Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Kia ora, Hello, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Bula, Hola, Fakaalofa atu, As Salam Alaykom, こんにちは, Hallo, Hoy, હ લ ો, Hē leu, Mauri, न म त, Ola , Chum reap suor, Kumusta, Nihao, Xin chào

Dear Parent and Caregivers,

We are travelling very fast towards the end of the term! Please note that we are closed for Easter from this Friday, 30th March. We reopen on Wednesday 4th April. There are a number of events coming up at school over the next two weeks. Please keep on top of them all by reading the newsletter and putting things in your Diary. The school fun run will be on Wednesday 11th April, at 1.30pm - other details can be read in this newsletter. Please encourage your child/ren to get at least one sponsor. This will go a long way to raising money for our new playground.

Oderings Garden Competition

Congratulations to all of our students and our staff who were involved in the successful Orderings Garden Competition. We won the children’s choice award, got a gold medal award in the judging and came third in the people's choice award. We have also been asked to put our Garden in the Botanical Garden Competition coming up soon.

Kapa Haka Performance

Congratulations to our Kapa Haka group who performed at Riccarton High School last Friday night, as part of their cultural celebration evening. They performed with pride and passion. Well done to everyone who was involved with this group!

Staff News

Mrs Bri Oldham has resigned from her position as a release teacher in our year 7 and 8 area of the school. She is taking up a leadership position in another Christchurch school. We are sad to see Bri go but understand her reasoning. Bri has done some excellent work here at Riccarton as a classroom teacher, leading our curriculum inquiry team, and taking school singing and the choir! She will be missed and we wish her all the very best! We will farewell Bri at the end of this term and she will finish up either at the end of the term or early next term.

Mrs Amanda Skinner is expecting her second child later this year and will be taking maternity leave towards the end of term three for the remainder of the year. We are delighted for her, her husband Jono and son Levi! We will find a suitable replacement to take Mrs Skinner’s part time teaching position in Term 3.

Putringamotou Kāhui Ako - Community of Learning

We are a member of the Putringamotou Kāhui Ako, which includes ourselves Riccarton High School, Wharenui School and Springs Early Learning Centre. A Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako is a group of education and training providers (including early learning, schools, kura, and post-secondary - representing the learning pathway of most children and young people), who work together to help students achieve their full potential.

Each Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako sets shared goals or achievement challenges based on the particular needs of its children and young people. Once these have been endorsed by the Minister of Education, the Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako works with students, their boards, parents, whānau, iwi and communities to address those challenges.

We have gone through this process in our Kāhui Ako and have identified achievement challenges in reading and writing, with a focus on improving the achievement of boys, along with Māori and Pasifika, by working together to provide high quality culturally responsive environments and teaching. The next stage is for a leader to be appointed for the Kāhui Ako and then across school lead teachers. We are delighted to be involved and see it as a benefit to work together with our local schools and early childhood centres to ensure we are providing the very best education we can for our tamariki. If you would like to view the draft achievement challenge, it is available at school.

Have a fantastic Easter weekend. Please encourage your children to be Respectful, Responsible, Real Learners! 

Ngā mihi,

Paul Irving

Principal - Tumuaki