From The Principal's Desk

13 March 2023

Dear Mellons Bay School Families

It is hard to believe we are already at week 7 of the term with only three weeks of the term left after this week. We certainly have packed some things in over the past two weeks. 

The year 6 camp was a real success (again). For those parents that are lucky to have more than one child at this school, many have already booked in for the next year 6 camp whenever it may be. I know that many parents fight, verbally  (or “discuss in depth”) over who will go to the camp.  We can’t have these camps without you so thank you for giving up your time. 

I’d like to thank Paul and Karyn, Gemma and Nicky for their hard work along with a great set of parents. The children participated really well. The Learner Profile was clearly seen in action as students’ became more confident, creative, connected, caring and communicative. The timing of our camp is really good as it enables our students to be seen in a completely different light, away from the classroom and to experience success in things they may have not normally tried. Lots of fabulous photos were taken, the setting is fantastic and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. The students had a wonderful time and I know that it will be a memory many will treasure.

The year 5 overnight camp was held last week and again the weather held off for us during the night. We had a few wet tents after breakfast but on the whole everything was able to be managed really well. 

Again thank you to Paul, Cat, Susan and Jo for staying up through the night and being responsible for the organisation of the camp. This too was a wonderful example of the Mellons Bay Learner Profile being put into action. The students became more confident, whether at Eastern Beach or at WERO white water rafting and they displayed caring, connection and creativity. I certainly know that some displayed the communicative disposition more than others and Mr Harder would vouch for this at 4.00am on Friday morning! Again this is an event we couldn’t have without parent support and help and we really thank all the parents that came to help on both days  - some looked a little tired when they left and I think they might have been  looking forward to their own bed or some peace and quiet at home. 

We have got our parent- teacher sharing coming up in week 9 on Wed 29th March so please keep this date free. Our teachers really like to talk with you about the progress your child has made and how your child is settling into school.

We understand that some students are a little apprehensive after the irregular start to this year with the flooding and Cyclone Gabriel. As a school we were not that badly hit, we just had a tree down, but no damage was done to the buildings or more importantly to people. If you feel this has affected your child please talk to your child’s teacher about it. We like to get on to these things as soon as we can so you could wait till the parent teacher sharing but we encourage you to email or talk to your teacher as soon as you can so that we can support you and your child.

I would like to thank you for your organisation in regard to the Strike this week on Thursday (16th March, school is closed).  Due to numbers and overloading we have had to close the school to enable the strike to happen while at the same time ensuring the safety of the children both in the classroom and in the playground. 

We also have a Teacher Only Day coming up, which has been authorised by the Ministry of Education to enable teachers to come to grips with the new Aotearoa NZ Curriculum Framework.  Therefore the days will be as follows: 

Monday 24th April - Teacher Only Day 

Tuesday 25th April is Anzac day 

Wednesday 26th April is virtually the first day back on school site after the holidays. 

Thank you for your organisation around these dates. I know it can be very tricky when you are trying to organise one or more children. This can also be complicated when they go to different schools because of age. 

We want to connect and communicate with you as best we can. Our theme for this year is Kia Hono Tatou which means Let’s Connect. We try to create multiple opportunities to communicate with you, all of which have a different purpose, and I hope serve to show we care and we want to ensure our partnership with you is the best for your child/ren.

Ngā mihi nui

Colleen Margison
Principal/Tumuaki

Learning to Navigate our Changing World

News Bites

Kindo is here!!

This is a cashless and simple payment system designed for schools.  Going forward we will be putting all school related costs on Kindo to make life easier for all.  School donations and all school events and activities.  We invite you to see it in action and register.

To register please click here

Already registered? Click here to sign in

To view 'how it works' click here