Kia ora koutou and welcome back to Term 2!
Together we have achieved a lot over the last few months and have more great things on the horizon this term.
We have many exciting events coming up this term, including our Matariki Celebrations and Art Week where we live, breathe and create art. (If you would like to be involved in taking a small group as part of our Art Week, we would love to hear from you!).
Next week Electives start up for all our students. This is where our students have been given the option to choose an Elective subject. Options they can choose from are wide and varied. Some of the options available are Dance, Debating, Robotics, Sign Language, Māori Art, Rock Climbing and many more.
The two years while at Intermediate School are the years where we encourange our students to try as many new activities and experiences as possible and our Elective programme is one way that we can provide these opportunities for them.
From next week, Bike Skills training sessions will be starting up for our Year 8 students. This is a fantastic intiative from Auckland Council who fund free lessons for our students to enhance their cycling skills and teaches them how to ride bikes safely. It was a great success last year so we look forward to see this year’s Year 8 students participate in this programme.
Special congratulations to our chess Team who competed on the last day of Term 1 in the Chess Power online ‘Check Mate’ competition where the winning team each month, in each division, qualifies for the Chess Power National Finals and the top three individual players in each division, each month qualify for the Chess Power Champions Trophy!
Our team won the Intermediate and Senior division of the competition and placed first overall and have now qualified for the National Finals of this Online National competition. Congratulations to our players Daksh, Haider, Sanay, Shubhm and Terry. Daksh was the overall competition winner, beating competition from several Intermediate and Secondary schools. This is an amazing achievement!
Unfortunately our upcoming Whānau Forum with our local Kāhui Ako schools, has been postponed until early Term Three. This is due to the ongoing Industrial action by Secondary PPTA members and NZEI Primary Principals who, as part of their action, are not undertaking any after-school activities or events. We will let you know when this event is able to be rescheduled. Thank you for your understanding as we stand together to support the working conditions for your children in NZ Schools.
He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata
Goodwill towards others is a precious treasure
Ngā mihi nui
Kristen Walsham
Principal – Tumuaki