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Principal's Blog: Term 2 Week 5
Friday, 19 May 2023
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Kia ora whānau Our school production, BROADerWAY, has proven to be a huge hit! The Broaderway Foundation brought us a star-studded line-up of comedic narrative, witty one-liners, stunning choreography, and big ballads aplenty. The talent on display was simply phenomenal and the clever script-writing from teacher Louise Kleingeld had us guffawing out loud whilst successfully carrying the murder-mystery plot containing the obligatory twist in the tail. The delightful tongue in cheek prod at a modern-day wildly woke musical theatre scene provided opportunity for a huge variety of individual gifts and talents to be showcased. Congratulations one and all, both on and off stage, for transporting us to another place… a place where eyes sparkled and ear-to-ear grins were plastered on the faces of an enthralled audience. Special thanks to teachers Sarah Wilson, Louise Kleingeld, Richard Kleingeld and Dianne Smith for your talent, incredible mahi and generous goodwill in providing our students with the chance to do their thing and have a fabulous time in doing so. Bravo! Our annual cross country was another wonderful event and spoke to the theme of our new sports strategy, Every Body Active. For the second year running, we held a colour run, which has encouraged high participation and a fun, carnival-like atmosphere. Students had been preparing themselves physically and mentally for the challenge in Physical Education classes, and our more competitive athletes were able to demonstrate their talent and running prowess in some stunning individual performances on the day. Congratulations to every runner who brought their best effort and positive attitude with them to the event; the vibe was truly gleeful. You will have received an email communication from the school at the conclusion of the cross country event explaining that we departed Ian Galloway Park slightly earlier than planned. The decision was made to evacuate the area after becoming aware of the fact that there was a developing situation in the area that the Police were managing. Students returned to school promptly and without fuss and assembled in the gymnasium for a debrief and final roll check. They managed themselves perfectly, and I was able to congratulate them accordingly. As part of keeping ourselves safe at school, we need to be able to respond safely and quickly to a range of emergency situations, and recent events have been a stark and sobering reminder of our responsibilities. Next week we will be conducting our annual emergency procedure audit. We work alongside an independent company, Harrison Tew, who specialises in emergency management planning for schools, whose procedures have been successfully implemented in hundreds of schools throughout New Zealand. Specialised training will be conducted with our Senior Management Team and school staff by Harrison Tew. The students will also receive information on how to respond in an emergency directed at their respective age groups from either their teacher or a Harrison Tew representative. We will then be conducting a lockdown exercise under the guidance and support of Harrison Tew. During the exercise you will receive an email notification from the school, so it is important that your emergency contact details are up to date and correct. Please be in touch with our office if you have had recent contact detail changes. The push notification will emphasise that we are conducting a lockdown exercise/practice and will explain that all updated information will then be posted on the school website. In a genuine incident, should you become aware of a lockdown or evacuation at the school, please do not come to the school or phone, as we will not be able to respond. Your presence or contact may make it more difficult for us or the emergency services to manage a situation. Thank you, in advance. |