The Raroa School Board met on Monday 19 September. This was our first meeting of the board following the recent election cycle. Highlights of the meeting were:

• We welcomed two new board members, Lizzie Satherley and Kayne Hawea, and congratulated them on their election. We welcomed back our two re-elected board members, Janet Green and Sarah Lewis. Janet was also re-elected as Presiding Member (chair) for the remainder of this year.

• We noted our thanks to outgoing board members Dave Clarke and Jordan Price for the time and commitment they have given in their roles. Dave has completed two terms as an elected parent representative and has made a significant contribution during his six years on the board. Jordan has completed one term as the staff representative and his input has also been highly valued.

• We finalised our Community Health Consultation Survey. School boards are required to consult with their school community every two years about their health curriculum. Our survey is coming out to you in today’s newsletter. Please respond to the survey; we really value having your input. The survey will close on Wednesday 19 October. Here is the link.

• We received a presentation from staff on the pastoral care model currently used at Raroa which is aligned with one of our strategic foci, Whakapuāwai. The model combines the work of the school counsellor (working with individual students) with small group programmes led by a specialist teacher that help build student resilience. The model also has a focus on testing new methods to record and assess the effectiveness of interventions over time, and to give guidance to teachers about the appropriate level of help a student may need. We were impressed with what we heard and are keen to see how this work develops in the future.