James Griggs, Principal/Tumuaki
Kia ora and welcome back to Term 2!
This week, we held our annual ANZAC Day assembly, and I would like to sincerely thank Major Gareth Desborough for attending and speaking to our students. His thoughts were thoughtful, age-appropriate and as relevant today as they have been for the past 100 years. David Crean, Vice President of the Papanui RSA, also joined us.
The Kapa haka and Voices Squad contributed beautiful, meaningful performances to this commemoration. Thank you to Otis for his rendition of the Ode by Laurence Binyon; also to Clara and James, our Head Students, who lead the assembly so capably.
Lockdown Drill Next Week
Next week on Tuesday, we will hold our annual Lockdown training and drill here at school, supervised by Harrison Tew. On this day, students and staff will receive specific training on managing a lockdown situation, followed by a practice drill at 11am to assess our school systems and leadership. During this time, we will not be able to answer the telephone OR allow anyone (including parents) into the school buildings. During this time, you will receive alerts on HERO that clearly state we are conducting a LOCKDOWN PRACTICE, so please do not be alarmed when this pops up on your phone. A lockdown situation is one we hope to never use, but need to get it right when we do, and this exercise allows us to practice and evaluate our systems in a controlled environment. When we think of a lockdown, we tend to let our minds jump to the worst possible scenario; however, in reality, this procedure is used for a wide range of situations, from bee swarms to loose dogs.
So be prepared for TUESDAY THE 5TH MAY AT OR AROUND 11 AM
Winter Sport
Trials are almost complete, and we anticipate releasing teams later next week. We would love to have every child who trials enter the competition, but we’re limited to a set number of teams for each sport, and we always receive more applicants than spots. If your child is not selected, they will naturally be disappointed. We try hard to ensure that the programme for Tuesday afternoons for anyone not selected for a sports team is varied and interesting, with a wide range of opportunities your child can take part in. Your child has already selected their backup option, and this will be allocated to them wherever possible. We ask you to support your child through any disappointment, to understand that team selection is final, and to look forward to the activity they will embark on.
Curriculum Updates and Reports
The world of education continues to evolve at a rapid pace. So much so, our student management system provider is still putting together the reporting frameworks for the new curriculum levels and reporting. We have yet to see what this may look like or how it will operate; however, we have opted into the new MOE-designed SMART Assessment tool, and students will be taking these tests towards the middle of this term. We’ve been advised we won’t get full reporting on these assessments for 6 weeks, which makes our mid-year reporting cycle rather muddled compared to normal. As a result, we anticipate releasing reports on the last day of term two and have scheduled our parent-teacher conferences for the start of term three to allow the systems to catch up. We’re working behind the scenes to help teachers accurately assess and moderate to the new standards, and reporting to you will look different when students are reported against phases rather than curriculum levels. We’ll send more information closer to the time to help you understand them. In the meantime, our focus will be on what it has always been, quality teaching and learning.
As ever, please contact your class teacher if you have any questions related to school, and remember the option of white thermals and high-vis wear for those cold and dark winter mornings to come. We have a fresh batch of hi-vis backpack covers available at the office for $20.
Nga mihi nui
James Griggs, Principal/Tumuaki