Kia ora e te whānau, 
Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome back to Term 3, sometimes considered the toughest term for illness and chilly-ness! The hubs are nice and warm and students look excited to be back amongst their friends.
STAFF ILLNESS: All staff are well-planned and excited to get underway however we already have a number who were hit hard by the flu and other illnesses so our term hasn’t begun with a full staff on board. We do our best to keep ourselves well, we support each other when these situations arise. Unfortunately, the availability of relievers is low. We get together during the holidays to plan and can access each others’ planning so we do our best to make learning seamless regardless of who is at the front of the classroom.
OLYMPICS: Olympics are the buzz-word across the kura. During the holiday break our staff got together with about 60 other kaiako from across the rohe to learn new games/kemu with the support of Sport Whanganui, Healthy Active Learning, and our iwi, Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa. It was a great afternoon of learning with more laughter than action! We are looking forward to transferring this knowledge into our classrooms and perhaps putting on our version of the Olympics for our whānau later in the term.
TRANSPORT SUPPORT: We have a-lot going on, especially for our senior students. There are 4 Fridays with a Quad focus so please take a look at the calendar further down and consider how you might be able to assist us with transport. Last year we noticed involvement was low in some codes at Quads so the Principals decided to try a different approach. This puts pressure on our need for transport so it would be great if we started to problem-solve this now rather than finding ourselves in a default position closer to the time.
YOUR SUPPORT IS REQUIRED: Today during our morning hui I spoke with the tamariki about our school policies around uniforms, jewellery, hairstyles, and makeup. It has been a bit of a tail-chasing situation, particularly in the senior area of the school whereby a few students push the boundaries and then others follow. We want to invest our time in teaching and learning and these sidetracks (which I can assure you, do impact learning as they become a focus for the students) interfere with that. Please work with us and remind your child/ren about the uniform expectations, minimum jewellery (single set of stud earrings are permitted and taonga needs to be safely tucked inside teeshirts), no makeup, hair in as natural state as possible and tied back off their faces are the basic outline of our policies. We reminded our tamariki this morning and seek your support to follow through with these expectations. Let’s focus on our key role – mana-enhancing practices that support your child to develop positive learning attributes.
ASPIRATION CONVERSATIONS: Below is a notice about these. The staff changes in Term 3 have created a few challenges but we have devised a plan to support teachers, whānau, and students to make the most of the opportunity to meet and chat. Please read the notes below to see how this might impact you.
My final word is…what a fantastic turn out for our Term 2 Matariki Concert was. As I looked around the hall I was uplifted by how much joy our whānau gets from watching our tamariki share their learning with you through waiata and kōrero. Everyone in that hall would have learned something new to add to their kete of Matariki knowledge! Thank you for coming along and showing your tamariki how much you value their learning journey. They love seeing you in the audience – it lifts their performances 100%! There are some great pictures in this newsletter.
Ngā manaakitanga
Kim Gordon – Tumuaki.
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