Kia ora

Welcome to Term 4. It is great to be starting school again with temperatures on the rise and longer evenings. I trust you all had safe and happy holidays and it seemed that most of our students started back on Monday with enthusiasm and pleased to be with their friends again.

It was a real pleasure to have gone to the Koru games for a day last term. What a massive competition with so many schools and students taking part. Our teams performed well and enjoyed the tournament. Congratulations to all who competed over the 3 days and a huge thank you to all the staff who coached the teams and parents who supported them. A big thank you to Jo for her excellent organisation once again.

Our Mihi Whakatau to welcome Ben McNabb, our new Deputy Principal, on Monday this week was a special occasion. We appreciated the group who came over from Chisnallwood with him and handed him over. We know that Ben is going to be a very real asset to SNBS and has settled in quickly in his first week. Thank you to Mel Lindsay and to Sartia for organising the event and to all who contributed to the kai.

The Kapa haka group performed well and we wish them all the best for their performance in the Town Hall on this Sunday afternoon.

We are also holding a Maori Community Whānau Hui on Wednesday of next week (October 18th) from 5.30 to 6.30pm. Our kapa haka group will perform and we will be consulting you through a questionnaire while you enjoy some kai provided. We look forward to welcoming all our Maori whānau who would like to attend this hui.

We are delighted to have Amy Ridpath back with us full time for the next 4 weeks. Amy is looking after Craig’s class as he continues in the Acting DP role while Janene is recovering from her shoulder operation she had in the holidays. Her recovery is going well.

Jem Ryan has taken on a new role as teacher for 3 hours per day this term in Krystyn’s new entrant class where numbers have increased. Bradley Taylor has taken over Lizzie Donaldson’s class - Lizzie has taken maternity leave and we also welcome back Kurt Soares who has returned from his time working with the University of Otago.

We had an excellent Whānau Hui on the last day of Term 4. It was pleasing to see the large number of students acknowledged for their achievements and congratulations to you all.

Whānau Huis will be held every second Friday (even weeks) this term at 9.10am - not in the afternoons.

The staff benefited greatly from having a valuable Teacher Only Day on the last Monday of the term where we worked with a team from the Ministry Support Services on managing student behaviour. We will be building on this during this term. It was valuable to have teachers and Teacher Learning Assistants working together.

Our staff also learnt a lot and enjoyed the hospitality provided by the Tuahiwi Marae on our visit on the first Monday of the holidays. It was a valuable experience for us all as we made progress with our Cultural Awareness understanding.

All classes are preparing for our Showcase Concert on the evening of Wednesday, November 22nd. Please make sure you have this date marked in the calendar. More details will be provided later.

Our senior (Yr 5 - 8) Athletics Day is being held on Wednesday, October 25th and we look forward to seeing you come along and support your students at that event.

Legend classes have their camps coming up in early November and thank you to parents who have volunteered to be part of these at living Springs.

Planning is underway for 2024 and we will be keeping you up to date with this as the term goes by.

The Board of Trustees meeting for this month will be held on Wednesday, October 25th. And a reminder that there is no school on Monday. October 23rd which is Labour Day Public Holiday.

A final reminder that our school policy requires all students to be wearing a hat in the school grounds during all of term 4. Please ensure that your student has a hat and wears it as required - this is a health and safety issue.

Do pop in and talk if you would like to and we do look forward to seeing you at events coming up on the school calendar

Nga mihi

Bob Norrish

Acting principal