Kia ora Te Ao Mārama whānau,

We have reached the middle of term two and are well and truly into the winter months! The Board and I hope your tamariki have had a positive term two so far and managing to stay warm and away from the winter bugs that are currently circulating.

We have a lot to celebrate in this Board update. Firstly we would like to thank Sally, Anna and the Te Ao Mārama Leadership team for ‘holding the fort’ while Tony is on his sabbatical. You have navigated this time extremely well so far (including managing two school-wide power cuts!) and we are absolutely confident that the school is in safe hands while Tony is away. Kia Kaha!

It has been a long time coming, but we are so excited to finally have the Pāwaha completed and standing proud at the entrance to our school. This was a project that was initiated by the establishment board. Thank you to Tony, the creators and all the contributors for making this project a reality. We know this project was a long one with many challenges along the way. However, thanks to your dedication and perseverance, we now have a true taonga that reflects our school, our place and our story for the years to come!

With a couple of long weekends this term, we have some opportunity to take time to recoup and refresh. We are excited to see the amazing Matariki window displays our classes will be creating towards the end of this term. The Board has accepted the challenge to create our own window display to celebrate Matariki alongside the students. Let’s hope our tamariki don’t show us up too much!

Finally, the Board would like to thank all the families who were able to attend the Hui-ā-whānau this term. We understand the importance of fostering a strong relationship between home and school, and the positive impact this relationship plays towards student success and wellbeing at school. A special thank you to the teachers and staff who also gave their time to provide this opportunity to connect with our school whānau. Your commitment to supporting our tamariki is truly appreciated. Personally, I was blown away by the growth and confidence my son showed in his learning during our hui.

Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori - Happy Matariki!

Chris Langley
Board Member