KTS Newsletter

Term 1, Week 3, Wednesday 15 February 2023

Coming up...

Tena koutou e te whānau.

I hope that you are safe and that your properties have survived the onslaught of Gabrielle. It has certainly been a wild few days. Fortunately the school grounds have come through reasonably well, apart from a carpet of small branches, twigs and leaves there has been little visible impact. Our regular tree checks have paid off.

We are very pleased to be back up and running today after reluctantly having to close for onsite instruction. With the health and safety of staff and students paramount, and with respect to Civil Defence advice, the Board had no choice but to come to this decision.

There will be a few changes to our planned programme for the next week – our Swimming Sports Day for Year 5–8 has been moved to Wednesday 22 February. The Intermediate visit to Rotoroa Island will go ahead on Friday, with all students attending on that day. We appreciate the parent helpers who have been flexible in their offers of help.

On a lighter note, it was good to welcome new students, staff and whānau to our Kohia community at our pōwhiri on Friday; at least we have been able to go ahead with some important events. Here’s to a smoother pathway for the rest of the term! – Catherine

School Payments

We are aware that the start of the year can be challenging for some with activity costs, school donation, stationery and then potentially uniform and camp costs. I am also aware that invoices from HERO were sent out last week including Year 7 & 8 urban camp costs; our apologies if they came without warning. We were mindful that some camps are coming up fast.

Invoices will be sent out on Monday. Please do not hesitate to set up an automatic payment over a period of weeks or months if that eases some pressure.

Looking ahead to 2024, and as the costs for camp continue to rise, it is appropriate that we review our camp programmes. We will undertake this soon with leadership and the Board to identify options, and then consult with you.

Special thank you

I would like to acknowledge our caretaker, Sam Young, who has done an amazing job maintaining our school over some very challenging times. He was down here on Saturday clearing the gutters he had not yet got to before the cyclone, he checked the school on Monday and yesterday and then was down here early this morning clearing debris. Thank you Sam, and to Ollie Skilton who also helped for a bit this morning and one of Year 8 students Lila. What a team!

Student leadership team for 2023

Congratulations to our new student leaders; we look forward to working with you all.

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PTA Update

Congratulations to Tina and the 2022 PTA for a great year of fundraising, surpassing the target of $25,000 to raise a grand total of $29,717.73 for the school!

We can’t wait to get back into it, with planning for our first fun community event already underway. We will be holding a Colour Run to celebrate the Indian Holi Festival on Friday 10 March.