KORERO FROM MIRANDA

Kia ora Rototuna e te Whānau,

Welcome to Week 5 of the school year! Things have been super busy over the past few weeks at school. It was great to connect with some of you at our NCEA evening last Tuesday. I also know the impacts of cyclone Gabrielle are still with us and will be ongoing. Our thoughts are with all the communities who have been affected by this crisis.

Many people have been wondering how to show our support. Across Rototuna Senior and Junior High Schools we have decided to hold a non-uniform day to raise funds for the flood affected families. There are more details later in this newsletter.

Despite all the weather, we were excited to be able to bless our new whare last week, located at the heart of our two schools. We are looking forward to being able to work and learn in this beautiful new space. Wiremu Puke (Ngāti Wairere) worked closely with us on the design, inspired by the layout of an ancient whare, Te Miringa Te Kakara, designed with four entrances (north, south, east and west).

At the moment our whare is a blank canvas. We are looking forward to working with Ngāti Wairere, our wider community and our students to develop this space in ways that celebrate and recognise its importance to our schools.

Finally, reminders about our Iwi games on Thursday (weather permitting) and to keep an eye out for your student’s NCEA entries summary at the end of the week. Check out the rest of the newsletter for more details.

Until next time,

Ngā mihi,

Miranda