Pānui (News)

Kia ora e te whānau, Last chance to if you would like to provide your thoughts on placement for 2023, please fill out this form.  Year 6 Graduation: Monday 12th December at 5.30pmThis event will be held in Tane Mahuta and will be just for our Year 6 leavers and their whānau. We will have the graduation ceremony, a few speeches and trophies and then share some kai together before leaving at approx 7.30pm. End of Year Prizegiving: Tuesday 13th December at 2pmThis will be a formal event for our whole school to give out End of Year certificates from...

Kia ora e te whānau, Today marks 14 days of school remaining in the year, how about that? Thank you to those of you who have taken the opportunity to provide your feedback around our class placement for 2023. I welcome you to have your say and fill out this form if you haven’t done so already. I want to acknowledge that our idea of running two Year 4-6 classrooms is a change to what has previously been done out here. Now I could bombard you with a bunch of research that supports this methodology, however this has been common...

Kia ora e te whānau, Hoping this finds you all doing well as we head past the halfway point of the term.  Staffing for 2023: Next year, Karen Walker is rejoining the team after taking leave this year. We look forward to her being back, in fact she is in for Trish this morning, so everyone will enjoy that. Bridgit James is taking refreshment leave for 2023 and she will be sorely missed, but she has assured us that it is just leave! We will finalise her replacement for next year in the coming weeks and let you know the outcome. Changes for 2023:...

Kia ora e te whānau, It’s been a funny old week with all our big kids away on their camp in Makahika this week. They came home yesterday with some amazing stories of having the best time and that’s what camp is all about. Lots of challenges faced and overcome, I am so proud of all of them! I was gutted to not make it down there as we have had a lot of teachers down to accommodate here. I’ll just have to listen to Cameron’s yarns about it all. LOL! Thanks again to our amazing parent helpers; Rusty, Rob,...

What a magic day we had on Saturday for our annual Lamb, Calf and Pet Day! A massive thanks to the PTA and all those who stepped in and helped make the day come together. Whether you set up equipment for us, turned a snag on the barbie, baked and decorated a cake, sold raffle tickets or painted faces, it all contributed to a great day showcasing our school value of whanaungatanga (positive relationships).

Kia ora e te whānau, Wow, the buzz is here today at kura today, I can tell you! There really is a great ora/vibe around the school as the tamariki are completing their creations or decorating their gingerbread men. I was showing a new family around this morning right in the thick of everyone doing this. I had to explain to them that everyday didn’t look like this, however they were really impressed to see and hear that this goes on in our school. It certainly is the ‘bread and butter’ of rural schools around the country. It is with...

Kia ora e te whānau, Lovely to be back on deck for our final term of the year. Sadly, our Friday Pānui has lost a reader. My beautiful mum Barb was an avid reader of this pānui, passed away over the holidays. I appreciated those of you this week who checked in and asked of her, it meant a lot. Some of you may not know, but I attended a rural primary school that Mum was a teacher at called Harrisville in South Auckland. Just recently she reminded me of an embarrassing story, that I had tried to erase from...

I’m back on deck after having last week home in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland with my dear mother Barb, who hasn’t been very well. Being a proud former tumuaki/principal herself, she sent me back to finish the term out. Didn’t the weather treat us well yesterday? Having looked at the weather forecast and waking up to the early morning rain, I have to admit ‘My head said no, but my gut said go!’ so I was really glad that I trusted my gut, because the weather was the ideal condition for a day of athletics.

Whakawhetai koe (Far-car-fear-tie-kwear: Thank you) to Craig Kawana, the original carver of our pare (pah-rear: lintel) from 2001 which lives above the main office door. Keeping it in the whānau, his son Mahina Scott-Kawana, under Craig’s tutelage, lovingly helped restore it to its former glory. Look up the next time you pop in and see for yourself how good the whakairo (fa-kai-roar: carving) is as a first impression to our school.

I am writing you this pānui from Ōtautahi (Or-toe-tar-he: Christchurch) as I am currently attending the NZPF (New Zealand Principals Federation) annual hui (who-e: conference) down here. I’ve felt privileged to be able to connect with almost 800 tumuaki (too-moo-ar-key: principals) from around the motu (more-too: country). I've also been able to listen to some amazing speakers including former Black Fern legend Dr. Farah Palmer, Crusaders Coach Scott Robertson, Renown Scientist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles and NZ Māori Academic Prof. Russell Bishop.