Nau mai hoki mai ki te wāhanga tuarua o te tau. Its great to be back after the school holidays and we have hit the ground running with lots of exciting new changes for our kura.

Change happens to us all—it’s simply a part of life and while some change is undeniably good, we’re often faced with disruptions that certainly don’t feel welcome.

The good news is that embracing change,  once you start looking at change as a good thing,  creates benefits that can follow. 

Change helps you grow and can teach you to be flexible. By embracing change and meeting it head on with excitement, you can learn not to be so set in your ways—and remind yourself of all the positive impacts that change can have. 

We have certainly had our fair share of change at Tuahiwi School over the past year particularly in regards to significant role growth. This term has seen us move to 7 classes and 7 kaiako, the most classes that Tuahiwi has ever had in history. Whaea Anita is now the kaiako in Room 7 with the Year 7 and 8 ākonga and Matua Campbell has moved in to Room 3 with the Year 5 and 6 ākonga. Whaea Gaby remains in Room 6 with the Year 3 and 4 ākonga. Whaea Rachael and Whaea Lisa are the kaiako in Room 5 with the Year 0-2 ākonga which is a change from last term. Whaea Lisa has been teaching here this year across our kura. 

Whaea Nat has come in to teach for all kaiako when they are having their classroom release time and for Whaea Gaby on Fridays and Matua Kiwhakiwha is teaching in Whaea Jess' room for her Management release. We welcome you all! 

One of the things that I am really proud of at our kura is that we offer very small class sizes. Our tamariki and kaiako are also very happy about this. 

You will see in this week HAIL pānui that we have Board of Trustees elections coming up and you will have all received Board of Trustees nomination forms this week. We would love you to think about being a member on the board and working alongside other people in our whānau and community to govern the school and help drive it in a really positive way. If you want to talk to someone about the board mahi please come in and see me or touch base with one of our current board members; Rebecca Stevenson, Emma Tauiti, Marlena Bunnage, Kaharoa Manihera, Te Anna Hema or Matua Rangi. 

Our local secondary schools are all having their open nights over the next month. Keep an eye on HAIL and in the local newspapers about this. The information is also on the secondary schools websites as well. We had a visit from three Kaiapoi High School students last week who came in to speak with our Year 6-8 ākonga. This was really valuable as our tamariki could ask all the questions they had. 

Next week we have an exciting opportunity for our whānau and kaiako to be sharing together. Have a look at the FUSH article the Whaea Jess has written for us. I'm looking forward to trying their kai! 

All of our staff are appraised through out the year and I am no exception. This year Peggy Burrows is appraising me. She is completing a 360 degrees appraisal which means she is talking to staff, Board of Trustees members, whānau and ākonga. If you want to be a whānau member who is involved in giving feedback about me please let Berniece know. She will be in contact with the details. 

Our first uniform order is due in tomorrow morning. Our tamariki have been waiting so patiently for their uniform but I know everyone will be so pleased when they arrive. 

At the end of last week I attended the Big Brother, Little Sister breakfast fundraiser. This is an organisation that helps our young people by putting them in touch with suitable mentors. Let me know if you want to know more about this programme. 

Whaea Gaby's class are currently on camp at Takamatua. Last night she sent me a video of everyone having loads of fun. We had such awesome parent support for this camp and I want to thank everyone involved in supporting Gaby and our tamariki.

Aroha ki te Tāngata - te Tuahiwi ki te Whai Ao is our vision statement and we are really driving this at kura. Watch out for our next HAIL pānui where one of us will explain what our vision statement is all about. 

We continue to work hard for our tamariki and whānau and we appreciate all of the support you give to us. Exciting times ahead at Tuahiwi School! 

Arohanui

Mel x

PS: the photo I have chosen to use as the front this week is of me and Wiremu whose whānau left NZ to live in Perth. We were so sad to see Kady and Wiremu leave so I thought I would honour them by using a photo taken after a Fun Day Friday Session!