Term 2 Update

Tēnā koutou katoa and welcome to the end-of-term blog from the Principal’s desk.

What an amazing term it has been! This term we have celebrated so much success for our school and the talented students here. God has blessed us in so many ways and we are grateful to Him for his faithful provision.

We began the term by remembering those brave people who gave their lives for us in our ANZAC commemorations.  Our students learnt the stories of some of the most significant events in our national history and created poems, essays, and artworks in response. 

We have had chess tournaments, cross country events at both junior and senior levels, multiple different sporting codes playing regularly and specialist training sessions within the school. We saw trips off campus to Brayshaw Park, Whenua Iti and many, many other places.

Classes have been busy with the Technology Centre and the PE sessions at Stadium2000 continuing in full flight. More recently we have had visits from Life Education Trust, the Fire Safety team, the Dog Safety trainers and cultural groups from Whenua Iti working with our classes. Our Middle and Senior school students got the opportunity to attend the Future of Work Conference and a number of guest speakers from universities and even the Inland Revenue have come to talk about life beyond school with our Year 12 and 13 students. 
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Alongside all this activity, our students have gone above and beyond to support the work of the World Vision 40-hour Challenge team and to finish the term with a huge celebration of the many and varied talents that God gives us through the Shine Make, Move and Show event. I would like to congratulate all of our students on a productive and successful term. Well done, you all deserve a good restful holiday!

In the Junior school, there are some changes happening as well. We would like to wish Mrs Powell all the best as she goes off on maternity leave and to thank her and Mrs Ashworth for their excellent work with Room 6. They have been a great team and we look forward to seeing more of Mrs Ashworth around the school.

Next term we have asked Mrs Crossley to move to room 6 to continue their learning as they finish their time in Junior school and prepare for the exciting shift to Middle school. In Room 1 we are pleased to welcome back Mrs van der Berg from her maternity leave and we would like to thank Mrs Russell for the amazing work she did in this space in the first half of the year. Mrs Russell will be away for Term 3 but is coming back to be part of the teaching team in Term 4. We wish her well for her well-earned break. All of this means that we will have a new teacher starting in room 3 next term. We are in the interview process now for this position and we will send out details of this as soon as appointments have been completed.

It has been exciting to see the continued development of the school site this term. You will have noticed the new garden outside room 4 and I would like to thank the RVS Crew for their hard work in bringing this to fruition. The crew have also enabled the “Share Shed” outside room 3 and there are some brand new RVS signs being installed very soon that will add some colour to the school and help enhance the student entrances to the site. 
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As well as this, we also opened the extension to the senior E block this term. This expansion means that the senior student block is now complete and that we have been able to shift classes out of the hall and the library and into these lovely warm, new classrooms. Our staff and students are already enjoying this transition and I would like to thank the Proprietors, the builders and all of those involved in helping bring this long-sought-after promise of God into reality. God has been faithful and we honour Him for the abundant resource and provision that He has given us! 
We have also had a number of new office spaces, refurbishments and a significant amount of maintenance carried out this term. Overall the school feels like a warm, comfortable, happy space in which our students can learn.

As we look forward to the return of Mr Pauling in Term 3, there are a number of people whom I would like to thank. The Proprietors and the Board of Trustees for their unending support and prayers this term. I want to honour the work that is put into this school by these two groups. Their strategic thinking and vision are a massive part of the continual development, growth and success of our school and its Christian character. 

I would like to thank the teaching staff for their patience with me and their encouragement this term. We are blessed to have such dedicated and talented teachers. The care that they have for our students and the massive hours and effort that they put into their work makes learning great, and the reputation the school has for excellence is largely due to them.

I would particularly like to thank the office and administrative teams for their endless support and dedication. Mrs Johnson and Mrs Foote in the front office always go out of their way to make things run smoothly and to present the public face that makes coming into our school a pleasure. Mrs Marwick, who knows everything that goes on around the school and is able to work miracles with finance, but who also cares deeply about all of our staff and students and quietly works so hard to make their lives easier. I could not have made it through this term without you all. 

Finally to Mrs van der Vyver, our amazing Assistant Principal. Thank you for the countless hours you put into this school, for the wisdom, patience and grace that you bring to your role and for being such a positive and compassionate person to work alongside. 
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We can't wait for Mr Pauling to be back, he has been sorely missed and I know that brings back new ideas from school visits and study as well as new energy from his sabbatical this term. I hope that he will be excited to see all the change that has happened in his absence!

The Bible teaches us that our God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. We have certainly witnessed Him and His hand this term. He continues to bless us every day and His Holy Spirit is our constant companion and advocate. Perhaps the greatest privilege in my role this term has been to see our students continue to grow in love for Him and discover the plans that He has for their lives. We have had students begin their Christian walk this term and that is a joy-filled miracle that I pray we may see many times in the future.

As we enter the term holidays, I wish you all a restful and blessed time with family and with God. Thank you for the many prayers and supportive comments this term. It has been a great privilege to “act-up” and to keep the Principal’s desk occupied and I am excited to get back to my classes in Term 3 - I have missed too many Physics lessons!
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God Bless
Julian Adamson