Happy New Year and welcome to 2020. We hope you had a break over the summer and we look forward to working with you this year.

Our school —Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo. Kura means school, wai means water and repo means marshes.
This area was all marshes and the Maori used the marshy waterways to travel and trade. This name has been approved by our Board of Trustees after consultation with iwi and whanau.

Our theme for the year is, "Fun, Fun, Fun, Have a go, Fun" We want our tamariki to understand that life is about balance. Wellbeing and hard work can go together and that having a go can at times be scary but can also reap huge rewards. Our team is looking at how this can be incorporated in our learning programmes.

Thank you to those who were able to attend the "Getting Connected" Class meetings and conferences. Thank you for your feedback, we get to strengthen these conferences each year based on the feedback of your experience.

The BoT and I take the wellbeing of the staff seriously. They work hard but I would like to remind our whanau that our teachers are also husbands, wives and parents and members of their community and need to undertake these roles as well. As I have said in the past, technology has made us more accessible and I continue to be concerned about the creep of work into our teachers’ home life that technology has enabled.

To ensure the wellbeing of our staff the Board of Trustees and I as good employers need to ensure that they can be the best that they can be for your tamariki by ensuring they have a work life balance. Our teachers are highly committed and they work very hard but they
also need a break. If you need to meet with a teacher on an important issue and need to have their undivided attention please make an appointment so they can prepare for the meeting. If you email a staff member in the evening please do not expect a response. We ask our teachers to check their emails at the end of the school day and when they arrive in the morning. They will not be checking or responding to emails after 6pm or before 8am.

We pride ourselves in our partnership with whanau. This doesn't always mean agreeing but we make time to listen and see if we can come to an accommodation.

Looks like we are in for a few hot days so we will be really pushing the hat message (please make sure they are named) and ensuring the children are cool (we have air conditioning in all our classes) and have plenty of water. As we have so many children we require you to ensure they are covered in suntan lotion and have it in their bags.

The work has begun internally on our new spaces and we are on track to move in ready for term 2 but as always I'll keep you posted on the progress!! The roadway will remain for the builders to park so they don't congest the roads and so they can move equipment safely and with the least disruption. There will be two or three openings in the fences to allow our children better access. I'd like to thank you all for your perseverance over this project, particularly our staff and children. We are nearly there!

This year we have a focus on dance, drama and music and each ropu will be putting on a performance in Term 4 that incorporates the skills they have learned throughout the year. More about that later in the year.

This year we will continue our support of Rowley School but in a lesser capacity. We are very pleased with the recent ERO review that acknowledged the hard work of the Somerfield team and its impact on the school and its students. I will let you know when it is available online.

We are all looking forward to another exciting and interesting year at Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo. One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment.