Issue 3: Week 4, Term 1 2025
Principal's Message - Karere a te Tumuaki
Kia ora e te whānau and welcome to the Week 4 edition. I feel like these past 4 weeks have flown by but with a couple of short weeks that was always bound to happen! The start of the 2025 school year has certainly kicked off well for all classes, and especially so for our Year 7 and 8 students who spent last week at camp in Raglan experiencing a whole range of exciting outdoor activities. I really want to thank Mrs Sutton and Mr V for all the hard work and preparation that went into planning this awesome experience for our Intermediates. They really did go above and beyond to ensure a fun, exciting and safe week for everyone - and it paid off. A big shout out to the staff and parents who gave up their time to go down and help for the week (and put themselves out of their own comfort zones too - especially with the caving activity). Thank you to Mr Dyer, Mrs Collie, Ange French, Debbie Coppock, Jessie Wakeling, Leyton Hookway and Stu Powrie for all your help and the way you supported our students on their week away from home!
This week has been a busy one for the staff in terms of looking through the applications that have come in for the various Leadership Roles for 2025. We are working through this process and will be ready to present students with their badges at this week's assembly (1:45pm on Friday). I want to acknowledge the Year 8 students who put a lot of effort into their Head Student applications this year - the calibre was extremely high. We held interviews for these positions yesterday and all of the students we interviewed showed a really high level of presence and maturity. We will also announce the students who were successful in those Head Student positions on Friday too.
Speaking of special roles, I have an update on behalf of the Board. Lisa Tate has been on the Board for almost 5 years, the last two and a half as the Presiding Member (previously known as the Chairperson) at Karaka School. She has done an exceptional job in this role and I personally want to thank her for all her support throughout my first two years into Principalship - I will always be very grateful for this. I'd also like to thank and acknowledge Tyrone Riley who has been our Deputy Presiding member for the past few years. Despite stepping down as Presiding Member and Deputy, both Lisa and Tyrone remain on the Board this year - for which I am vey grateful!
I can now officially announce that Sarah Sutherland has taken on the role as our new Presiding Member, with Lisa continuing on in the Deputy Presiding Member capacity until the triennial elections are held in September this year. I look forward to working with Sarah in this capacity and have no doubt she will have a smooth handover with Lisa's support.
On Tuesday the 4th of March we are holding our first round of 3 Way Conferences from 1:20-7:00pm. We will not be asking for students to be collected early this time. We will hold an assembly in the Hall after lunch (so that teachers are free to begin their conferences from 1:20pm) and those students with conferences booked between 1:20-2:30pm will be sent over to meet their parents in groups by the Flagpole five minutes before their conference time - it is really important that the students are involved in the conference with the teacher and caregivers. Buses will run as normal and all students will need to be collected from the Flagpole at 2:45pm as per normal. Bookings for this are now open on HERO for you to select your slot. If you have more than one child to book for, please leave a space between bookings and don't book 'back to back slots' - we will be very strict on keeping to the time schedule so it may mean your booking slot is even smaller if you are late.
Please note - you are more than welcome to arrange a different time/day at any stage of the year with your child's teacher to discuss anything school/learning related. Our teachers are always very accommodating (and welcoming) of this. So if you feel 10 minutes is not enough time for you, please look to book an alternative day/time.
Lastly, I hope you enjoyed the photo I have included this week. Mr Good is not just a fantastic Caretaker, but a very handy man in lots of ways. You will have seen the picket fence he has built for us outside the back of Tui and Ruru (which looks fantastic) and now, to save us some more money, he is re-building the ramp outside the staffroom to ensure none of us fall through the rotten planks of wood. You're Tū Meke Mr Good!
Ngā mihi nui,
Anna Powrie
Celebrating Learning and Achievement
Further details to come.... You will be notified when tickets are available to purchase on Kindo.
Year 7 and 8 Camp to Raglan
Notes from the Office
Mathletics for Year 1 and 2 students
If you wish to sign up to the Mathletics programme, please contact the office before 28th February. This is online (not in class). The cost is $35.00.
Student Profile Update Form
Please make any necessary updates on the (blue) form and return to the office by Friday 21st February.
Bank Accounts
Karaka School Board - ASB, Papakura 12 3031 0734641 01 (Fees/donations/trips etc)
Karaka PTA - ASB, Papakura 12 3031 0851231 00 (Fundraising e.g. Oxford Pies / Uniforms etc)
If you make a payment into either account, can you please use your child's name and what you are paying for in the reference.
Ministry Roll Return Day - 28th February
If your child is absent on this day, can the office be provided with a note (either via email, Hero, written or through the website). This happens twice a year and is a Ministry requirement.
PTA News
*** Save the date*** Mark in your calendars, phones and diaries! Friday 14th March! We will have our first school disco! More details to follow!
Any questions/fundraising ideas or if you require uniform items urgently, you can email the PTA on karaka.pta@gmail.com
The Karaka School PTA account is 12 3031 0851231 00
Updates from the Wider Community
