Kia ora koutou,

What a wonderful Twilight Festival we had last Friday 28th February, run by our amazing PTA - a big thank you for your hard mahi for our school. It was the perfect evening and it was great to see so many whānau and community members attend and enjoy what was on offer. We raised $12,449.04 which is incredible! Thanks to everyone who got in behind us.

You may have noticed some increased activity with our new school hall and library. Now that the roof is on and some of the heavy machinery has left, our great builders are working on the inside of the hall and the landscaping at the same time. This means that some of our pedestrian entrances are open or closed at various times which we thank you for your understanding. On Monday the 17th of March, the only entrance for pedestrians will be the double gate in between the administration block and the Kuaka classrooms. Please be mindful of your children as they enter through these gates. We will have staff monitoring the entry and exit however please assist in keeping an eye on your children especially the pre-schoolers as the gate will be partially open until 9am and just after 3pm. 

This year, as you will know, a big focus for our school is structured literacy. We are holding a parent/whānau session on structured literacy Monday 7 April at 3.15pm - 4.15pm (room TBC). This is for parents/whānau of Manaia and Kuaka, but other interested parents who have students in other areas of the school are welcome too! We will also be offering some child minding at that time, if that is a barrier to you attending. The session is being run by Andrea and Julie, from Literacy Connections, who have been providing all the professional development to our teachers.

This year, I am sad to say that we will no longer be using See Saw in our school. Unfortunately, See Saw have considerably raised their fee and it is now not viable for our school (like many other schools too!). We are in the process of moving over to Skool Book which is a brand extension of Skool Loop and comes at no cost. The Wave Rider team are currently trialling this, and very shortly we will be able to roll this out to the rest of the school. Further in formation to come.

Our Whānau Hui (assembly) is this Friday 14 March at 9.15am

Ngā mihi nui,

Kate McClelland - Tumuaki/Principal