Tena koe te whanau
Greetings to all of our whanau and to our students.
A warm greeting to you all and a welcome back to the New Year to those of you who know us well. A special greeting and welcome to those of you who will be joining our school community for the first time.
Welcome back to staff who have been on leave, especially Celia Risbridger who is leading the 0-2 syndicate.
Welcome also to new members of staff this year: Whaea Annika who will be working in the Yr 3-4 area of the school; Whaea Amy who will be teaching in the Yr 1-2 area and, a welcome back to Whaea Rebecca and Whaea Jane who will be team teaching in the Yr 1-2 area. Matua Jason will be teaching in the Yr 7-8 area of the school this year as we have grown into a third class at that level and I suspect very shortly there will be a third class at the Yr 9-10 level also.
Welcome to Matua Tipene who will be leading Te Roopu Aroha ki te Reo, and welcome back to Whaea Chanel and Whaea Liz who will be team teaching in the Roopu.
A warm welcome back also to Whaea Naomi who is relieving for Matua Joe who is on leave, and a welcome to Matua Mike Smith who will be join us shortly and be teaching in the Yr 10-13 area of the kura.
Whaea Celia (Yrs 0-2), Whaea Hilary (Yrs 3-4) and Whaea Donna (Yrs 5-6) are the lead teachers through the English Medium primary area of the school. Gwyn Brodie is the Assistant Principal (Yrs 7-10), Mrs Sweetman is the Assistant Principal (Yrs 11-13) and Matua Tipene the Assistant Principal for Te Ropu Aroha Ki Te Reo. These staff are responsible for teams of teachers under the leadership of Deputy Principals Bronwyn Haitana and Quenten Browne.
Congratulations to our senior students who were collectively successful in their studies in 2016 with improvements in our statistics particularly for Level 2 and Level 3. It was fantastic to note, in the final count, eight university scholarships awarded to senior students and I wish them very well in their studies. We are pleased to celebrate our students successes and we thank those who have supported their learning.
The term dates for 2017 are on the front page of our website and we begin term one on the 1st February. There will be a whakatau (welcome) on Wednesday morning for all new students teachers and whanau.
You will have noted a hive of activity over the school holidays and I am assured that the hall will be completed and ready for day one, and that the work in K block is completed. I will be pleased to see the scaffolding safely down from these sites, to see the end of the leaks and to enjoy updated and new toilets that have been installed. The new work in the pool area is completed, however the pool opening is delayed, possibly until late February, as the liner is to be completely replaced and this work could not be done over the term break.
Junior classes years 1-2 have in the most part been relocated temporarily so that the refurbishment of this block can progress this term. Two of these classes have moved into the library and Whaea Marian will be providing a mobile library service to students until the junior block is completed. We anticipate several months of disruption. Two new classes are scheduled to be ready for term three and site preparation for them is about to begin, this will take some pressure off the senior school roll where we are having to temporarily accommodate a number of changes to cope with roll growth.
We are looking forward to a busy and exciting year and again, I extend a very warm welcome to you all.
Nga mihi
Malcolm Cox
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