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 Parents and Caregivers

"I've got something to say!" Presentation Evening 2017

Congratulations to everyone who took part in our speech contest and poetry recital last night. There were also a number of presentations using the screencastify technique that were also very good. I thought the standard of the speeches this year was just great and the competition to choose a winner in each year level, as well as the overall winner, was as high as it has ever been.

Congratulations to the following winners at each year level; 

Year 4: Sieni Taleni

Year 5: Brielle Querubin

Year 6: Rahiri Mataakama

Year 7: Malakai Tahaafe

Year 8: Tamarine Kernkhunthot

Overall winner of Year 7 and 8: Tamarine Kernkhunthot

Thank you to all parents for supporting your child through their learning of speeches, poems and presentations. A big thank you to the teachers for all of your hard work in preparing the students for last night.

Water-Only School

At Riccarton we do our best to encourage healthy eating and healthy lifestyles with one of our aims being for students to leave RPS being fit and healthy. With this in mind we are a water only school (apart from school milk). We are noticing that some students are starting to bring drinks that aren't water to school. Please don’t let this happen.

Duffy Role Model Assembly

This week we had a visit from Nathan Gray ( Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne) as our Duffy Role model for the Duffy Books in Homes programme.

Nathan served as a lawyer and foreign policy advisor in California, Alaska and Saipan before becoming a freelance journalist covering international feature stories for National Geographic, TNT UK, Hollywood's P3 Update and New Zealand's Tu Mai Magazine. His first book: ‘First Pass Under Heaven - One Man's 4000km Trek along the Great Wall of China’ is a Penguin best-seller available worldwide. The journey was also shown on the National Geographic Channel. At present he has explored the social intricacies of over 70 countries and can communicate in 7 languages. Nathan has most recently completed four years on Te Waka Toi - The Maori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand and one year on the Board.

Nathan spoke to the children about the importance of reading and working hard at school, and that if you put the effort into your studies you can achieve great things. He also played a game with the students and helped present some Duffy Books. Each child at RPS should be bringing home two free books this term care of the Duffy books in home programme. Please encourage your children to read as much as possible.

Have a great Easter Holiday!

Thank you to everyone for all of their great work this term. All of our students are working very hard with their learning and are making great progress towards being Respectful, Responsible Real Learners! A big thank you to our parents and caregivers for all of your support for our school. A special thank you to our hard working staff for all the work that you put into helping students learn. I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Easter break! We will see everyone back at school on Monday 1st May starting at 8.55am.

Ngā mihi nui,

Paul Irving