From The Principal 2 February, 2023

Kia ora whānau

Welcome back to the new school year. This is a brief Steeple Rock for the beginning of the year. Next Thursday we will send out our second Steeple Rock with additional information including Team Newsletters and Long Term Plans.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at tomorrow’s meet the teacher interviews. The meet the teacher day certainly does reduce apprehension and anxiety levels before our first day or normal classes next Tuesday.

The staff have been very busy over the past few weeks preparing for the start of the year, we have another incredible year of learning ahead of us! Fingers crossed, it is not nearly as interrupted as the last few years and we can continue to return to school as we knew it before COVID. We are delighted that parents are once again able to come into the school, we highly value all the contributions you make to Seatoun School.

We will continue with parents collecting children from outside the classrooms for all year groups. Rooms 1-9 can be collected directly outside their classroom door. For upstairs classrooms, please arrange a suitable location for your children to meet you. The corridors are just not large enough for everyone to safely use at the same time. You may come into school at the end of the day, but please wait until most children are outside.  Year 1 and 2 students and their siblings will be dismissed at 2.50pm and the rest of the school at 2.55pm).  In the mornings, our preference, for Year 1-4 year groups, is to enter the classrooms from outside, this also assists with congestion.  

A special welcome to our new families and staff. We have 38 new students starting on day one and three new part-time teachers. We will introduce the new staff next week.

Our Kids Online - Parent Information Evening

Thursday, February 9th 7.00pm is IMPORTANT - We really hope at least one adult from your family can attend.

Watch this short introductory video to find out what will be covered. Due to the nature of some of the topics covered, this evening is not for children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhBFJ5RK2R8

HERO
You may well need to log into HERO as it automatically logs you out if it is not used for a number of weeks.  We use HERO for a considerable amount of our communications.

Classroom Modernisation Project

The classroom and toilet upgrades are proceeding as scheduled, with a planned handover in late March. Until this time, we are making the most of the spaces we have available and some compromises need to be made. Our Library, STEAM Room, Art Room and Orca Room will be homerooms for the Year 7&8 team. Our Library will still be open at lunchtime. Mrs Bamber’s library programme and Mr Finnigan's STEM programme will be run out of classrooms.

Fencing Project

If you have been past school, you will have seen our new fences! We were directed by the Ministry of Education to install these fences and it is also paid for by them. This will make the school safer for children but will take some time for us all to get used to. Between 8.20am - 8.50am and 2.50pm - 3.15pm, the gates will be opened. If a student arrives at school outside these times, they will either need to be able to open the gate themselves or an adult will need to open it for them. The Office staff will not be able to do this for children.

Please share with us any comments or questions you may have: Feedback Form