Principal's Message

By Simon Clarke | Posted: Wednesday March 29, 2017

With less than two weeks to go this is the last formal newsletter for the term.

The end of the term is coming nearer and the school is still buzzing with excitement and learning.  It is a time to reflect on all of the positive learning that has been taking place this term.

There have been many moments this term to be proud of.   A special well done to Room 11 on their inquiry.  This was an excellent example of our learning programme in action.  The school has been looking at the value of Kindness and the concept of sustainability.  The juniors have taken this  into the context of birds and then Room 11 looked at the community issue of the wildlife hospital and made a plan to help them.   Their work was recently highlighted in the ODT.

Well done also to the Year 5 and especially the Year 6 children during their horse, hike and camp week.  It was pleasing to see so many children live the Kaikorai values of Aspiring and Keeness to overcome their fears and achieve things that they weren't sure they were capable of.  A special thanks to all of the teachers who put these activities together.

Our Book Week was also a big success with teachers sharing their favourite books, competitions for the smallest and oldest book and it culminated in a great dress up day as your favourite book character.  If there is one thing that you can do to help your child to learn, it is to instill a love of reading.  Read to them often, listen to them read, take them to the library and take an interest in what they are reading.  Being able to read confidently sets them up for success at school later on in life.

Next term we welcome a new teacher Hannah King to the school and Room 5.  Hannah is from Dunedin originally and has spent time teaching in Blenheim, Melbourne, France and London and we look forward to her sharing her skills with the class and the rest of the school.  With Hannah coming this of course means someone is leaving. 

We bid farewell to Kirsty Anderson who is shifting to Christchurch.  Kirsty has been with us for over 8 years and has played an important part in the school during this time.  She has consistently lived the school values and has taken lead roles in the school, most notably in math and in the development in our use of Chromebooks and Google Docs. 

But she will be most remembered for her kindness to all of the students in the school.  She gave up a lot of her own time to support children in their sports and is always a kind and caring teacher.  You will be missed here but we wish you all the very best with your new school and the next stage in your life.

Kind regards

Simon Clarke