At the last Board of Trustee meeting the Board members took a short Hīkoi around the school.

The first stop was the grass mound with seating in front of the Hall. This area seems to struggle to grow grass and gets quite muddy in places. The board are pleased to announce that they will fund the installation of high quality artificial turf in this area. The mud patch in front of Kererū Rua will also be replaced with work on this to start in July.

The next stop was to view the new play container. This was quite hard to see due to the excellent camouflage paint work. The school is looking a lot tidier with the play equipment safely stored away after hours.

The next stop was to view the works the council are doing in the Hare Puke Park. The council seem to have moved mountains of earth and are making great progress. The design for this park will form a great community asset and the car park will help with some of the pressures at school drop-off and pick-up which we are currently experiencing as our roll increases.

The final stop was the netball courts. The board have also decided to fund the installation of artificial turf on the two main courts. Work on this is schedule to commence in August/September. This is to provide another play area when the new classroom block is built next year and improve overall performance and functionality of the court space.

Outside of our school role and a great link to our Community Minded value was a second informal Hīkoi last Saturday night on Roy Hilton Drive. A large group of local families met at 6pm at the entrance to the walkway opposite Brad Ave. With many torches blazing and much excited chatter the group made their way down to the stream at the bottom of the gully to watch the eels. A few pieces of sausage were enough to encourage the eels to come out and play. For those wanting to see them, the path down to the gully is found over the rocky dam on the left, then down the bank to the right. After crossing the little bridge at the bottom, turn left. They are in the two pools just past the wooden fence.

Dawn Gibbs

Board of Trustees Member