Principal's Page

Kia Ora Friends                    

This is our last newsletter for 2023. It marks the end of yet another very special year at Western Heights.

It feels like we have finally put the worst of Covid-19 behind us - it's still here, and people are still contracting it, but it's manageable. It's hard to explain how wonderful it is to feel like things are pretty much back to normal. 

We've been able to take children on cool trips - like our Junior School Zoo visit, White Water Rafting for year six and our School Council trip to Rainbow's End. 

After a three-year hiatus, we've been engaging in inter-school sports and competing at JumpJam Nationals, and our Glee group performed at the Aotea Centre.

 It also marks the end of ten years here for me. They say time flies when you are having fun, which must be true because time has flown by for me. 

These past ten years have been the happiest and best of my life. Every day - no matter how early it starts - I arrive with a smile. Every evening - no matter how late I finish - I leave feeling we are making a difference and doing stuff that really matters.

There are lots of reasons for the happiness I feel every day. The biggest one is 'the people'  - little people, staff people, parent and grandparent people. Western Heights has the very best people.

Spending time with our children brings joy. I love the smiles, fist-bumps, high-fives and big hugs. I love the cards, letters and kind words. I love the laughing at my lame jokes, and the not-laughing too, which shows how lame they really are.

Spending time with our staff brings joy. The single greatest asset of our wonderful school is our staff. I started out as a classroom teacher 45 years ago. I have now spent 32 years as a principal - in five different schools - and undoubtedly, the team we have at Western Heights is the best team I have ever had the privilege to work with.

It is hard to explain the security, peace and happiness of knowing you have a 'dream team' to work with each day. It doesn't mean we are perfect. We all have much to work on, but the beauty of our team is that we all want to be better. We are all focused on improving our practice. We all want to learn and grow, and our children all benefit as a result.

Spending time with parents is something I don't get to do enough. Fist bumps in the morning and high fives in the car park after school are cool, but time is always tight, so most of the time, the contact is all too brief. I do love the opportunity to meet all the parents of our new entrant five-year-olds. It is only for 25 minutes each time, which is nowhere near enough, but it is an opportunity to share our philosophy, values and approach - the kaupapa - of our school.

The Vision for our school is all about the people and the land. We have to look after both, and we do at Western Heights.

Thank you to everyone who has played your part in making this another memorable and successful year at Western Heights. We have 65 wonderful people on our staff team and a support crew of helpers and volunteers we simply couldn't do without.

Last week, we put on a special morning tea to thank those volunteers - a pretty small reward for the outstanding work and support they selflessly provide. Describing this small reward is not a great way to advertise for new volunteers.... but I will anyway. 

We would love to have some new volunteers for our Reading Support programme. It involves coming in a morning or more a week and listening to our children read. It's amazing what a difference that time makes. The morning tea once a year is not much reward, but seeing children learn and grow in confidence is a huge reward and source of satisfaction.

If you have time and find that inspiring, call in and see our Deputy Principal Teresa Hannard. Even if you can only spare an hour and a half a week, it will truly change lives.

We are looking forward to next week - with a lot of mixed emotions. Next Friday will be the last day for 100 awesome young people. Graduation is always a bitter-sweet time. We feel so much love, pride and affection. We feel so much hope for all that lies in store for each one. We also feel sad that this will be the end of our time with these very special young people. Many of them have spent six years as part of our family. We have watched them transform from nervous five-year-olds to confident young leaders. 

The values, qualities, skills and attributes our graduates take with them have them well-placed for success, and we are confident in their ability to continue to Love, Learn and Lead as they move to the next stage of their learning journey.  We wish each one of them well, and we look forward to them keeping in touch and sharing their successes with us.

As always - if you have questions or concerns about anything school-related - email me at macash@mac.com, and I will get back to you asap.

My very best regards to you all,

Ash Maindonald

Principal.