Kia ora rā e te whānau whanui

It has been a few weeks since hearing from me (thank God say some of you ;-)).  The first five weeks of this term have been a blur for me but now the ‘dust is settling’. 

ERO (the Education Review Office)  –  We had ERO in our school for a week during week two. This was a full on process but it has been great to get such positive feedback from them. Thank you to the parents, board members and students who spent time with them, giving feedback. 

LEARNING CONFERENCES  –  Thank you to everyone who attended these twice a year conferences. Students love sharing their learning, and I know we have ‘Seesaw’ now, but coming into the classroom is great for all concerned. Thank you to the teachers for the extra time straight after a busy week with ERO.

HEALTH FORUM  –  Eight students had the opportunity to attend the first Catholic Health and Wellbeing Forum. We shared what we are doing to improve our health and wellbeing with our new games at lunch, Physical Activity Leaders, Peer Mediators, rubbish free lunches (individually wrapped things are USUALLY the most unhealthy) and our new senior Well Being Challenge Homework. Schools were very interested in these and asked many questions. We also learnt what other schools are doing and students talked about some possible future options to make our school even better. 

CANTERBURY PRINCIPALS’ CONFERENCE  –  I was at this Monday and Tuesday of last week in Hanmer. The focus again was on wellbeing. We have heard the saying ‘Happy wife, happy life’ as a joke from time to time, like that, ‘a happy leader, you’ll want to be there (staff and children)’. As a CEO, it can be easy to continuously work and can be hard to say ‘when’. We looked at Australia and what is being done with school leaders there. I was able to take a few things away from this course which will hopefully reflect positively at school. 

SCHOOL ROLL –  We are now in excess of 150 students at school. Wind back 3. 5 years and we were 97. It is great to have so much diversity in students and families. Last year I said this year we may need a waitlist. This year, we are full in almost all classes and next year we have many students pre-enrolled. Please, if you have a child (even newborn), it is a good idea to put your name down on our list, the earlier it is done, the earlier you will know whether they are in or whether a ballot is necessary. We will endeavour to give you at least six months notice. 

Have a great week everyone