Tena Koutou Katoa! Nau Mai to the next update for 2024.
It has been a busy start to the year. I am still working through a number of matters as I "re-aclimatise" (:-D), and work through the various changes made to school planning and reporting, as well as supporting our students, whanau and staff.
I would like to also take the opportunity to offer a huge thanks to all involved with the swimming sports, the students, teachers, organisers, helpers and spectators. You all contributed to a fabulous event. :-)
A reminder about some key dates coming up.
Tuesday the 2nd of April is Easter Tuesday and is a public holiday. Please remember that the school won't be open on this day. :-)
At the end of that same week we will lose most of our teachers to a paid union meeting. So on the 5th of April we will ask those families who can to come in earlier at 1pm to pick up their children. If any of our Whanau cannot do this, you MUST let our office know so we can plan for the students who need to stay. We are very, very sorry for the inconvenience that this causes.
On the 15th of March we will have our Relay for Life mufti day. All proceeds will go to Relay for Life.
Next - we have an increasing number of neurodiverse students in our school (Think some of the acronyms you may have heard; ADHD, ODD, PDA etc. :-D). Some of these students present with behaviours that are reactive, and at times very difficult to predict. We have support and safety plans, but not everything can be planned for. While most of our whanau are very understanding and accepting, I know that others find this more difficult. I will reinforce with whanau that we do not use exclusionary practices or punitive measures to address negative behaviours. We try our best to teach these students (and many others) pro-social behaviours. This means that the learning can take time, and -as with all learning- there are highs and lows. Like all of our students, neurodiverse students need all of our love and encouragement to succeed.
Finally - a huge thanks to our FOS for the hard work going in to planning for some of the upcoming events for the children. You will soon hear about the upcoming discos this term. On that note, also thanks to our School Board who continue their work supporting the school to grow its people. We welcome Eva Lawrence to the Board and Congratulate Lisa Charles on again being elected to the Presiding Member role.
That is about it for now, but I will have some more messages for our community in a fortnight. I am planning on sharing more of the learning happening. :-)
Kia ora koutou.
Isaac - Principal.