It was a fantastic evening we had yesterday; always such a pleasure to celebrate the year with you all. The haka was a surprise and great honour and I thank you all for your kind words and humbling sentiment.
As I said in my speech, I am excited for the future at RVS and feel it is in very good hands. I dearly love this community and will continue to enjoy watching it thrive.

I have spoken previously of the incoming Principal, Mr Tom Jarrett, and would like to take one more opportunity to mention my endorsement of the board's appointment of our new incoming Principal. I have spent time with Mr Jarrett handing over information and know of his character and ambition for the success of young people. He will be taking office officially at the end of January and can be contacted once school begins.

Thank you one and all, keep the main thing the main thing and may God richly bless you as you break for Christmas and then launch into 2025.

God bless & ngā mihi nui,

Dave Pauling
​Principal

Kia ora Community,

It is quite clear that Richmond View School is heading into a new season with different changes on the horizon.  We have had little staff movement over the years but are seeing some movement at the end of this year.  We honour leaving staff, pray for new staff and God has always supplied all of our needs.

It is quite normal for there to be staff movement in a school.  We are sad whenever we lose a member of our staff 'family' and pray blessing for them and their family's futures.  We will advertise and know that God's providence has brought spectacular people to RVS and continues to do so.

Today is Junior School Book Day and the costumes are fantastic.  Such life and joy.  I am also looking forward to next week, a big week for our Senior School as it readies for exams, has its prizegiving night on Tuesday and the Y12/13 Graduation/Leavers dinner on Friday evening.  

God bless & ngā mihi nui,

Dave Pauling
​Principal

Kia ora RVS Community,
Another busy Term comes to an end with much action at all levels of the school. I have enjoyed, particularly in the last week, seeing the learning that has happened and the outcomes from this hard work.

The Board of Trustees of course have had a very busy term with the hiring of a new Principal, Mr. Tom Jarrett and Deputy Principal Mrs. Malanie van der Vyver. I was not greatly involved in the hiring but witnessed an excellent, robust, prayerful process and a lot of thoughtful, hard work. I fully back their decisions and know the new-look team are indeed the team to take things forward.
​Keep the members of the Board in your prayers as it is not an easy job, but a very important one.

I join proud parents and teachers as a proud Principal looking at this year’s Science Fair exhibits and results. Susan Ramsay has done the most magnificent job in organising the 40+ entries into the school competition and the 35 entries into the Marlborough Lines 2024 Science Fair.
The results are incredible with RVS Students winning over $1500 in individual prize money and the prestigious $1500 prize cheque for the best overall school in the Marlborough region!
An outstanding result, congratulations to all involved and again, thank you Susan Ramsay for your excellent leadership that always goes well beyond.
​There were:
17 Highly Commended Awards
11 Gold Awards
Also, these students won stand-out awards:

Abigail de Jager - ABOVE & BEYOND; GOLD
Macey Harris - ABOVE & BEYOND; GOLD
Eli Todd - BAKING INDUSTRY RESEARCH AWARD; ABOVE & BEYOND; GOLD
Alex Lamb - LIQUID ACTION LTD - BEST USE OF COMPUTER DESIGN; ABOVE & BEYOND; GOLD; BEST PRIMARY

We now have four learning pods near the Middle/Senior hard court area. We have pods rather than a previously planned double classroom, due to building costs and our desire to keep the Attendance Dues from spiralling.
​These pods are insulated with heat-pumps, have wifi and are very comfortable. They can also be sold or moved when the time is right to build on that piece of land. The DVC-tech class are currently building a small deck in-between the two new pods as part of their project learning.

Well done to the SHINE team for pulling together such amazing talent and for organising the show. Well done also to the performers for being brave and getting up on stage to show us your amazing God-given talents.
​I pray you are able to have a break with your precious families sometime over the next two weeks. I am looking ahead to Term 4, my last term at RVS, which I expect will be bittersweet. There is always still plenty to do but it will be a blessed time also of taking stock of the last 14 years here in this wonderful place.
​
God bless you and see you next Term.

Dave Pauling
​Principal

Deputy Principal
Some news from Julian Adamson, our Deputy Principal and Senior School Head.  He has accepted the role as the new principal at Botany Elim Christian College, Auckland.  The position begins next year so he will be finishing at Richmond View School at the end of the year. 

A huge congratulations to Julian for winning this position and it is fantastic to see how God works things together.  We are sad to lose Julian but very excited for him and the Adamson family.  He expresses his gratitude to the BoT and community for his time at RVS.  He loves RVS and will very much miss it.

