Tumuaki/Principal News
 

Have a very blessed and safe Easter and a wonderful term break. I’m getting that in before I start on the chocolate supplies. 

This term seems to have whizzed by and we have accomplished so much. I think of the highlights like the swimming sports, school hāngi, assemblies, the Opera visit and many more. Sadly summer is over and the cooler months are upon us. Thank you to all volunteers and staff who have made all of the extra events possible.

New Reporting Format

We have been working with Brent for 3 years and we’ve seen our student data improve remarkably.

The PACT assessment tool we are using across the school has some new terminology in it. At the beginning, in the middle, at the end of…It should be very clear to you how your child is tracking with reference to other children with the same amount of years at school.

Teachers moderate their judgements about how well each child is tracking by comparing the same information with other teachers in their collaboration. This eliminates the too-hard, too-liberal approach to data collection.

Nothing in the reports should come as a surprise to you because the teachers will contact you well ahead of time if they have concerns or cause for celebration. You may also make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher at any point in the year. You do not have to wait for the interview time.

It’s lovely to have a caretaker again. If you see Dennis around the school please say, “Hello.” You are welcome to pull a few weeds or deadhead a rose bush while you’re waiting to collect your child. 

Covid is an ever-present spectre. Keep your child at home if they are unwell. I’m hearing of a few people becoming quite ill from the virus, so take care of yourselves. 

The Kahukura Music Festival is on June 12-13. Keep our performance night free. It will be at Cashmere High this year which is a new venue for us. Glen spends dozens of hours rehearsing and training various music groups. He also runs chorale with Kate Divett from Cashmere Primary Te Pae kererū. He’s one I often find eating his lunch at 3.30 pm.

Pasifika and Kapa haka

I’m loving being a learner at the cultural rehearsals. I decided this year to attend the learning with the children as I look like Wally when the children are so confident and I don’t know the words or actions. Special thanks to Lou, Glen, Georgia and Nesa. They don’t mess about and the pressure is on to step up and perform at the top level. There are some wonderful tamariki stepping up to lead too.

I hope you get some time to yourselves these holidays. The colder weather does mean that the children are under your feet a little bit more. Get them to use their imagination for activities that don’t cost a lot of money. There are some great local parks for playing, walking and biking. Taking turns with another parent to supervise play dates can help with your sanity. God bless grandparents, aunties and uncles who come to the rescue.

We look forward to seeing you in the new term bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. 

Keep smiling. It makes other people wonder what you are up to.

Best regards

Marriene
Tumuaki

On Friday 24th March the leaders ran a games afternoon rotation for the whole school. We split the school into 3 groups within each of the 4 houses. Each group moved around to 3 of the 12 rotations. We ran a range of activities, games, relays and races. This gave us the opportunity to lead a group of children. It challenged our leadership skills and helped us to learn and practice. We learnt new skills of how to manage others and it also taught us what we could improve for next time. This was a really successful afternoon, everyone had a lot of fun! 

Cooper Mallett and Jenny Hanham