Kia ora koutou,

I hope you and your tamariki have made it into the holidays without too much illness – ongoing sickness through flu, covid and other bugs was a continuing theme during Term 2 for our kura.

The Board are coming to the end of our term and elections are fast approaching. Some interested potential board candidates (parents like you!) have come along to our last two meetings to see how we do things and there is still one more opportunity to do this on Wednesday 3 August after school. Please contact Amanda (amanda@teaomarama.school.nz) if you’d like to come along.

As we reflect back on the last three years as the first elected board for Te Ao Mārama we are so proud of the school and how it has developed. We have a growing staff team with great leaders and have navigated the challenge of covid as nimbly as we could whilst keeping the kids smiling, happy & learning. We have invested in areas to ensure we can meet the goals of the school including the development of new playgrounds (currently underway!), astroturfing of the courts and the growth of our inclusive learning assistant team to meet the diverse needs of the growing number of students. We have supported, celebrated and built a strong board culture to allow future boards to springboard from. We will have one final session together to ensure we can collect and pass on our collective knowledge and tips to the incoming board.

A big mihi to our various board members and meeting participants – Amanda, Frank, Tony, Ihipera, Heemi, Emma, Alf, Dawn and Sara. For many of you the role was your first governance experience and I have valued your contributions hugely as your chair.

I hope you all have a great break and see you all back in Term 3.

Andrew Corkill
Board Chairperson