The Board of Trustees will continue to work on filling the principal's position while considering the best outcome for the school moving forward regarding the DP position. The BoT are aware of the impact on the school and the timing coinciding with my finishing date.  There is a lot of prayer and preparation going in behind the scenes to set up an excellent transition.

God is good and engineers things for our good and His glory.  We need not worry about the future, only pray that He continues to bless those who go and that the new season RVS is entering will be blessed with His new people in His time.  Pray for the Board of Trustees who have quite a task ahead, one they are certainly well underway with already.

Julian will be back from his study leave next term and we will be back to a full contingent in the leadership team which is fantastic.

You may have noticed one of our pods has moved back slightly.  We have two more learning pods arriving soon to keep up with demand.  They work well for smaller classes and help to keep attendance dues down compared to a full, double classroom new build.

God bless,

Dave Pauling
​Principal

Tēnā Koutou Katoa, hello awesome RVS Community.

Such a vibrant start to 2024 already.  One thing is for certain, we are in the middle of a good ol' fashioned Marlborough summer.  Dry hills, hot days and clear skies.  I hope and pray you had some quality family time over December and January, even if it feels like a long time ago. 

I welcome to the school over 30 new students and their families, I hope you feel at home here already.  Please use the time at the end of the day particularly to meet someone new, as you wait to pick up your children.  It can be daunting joining a new community.

It was a pleasure seeing so many people come to parent/student/teacher conferences a couple of days before the start of the school year.  We made this change to create connection and hopefully lessen first-day anxiety for everyone.  It looked to be very successful.  The BoT will work with you in the future on more ways to connect.

Board of Trustees Changes
It is a pleasure to announce Mr. James Galloway as the new BoT Chairman and Mrs. Christie Rentoul as the Deputy Chair for 2024.  Both were voted in unanimously by the BoT and already have great momentum.  We also welcome Mrs. Margo Carelse as our new Board Secretary, thank you Margo!

Having already spoken about both Mike Ponder and Emma Tempest, the outgoing Chair and Secretary respectively already, I still feel that I can not understate their contribution to RVS.  Thank you both again from the bottom of our hearts for your service.

​A note from James and Christie themselves:

​Hi Everyone, 
 
Firstly thanks to Dave and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to lead and serve alongside the other members of our Richmond View Board of Trustees. We have a fantastic bunch of people with a variety of talents and skillsets, but more importantly we all share a common vision, and heart for quality Christian education, and for the young people we serve at Richmond View School. 
 
A little bit about me, my family team consists of my wife Jo, my son Elijah (Year 7) and my daughter Grace (Year 5). I am a proud ex-pupil of Richmond View School (1990), and enjoyed the challenges and opportunities that RVS provided me during my education, it has served me well as I have progressed through further education and my career.
 
I have served on the Board for the past 18 months, as I said alongside some fantastic people, and I love seeing the progress that the school is making each and every time we meet. As we move forward into 2024 and beyond, I want to ensure that RVS continues to offer a high standard of Christian education. Ensuring that we as school community continue to provide the best learning and social environment possible to set our children up for success in the future. 
 
Thank you to all of our wonderful teaching team, our SLT - Dave, Julian, Malanie and Ash, teacher support staff, admin superstars, and proprietors for all you do for RVS. I look forward to meeting all of you over the next few weeks. 
 
Once again thank you for this opportunity, I look forward to what this year brings. 
 
Blessings to you all
James Galloway

A couple of important points:
Susan Ramsay hosts what is arguably the most important day of the week every Monday morning in the new Library. The RVS Parent Prayer Meeting is open to all and I encourage you to pop along and join in from 8:40am - 9:00am.

Please refresh your understanding of car park safety and rules.  It is a dangerous area after school and we want to keep our students safe.  Please do not pick up students from the no-parking zone by the grass after school. See more here.

Dear RVS parents and whanau.

As we draw the 2023 academic year to a close, we would like to take the opportunity to thank all the volunteers who have contributed their time and effort to various projects and activities to improve our school.

Over the course of the year, we have seen several volunteer-driven projects completed, including funding for the mural on B block, the flower bed refresh at the school entrance, the Share Shed, landscaping by C block and the new signage on K block and at the school entrance.

These projects would not be possible without the involvement of a considerable number of volunteers, who donated their time, either to fundraising activities such as those undertaken by the RVS Support Crew, or by getting involved in the projects themselves.

On behalf of the RVS School Board and Executive, and the RVS support Crew, thank you to all volunteers for your willingness to get involved with these activities.

We pray God's blessing and protection on all our RVS families over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, and we look forward to working with you on some exciting projects in 2024.

