The last week of a tough term and lots has been happening. I'm happy to say that many of our teachers are offering catch-up sessions for NCEA students in the holidays.

Kia ora koutou

The last week of a stressful term is nearly through. I thank everyone in our community for what they’ve done to keep learning happening in all the ways we do - our staff, parents/caregivers and wider whānau, our volunteers such as reader-writers, our employers providing work experience, and of course our students.

We’re all worried about lost learning time this term and hoping there is none next term. Many of our teachers are offering students tutorials or catch-up sessions in the holidays. Times vary so there are no set days, although we are looking at that for the next holidays, but we will be using the doc linked here to coordinate and publicise what’s on offer (as well as emails and Google Classroom for students). There is a focus on NCEA classes. I am so grateful to these staff and I hope our students make the most of these offerings with the respect they deserve.

Our sports crew pulled off Mid Quad (years 9 & 10 - football, netball, rugby - 4 schools) in winter weather this week. Great to make this opportunity happen and solid results for our teams, with some astonishing wins especially in rugby.

We also hosted the annual Lions Dinner, with our PTSA catering and students serving. This is a great arrangement with the Lions contributing financially to the PTSA but also investing heavily in opportunities for our students such as Year 10 students being funded to attend Hillary Outdoors programmes which can be life-changing.

We are about a year on from the passing of our teacher Scott Jermyn. Two students built a seat as a memorial, and other students worked with the Malvern Youth Trust to purchase a tōtara tree. This week, we held a small ceremony to remember Scott which was attended by people close to him as well as many students. Good teachers really do live on in the memories of their students.

At the end of this week we will farewell Shona Staddon from our office and international team. Shona has made a huge impact in our school community, with her caring and welcoming personality as well as her generous smile. Whilst we will miss Shona, we wish her the very best for her retirement spending time with her family. Kylie Taylor, who was office manager at Springfield School, has already started with us and been sharing her expertise.

I, for one, am really looking forward to slowing down in the next two weeks. I wish you all some quality time and recovery.

Mauri ora ki a koutou (good wishes to all)

Andy England

Key dates:

See https://darfield.school.nz/calendar/