Kia ora, Tālofa lava

It has been great to have parents back on the sidelines supporting the senior athletics. Thank you for your patience with the changes with the weather. Congratulations to all students and best wishes to those going to the Zone Athletics on Tuesday the 8th of November.

A reminder that we have Whanaungatanga- Strengthening Connections Learning Celebration this Friday 4th November from 4:30 - 7.00pm at Waitākiri Primary School. Every child is involved. It should be a great evening of entertainment with food vendors too. Bring your rug or chair and enjoy the show.

As of next year, schools will no longer be funded based on their decile rating but rather an equity index. As part of this it means from the beginning of 2023 we now qualify for the school donation scheme. What this basically means is that as a school we will receive funding of $170 for each child enrolled at Waitākiri School. In return for receiving this funding we are not allowed to ask for donations or contributions for some school activities.

Therefore the only charges that will be added to each student account will be for extra curricular activities. These are activities that you choose to sign your child up for and that you will need to agree to pay the costs of. An example of these are:

• Out of school basketball, touch rugby etc

• Ski trip

• Children’s University

• Hip Hop

• Kiwi Competitions

• Rock Band

• Recorder

The exception to this is an overnight camp. As a school, we will request a donation for camp to cover the costs of this. Camp is a high expense ($180 in 2022) to school therefore this is why we will ask for a donation. The donation scheme funds are enough to cover general school expenses i.e. swimming, performances, studio trips, additional learning assistant support (that the Ministry doesn't fund for) only.

More information around the donations scheme can be found on this link:

https://www.education.govt.nz/school/funding-and-financials/fees-charges-and-donations/

If you need any more information about the donation scheme, please feel free to contact the office. We see this as a win for the school and the community.

Congratulations to existing teachers who have won permanent positions:

Miss Sophie Reynolds

Miss Roey Bugden

Mrs Sophie O’Rourke and Mrs Tracie Jelley (job share)

Liz Cotton - team leader

Nicola Brogan-Brown - team leader

The following teachers will not be returning in 2023 for a variety of reasons - travelling, moving to a different city, no longer wanting to teach full-time or moving to a special needs school. I would like to thank them for their dedication while with us at Waitākiri.

Ms. Vicki Brookes, Miss Jasmine Secord, Miss Michaela Baker, Miss Nikki Gosden, Miss Amy Mackenzie and Mrs. Annemarie Sherratt.

Ngā mihi

Andrew Barker

Principal