Kia ora whanau,

Term 3 is a busy and focused term and the first two weeks have been no exception. There is exciting sport to watch, great news of the Showquest national award and Band Quest placings, as well as settling to the rhythm of the term and progressing learning.

Thanks to all our families and students who supported our Open Night. It is a very special event for the school, and so important that our prospective families meet our current students and get an authentic sense of who we are and what is important to us. I was so proud of our students; they were welcoming honest and themselves - their diverse, articulate, quirky and individual selves. Nothing says more about a school than the students who belong to it - and they were fabulous ambassadors.

I would also like to acknowledge your understanding and support as we have gone back to wearing masks for the first few weeks of the term. Numbers of absent students and staff are down, we are gaining momentum with our teaching and learning, and we are very grateful for your assistance with that policy. 

This Saturday the PFA host the Gala dinner - another wonderful event supported by our community, and integral to assisting us with the Whitby/Chapel project. Thank you to the PFA, the organizing committee, the sponsors and all of you who have bought tickets. We are very fortunate to have such commitment from our community.

We are excited about hosting Quad next week, having lost some of these special events over the past two years, and welcome our friends from other schools. Again we are grateful for the assistance of our community to be able to run such an important and historical event.

Ngā mihi nui

Jackie Barron