Kia ora e te whānau 

Amazing, we are just around the corner from Christmas.  Our ākonga and staff have been extra busy and it certainly makes the time go fast.  On Wednesday we had our “Thank You” evening to recognise and thank all our wonderful helpers. For those of you who were unable to  attend we are very grateful for your support and help. 

YAY! The swimming pool is open. The water is beautiful and clear and the temperature is sitting at a lovely 24 degrees. We look forward to it being well utilised over the summer break. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to undertake pool testing and cleaning to ensure we are able to open the pool out of school hours. 

Yesterday  we had a visit from William Pike. William established the William Pike Challenge to equip ākonga to live their lives with confidence and courage. Our Year 7 and 8 ākonga take part in this opportunity every second year. A large number of children were presented with their awards in recognition of service to the community, outdoor education opportunities and passion projects. Congratulations to all children that met the requirements to receive a certificate.

Last night I attended the Children’s University Graduation Ceremony at the Town Hall. We had 32 students complete the required hours to graduate from the Children’s University Programme. I was honoured to call our Year 5 to 8 student's on to the stage to receive their certificates. Well done to all of the graduates.  Thank you to Ms Berry-Mason for organising this opportunity for our students. A special big thank you to Kathleen O’Connor for being such a big help and seeing this project through to completion. 

As we rapidly approach the end of the year, teachers are busily determining your child's progress and completing the end-of-year reporting. You may have noticed that progress reporting graphs are no longer visible on Hero. These are not visible while the teachers add data over the next few weeks.

On Monday, December 2nd, at 3 PM, progress graphs will be shared along with a general commentary centered on the theme of Being Connected. This will highlight your child's development in areas such as collaboration, citizenship, social and emotional well-being, adherence to school values, leadership, and service to the school community. Additionally, it will include an overview of their strengths and suggestions for their next steps.

Thank you to those parents who provided an insight into your child(s) placement for next year. These have been passed on to Leaders of Learning who will use this additional information to form next year's classes. On Monday 2 December, at 3 pm, we will be making your child’s class placement for 2025 live on Hero.

I am pleased to announce the organisation for 2025:   2025 Organisation. There are minor adjustments still in the pipeline that I hope I will be able to share with you soon. 

Mrs Jeanette Neal has decided to step down from her leadership role at the end of this year to focus on teaching. Her guidance and organisation has been instrumental in shaping the team’s success, and while she will be missed in a leadership capacity, this new chapter allows Jeanette to continue to make a positive impact in the classroom. Congratulations to Ms Toni McIntyre who will be taking over from Jeanette in the Leader of Learning role for Team Tahi. There will be more information on our new staff, staff leaving and those returning in our next newsletter. 

Information on our transition week and start of year can be found in this newsletter. 

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the End of Year Prizegiving assemblies being held Tuesday 10 December. 

• Junior (Years 0 - 4) Assembly 11.00am

• Senior (Years 5 - 8) Assembly 1.00pm

• Year 5-8 student service and leadership certificates will be awarded on Friday 13 December, 9.00am at school

With so much going on we will be putting out an updated calendar to ensure that you are aware of the latest events. 

Have a great weekend.

Ngā mihi nui

Tracey