Te Tautarinui o Matariki were one of the clusters of stars that Rākaihautū used to navigate. In Te Pā this is the name of our school board. 

There are lots of exciting things on the horizon and with a board of super-nova stars our board meetings are always action packed. This month we welcomed our first two whānau nominated representatives to the board, Kay-Lee Jones and Corri Whatarau-Hape. You will have seen their profiles in the last Mōkihi. They bring with them some awesome experience, passions and networks that will serve Te Pā well. 

Some of the big things on our agenda this month are the ongoing saga to secure a permanent site - we appear to be inching closer to this destination (despite the Ministry of Education) and will be calling a whānau hui soon to start designing a "pā wānanga". High on the agenda also is our planning for next year and what areas we want to prioritise. One area is how we can provide better support to our pononga who require extra support in learning and behaviour. A recent Special Needs Review shows that over one third of our pononga require extra learning and behaviour support. Resourcing from Ministry is woefully inadequate and so the board will be looking for ways to increase that resourcing both from Ministry and further afield. Kākahu is also back on the agenda again - always a hot topic! A decision has been made to make kākahu compulsory next year. Suppliers are just being finalised and the Board is keen to ensure that every pononga starts the new year with a kākahu and so is looking for ways to subsidise costs - watch this important space!!