Ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou katoa - Welcome to 2022!

Upon reflection, last year was a beast of a year! There were many firsts and many repeats. We want to thank you all for parenting and schooling through one of the toughest years yet, with COVID. We have been fortunate to have an amazing team supporting our tamariki (children) to find inspiration around them, embrace and thrive during some challenging times and to develop the values and capabilities that empower them as young people. We are looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.

As a Board we aim to ensure that we are representing the interests of each and every whānau (family) and more importantly, our tamariki. We are humbled and grateful by your ongoing support and commitment to making our kura (school) the wonderful place it is.

Furthermore, we wish to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to our teachers, support staff and all those that make our kura what it is. In particular, we are fortunate to have an outstanding principal in Tony. His commitment and dedication to the education of our tamariki is second to none.

As a part of the work to live our vision and to embody the notion of “Whiria te Tāngata” (Weave the People), from time to time we seek your direct input. At the end of 2021, we sought your feedback through our Parent Survey. We have appreciated hearing from you. The process of collecting voice is critical and helps to ensure that we are weaving your aspirations into the learning experiences of your children.

You can see the results of the survey on our website here: https://www.xn--teaomrama-9bb.school.nz/3/pages/54-surveys

In line with feedback from you, our community, we wish to share some more information regarding a couple of Board funded projects.

• TURF: In 2021, we began work on installing turf throughout parts of the kura. You may have noticed that the next part of this project is being completed. The courts will be converted to turf in order to better serve a wider range of needs and learning experiences.
• PLAYGROUND: A common piece feedback we received was more areas for play. We love this! The importance of play and safe areas for our growing kura is important. As a Board we have approved an extensive playground plan for the kura. Tony and his team have been working with suppliers and plans will be shared with you all. We are really looking forward to this project being completed (likely May/June this year).

While we are very excited about these projects, we wanted to acknowledge that these things are helpful but not critical. Our children, parents, teachers, staff, leaders and community make our school what it is and we are glad that we can add something small, on your behalf, to this important mahi (work).

Heemi MacDonald
Board Member