Dear Parent(s) / Caregivers                                                       Kia ora koutou

I trust you all had an enjoyable weekend and all the Mum’s out there were spoilt yesterday for Mother’s Day. It was certainly a beautiful day and I heard some lovely stories from children telling me about it while waiting to cross the road at the crossing this morning. There were some very special moments shared!

Last week the Cross Country went superbly! The weather was initially a bit foggy and cool but ideal for running in. In fact, one might say it encouraged running! My thanks to Therese and Jo for organizing the day, Kirsty for managing the Juniors and all those staff who help set out the course and manage the day. Thanks also to the Year 8 students who planned and ran the cake stall. It was a very successful day with so many parents, grandparents and friends coming along to support the students who really appreciate it. Thanks for this, it is one of the wonderful things about SNBS!

Another exciting week:

Once again we have another great week ahead with a lot happening.

Today we have the Gymnastics Team training at QE11 again and we have a selection of students going with me to meet with the Christchurch Adventure Park Planning Team who have been contracted by the CCC to help design and build the exciting new New Brighton development. Local schools have been asked to bring along a group of students (we have 10 going) who will be used in a consultancy capacity for the Adventure Playground and will be taken through the process. Apparently they are hoping to have it built for the summer holidays. It will be exciting for those involved and I can hear them in the future telling their own children that they helped design and build it!

We also have the Parent ‘Coffee and Chat’ session on Wednesday morning, a Tactix Netball practice session, round 2 of the Otago Problem Solving programme, a fire drill, etc. So another exciting and busy week is ahead!

Building Update:

The meeting with the Ministry, Jasmax and Beca held last week confirmed they were very close to making the decision on the contractor to be employed for our work. Council Building Consents have been approved so we are just waiting. We have been told that once the decision is made, things will move quickly. It could mean we first have people on site the same day as we have ERO arrive on 12 June! Whenever they arrive, it will be a memorable and exciting day as we have worked so hard and waited so long for this rebuild to begin.

Breaking News:

At last Wednesday’s Board meeting, in committee, I tendered my resignation as I plan to retire at the end of this year. It has been a difficult and emotional decision to make as I love this school and coming here each and every day! Sometimes you can take things for granted when things are going well, and they can seem the norm, but I can tell you SNBS is extremely special and we sometimes forget this. For one, I’ve never experienced a school in my 30 years as principal that has such a unique set of relationships; between staff, student and family / whanau. This was evident even before the earthquakes, but I believe this has strengthened further. Relationships are key to any successful school!

We have been through an unprecedented period of time with more than 15,000 earthquakes and all the social suffering and after affects they bring. We convinced the Minister of Education that her idea to merge our school and rebrand SNBS as a new school wasn’t the best idea, have dealt with all the on-going changes, emotional upsets, transitioning families, planning for the rebuild, etc. The list goes on… but I believe we are a lot stronger because of it. And in all this time, we have lost only a few staff members to promotional moves, retirements and resignations after maternity leave, but overall have had a very stable staff. I bet no other school as affected as we have been post earthquakes have remained so stable. We have a great staff!

I will miss terribly working with the wonderful staff at SNBS, the Board and all the fantastic students and their families. However, it is time, and announcing this at this early stage, will give the Board ample time to do due diligence and appoint the right person to take SNBS forward. Too often over the years I have seen this process rushed and mistakes made, and I want the school I care so much about to have the time to get it right.

Reminders:

Absences: These must be called in giving name, room and reason for absence please.

School Donations: The Board at its recent meeting decided to maintain the School Donation levy the same as it has for the last six or more years. ie $60 for 1 child or $100 for a family. It is tax deductible, so keep your receipt. We are more than happy to accept these paid each term ($15 for one or $25 per family) or as part of an AP. Please discuss this with myself or office staff if you wish to do this. Many thanks to those who have already paid in full or part or established APs, it is greatly appreciated.

E noho ra

John