By Simon Clarke | Posted: Thursday October 22, 2020
A busy start back....
The first three weeks have flown by as the students and teachers have been busy preparing for two big events. The Street Party and the Hospital Expo.
Once again a big thank you to everyone who made the Street Party so successful. I know the Parent Group will be reviewing the Street Party soon so please take the time to give them the feedback that they request as it is vitally important to help them make improvements.
The new Dunedin Hospital Expo at the community gallery in the Octagon was also a huge success with many of the hospital clinicians and administrators amazed at what our students achieved. They were so impressed that they have taken many of the children's ideas and looking at how they can incorporate them into the new Dunedin Hospital.
Please read Miss Rosie Hardie's article in this newsletter and the ODT article for more information about this project.
As the weeks seem to fly by at this time of year many of you will be making plans for Christmas and the holidays. You may have noticed that the last day of school is Friday the 11th of December and wondered why it is so early. The Ministry of Education stipulates that schools must start between Monday 27 January (at the earliest); and Friday 7 February (at the latest). The last day of school is in direct relation to that start date and because we started on the 29 January we finish earlier. Schools that finish on the 18 December this year started on February 7.
We cannot start earlier next year as we traditionally do as starting on the 28th or 29th of January lands at the end of the week which is not a great time to start school. We will be having a teacher only day on Monday the 1st of February and school starts for students on Tuesday the 2nd of February. Because it is a later start, the last day of school in 2021 will be approximately Wednesday 15 December. Schools were not asked to increase the days open due to Covid.
It is also the time of year that people make plans for 2021 and I am sad to say that we will be losing Jody Bolger next year as she is moving to Methven to be closer to her partner. Jody came to Kaikorai Primary School last year as a third year student and she was such an impressive student that it was an easy decision to give her a job. She has repaid us back through her dedication and kindness to the students in the class and to the wider school culture. Jody has a very bright future ahead of her as a teacher and we wish her all the very best in her new school.
Kind regards
Simon Clarke