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.

Kia ora koutou e te whānau

2022 Classes: These will be made available on your Hero app on Thursday. Please download the app if you haven’t already to view your child/ren’s classroom/s for 2022.

School Building Projects: There is a lot happening on the school site over the summer break. The building project will be in full flight including trenching work outside of the compound site. The block with Rooms 1-3 will be painted and we will be getting some new signs put in place. Please be very careful if you are using the school playground or grounds in the summer.

No School Pool this Summer: As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the Board of Trustees has made the decision not to issue school keys this summer due to the Covid requirements that would be very difficult to put in place. Please note that the pool will have the alarm switched on, limited chemical treatments and any trespassers found to be using the pool will be prosecuted. Please spread the word around in our wider community.

End of Year Words: It is that time of year again when we say farewell for the summer. As there is no final assembly this year with parents, I will give a summary of what I would normally say, here in this newsletter.

As this is the end of 2021, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who help make Te Kāpehu Riccarton such a fantastic school. 2021 has certainly been a strange old year and we have all faced some challenges and stress as a result of Delta. In reality, we have been very lucky in Christchurch and although we have had to live with some restrictions for the second part of the year, we have made the best of it and for the most part, have been able to function as 'normal'. We were also extremely fortunate to bring our whole school community together for the 'World of Wearable Arts' performance at the end of term 2 which was a fantastic night of community engagement showcasing the talents of the learners at our school. There has been large amounts of high quality deep learning across the school since then and the overall tone of the school has been fantastic.

I would like to pay tribute to our hard working staff and thank them for their efforts again in what has been a demanding year. I would like to make a special mention of the ongoing work of our Deputy Principals Margie Askin-Jarden and Sarah Cooper, who form a strong and compassionate leadership team. Everyone who works at Te Kāpehu has the best interests of children at heart and enjoys making a difference for learners. I would also like to thank our Youth Workers Evie and Caleb and everyone at La Vida Youth Trust. Thank you very much for your support of our school.

I have already mentioned at length in previous newsletters the various staff who are leaving us this year. Support staff that I haven’t mentioned who are leaving are Dani Spring (our Librarian), Sam Irving (Learning Assistant) and Kai Huang (ESOL Bilingual Learning Assistant) for all of your respective hard work this year.

Farewell to Colin Renouf, Nick Shimasaki and Caroline Vercoe. You have all made tremendous contributions to our kura! All the very best for the future.

I would like to thank our Board of Trustees. Thank you for your continued fantastic work for our school, your contributions are appreciated and valued! I would personally like to thank Leali’ie’eTufulasi Taleni who is resigning from the board, for his exceptional service over the last 16 years. What an effort of service to our community! You will be missed but can relax in knowing what you have contributed to our school. I would also like to say all the very best to Caroline Vercoe for not only her amazing work as a teacher at our school but for all the time and effort that she has contributed to our Board of Trustees too.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Ngā mihi nui

Paul Irving

Tumuaki - Principal