Kaikorai Primary School Board News

By Beth Downie | Posted: Wednesday April 9, 2025

Term 1 is always a busy term, reconnecting with friends, making new friendships, forming relationships with new teachers and our support staff, settling into routines and assessments.  However this term seems to have come to an end very quickly!

 

The Board met early in the year to review our strategic plan and discuss how this strategy will be implemented over the coming year.  The Board has identified four strategic priorities with a key goal alongside each;

Akoranga | Learning:  Create an environment and curriculum that fosters engagement and success.

Haurora | Wellbeing:  Cultivate and promote a culture of belonging with the school community are empowered to thrive.

Ahuatanga Okiko | Physical Environment: Create an inviting and inclusive physical environment.

Mahi Tahi | Working together as a Community: Foster and demonstrate visible connection and collaboration between the school and the community.

As I reflect on the term that has whizzed by I am proud to say that we have been working positively towards all of these goals;

Akoranga – your children have all undertaken a number of assessments during the term and the Board look at this data in detail and use it to help assign and provide resources into areas where we have identified groups of children who require additional support or extension to allow them to achieve to their best potential.

Haurora – I have just reviewed our attendance data for the term, and this is very pleasing and in line with requirements set by the Ministry of Education, our great attendance levels indicate that your children enjoy coming to school each day and this is also evident when I visit and walk around the playground and through classrooms.

Ahuatanga Okiko – we continue to develop the school’s physical environment, and the addition of the murals by the flying fox and outside room 13 is a testament to this; they look amazing.  Room 13 has a newly installed mobility ramp. The temporary container has been removed, and some bars will soon be installed for the children to swing, flip and climb on.  The restoration of the original memorial plaques, which were taken down during the rebuild, are reinstated.

Mahi Tahi – we had a great turnout at the meet the teacher BBQ and it was lovely to meet many of you at this event, parent teacher interviews and our working bee to build the new picnic tables are all great examples of how our school community comes together to help and support each other.

 

Our school is a busy place, and it takes a number of people to ensure its smooth operation: Ms Downie and her teaching staff, the support staff, the Kaikorai School Board, the Parents Group, and you, our community. The end of the term is an appropriate time to thank you all. 

 

On behalf of the Board I would also like to acknowledge Miss Dunn, who will be leaving Kaikorai in week 3 of Term 2.  Miss Dunn has been the new entrant teacher at Kaikorai for 18 years.  Miss Dunn’s warm smile and personality has greeted many new 5 year olds and their anxious parents an their arrival at school for their first day over her tenure, and we will miss her as she embarks on a new chapter in her life with some overseas travel.

 

Thank you to the Parents Group, who have provided funding for a number of new resources this term, including PE storage, kapa haka resources, games and toys for classrooms, music instruments and STEAM resources. If you would like to be part of this great group of people, their next meeting is on 30/4 at 6 pm in the staffroom.

 Thank you to all of the families who have paid the voluntary donation or have put in place a regular payment to pay this. This donation is a very important revenue stream for the school and allows us to provide additional teacher aides and extra classroom resources and reduce the cost of EOTC (Education Outside of The Classroom) activities.

The current term for the Kaikorai School Board ends in September 2025.  A school board acts in a governance role for the school;

There are a number of current Board Members who will not be standing for re-election due to their children moving on from Kaikorai.  As part of our succession planning, I am pleased to announce that Tom Saul has been co-opted onto the Board in the Finance Role. Tom is a chartered accountant and a partner at Harvie Green Wyatt and has two sons - Ben is in Room 11, and Jack Is starting school next year.

If you are interested in nominating yourself for election for the next 3-year term, you will need to do this by July. 

If you have any questions about what being on a school board as a parent representative means, please contact me or Beth or find more information here

 

I wish you all a very happy holiday and an enjoyable Easter break.

Katie Devereux

Presiding Member