Dear Parents

Yes, we have made it to the end of a challenging, unpredictable but very exciting and rewarding term. We continue to be proud of all our students and their achievements throughout this term. Every child will have something they can be proud of whether it be Taha Whanau (social and relational well being), Taha Wairua (spiritual well being),Taha Hinengaro (mental and emotional well being) or Taha Tinana (physical well being). We need to continue to nurture our whole selves to ensure everyone’s well being is intact.

For many of our students who were faced with isolation their biggest need when returning to school was Taha Whanau. They had missed the connection with their peers and the relationship they develop at school through social connections.

Over the holidays, please take time to reset and refresh as we are hoping that Term 2 will be a term where we can fully experience all the activities that make our school a place where we all Learn and Grow in Christ.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koutou katoa
Julie Paul

Principal

It has been encouraging to see so many of our future Year 0’s attending our pre-school sessions and visiting their classrooms prior to starting next term. Our last session will be on Wednesday 13 April 9.00am - 10.00 and we look forward to seeing all of our Term 2 intake there. School visits will continue next term for those children starting in Term 3.

Hopefully, when we move to Orange Traffic Lights, we will be able to resume our pre-school sessions for those children who are 4 years old and will be coming to our school next year.

Calling all scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians – we need your help!

Some of our students will be taking part in the Wonder Project Rocket Challenge next term. It’s an amazing programme designed to get young Kiwis excited about STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths. The programme pairs scientists and engineers with teachers to deliver the challenge and we need more volunteers to help our kids design, build and launch water rockets!

Keen to help? It only requires 1 hour a week for 6–8 weeks during Term 2. The Wonder Project team provides everything we need so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to guide our students on the Rocket Challenge. We are looking for passionate and committed STEM professionals who are working in, or have worked in science and engineering, who want to make a real difference – and inspire wonder in the minds of young people in their community.

Ambassadors in action

We are concerned over the arrival and departure times of some of our students. The gates open at 8.15am and prior to that your children are your responsibility. Teachers may be on site but they are preparing for the day or attending meetings and are not supervising the students who arrive very early. These numbers have increased considerably over the last few weeks and some students are now being dropped off early and are then wandering off down the road to the local dairy.

Unfortunately the same is occurring in the afternoon when children are picked up after 3.15pm and there is no one supervising them. The afternoon problem is more easily solved as we do have SKIDS after school care available for families who are unable to pick up their children due to work commitments. We encourage parents to consider this service especially with the winter terms coming on.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation and support as we only want to ensure the safety of all our students at all times.

Congratulations to the Year 7 & 8 girls who are now our Food Kit Experts.

Last Thursday, as the final assignment of their Food Technology unit, they had to take home their designed, tried, planned and packed “Our Food Kit ” and prepare a meal for their families.

The photographs and comments shared by many families confirmed its success and affirmed that their daughters were capable chefs.

Sincere thanks to Mrs Betty Ryan and her assistant Mr Taani Samani and the teachers in Rangimarie who encouraged and supported the girls as they undertook this creative and most worthwhile learning task.