Dave Pauling Principal

Mike Ponder - Board Chair

Alsitair Schorn - Chair, RVS Support Crew

Almost December, gosh, where did the year go?  

We are preparing for a great end of year celebration at the ASB Theatre, another milestone for us.  We have already had our Senior School Prize Giving, as they break earlier for exams.  The end of 2023 marks the last year where we add new year levels. 2024 will be the first year since 2019, where we are a full school from day one.  It is exciting to see. 

In saying that, we still have a way to go in consolidating teaching and learning as an Area School (Y0 to 13).  We continue to work hard on this as a team and I thank the RVS staff who are committed to seeing God's promises of high quality Christian education fulfilled here at RVS.
​
​I pray as you head toward Christmas with your family that you will know His peace and grace with you.  I hope the time of year is not a heavy burden but a time of joy as we remember the birth of our saviour.  

New Staff
I wish to welcome to the staff two new teachers for 2024.  
Bruce Vallance joins us as a Technology teacher, or DVC (Design & Visual Communication) officially. Bruce has a wide variety of skill and experience as a tradesman, cabinet maker, designer and returned to teaching late last year.  We are developing a hard materials workshop onsite and feel excited about this area of growth.  Welcome Bruce.

The 2024 year will begin with homeroom teacher/parent/student conferences on Tuesday 30th January.  This is before the first official day of school which will begin with a whole school assembly on Thursday 1st February.  Earlier conferences will give us all a good chance to communicate with each other early rather than waiting until Week 3.  Bookings for these conferences will open in late January, around a week before the day.

I would like to introduce and congratulate our prefect selection for 2024.  They are set to undergo training an serve RVS next year in the following areas:

Cultural - Andras Kovacs

Sport and Move - Alexi Johnston

Academic - Hugo Durrheim

As a Board of Trustees, we are developing the RVS Strategic Plan for 2024 and would like some input.  You will see more opportunity for this next year also.  Please click on the link below to be taken to a short survey and let us know your thoughts moving forward.

Survey Link

May God richly bless you as the Christmas season approaches, see you at Prize Giving.

Dave Pauling
​Principal

Kia ora Koutou, welcome back to Term 4.

The last two weeks have been a hive of activity here at RVS, both with Superkids and contractors around the property.  All of the work being done at the moment will not effect Attendance Dues, as it is from a different funding pool.  We have seen more electrical work in E Block, continuation of the 'Den' upgrade, the Senior Quad readied for TigerTurf, the small pods moved in readiness for two larger learning pods, landscaping, paths laid and more.  A huge thank you to all involved, particularly Doug Clark, Kevin Dickens and Darryl Hunt.  The larger pods we have arriving are in lieu of full sized classroom builds, helping keep Attendance Dues down while providing quality spaces for smaller classes.

​Senior Prize Giving is on the evening of October 26th in the Elim Auditorium, prior to exams.  I strongly encourage all Y11 to 13 students to be putting aside paid work, hobbies etc. to focus on study until the end of the exam period.

Junior and Middle School Prize Giving will take place at 5.00pm on December 12th and is a compulsory event.  This year we will be having our Junior and Middle School prize giving at the ASB Theatre as our auditorium will not be big enough to host all of us, yet we wish to celebrate together. 

​More information regarding both of these events will follow shortly.

 HIGHLY COMMENDED
Names:     Shruthika R
Award:      Highly Commended        Prize:$20.00

Names:     Zachary A
Award:      Highly Commended        Prize:$20.00

Names:     Leah T
Award:      Highly Commended        Prize:$20.00

Names:     Grayson M
Award:      Highly Commended        Prize:$20.00

Names:     Xavier W
Award:      Highly Commended        Prize:$30.00

GOLD
Names:     Sadie T
Award:      Gold                                  Prize: $40.00

Names:     Elan V
Award:      Gold                                  Prize: $40.00

Names:     Macey H
Award:      Gold                                 Prize: $40.00
 
Names:     Josiah G
Award:      Gold                                 Prize: $40.00

Names:     Ononofile M
Award:      Gold                                 Prize: $60.00

Names:     Aliandra DJ
Award:      Gold                                 Prize: $60.00

SPECIAL PRIZES
Names:    Aliandra DJ
Special:    Above and beyond        Prize: $100.00

Names:    Josiah G
Special:    Above and beyond        Prize: $50.00

Names:    Josiah G
Special:    Best Primary                 Prize: $100.00

Nominations close tomorrow at midday for two spaces on the RVS Board of Trustees.  Do you have, or know someone who has, a heart to serve the RVS community in this very important way?  The RVS BoT is dynamic, positive and has successfully guided our school through a period of over 350% growth and establishment.  I encourage you to consider it and others who have a heart for the school and its people.

