Principal's Report

Dear parents, carers and kin,

     We have had a great start to term 3 despite the cold and wet weather.  I have enjoyed catching with students and hearing about all of the things they got up to over their holiday break.  The most common theme shared by students was going to see the new Minions movie.  I'm sure at least half of the students I spoke to said it was a highlight of their time off.

     In term 3, we have the best opportunity in the year for students to spend time working towards achieving their IEP goals without interruption.  At this point in the school year, students will know our expectations and have  adjusted to the daily routines of the school and their classroom.  This allows teachers to make the most of the learning time available.

     The cold and flu season is hitting everyone hard at the moment and is likely to get worse through the winter.  We've had a number of staff and students absent due to illness just in this first week of term.  Please ensure that if you're son or daughter is unwell that they stay home until their symptoms ease.  This helps the whole community to stay healthier.  The school still has a number of Rapid Antigen Testing kits available as Covid is also still with us for some time to come.

     We were unable to have our regular Wednesday morning Assembly this week as the cold and wet weather prevented it.  I will send out a Sentral notification if Assembly is cancelled prior to 9am.  It is short notice for parents planning to attend in person, but the rapidly changing weather often forces me to make that decision just before 9am.

     The Naranga School building project continues to move ahead at a rapid pace.  During the term break, I met with architectural firms and provided them with tours of the school.  Next week we will conduct interviews with those architects and review their proposed plans for our school's future.  It's very exciting work to be part of and I will keep you updated regularly on progress.

     Due to growing enrolments and large class sizes in our Lower Junior section, I have decided to create another class group.  I'm pleased to announce that Sandra Waldron will join the team for the remainder of the school year as the teacher for the new class.  Sandra has been a regular fixture at the school as a relief teacher and is a familiar face to our students.  Creating the class groups will reduce class sizes further and allow newly enrolled students to join us this term.  

STAR STUDENTS

I often get visits from students to proudly show me schoolwork.  This past week Nhial, Adam, Chloe, Josh, Monique and Ryder dropped into show off some of their written work.  Great job!

Kai Pukarinen

Principal