Kia Ora Koutou Katoa, Talofa Lava, Malo e Lelei, Ni Hao, Anyoung Haseyo, Konichi Wa, Gruetzi, Guten Tag, Bonjour, Ola, Hello.

At this time in New Zealand's history, it is also poignant to greet you with Shalom or Peace. What a difficult week it has been for our country and indeed for all of us as we make decisions around how to support our children in an environment such as this. Sadly, New Zealand will never be the same and as we look after each other and find a way forward, as usual we will look for the most positive outcome possible for our country.  We will strive for a  future that enables us to hold onto those values we hold dear - respect, integrity, diversity and tolerance - while living more safely. These values enable us to act with care and concern for all people, being better citizens and insisting that we live in a society that values all. 

Thank you to so many of you and my staff for the conversations that I have had with you over the last week - face to face, by text, by email or face book. Your comments and thoughts have supported me to make the best decisions possible for our students this week. Earlier this week I sent home a notice to all families to try to reassure you of how conscious we are as a school of the age of the students we care for in this environment. I also knew for a  fact our students would all come to school on Monday morning with a myriad of different understandings, knowledge and conversations  of the event in Christchurch based on decisions you as parents had made over the weekend. Our decision was to acknowledge the event, while keeping discussions around details for parents.  We would support you, acknowledging the very natural feelings we may all have and in reassuring students of their safety.

As the media continues to tell the story over time, we will all make decisions around just how much of this content we share with children. Many parents I have spoken to are already finding it necessary to turn off the tv and radio. The Ministry of Education sent out an email in the last day with advice around cyber safety in this environment for young people - indeed for all of us:

"Netsafe has received a number of reports of online content relating to the attacks in Christchurch. Footage of the attacks has been deemed objectionable under New Zealand law which means that possessing or distributing the footage is an offence. Anyone who finds footage of the attacks online should report it to Netsafe at netsafe.org.nz/report but they should not keep copies or share it. Netsafe encourages schools to speak with students about what to do if they come across the footage and about the fact that sharing the footage with this classification is against the law.

The footage of the Christchurch attacks is disturbing and will be harmful for people to see. If students have viewed the video and are struggling with what they have seen it’s likely they will require additional support. Agencies which can provide free support include Youthline, Need to Talk and Kidsline.

While the content is online there is some risk that children or young people may come across it. Netsafe encourages schools and parents to proactively discuss with young people what they should do if they come across distressing content online. Further information is available at netsafe.org.nz/upsetting-content

If parents or schools have questions relating to this incident or other distressing online content they can contact Netsafe for free and confidential advice at netsafe.org.nz or call 0508 NETSAFE."

As a school we often discuss aspects of cyber safety with students. We tell students to close the lid or turn off the screen if they see material that is upsetting or inappropriate. These are great skills for our students to have throughout their lives. As the students are young people we also ask them to then tell an adult. For adults "telling" can then involve reporting material such as this to Netsafe. Links to this organisation are above for you to use.

Condolence books have been set up by the city for anyone to write a message in if they would like to. Information on this is attached below.

Tall Poppy Camp:

On a much brighter note, our Tall Poppies are enjoying a wonderful Art and Leadership Camp this week. The students have been involved in a range of outdoor activities that are challenging them to utilise their developing leadership skills in a variety of ways. They have enjoyed a great day at Waimarino and have spent time at TECT Park on the high ropes course. They have also worked with a local artist, Emma Prill, to create an art installation that will soon be on show in our office foyer. I have seen the emerging work and know that you will all enjoy this when it is displayed.  It was a lovely surprise for me on Tuesday night when Jo shared this with me and where she thought this could be displayed - I'm fortunate to have such wonderful staff who are constantly thinking of ways in which to make our school the great place it is.

Earlier in the week, I popped out to Aongatete Lodge to spend time with teachers, students and the wonderful parents who are supporting us to make this camp a reality. It was great to enjoy a bush walk to the river and water holes with the group. What a beautiful spot that the students enjoyed swimming in... and jumping off a ledge into a pool below! 

Visual branding

Over last year we consulted with our community around the strategic direction for our school. This supported the review of our school charter, motto and vision statement and the refining of our school curriculum. 

Many of you will have noticed the new signage at the front of the school and the change in letterhead in the last week. Marketing material for the school is also being updated (an example of this being our flyer) and I will work on a new prospectus over the next few months. Shortly our new website will go live, which I know you will find a lot more user friendly. Bear with us when this happens as we iron out any kinks!

I am attaching a visual representation we have developed that encapsulates many aspects of who we are as a school. This is the result of much hard work in enriching our school curriculum over the last few years, an acknowledgement of our school culture,  and staff, student and community consultation  in the last twelve months. You may notice:

• Our school motto - Learning . Leading . Succeeding
• Our school vision statement
• Raindrops containing our values (Respect, Integrity, Excellence and Innovation) - falling down and watering us all
• Trees with our five key 21st Century learning skills on them - Communication, Citizenship, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking
• Diversity celebrated in the variety of buildings on the artwork - you may recognise one building that is particularly historic here for us on this site
• The rest of the artwork captures rich messages from our mural at the front of the school that represents many of the things we hold dear in this place. This mural was created by our whole school with the support of a parent and local artist, Simone Anderson in 2013

Expression through the arts is a strength of our school and it is wonderful to be able to capture who we are in this  latest artwork (below and on the front page of our current website). I'd like to thank Metro Marketing for their on-going work with our school with our branding. They are a supportive friend of our school  and I appreciate their talent in  working with us to help encapsulate who we are visually. Thank you also to Jo and Lisa who worked with me to imagine what this image could look like. We had fun!

BOT Update:

The Tauriko School Board of Trustees are a great group of people who provide sound governance for our school, giving of their time and many talents. I am appreciative of their support and advice. Elected by you, they represent your voice when making decisions about all aspects of school governance. 

There will be a Board election for a new Board this year and we encourage people to consider contributing to continuing to make Tauriko School a better place and standing for the election. Having a healthy election involves having a good number of people prepared to stand for the election. Greg talks about this and other news in his latest Board Update.

Driveway exit:

On Monday last week I informed NZTA of the gravel issue at the exit from our driveway and the need for this to be removed in the interests of safety. It is hoped this will happen soon. In the meantime, please be careful out there - we want you safe and sound.

Contacting The School Office

Lately we have been inundated in the school office with people ringing in to be reminded of information that has been sent out to families via the weekly email, the regular newsletter and notices sent out with students and loaded online. Often people say they just scanned the communication or they didn't even read it. I do understand how busy you all are but we feel as if we are between a rock and a hard place. 

We have worked really hard to listen to our community and improve our communication to families over many years. We know there is a lot of information out there, but it is there and if I could make a plea please, that this is read and systems in families are developed  - calendars, clear files for notices, email folders, reminders on phones etc that support you to check this information before ringing the school office.

The staff are always happy to help you with lots of queries re information that may not be readily available, but they are finding it hard to get work done with the large number of phone calls like this. I would also ask that if you do ring you are pleasant when speaking to the staff. We have welcoming, positive office staff and lately they have been treated pretty badly by a few people. We have a school value of respect that we all try hard to model in all our interactions with each other daily.

All notices and newsletters can be found on our website here You will find newsletters at this link and on the side a heading notices where all notices are loaded for you to look at if you have misplaced one, are away from home, they have been lost or not made it out of a school bag!

You will have noticed that lately we have also sent texts around any changes to the school day as gentle reminders for you when you are busy. This was a suggestion from a parent. We will continue to listen to constructive ideas and we appreciate your support, respect and consideration.