Another successful term at Raroa is coming to a close. We have had a number of exciting events happening and as usual, our students have excelled and done us proud.

Some very exciting news this week . . . we have one team (7 students) representing New Zealand at the International 'Tournament of the Minds' in Darwin, Australia, in 3 weeks! This complex problem-solving competition demanded high-level creative and critical thinking, and great teamwork as they solved real, open-ended challenges. We are so proud of the students' achievement so far and wish them all the best at the International Competition.

On Saturday, 55 students from Te Rangatahi o Raroa took part in the annual St Brigids Kapa Haka Festival which was held at Onslow College. It was amazing to see the dedication and persistence the students showed in the lead up to the performance. The hard work certainly paid off as their performance was exceptionally well received by the community. It truly was a pleasure to catch up with the very proud parents after the performance.

54 Raroa students arrived back from Tauranga last Friday after a week away at arguably the world's biggest adolescent sporting competition. 11,000 athletes from all over New Zealand and parts of the continent took part. I was lucky enough to be up there in the sunshine supporting our wonderful athletes. I particularly enjoyed seeing the resilience shown by our athletes when games got hard or they were at the end of a long day and willing to tough it out! We had so many amazing parents who took time out to travel up to either stay with the students or be loud, proud supporters.

You will see in this Raroan that the Johnsonville Community Walk is being launched for Sunday October 28. This is a family based event where we are inviting all whanau to register and spring into summer with some challenging exercise. This also doubles as a fundraiser for our school COLA.

I would like to personally wish Josh Ingham, Scarlett Anderson, Lucy Jurke, Ava Sutherland and James Wembridge all the best of luck on behalf of the school in Nelson next week. Our five students will represent Wellington at the Inter Regional Cross Country Championship. We know you will do us proud by continuing to fly the Raroa flag at these wonderful events.