We had our final board meeting for the year last week; where has this year gone!

We looked through the end of year Maths data analysis and it was great to see an impressive improvement from PAT (Progress & Achievement Test) testing that takes place in March and again in November from our students in Years 3 to 8. Well done to the staff for working hard with our children to achieve these results and improvements.

The board accepted letters of resignation from two staff members, Darren Guthrie and Kelly Lewer. We thank them both for their time here at Ngaere School. Darren and Kelly have both been valuable members of our staff and we know they both will be missed by our school families. We wish them well for their future endeavours. We are well underway with the recruitment process to fill the two positions and we have been pleased with the high calibre and numbers of applicants we have received.

From the last meeting Alister Swan has resigned from the school board, and after nearly two terms (6 years) we want to thank Alister for the huge amount of time and commitment he has put into our school. The many hours have not gone unnoticed and are truly appreciated. We have co-opted Kara Prankerd onto the board for her skills in strategic planning to fill the vacancy left by Alister. If anyone is interested and would like to know more about becoming a board member please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Megan. The triennial elections have been put back to September 2022 so it's a great opportunity for someone to see what being on a board is all about prior to standing.

The building work at school is progressing but as per most building work we are experiencing some delays with materials and too many other jobs on! We have our fingers crossed that the classrooms will be completed and used again next year.

The board had applied for and been successful with some grant funding to replace the turf on the lower courts. We are not quite there yet but definitely getting closer to our goal. Our plan is to be able to get this done later next year.

Finally, I would like to wish all our school families and wider community a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, have fun, enjoy spending time with family and friends and stay safe.

Stacey Clough (Presiding Member)

The rules do require parents and volunteers to be vaccinated and provide evidence (in the form of My Vaccine Pass) before being involved in school activities which require interacting with children. Thank you to those of you who have already shared your vaccine pass with me.

Attending assembly or watching a sporting event do not require evidence of vaccination status to be provided but safety measures such as wearing a mask and social distancing from those you do not normally mix with is required.

Heading to the end of the year...

• From Monday 6th Dec our Year 8 children may wear mufti for the remainder of the year (except for Prize Giving on 14th Dec)
• Monday 6 & Tuesday 7th are the Room 7 'Camp alternative' with a day out in NP followed by a day of activities as chosen by those in Room 7.
• Friday 10th will be the whole school 'Big Day In' with a barbeque lunch, activities and swim.
• Monday 13th we will be holding our Tryathlon for children in Rooms 3 - 7. Parents will be able to view their child's event from a specified spectator area, with masks to be worn. Times to be: Junior (Rooms 3 / 4) 9.30am -10.30am. Intermediate (Rooms 4 / 5) 10.45am - 11.45am and Seniors (Rooms 6 / 7 ) 12 -1pm. Parents are asked to view their child's event and then to leave.
• Monday 13th - End of Year Reports home
• Tuesday 14th will be the first of the end of year assemblies. As we need to restrict the number of parents these will be: Room 5 & 6 11am and Room 7 1.30pm (please note this time has changed from 2pm as stated in last week's newsletter).
• Wednesday 15th Room 1 & 2 assembly 11.15am , Room 3 / 4 assembly 2pm
• Thursday 16th - school finishes at 12.30pm

• Amelia S - yet another win with her Cheerleading squad - via video for a national competition.
• Natalie D - a pass for her L3 Jazz Ballet exam
• Blake E - one of the top 5 students with the highest results for a recent SHS scholarship exam. We're very proud of you!

We will begin 2022 with around 155 children so it has been a bit of a juggle with class placements. We will still be operating 7 classes: Room 1 - NE / Yr 1, Room 2 - Yr 1 & 2, Room 3 - Yr 2 & 3, Room 4 - Yr 3 & 4, Room 5 - Yr 5 & 6, Room 6 - Yr 6 & 7 and Room 7 - Yr 7 & 8.

Please ensure all outstanding amounts for uniform sales are paid before the end of the year.