Kia ora Whanau

The tamariki and staff are working very hard on their school production. Both evening shows are now fully booked. I am looking forward to seeing the product of all that hard work next week! Thank you to all those involved in this year’s production.

Also recognition to our Kapa haka group, soon performing at the Christchurch Cultural Festival; our Choir also practicing for public performance and Jump Jam teams practicing for competitions coming up. We are very proud of their achievements.

Teachers volunteer to take all of these groups and co-ordinate their performances. Their extra work means our tamariki can sample a wide range of activities. I am very proud of the achievements of our tamariki in these groups and appreciate the extra work our teachers do.

Signs of a healthy school:

Our tamariki achieve overall very well academically, this is a sign of a healthy school and this was recognised by ERO in their last visit. I am also very interested in the annual attendance survey done through the Ministry of Education, this also indicates the ‘health’ of the school. Much research has been undertaken that indicates that attendance rates are a strong indicator of the health of a school. Redwood School’s attendance rate for children is significantly higher than for NZ schools overall, for Canterbury schools overall and for decile 8 schools. This shows our tamariki want to be at school and enjoy their learning. It also shows that our teachers work hard to make our tamariki’s learning and overall school experience a very positive one.

Dropping off and Collecting Children at School:

After I expressed my strong concerns about the driving behaviour of some parents in particular, there has been an improvement. This has been appreciated. As a staff we work hard to keep your tamariki safe but we also rely on your assistance as well.

However please note:

• Driver of a white station wagon doing risky ‘U’ turns directly in front of the school, this puts our tamariki at risk… surely your child can walk a few extra metres if you park safely down the road a little further!
• A parent walking through car park with child ignoring requests of a staff member to walk via the pedestrian gate instead… Is ignoring a legitimate and reasonable request good role-modelling for your child and their future behaviour?
• Parents letting children out of the car on the road side into oncoming traffic … I have seen a number of ‘risky’ or ‘near-miss’ events outside the school, the latest on Friday last week. I have twice been first on the scene to children being hit by vehicles… one by a van, one by a truck. The consequences are not pleasant. Have your child get out on the footpath side, a simple, common-sense safety rule.

We do not make our safety requests to annoy anyone, to throw our weight around or to make life difficult for people. We make these requests so that our tamariki can avoid being a road safety statistic. We care for our tamariki. Thank you to the vast majority who do not put our tamariki unnecessarily at risk.