Kia ora koutou,

The year has been racing by and now we are looking towards the end of the school year. This comes with mixed emotions as we are excited for the summer holiday but also the realisation that we have our last week with our Year 8 students. We look forward to celebrating them at our final prize-giving next week, where we will be trying to hold back our tears. 

Our End of Year data has been collected by the teachers and they make their Overall Teacher Judgments (OTJ's) on the best-fit Curriculum Level for each student. These levels are indicated on your child's written report. The school-wide data is collected and analysed and helps to inform our next steps as a school for 2024. 

We were pleased with our Whole School end-of-year data.

• 94% of our students are achieving At or Above Curriculum Expectations in Reading
• 87% are achieving At or Above Curriculum Expectations in Writing
• 90% are achieving At or Above Curriculum expectations in Mathematics

On Thursday next week, our students will be bringing home their written reports. These consist of a Powerful Learning comment, as well as a Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Health and Physical Education/Hauora comment, to summarise your child’s learning and next steps. The graphs will give you a visual indication of how they are progressing in terms of the Curriculum. On the back of the report is a chart which also explains the Curriculum Progression and the way the Curriculum Levels cross over more than one year. Curriculum Levels are very broad and encompass many learning intentions within them, and they are designed to be achieved over time. 

Here is a bit of a guide to understanding your child’s progress graph on their reports. 

The blue band represents the Curriculum Expectations. 

(Please note, over 2020 and 2021 with School Closures due to Covid, data was carried across which resulted in many children having multiple dots in a row. These dots would not be a true reflection of your child’s learning over that time). 

The graph will help you see the overall progress over their years at Puketaha. It’s really important to note that there is no typical pattern to how children progress within the Curriculum.

As you know, our lovely Ashlee Walsh is finishing up at Puketaha at the end of the year and we thank her for her year with us. We have been interviewing potential candidates and one stood out from the rest. We congratulate Suzanne Gunn for being awarded the Permanent position at Puketaha School, as she was previously on a fixed-term roll growth contract. She is a highly skilled teacher who has a real commitment to our school and our learners.

Here is the make-up of our teaching teams for 2024 so far…

Roopuu Kaakano 1- Year 0 - 1

Roopuu Kaakano 2- Year 1 - 2 (There will be a move-through of some Year 1’s in Term 2 from Kaakano 1.)

Teachers- Rachel Goodin, Hayley Barnes, Kim MacPherson and Suzanne Gunn. Teaching teams are yet to be decided.

Roopuu Maahuri- Year 3 - 5

Teachers- Jeffrey Eves, Hannah Mould, Anna-Maree Parkes, Joe Thornley

Roopuu Puaawai- Year 5 - 6

Teachers- Nicky Khoo (Assistant Principal), Karen Matthews

Roopuu Puaawai- Year 7 - 8

Teachers- Philip Greig, Jenna Mateni

As we lead into our last week of school, from all of us, we thank you for your partnerships to support our learners and make our school a wonderful place to be. Hopefully, we see many of you at the Prizegivings and/ or the Christmas Picnic on Thursday evening. If not, have a lovely Christmas and we look forward to 2024!

Ngaa mihi nui,

Nyree Olliver