We are sad to announce that one of our superstar teachers, Toni McIntyre, is leaving QPS. After 17 years of service, she joined the school as a beginning teacher and worked her way to team leader. Toni is leaving Queenstown to explore new opportunities in Christchurch. We are currently advertising for a replacement teacher. Toni will continue with us until this position is filled to ensure a smooth transition.

This week, we were sad to postpone our house days, which were due to begin next week. We don’t make these decisions lightly, and after weighing up all the factors, that was the conclusion we came to. Thank you to the parents who emailed me to support the decision. Feedback to date has been that it is a hectic time of the year, and this has only been compounded by all the long weekends and days off school this last month (as Eddie put it...."March into April is a case crash!)

What an outstanding junior school cross country day we had yesterday, great music and lots of parent support. With all the talk about bad weather and cancellations, it was far from that. Everyone had a fantastic day racing, and it was great to see the resilience shown by all the Yr 1 / 2 students to complete the challenging course.

We had a positive turnout this week for goal setting interviews for Year 1 / 3 / 5 and 7. These interviews happen at the end of the term after parents have previously met their new class teacher and shared information about their child at the start of the year. Yr 2 / 4/ / 6 and 8 are rollover classes with the same teacher, they completed goal setting at the start of the term. Roll over classes are an important aspect of how we structure the organisation of the school. We value building and maintaining positive relationships and keeping students at the centre of all our decisions.

As we head towards the end of the long term, I thank you for all your ongoing support.

Have a restful weekend.

Matt Leach

Deputy Principal

Junior cross country