PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
John Goulstone
Kia ora koutou
Welcome to a new term. This is the shortest of the terms this year, finishing on Thursday 15 December with a TOD on Friday 16 December to prepare for 2023. This year we hope to finish with a picnic and final assembly/year 6 farewell on Thursday 15 December starting at 5pm with the picnic and progressing into the assembly around 5:45-6pm with it all wrapped up by 7pm.
We started this week with a mihi whakatau to welcome our new students and their whānau to our school. We also welcomed four student teachers who will be working in Rooms 1 and 4 for the next 5 weeks. I wish them all the best for their posting and journey to becoming a teacher.
The pool has taken a little longer to heat than I was expecting so our first day in the pool was this Thursday. We have Donna Brook taking years 1-3 for small group lessons in the afternoons with each child getting one lesson per week for the next 8 weeks or so. The seniors are going to use the High School pool once per week to get in some length training as well as using our own pool. We are looking into the possibility of someone running an intensive week of swim training before school starts in 2023. It would be a 20 minute lesson once per day for 5 days in a small group situation. At this stage it is only an idea and would be user pays. I’ll update you as more information comes to hand.
The weather just managed to be good enough for the athletics to go ahead today as the long range forecast for next Tuesday was not looking good. Thank you to Chelsey who has worked hard organising this event. It is not easy to organise an event of this size, especially with the help required to run it. Thank you to EOHS for the use of their grounds and supplying students to help out with the events. We will let you know as soon as possible if your child has qualified for the North Zone Athletic Meet in Dunedin which will be held on Tuesday 1 November. They have to meet the qualifying distance, height or be in a sprint final to qualify.
Our concept this term is ‘legacy’. It is about a number of things including being the best version of yourself that you can be. We will be looking at the year 6 leaver’s profile and looking at the school values and seeing where we are in relation to these. Legacy is also looking at local identities and the legacy they have left and how that influences how we remember them. It is a wide ranging concept and it will be interesting to see the direction that each class takes as they unpack and explore this concept.
The big dump trucks and new spades are out and in use! Thank you to the Home and School for buying these for us. The sandpit and its environs is one of the most heavily used spaces in the school and lots of construction and cooperative play happens here.
Please drive safely over the long weekend, especially if you are going away. It looks like the weather will be OK for Saturday and Sunday at least.
