Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to Term 4! We have another exciting term ahead, with events like Athletics Day, our Kapa Haka Roopuu marae visit, Greats and Grands Day, Maahuri Camp, Kaakano 2's school sleepover, as well as our end-of-year celebrations, including the Year 7 and 8 Rainbows End trip, Student-Led Conferences, P.T.A. Disco, Christmas Picnic, and Prize Giving. With the warmer weather, we'll also be able to enjoy more opportunities to work outside. Sunhats and sunscreen are especially important in Term 4.

On Tuesday, we held our Ag Day. It's great to see a steady number of entries each year, helping to keep this important aspect of our rural community alive. The children worked hard raising their calves, lambs, and goats and did their best to encourage their animals to cooperate on the day. Well done to all our students who entered, and good luck to those advancing to Group Day at Gordonton. A special thanks to Alicia, Dani, and Christine for organising this event—it was a successful day and a wonderful experience for our students.

For those new to our school, Greats and Grands Day will be held on Thursday the 14th of November. It is a chance for special people in the children's lives, like grandparents or close family friends, to spend time with the children in their classrooms, see some of the learning they’ve been doing, and finish off the morning with a family picnic. The children will be working on an invite for their special guests, but in the meantime, please let your Greats and Grands know that this event is coming up. 

As you may have seen in our calendar, we have a Teacher Only Day scheduled for next Friday, 25th October. This day, allocated by the Ministry, will focus on the new English and Mathematics Curriculum Documents that will be implemented next year. Our leadership team has reviewed the draft documents, and we eagerly await the final versions. The new Curriculum is structured differently—rather than Curriculum Levels, it uses 'Phases of Learning'. Each phase outlines what tamariki should "Understand, Know, and Do". Phase 1 is for Years 0-3, Phase 2 is for Years 4-6, and Phase 3 is for Years 7-8, with specific learning outcomes for each year group from 6 months at school through to Year 8. The expectations for each year level are more detailed and in some areas, are pitched about a year higher than in the current Curriculum.

Next year, these changes will impact how we report learning to parents, affecting our written reports and Learning Journals. While we await further information on assessment and reporting, we'll keep you updated as more details come in. During the Teacher Only Day next week, our staff will be on-site, working together to explore and understand the new Curriculum Documents. We’ll discuss what aspects of planning, teaching, learning, and assessment will need to be adapted, and what will remain the same. The new core Curriculum documents are a significant change for the education sector, and the short timeline for implementation is challenging. We know that effective change takes time, and we’ll be mindful of this as we work through the process, keeping you informed along the way.

We hope you have been enjoying the longer evenings and the sunshine we have had this week. Enjoy the rest of your week and we look forward to seeing our families at the events over the term.

Ngaa mihi,

Nyree Olliver