“Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today’s Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday.” ―Gladys Taber

Kia ora koutou

This will be the last newsletter of the year. I would like to thank everyone in our community for their support and guidance throughout the year. The school has undergone a lot of change over the last two years. This is a wonderful school and the "stars of the show" are our kids. People often talk about culture and what that means to a sporting team, a community or a school. Building a strong positive culture takes time. I believe our school is on a journey and we will encounter challenges along the way but I have faith in the staff, students, parents and wider community that we will overcome those challenges and build a culture that we can all be proud of.

Our school already demonstrates many aspects of that positive culture we are striving for. The one constant in education is change and as human beings we often relate more to consistency and an ideology that things should remain the same. Schools are reflections of the ever changing world that we live in and as a school community we must embrace change whilst holding onto those core values of kindness, empathy, generosity and an awareness of the world around us.

I could not be prouder of our students. My role as Principal involves many different aspects of school life but I am never more happy than when I am in company of our students, whether on camp, in the class, on the sporting field or just having a chat about anything during break times. I would like to acknowledge all the teaching and support staff who work tirelessly to provide wonderful learning opportunities for our students.

Thank you to our parent community who work alongside us to ensure that every student is valued, respected, challenged and cared for. I look forward to seeing everyone at many of the end of year celebrations we have over the course of the last week of school.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas. Have fun, look after each other and I look forward to an exciting 2019.

Ngā mihi 

John