Board of Trustees News June 2021
The BOT focus for the first half of 2021 has been a continued drive towards improving communication with our parents and wider school community. At the start of the year we rolled out the new Wigram Primary School website that presents our school as an inspirational learning environment. We hope you are finding this a useful resource and if you have feedback/ other information that you would like available at your fingertips please let us know. In line with the directives in our Annual Plan we are also working to embed our Communication Plan (which is a living document).
The BOT and management team is currently navigating the process of getting our stage two build underway. This will greatly assist to relieve pressure on our existing learning spaces. We are incredibly proud of our teachers’ ingenuity to continue to deliver a collaborative and engaging curriculum with a very full role. An example of this is the creation of the Pukeko learning space, a safe haven for new entrants which supports a seamless transition into the Toroa learning space. The BOT appointed Nathan Fletcher (who has an engineering skill set) to assist our Principal to liaise with the Ministry of Education to advocate our wish list in the stage two design – which incorporates a scooter track! We have recently received draft plans that create a replica of our Kererū and Ruru learning spaces along the Kittyhawk Ave boundary – a large colour copy is available for viewing in the staffroom. The new space is earmarked for the junior school. We have received a guide delivery date of term 1 2022 however progress will ultimately be governed by the Ministry of Education. We welcome back Southbase to build the building for us.
Another key target area for the BOT has been to accelerate student achievement and deliver focussed reporting to parents. In 2020 the management team engaged in HERO, a database aimed at streamlining the collection of student achievement data and presenting this in a way that enables informed decision making. Student achievement data presented at the end of 2020 identified some curriculum areas that would benefit from a targeted response – maths was one of these areas. In response to teaching staff requests, the BOT has, independent of Ministry grants, invested in Numicon, a multi-sensory programme that allows students to directly manipulate materials to build a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and number patterning. We are excited to introduce our tamariki to Numicon and look forward to building more confident and successful mathematicians.
Katherine Forward
Board Chair