Friday the 6th of July brings Term 2 to a close and what a busy term it has been. As always there has been a wide range of experiences for our learners as we strive to provide challenges, success and growth across all learning areas.

It is timely to thank the many volunteers who work so hard to support our school to be the best it can be - from regular parent help in the classrooms to sports coaches, from our Raft group through to the tireless efforts of our PTA , there is a lot done behind the scenes and for this we are very grateful. The PTA must be acknowledged for the successful Quiz night which was held last Saturday evening. There was a great turn-out from the community, it was certainly a vibrant night with lots of laughs and high spirits. 

This week we have celebrated our annual Leadership Week. This is an annual event at Tauriko School that originated in 2011. It has been, as always, a very special week with a key focus on Leadership and what that means to us as a learning community.
As in previous years we have celebrated the concept of leadership with daily events planned. Monday saw the week start with visits from TGC Head Girl Leah Owen and TBC Deputy Head Boy Russell Green. Leah and Russell spoke to our Year 5-8 students about their own leadership journeys. A special message that came across strongly was the need for compassion, cooperation and communication, the 3 C’s as Leah called it. They both spoke about the importance of perseverance, not giving up and having that push to keep going even when things are tough.
Our lovely librarians led library activities also on Monday at lunchtime, it was really cool to see the library buzzing with all aged students reading, listening, and searching for answers to clues about literature. On Tuesday our Tall Poppies held a special Market Day with a core focus of working together as a class to raise funds for shared robotic equipment. This was hugely successful and a wonderful opportunity for our Intermediate students to lead their own learning from concept to product. Our Jump Jam leaders had a wonderful following at lunchtime on Tuesday, always enough to get other students up and moving. Wednesday brought about a leadership workshop for Dynamos, School Council members, Class Representatives and House Captains - I really enjoyed working with these fine young people. There were also performances by our marimba bands at lunchtime, and the Tall Poppies showcased their technology learning by sharing their Rube Goldberg machines. On Thursday there were Green Team activities at playtime and lunchtime games with House Captains and Dynamo leaders. As we go to print there are discos being run by our School Council in the Tauriko Hall.
Across all that looks like (and is) a lot of fun are some really key messages:
1) That students at Tauriko School have many opportunities to be leaders – this can be in a number of shapes and forms from Librarians to Jumping Beans, from Dynamos to House Captains, from Class Reps to School Council. Students lead when they participate in groups, they lead when they persevere in their learning. The opportunities to lead are plentiful. Our school motto “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow” is alive and well.
2) There is a leader in everyone. Our job as parents and educators is to support students to find and nurture the magic within.
3) Our Tauriko School Values certainly support our students to develop their leadership capability. When students are modelling our school values of Excellence, Integrity, Innovation and Respect they are leading, the message to others being ‘I am doing the right thing, at the right time and in the right place’.
To me personally leadership involves a few key qualities:
Having integrity – that is being the best we can be at all times.
Having courage – this means being brave and taking risks.
Being inclusive – taking others with you on your journey of learning and growing.
Having compassion – this is knowing and caring about others.
Being a communicator – having the ability to listen and contribute. 

Congratulations to Charlotte MacDonald who was presented with the Sir Peter Blake Young Leader Award, this is certainly an award to be proud of.
I would also like to acknowledge the students who received awards as up and coming leaders - these class leaders were identified by their teachers as having 2 or more of the following attributes:
They:
* actively model the school values
* model integrity
* show determination and the will to succeed.
* are a good team builder, leader and member
* are hard working
* know how to have fun.
(Please see the attachment for the list of recipients and photos from across the week). 

Finally I would also like to thank our wonderful teachers who are leaders of learning everyday in some way, shape or form. They regularly go above and beyond the call of duty which makes them the very special people they are. I thank them for their tireless efforts and wish them all a very restful term break.
To our school whanau, have a wonderful holiday together, we will see you again on Monday the 23rd of July for Term 3.  

Lisa Rose