Kia ora koutou katoa nau mai haere mai e te whanau

It is a privilege to serve the Tahuna School community and I am thoroughly looking forward to working with you and your child.

I believe the years that your child will spend at Intermediate are a very special time in a child’s life and education. It is a time that they can find out what they like and perhaps more importantly what they don’t like in a safe and secure way before moving on to high school. Tahuna Intermediate will endeavour to provide a wide range of activities so that every child can find and follow their passions. We want our young people to experience a balance between academic success, positive social interactions, and full involvement in sports, cultural activities and the arts. We also want them to have a bit of fun along the way!

Transitioning can be difficult whether it be from one year group to the next (e.g. Year 7 to Year 8) or to a new school. This is what a successful transition looks like at Tahuna;

• The staff will endeavour to make all of the students feel that they belong in their new school and/or class. A huge amount of emphasis will go on developing a team culture in the first few weeks.

• Year 7 students have come from a wide range of schools. For the most part, they have been placed with peers they are familiar with, but it is also a wonderful opportunity to enlarge their friend group and meet new people. Children should be open to this idea.

• The class teacher has information from their previous teachers, but all of the children get a “fresh start”. The teachers will focus on getting to know your child well including their strengths, interests, and learning needs, and show they are interested in them.

• One of our major goals is to develop your child’s independence, but we also understand that the Year 7 students are coming straight from Primary School and may not have had the expectations that we will have for them. We will actively teach your child how to become more independent.

• All teachers in the school understand the importance of their language, culture and identity.

• Learning is appropriately challenging interesting, relevant and fun. We want students to have ownership of their learning.

• Students are physically and emotionally safe with plenty of opportunities to try new, exciting things and extend their particular skill interests.

Children learn best when home and school work together and we encourage you to discuss learning activities with your child on a regular basis. Questions like what was the best part of your day are more likely to get a response than what did you do today? What matters most is parents showing they are interested and having quality family time.

It is wonderful to be able to start the year without the Covid19 cloud hanging over us.  But it should also be acknowledged that it is still in our community and students will be actively encouraged to take precautions such as regular hand washing and following good personal hygiene habits.  Students who want to wear a mask are welcome to, but it is not mandatory.

Tahuna is a busy place and your child will need our support in learning new systems and keeping up to date. We would encourage you to follow us on Facebook and check your emails. A full newsletter will come out every three weeks.

I hope all students have a restful final weekend of their holidays and I know I am excited about meeting our returning Year 8 students and our new Year 7 students next week.

Ngā mihi nui

Simon Clarke

Principal