Kia ora e te whānau

Welcome back to Term 2 hopefully having had a rested break at some stage over the holidays. The teachers started the term with some great professional development on the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. The Curriculum Refresh content has been developed and released in stages.

I always feel immensely proud of our ākonga and their achievements. ANZAC Day was no exception. Finn and Parley, two of our ambassadors, continued the tradition of speaking on behalf of the school about what ANZAC Day means to them. They spoke very well, receiving positive feedback on the content and delivery of their speeches. The service itself was very special, helped by lovely weather and a great turnout. Thank you to Bruce Russell and his team for organising this every year. It is yet another wonderful event held in the West Melton Community.

The Year 5 and 6 camp to Hanmer was a resounding success. Highlights seemed to be the mountain biking, Hanmer Pools and tree climbing. Spotlight was lots of fun, with the parent helpers being “awesome” according to the children and teachers. Thank you to the Toetoe teaching team and parent volunteers for your organisation and efforts leading up to and on the camp.

Thank you for completing the West Melton School Communication and Reporting Survey. We had 139 responses. We have gathered a lot of data and are currently working through the information and looking at how we can best use it moving forward. In this newsletter, we have answered two concerns around Hero logging out and the ability to search older community posts. Check out those articles for more information.

A big thank you to everyone who has accommodated the change in organisation around the school as a result of the refurbishment of Tī Kōuka. There has certainly been a decrease in congestion around the front of the school. The building project is underway (see photos). There was only one family of mice in a wall that funnily enough didn’t need much encouragement to move on. A big thank you to Steve Hooper and his team of parents (and children) who came to school during the holidays and dismantled the junior sandpit.

It is fantastic to see an increase in children walking and biking. Just a reminder to encourage your child/ren to wear their safety vests. The difference when children wear them and being visible is definitely a major safety advantage. All children should have been issued with vests at the beginning of the year. If your child hasn’t been issued with a vest then please ask them to come to the office. If a vest has been lost and needs replacing, please come to the office, although there will be a $15 replacement fee.

The Friends of West Melton School have their first meeting of the term next Monday 8 May. This is held in the staffroom, starting at 7pm. I know they would love new members to join their team. We might see you on Monday night.

Have a great next fortnight.

Ngā mihi nui

Tracey