Tēnā Koutou and welcome back to Term 3.

I hope you had a productive two weeks reconnecting with your child/children and being the taxi driver up the mountain, between friends houses for play dates and restocking the pantry. Our teachers had  some pretty exciting adventures. Evan and Elly won the prize with their 4 night mountain mission walking from Wanaka to Coronet Peak. 

We started this term welcoming a number of short-term international students into the school. These students from China and Korea will be spending the next month at school getting a taste of Kiwi life. They have fitted in well and have been enjoying their time in Queenstown. Talking to some of their parents schooling in China is very different. It is normal for students to stay at school well after 8pm at night. I’m sure it’s welcome relief for these International students to come to Queenstown Primary School and be exposed to all the amazing things that we have on offer, having space to run around in and then getting to go home at 3pm. Next week the group is going on a town visit to check out some of the local sites before experiencing a fish and chip lunch.

Yesterday we hosted 12 teachers from the United States and they were amazed by how friendly our school was, they toured different classrooms and were reported that students happily started up conversations to talk about their learning. The visiting teachers who are on their summer holiday and were interested in seeing how the NZ education system works.  In the states they teach to an annual exam and thought we were so lucky having the freedom that the New Zealand Curriculum provides us to create a localised curriculum that meets the needs and aspirations of Queenstown kids. 

A shout out to all the middle school parents who have helped us with the Yr 3/4 ski camp this week. It has been a busy few days with 91 students attending. They have been treated to bluebird days, hopefully this continues next week for our Yr 5/6 group. 

We hope to see you next Tuesday and Wednesday for three-way conferences. If you have not already booked yourself in for a meeting please do so as this is an important opportunity to sit down with your child’s teacher and discuss their progress. 

I wish you a good weekend, there is plenty of sports action on the TV with the Olympics getting underway. Hopefully we can get some gold. 

Kia ora,

Matt Leach

Deputy Principal