the next steps to improve best practice. We will finish off next week by taking part in the National ‘Pink Shirt Day’. We enjoy this day as it reinforces our school values and the importance of standing up and speaking up about bullying. 

There has been a bit of sickness creeping in with staff and students being of school. Please be kind to your self and if you or your child are unwell least stay at home.

Kia pai tō mutunga wiki

Have a good weekend.