Newsletter 27th October 2022

Tena koutou katoa nga mihi ki te whānau o te Kura o Ōtātara,

I love inspirational quotes and love running them into newsletters and, to be honest, anywhere that I can throw them. After having a discussion recently with Senior Leaders about the role of kaiako in the lives of our learners we could all recall those few teachers who really truly made a difference in our own lives. What did they do that made them that much more special to us? They made sure that we knew that we were important to them and they got to know us really well as both learners and as people. They got to know our whānau too and were always interested. They always had time for us and the chats we had were meaningful, respectful and we always left feeling great. From that we also knew that they cared about us as learners and they, more often than not, tended to get the best out of us.

They are the kaiako who we still occasionally touch base with and who are always delighted to hear about our lives or who still have excellent words of advice. They are also the kaiako who can find and remind us of all of our positives. They can do that because they know us so well. And they remember...memories like elephants! They are able to remind us of some of the things we said and did that we had probably consigned to the memory baskets. Their smiles were always genuine and were ever so contagious. Their ability to find a positive about our mahi even when we knew deep down that we hadn't really done such a great job gave us the wings to fly again. They were the best at putting on plasters and wiping away tears. They were the best of story-tellers, leaving us spellbound and dying to hear the next chapter.

As a tumuaki I am often asked about how good our kaiako are and I do kind of like that! Why, you might well ask? Not just because we are able to reply with confidence but also because this is the first kura that I have ever been involved with where I can honestly say that if my tamariki were still here I would be happy wherever and whoever they were placed with. True story.

A measure of the quality of a kura is not just from the academic results, but also in the number of smiles that we see each day. Those smiles, whether they be from a child or a teacher, clearly show that they are in a happy space, a happy place! Smiles are created through relationships!

"Teachers who put relationships first don't just have students for one year, they have students who view them as 'their' teacher for life"

Nga mihi

Marty Hantz

Tumuaki

A reminder that as of the 5th November until early February there will be a loss of 4 or 5 car-parks in the Pool car-park area. This is due to the need for new work on the filtration system. Please be mindful of this as even losing a small number of car-parks impacts upon those that pick up their tamariki from our kura at the end of the day and those that are taking their tamariki to after school swimming lessons.

Please be patient!

It is wonderful that we are able to have this pool on our doorstep as it is an amazing community facility. We need to be very thankful to those that have put all of the mahi in to resurrect the pool from the poor state it was in, as well as those that have aided financially. The end result is that we are able to have so many of our tamariki becoming water confident. The new filtration system is so important for the long term use of the pool.

• End of Term 4 - Wednesday 14th December (School closes at 12.30pm)
  

We really appreciate the support from you, our community, when we have a Teachers Only Day. We choose these days wisely so that they have the biggest possible impact for us, and for the tamariki. We are also mindful of the impact that these days have on whānau so please be assured that these are not taken willy-nilly! In most instances we try to add these days to existing weekends so that it does give some families the opportunity to spend a bit more quality time together.

We are right in the middle of an exciting time of year for many of our Year 5 ākonga who have decided to give back a little and who will be beginning the training to become our Road Patrollers for next year. We must also shout out to our Year 6 Road Patrollers who have been nothing short of fantastic too! This is ever so important as we know how busy the two roads are that surround our school. The year 6 Patrollers have been super reliable, so effective and have had fun doing the job that they do!

Congratulations to ex-pupil Gus Brown (Year 13 Napier Boys High) who was recently selected for the Aotearoa New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby team and who has been drafted into the Canterbury Crusaders as a contracted player. Awesome mahi Gus!

I set a wee challenge before the last school holidays for the tamariki to take a photo of themselves all set up in rugby gear to celebrate the Womens Rugby World Cup which is being held here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I had a whole lot of photos sent to me and there were so many countries involved, some of whom probably don't even play rugby! What a way to celebrate a global event and celebrate who we are and where we come from. How great is that!

The four lucky winners who had their names drawn from a hat were...

• Tiaki Natomi
• Ella Adams
• Laura Donovan
• Merida Woods

Kapai mahi koutou!

We are now required to wear our pōtae at school while outside.

Have a go at trying these phrases at home.