Maihiihi School - Nothing Great is Easily Won - Kaore te mea nui e mama te whi whi

Highlights from the Principal's Desk - Term 1 Week 2 2022

Another 4 day week this week so how lucky were we especially considering the humidity and wet weather that is part of our NZ Summers now.  A total opposite to what they are experiencing at the Winter Olympics in Beijing I'm sure.

Can I just say how awesome we are at showing the value of resilience as we persevere with wearing masks while indoors in Years 4 to 8.  Our kids and staff are troopers!

Things are humming along nicely at school as we go through the motions of all the beginning of the year stuff!  This week we ...

Student Applications for Leadership:

Students who had expressed an interest in taking on one of our leadership roles were asked to apply and completed an application form.  Thank you to all the students who did this.  This coming week I will begin interviews with students in a process to determine who these very important roles go to - watch this space on Friday for the official announcement...

In-class STEAM sessions:

As part of building confidence and knowledge in Science we have begun our weekly Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics challenges. Initially we were going to do this through house groups to encourage our tuakana-teina approach but have decided to keep it within each classroom grouping during RED level.  Check out the photos for some STEAM in action!

Swimming & Water Safety Sessions:

Each class is now swimming nearly every day so please remember to remind your child to bring their swimming gear.  We are very lucky to still have our own school pool and we want to make sure it is being used as much as we can while the weather is favourable.  Thank you to the families who have put their hands up to help Alice and Luke keep it maintained.

Agri-Kids:

Mrs Robinson has been busy organising the kids into teams and it looks like we may have 4 teams entering this year.  We are lucky that the initial competition is in Te Awamutu this year so best of luck to the students who have entered.

Maihiihi School Trail Ride:

Is going ahead this year (fingers crossed). This is our biggest fundraising event and WE NEED YOU.  A massive thank you to Nicki Raffills and Jeff Greenaway for all the work they are doing in the background to get this event going considering all the restrictions and requirements that will be needed at either RED or ORANGE level. See the flyer that was sent home with your children last Friday.  We desperately need volunteers to make this event happen so please consider volunteering to help on the day. Please contact either of them if you have any questions.

Another special thank you to our parents for supporting us at school with managing the necessary RED Alert level requirements that we are having to implement to manage Covid-19.  We want to keep it out of our school for as long as we can, and while inconvenient and not ideal, is the best thing we can do to keep it and its mates, Delta and Omicron at bay.  It won't be forever and we just have to get through it as best as we can.  FYI - the requirement for all educators and school staff to have a booster shot (by 6 months or 183 days after your second jab) will also apply to any parent helpers coming in to assist as a volunteer for any school activities so let Julz know and she can update your info that we may have on file already.

Lastly, I would like to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Robyn Faulkner and her team for fundraising a substantial amount in their annual horse-trek event of which the proceeds are donated to our school - plus a $500 to St Johns Ambulance.  Robyn's only stipulation was that the money is spent on the kids for their enjoyment - watch this space for the goodies to come.  Also thank you to the Dyson family for the donations of the yummy plums to support our healthy snack breaks in the morning.

Next week is a newsletter week so make sure you get your hands on one and see what is going on in each learning space.

Until then,

Ka kite ano,

Vanessa.