Late last term, Mr Newton took nine students over to Nelson to compete in the inaugural Tasman Secondary Schools Disc Golf Tournament. It was a very successful day, with our students winning every prize there was to win:
1st place Senior boys and overall winner: Lakshay D
1st place Senior girls (and only a stroke behind Lakshay): Rochell U
1st place Junior boys: Daniel dP
Other awards on the day:
CTP (Closest drive to the basket) round 1: Lakshay D
CTP round 2: Hugo D
Putting game winner: Israel M
Friendly doubles winner: Lakshay D and a boy from Waimea College
Lakshay also scored an ace (hole in one) on his throw of the day. Particularly impressive in that according to the organisers, that particular hole had never been aced before in any competition across all age groups.  Well done team!

I attended a conference last week where I listened to the Hon Jan Tenetti speak of coming changes to education and the forthcoming election.  The political scene is certainly heating up, the season changes from winter to spring, daylight savings kicks in etc the constant is indeed change.  But we need not fear the future, not with a sovereign heavenly Father.  He is already in tomorrow, as well as today. We can trust in Him.

The conference I was at was that of the AIS schools.  We are a part of many organisations and enjoy the benefit of these varied and important partnerships.  Here are some of these partnerships:

Elim School Network
AIS - Association of Integrated Schools
APIS - Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools
NZACS - NZ Association of Christian Schools (NZ and South Island Chapter)
Piritahi Community of Learning Marlborough
MPA - Marlborough Principal's Association
NZSTA - NZ Schools Trustees Association (Board training and contractual/legal matters)
NZASA - NZ Area Schools Association
CSN - Christchurch School's Network
SIEBA - International School Collective (New Member)

 Staffing
I would like to thank Rebecca Silva for her time and expertise here at RVS.  Rebecca finished up earlier in the year as a full time teacher/reliever and has now moved to a position outside of teaching.  Rebecca has a beautiful way with young people and we will miss her here.  Thank you Mrs Silva for the two+ years you spent with us and may God bless you richly.

Mrs Francesca Crossley successfully applied for refreshment leave earlier in the year for Term 4.  She will be on a well earned break and Mrs Cindy Russell will be taking over in Rm 6 during Term 4.

We are expecting Mr Ash Rambhai to relocate to Blenheim from Auckland in early November when he will take up office as the Middle School Assistant Principal and maths teacher.  His office will be opposite the Library entrance on the path towards C Block.  It will be great having Mr Rambhai onsite and a part of the team!

There is a Principal's Assembly this Thursday at 2:15pm in the auditorium.  We have many awards to give out, all welcome.

I am certainly seeing evidence of spring's arrival, always good.  I am also pleased to welcome the pending arrival of two new permanent teachers to RVS.

Camp Feedback
Thank you for filling in the questionnaire regarding camp cost and frequency.  We are finding the cost of camp has increased considerably over the last five years and has become untenable for many, due to other rising costs also.  We also know of the immense value of camps and trips.
​The results were split three ways with 25% wanting camps more often, 30% keen for things to stay the same and 45% wanting less while we are in difficult financial times.  Some of the requests in both the 25% and 30% areas were to consider day trips.  The chart below is the future plan and takes into account the best of remaining the same and lessening the number of camps.  
You will notice there may well be a Y9 camp in 2025 as we have the Y9/10 camp booked for early next year but wish to realign Y9&10 to odd years and don't want that group of Y9's to miss out entirely.

Board Chair
​Mike Ponder has been our elected BoT Chairman for many years now.  He was elected to the BoT as a parent rep in 2013 and then as Chairman in 2016.
He has signalled to the BoT that he will not be standing again as God has different work for him ahead.  He certainly finishes on excellent terms after a long tenure and will continue to be involved in RVS as he continues to have his children here.
Mr. Ponder has seen the school through a huge time of growth and his steady hand has been a huge blessing to us all.  We will no doubt celebrate this tenure next term but wanted you to know now Mr.Ponder's intentions. Our Board of Trustees and the new Chair-to-be are great things to pray for when you get the chance.  Good time past, present and ahead.

Our college basketball team are currently in Timaru competing against other secondary schools in NZ with Coach Newton, Manager (Mrs Silva) and team ref Anareia Cameron (not pictured). An amazing pool of talent who I'm certain will do well. 

Until next time, Ngā mihi nui.

Dave Pauling
​Principal