Kia ora e te whānau;

It is support staff week and I want to acknowledge the important work that our non-teaching staff do in our school. Support staff are often the first people seen. They are first because they are here six days a week early in the morning making sure that our grounds are ready for the influx of staff, students and visitors. They are first because they answer the phones, manage the sick bay, run reception and make enrolment arrangements. They are highly visible front-line staff. They are alongside students in sports and in classrooms. They are there for your children. And, they are also the rarely seen staff, working in rooms away from the glare of publicity but essential in enabling the show to go on. Preparations of materials, machines and technology so that students and teachers can use the wonderful equipment that we have access to in a modern school like ours.

Our prime activity is as a teaching and learning institution. But with over 1800 on the roll there are so many things that need to be done. Our non-teaching staff are a necessary support for that prime function to be realised.

The week has been another cracker. There have been some notable successes on the sports fields and some excellent musical performances onsite to celebrate New Zealand Music Month. As I write this on Thursday our Rockquest participants are gearing up for their big performances this weekend and our production teams are taking those first steps towards realising the words that currently sit on their rehearsal note pages. The participants in these events have had a ball. But to revisit the idea of “support”, it is the unwavering support of those around them that allows those successes to come to the fore. The coaches and trainers and teachers and directors all play their part in that success. And so too does the creation of a safe space by families and the whole school community to allow space to try, to risk - even to fail. But to do so safely is key. On that note, we support and celebrate our school’s participation in today’s Pink Shirt Day and its underlying message to create safe and positive environments for our students.

Finally a brief but important reminder about school carpark safety for parents/caregivers: please do not use the staff car park when dropping off and picking up students at the start and end of the day. This is a busy site with buses arriving and departing, and staff entering and leaving - extra traffic makes things so much more difficult to manage to keep everyone safe. In the local streets, we have had a couple of complaints recently from our neighbours about parking over driveways and some poor driving behaviours. We have spoken to the students involved in the incidents that we have been told about and expect improvements. Safe driving habits are as important for our senior students as they begin to drive as basic road safety is with younger students at primary school. We will do our part and thank you to all our community members for helping us to keep our students safe on our streets.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend - and our students involved in the Literacy and Numeracy CAA spend some time completing those last-minute preparations.

All the best, Chris Woodward ACTING PRINCIPAL