Logo by Simon Clarke

Principal News

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Matariki is a time to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future. This is especially poignant as we conclude Term 2 and sit halfway through the school year.

Nau mai i ngā hua, nau mai i ngā taonga, nau mai i te mātahi o te tau!
Welcome the fruits of the year, welcome the many treasures, welcome the New Year!

It has been a whirlwind six months for me since starting at Tahuna.  I have focused on learning about the "Tahuna Adventure", navigating the school through Covid while also trying to install a sense of normality for the students, working with our talented teachers, and identifying how I can best help them as we move forward.  I have especially enjoyed getting to know the students and working with them in a variety of ways and have been impressed by their good nature and eagerness to try new activities and push themselves.

It is a perfect time to celebrate the present, and the Matariki evening and Oamaru interchange were excellent examples of what Intermediates are all about.  Lots of children taking part in activities they may never have done before.  The pride for their school and themselves was evident in all of the students involved.

Our school-wide academic results for the mid-year point are being collated at the moment which I look forward to sharing with you in more detail in the next newsletter.  The initial results look very good and I was very impressed with our overall results in reading and writing.  I was especially pleased to see some excellent results in the students we invest additional resourcing into as they have made some significant improvements

Thank you for celebrating your child's success with their class teacher in our student-led conferences this week.  The teachers welcomed and really enjoyed the face-to-face meetings that we were able to provide and we value your feedback.  Education works best when we work in partnership with you.

To help us plan for the future we will need your help.  Please keep an eye out next term in late August for our community consultation survey.  This will help the school and Board of Trustees identify what we are doing well and more importantly what we can do better.  This will be followed up with fono, whanau hui and other strategic meetings where we want to listen to your thoughts and ideas.  This information will be collated together to form our new 2023-2025 strategic plan.   

Ngā manaakitanga

Simon Clarke

Principal