Principal's Weekly Message

Kia Ora Whanau

The penultimate week of the term has not slowed down in any

way. Firstly there was a small group of students who had the

opportunity to attend a BlueLight Camp in Taupo. The students

completed a range of outdoor activities and had an amazing

time. Next, our school EOTC programme was able to get

started after being postponed from Term 1. Three classes from

Wainui te Whara left for their class camp just out of Thames on

Wednesday morning. The students certainly were very excited

by this opportunity and all reports have been that the camp has

been going very successfully. Our school Kapa Haka Roopu

(performance group) are busy practising their routine to be

ready for next week’s Rangitaiki Kapa Haka Festival at the War

Memorial Hall in Whakatane. They have been training hard all

term and are excited to compete. We wish them all the very

best and will support them throughout the competition. A

heartfelt thank you to Matua Te Ahuroa Cossey and Whaea

Jade Dobson for their commitment and efforts in preparing this

roopu.

This week I was able to make some visits to a number of

classes. It is always great to see the students so happy and

engaged with their learning. What is especially noticeable is

the fact that each student can explain what they are doing and

why. This week I quickly dropped into Room 22 where the

class was doing their pubertal change unit. The changing

nature of this topic is always interesting to learn about and the

students were comfortable discussing it. They also had a clear

understanding of what the process of puberty was about. Well

done to the students for having a mature approach to their

learning and especially to Mrs Stacey Burns for creating such

a safe and engaging atmosphere to learn in. I also popped into

Room 24 who were busy creating some artwork with

pastels. They had selected a shape of a carving and were

designing its colour scheme. Each shape meant something to

each student and there were whale tails, fish hooks and shapes

that were about friendship. The friendship shape had a twist

in it, due to the idea that friends are sometimes apart but will

always come back together. This matches our School Mission

Statement perfectly and well done to all the students for their

design work. Thanks to Mrs Nic Laurent for her wonderfully

creative and engaging idea for the lesson.

The school is currently gathering community voice as it looks

to develop the Strategic Plan for 2023 and is also using the

opportunity to assess the School Vision Statements. An online

survey was emailed to all whanau approximately two weeks

ago and the school thanks those whanau who have completed

this. We would still welcome any more community voice that is

out there and invite you to complete this online survey or if you

would like a paper copy, feel free to contact the school office.

Nga Mihi

 

Mike Webster