Kia ora koutou e ngā matua, e ngā whānau, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Konichiwa!

What a difference a couple of weeks make. The days are getting longer, we have seen the sun for more than two days in a row and the best part of all (for me) is seeing the lambs starting to arrive. There is a lot to be  positive and grateful for.

A warm welcome to our new families this term. It was good to meet many of you at our Mihi Whakatau yesterday.

Congratulations

Congratulations to the following ākonga who demonstrated their DRIVER values last weekend, participating in events that were personally challenging and so varied. How awesome that George H got silver in his Year 1 level at the Primary Schools Mt Cheeseman Ski Competition, Nate B competed in Hamilton at the NZ Beatbox Competition, making it through the first round with other adults and our Jump Jam Team came second and are now heading off to the Nationals Competition in November. There must be some super proud parents (and teachers) out there.

Year 4 - 8 Mask Wearing

A huge thank you to everyone for supporting the school regarding the current mask wearing requirements. We will keep you updated when new information comes to hand from the Ministry’s of Health and Education.

Board Elections

Nominations have closed and we have 11 candidates standing. Everyone should have received information on the voting process. If this is not the case, please contact Tracey Ogle in the office.

Outgoing Board

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Board - John Willats, Lissa Birse, Lyndon Endicott-Davies, Neil Duncan and Karey Hardcastle. A very talented group of people who as a team and individually contributed immensely to the governance of our school. At this time I would like to recognise the significant contribution of Lyndon who has been on the board since June 2016. We have valued his skills and expertise in the field of property. Neil is also standing down from the Board. He contributed positively to our finance team.

Netsafe

As a parent Cyber Safety is an area of concern for our children. Its an area we don't know a lot about. Our Kāhui Ako schools have arranged for Paula Wistrand (Netsafe’s Education Advisor) to talk about digital technology and the practical ways we can all help young people to be safe online. Rolleston College has kindly offered to host this event. If you are interested in attending (free), you will need to register. Please refer to the separate section in this newsletter (Netsafe Live) for more information.

Have a great next few weeks.

Ngā mihi

Tracey